e>a9Jks WWicsooi of 'sKSii 1 LA t?t?M ESEak DEPARTMENT ? EAST »5H ST., | y International AT LUCERNE, 1919. THE RESOLUTIONS. THE PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION. THE LABOUR PARTY: 33, Eccleston Square, London, S.W. 1. 1919. « LUCERNE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR AND SOCIALIST CONFERENCE. Page. I. Resolutions on General Political Situation . . . . 3 A. Majority. B. Minority. C. Joint Resolution. II. Special Resolutions . . . . 10 i. Intervention in Russia. 2. Commission of Enquiry to Russia. 3. The Situation in Hungary. 4. The Prisoners of War. 5. The Massacres in Armenia. 6. The Balkans. 7. Corea. 8. Eastern Galicia. 9. Greece. 10. The Greek Occupation of Asia Minor. 11. India. 12. Bessarabia. 13. The Evacuation by German Troops of Lithuania and Lettland. 14. The Independence of Lettland. 15. The Independence of Lithuania. 16. Pogroms : Commission of Enquiry. 17. Polish Pogroms. III. Provisional Constitution of the International . . 16 I. Preamble. II. Rules. IV. Organisation of the Geneva Congress. . . 20 V. Countries and Delegates at Lucerne 21 Permanent Commission of Labour and Socialist International, Lucerne, lst-9th August, 1919. Text of Resolutions. I. THE GENERAL POLITICAL SITUATION. A. Majority. The International Socialist Conference meeting at Lucerne urges the Socialists in all lands to study, with a view to definite action, the political and economic problems and conditions created by the War. There exists to-day in the whole world a great struggle on the part of capitalism to retain a dominating authority in the sphere of politics and industry. The extent of this conflict is visible in all the great events of the moment — the Paris Conference, the intervention in Russia, the financial policies of the governments, high costs of living, &c. The International welcomes the splendid efforts being made by the working classes to transform capitalism into socialism and to prevent the old order of exploitation being again firmly founded upon Society ; in particular does it welcome with enthusiasm the new Socialist governments and claims for them internal political liberty and self-determination at the hands of the Associated Governments, and pledges to them the support of the International Working Class Movement. The International recognises that, in a world passing through the revolutionary conditions which must always follow upon war, new problems arise and old ones gain greater importance, and that therefore the International must make its position precise on some of these problems. In particular it must consider the forms of demo- cracy and representative institutions, the place of revolutions in the transformation of Society, the relations between industrial and political organisation and mass action, and it must prepare plans for socialisation in view of. the struggle upon which the world has now definitely entered between proletariat and capitalist power. The Conference therefore instructs the Acting Committee to prepare forth- with and circulate to the affiliated organisations, not later than one month before the Congress meets at Geneva, reports on these subjects. In every country the working-class knows that the best guarantee of peace is its own accession to power. It knows that a real and durable international peace cannot be established and maintained so long as the national policy of the countries is dominated by reactionary elements. Thus never has a situation been so characteristically revolutionary, never has there been a better opportunity to inaugurate a socialist regime which, suppressing capitalist exploitation, would ensure normal production and an equitable distribu- tion of natural wealth and the products of industry. The peoples should therefore utilise this occasion in order to bring about in the world as a whole such a measure of socialism and democracy as would make a return of all war impossible. * * * M The International welcomes the formal conclusion of peace by the signing of the Treaties o* Peace and regrets that so much delay has taken place by discussion. Only when all the Treaties necessary to terminate the war everywhere have been signed, can the work of the International be effective in the establishment of jlliternatioml concord and reparation for the new international injustices emanating ffdrri certain parts of these very Treaties. We must firstly extricate ourselves from the war. The International does not believe that all the smouldering embers of war will be extinguished by the mere signing of the peace treaties, but when the peoples cease to be threatened by the brute force of arms they will be able to strengthen their independence and endeavour to find the economic equilibrium disturbed by the War It is the duty of the Socialists in every country to be persevering in their work for a more wholesome diplomatic atmosphere by means of the establishment of a frank and public diplomacy and the creation of economic relations which will not oppose and exasperate national interests, but will harmonise them to such a degree that all peoples will gain from the collective wealth of the world. The International again expresses the view that the present treaties of peace are not such as to permit this work, and it therefore recommends all the constituent parties to take energetic action for the purpose of having these treaties made more favourable to the reconciliation of the peoples. It is obviously to the victorious peoples that it appeals for action upon their Governments. These Governments have retained powerfully organised military forces. They have consequently nothing to fear from immediate action by their former opponents. If they so desire, they may utilise for pacific ends and not for domination the League of Nations which they have created. Unless they do so, the peoples will compel them to adopt such a course. Through its Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hermann Muller, Germany has declared that it will make every effort within the limits of v/hat is possible to observe loyally the Treaty which it has signed. The International considers that these words are the necessary starting- point for new relations among the States of the world. They should tend to dissipate the atmosphere of mistrust created around Germany by the imperial masters who have lost the Central Empires. The International affirms that the continuance of such an attitude will impose a policy of moderation upon the victorious Govern- ments and will even facilitate the efforts being made by the International to secure a revision of the treaties. * * The International declares that the present League of Nations has the appear- ance of being an organisation of capitalist and bourgeois states. But it is the first effective international organ. It is a germ of the juridical organisation of the world destined to avoid resort to force for the solution of international disputes. The part which it will play will be more effective in the degree to winch it is pene- trated by Socialism. In the same way as proletarian effort tends to transform each capitalist state into a Socialist State, so the International will endeavour to trans- form this International Bourgeois State formed by the capitalist nations into an International Socialist State. Thus the League of Nations will the more successfullv fulfil its aim when each nation forming a part of it is more and more permeated with the spirit of Democracy and Socialism. But profound modifications in the present League of Nations should be immedi- ately brought about. 1. In order that the League of Nations may have real authority and that its decisions may be universally recognised, in order that it may not be merely an organ in the service of the great dominant nations, in short, so that it may be in truth and fact a League of Free Nations, equal in rights and in duties, it should include all peoples as they show by their democratic constitutions that they are ca,pable of keeping their engagements. 2. The present League of Nations is a League of Governments in which the peoples have no direct voice. The constitution of the League of Nations should be modified in order to form a veritable " World Parliament." 3. The Covenant still maintains the right to make war. The Articles ought to be revised, so that none may be able to escape from the arbitrations of a normally constituted League of Nations-, and so that rigorous sanctions may be established against peoples who violate engagements entered into. !. Hie Covenant by failing to prohibit the private manufacture of armaments and to institute a genuinely international control of armaments, and by being content merely to control German armaments alone, will lead to the indefinite maintenance of those armaments. The Covenant should be revised in the direction of total disarmament, the League of Nations should rigorously fix the maximum of armaments permitted to each nation, on land and sea, reducing them as far as possible. Consequently, the League of Nations should ask for the abridgement of the periods of military occupation. 5. In no respect whatever does the Covenant provide the organisation for the international payment of war debts, for foreign exchanges, and the inter- national supply of raw material, commercial tonnage, and transport. It is therefore important that the Supreme Economic Council of the Allies should be transformed into an Economic Council of the League of Nations, just as a General Conference for the Organisation of Labour has been constituted and will meet at Washington. This Council should be responsible for the rapid restoration of the economic life of the world, by eliminating protectionism, by organising credit and the liquidation of war debts internationally. It should also hasten the disappearance of the old economic antagonisms, whose renewal would constitute a permanent menace of new conflicts and an obstacle to a real League of Nations. 6. Finally the International demands an immediate convocation of the League of Nations, so that it may at once begin to take action. B. Minority. The International Socialist Conference, assembled in Lucerne, declares that it is the duty of the International, reconstituted after the war of Imperialisms, to unite in thought and action the working class and revolutionary forces of the whole world. It welcomes the splendid efforts of the working classes to transform the capitalist society into a socialist society and to prevent the re-establishment of the old order of exploitation ; it welcomes in particular the victories of the working classes which are in power, and demands freedom of action and self-determination for the Govern- ments which they have set up. It is the aim of the Conference to turn to account revolutionary situations created by the war, in order to gain and exercise political power everywhere for the realisation of socialism and the abolition of the classes. The Conference notes the duties imposed upon the working classes in face of the great events of the present time — the Peace Conference, intervention in Russia, the financial policy of the governments, the high cost of living. The Conference reserves for the next International Congress general questions of Socialist tactics, the respective value of democracy and dictatorship, the relations between the political and economic organisation of the working classes, but at the same time, it declares that it is only on the solid basis of the permanent principles of the International, that is to say, the class struggle pursued without compromise with the bourgeois parties and action vigorously conducted according to circum- stances, that an understanding destined to bear real fruit can be realised among all socialists throughout the world. The Conference declares that it is an absolute necessity that these principles be rigorously maintained, especially in times of revolution, in order that the develfcp- ment of the working classes should not be weakened by compromise with the •bour- geoisie. The Conference charges the Permanent Commission and the Acting Committee to prepare and present reports on these subjects to the affiliated organisations at least one month before the meeting of the Geneva Congress, and, at the same time, instruct them to act, according to circumstances, with the vigour imposed by the present revolutionary conditions, and when events demand it, to appeal not to the Governments, but to the People themselves. The Conference considers that its present duty is to pronounce clearly and vigorously on two questions ; the Peace Treaty, and the policy which is being pursued by the victorious nations with regard to the Governments of Russia and Hungary, as also with regard to other nations where Socialist Governments are already or are about to be established. B As regards the Peace Treaty, the Conference renews its declarations made at Berne and Amsterdam. It is a treaty imposed by the victors upon the vanquished. The conclusion of the war dictated by the States of the victorious Entente is capitalist and nationalist, similar to that which would have been imposed by the Central Empires — had these triumphed. In so far as it satisfies the claims of the democracies, it does so in such a way as not to give them the security they demand. Even the reparations and just national reconstitutions which it realises are thus vitiated. The victorious capitalist States have had no other wish than to exploit the victory with a view to enlarging the sources of profit for their ruling classes. The Conference denounces the violence committed by the Treaty against the self-determination of the peoples, and the policy by which the liberation of new nationalities only results in an increase of struggles and national hatreds and, con- sequently, in the perpetuation of world-wide insecurity and militarism. It condemns the exclusion of Germany, Austria and Russia, without which no League of Nations can exist ; in the organ which has been created it recognises nothing but a League of Governments, and urgently requests the Peoples and Parliaments to take action with a view to the revision of the Covenant in this respect. The detestable decisions relative to one-sided disarmament likewise prove that capitalism has no intention of destroying the causes of war, but remains, after the conflagra- tion, what it was before. Nevertheless, the Conference declares that, however necessary and urgent the revision of the clauses most contrary to justice may be to the peoples who are the victims of the Treaty of -Versailles or those which are to follow,, it cannot give to these peoples illusory hopes. The signal rebuff to the Wilsonian proposals at the Paris Conference is sufficient to prove that the capitalism of the Entente States is resolved to defend the fruits of its victory. Whilst declaring itself resolved to pursue with all the strength at its command, a revision of the Treaty on the basis indicated and, with this object in view, to employ all the means afforded it by the increasing strength of organised labour throughout the world, the Conference reminds all the oppressed — class, race, or nationality — that nothing but the universal triumph of Socialism will permit the reign of justice among nations as among individuals. It declares that in proportion as the working-classes achieve power and establish Socialist Governments, so justice will be done to the various nationalities. To hasten this moment, it asks that the Labour organisations of all countries should unite ; it deplores the divisions created by existing revolutionary conditions and offers its good offices for consultation and conciliation, so that the united front of capitalism will be everywhere opposed by the solid front of the working classes grouped on the basis of the principles of the International as set forth in this declara- tion. The Conference has heard communications from numerous new nationalities affirming their right to independence. It submits that the International has always recognised this right, provided that it is clearly expressed by the populations con- sulted in a regular manner. But whilst proclaiming the right of self-determination on the part of each nation, or section of a nation, it is the duty of the Conference to point out the dangers which may result from the Balkanisation of Europe and the world, from the excessive multiplication of small states without economic strength, without the means of culture and without resources for social progress, inevitably abandoned to the cupidity of the great capitalist States. It submits that, according to Marxist principles, the triumph of Socialism is only possible with a maximum development of all productive forces. It points out, as an example, the conclusions reached by the Balkan Socialists in 1&12 demanding the constitution of a Balkan Republican Federation as a necessarv complement of their independence and an indispensable guarantee of peace. Recalling the recent common decisions of the Socialist Parties of France, England and Italy, the Conference vigorously protests against the policy followed by the Allies with regard to Russia and Hungary. Without pronouncing on the methods of the Russian Bolsheviks, it states that there is no doubt that the hatred with which the capitalist governments have pursued them, has its origin in their effort to realise a social transformation which is the common aim of all socialists. It is, therefore, the duty of the International, whilst reserving questions of tactics for subsequent debate, to defend the Russian revolution, which, after having suffered violence at Brest Litovsk at the hands of Kaiserism and Pan Germanism, has now suffered violence at the hands of the capital- ist States of the Entente. The Conference protests against the military and financial support afforded the Allied 1 'owers to the Counter Revolution led by Tsarist agents such as Denikin and Koltchak, contrary to the unanimous wishes of the Russian Labour and Socialists organisations ; it denounces this action as a challenge to democracy and a threat the capitalist Government to all forms of Socialist Government. It protests with equal vigour against the outrage of which the Hungarian nation has been the victim, and stigmatizes the strangling of its Socialist Republic by the Roumanian oligarchy supported by the Entente, and the occupation of Budapest, effected by the new capitalist Holy Alliance without the shadow of a pretext. The Conference places all the moral force at its command at the disposition ni the Russian and Hungarian peoples, to whom foreigners have done violence. It renews its request to go to Russia and Hungary, as it has the right to do, in order t!> inform International Socialism and public opinion as to the facts of the revolution, and also as to the intrigues of the counter revolutionaries and those of foreign militarisms in Russia, of German militarism, as of the militarism of the Entente. It calls upon the working class organisations throughout the world to use all the means at their disposal to defend the Labour revolutions against the attempts 61 reaction. I. C. Joint Resolution. TERRITORIAL AND NATIONALITY QUESTIONS. The International notes that on some points the Treaty of Peace brings to an end the violences done to populations like Alsace-Lorraine, Sleswig, Poland. But the International points out that the Allied Governments, in the peace which they are now dictating, have far too often evaded the appropriate popular consultation either for the purpose of solemnly confirming solutions legitimate in themselves, or for solving problems disputed on historic or ethnic grounds. They have even created new injustices by deliberately depriving populations of the right of making their wishes known. They have reserved germs of new conflicts for the future, which will develop if the League of Nations is inactive, or inspired by the changeableness of imperialists or nationalists. This is the case with the following questions which have already been given definite solutions by the Treaty of Peace signed by Germany, solutions which must be revised : — 1. Compensations to France of the coal of the Saar Valley is legitimate, but nothing justifies either the system which deprives the inhabitants of the Saar of their rights of political sovereignity, or the announcement of a consultation on a certain date to prepare the way for its final separation from Germany and to bring about annexation by prolonged military occupation. 2. All limitations upon German-Austria's right to determine her future relations to Germany should be removed. 3. Permissions to the predominantly German and Ukrainian areas of Czecho- slovakia to determine their political future should be granted. 4. The same right should be accorded to the German districts of the Tyrol included within the new Italian frontiers. .">. The districts of Western Prussia predominantly German should be permitted to remain German, access to the Baltic being assured to Poland by the internationalisation of the Vistula and the making of a free port of Danzig, whose foreign relations should be under the control, not of Poland, but of the League of Nations, and whose internal affairs should be under its own control, not Poland's. (i. All the plebiscites provided for in the Treaties should be under the League of Nations and not under Inter- Allied Commissions. The provisions in the Annex to Article 88 of the Treaty, demanding the dissolution of work- men's and soldiers' councils before the plebiscites are begun, should be annulled. 7. In the Province of Shantung, the sovereign rights of China should be fully recognised and protected, and the arrangements which make the Allies the accomplices of the worst form of Imperialism, and which the League of Nations is asked to approve, should be cancelled. 8 The International rejoices at the re-birth of the independence of the new nations which are now breaking away from the domination of States to which they had been bound by force, in Austria and Russia for example. But the International declares that neither the Treaty of Peace nor the Covenant of the League of Nations officially recognises these new independent States, which are nevertheless the expression of the free will of the populations. All the social and political institutions "called into existence by the Young Republics, as in Armenia, Esthonia, and Georgia, in Lettland, Lithuania, and the Ukraine, are founded on broad democratic bases. The Governments of these Republics are so intimately and inseparably associ- ated with their populations that the Peace Conference has in fact been bound to recognise them. But this recognition still lacks an official character, and therefore these Republics are in the impossible position of being unable to establish normal international relations. They are therefore under the constant threat of an economic crisis. What is more, they and their political principles are perpetually threatened by the forces of counter-revolution. In Russia it is Koltchak and Denikin who threaten them, and they are grieved to see the great allied democracies lending assistance in money, in victuals, and munitions, to these execrable enterprises. , No policy will give security in the future which does not everywhere place confidence in the democratic forces and promote the independence of peoples. Doubtless, in the great movement of modern economic concentration, life will be difficult for these small peoples, all the more because the great centralised empi- cannot maintain themselves. But federations of already independent people, having identical or common interests, might be freely constituted, and the Inter- national sees in this principle of federation the means of both avoiding misunder- standings and of harmonising interests. The International formerly recommended a Balkan Federation. It is by such processes that the small nations will be able to escape from the grip of the Great Powers and amicably regulate their political and economic relations. In the League of Nations, in its most perfect form the supreme security for peace, these Federations will themselves become elements of equilibrium between the great forces which up till now have disputed among themselves for the world, and will ensure equality for the small peoples, too often the victims of the disputes or rival ambitions surrounding them. It is in this sense that the International urgently requests the Allied Govern- ments immediately and officially to recognise as independent States all the peopl- - which have expressed a wish to be free and to admit them as such into the League of Nations. The International demands that the Allied Governments should abandon the policy which consists in sacrificing these small peoples to the alliance of the European and Russian counter-revolutions. Finally, the International calls upon the working classes and their represen- tatives in the Parliaments, and in particular those of the Entente countries, to brin;.; pressure to bear upon their Governments to attain these ends. ECONOMIC. The treaties with Germany and Austria ought also to be revised in the following respects : — 1. Sums in reparation demanded of Germany should be fixed in the shortest time. 2. The total amount of the indemnities should not be so great as to have the result of depressing for a long time below the normal level the standard of life of the German workers. Such a policy would permanently and adversely react upon the wages and conditions of the workers in other countries. 3. Arrangements for reparation should not be made a means of annexation in disguise or a means of placing workers under a Government in which they have no share. The Saar Valley arrangements should be amended to assure France the necessary coal without placing the population under French rule, or preventing it from entering into any other union it mav desire. 9 4. The arrangements for securing payment (the Reparation Commission) should be made by the League of Nations, not merely by the Allies. 5. Germany's and Austria's access to raw materials and economic opportunities should be assured by definite provisions guaranteed by the League of Nations, and not left to the discretionary power of the victors and the present economic rivals of Germany. 6. Arrangements for the control of credit, shipping, food, raw materials, should be definitely entrusted to bodies in which all the late belligerent states should have representation under the League of Nations, instead of being, in fact, in the hands of bodies dominated by two or three of the chief allir> The principle governing the apportionment of the necessaries of life should be the degree of vital need, not the degree of capacity to pay. m 7. All economic provisions with reference to most favoured nation treatment, railroad transit, internationalisation of rivers, canals, in the Treaty should be made reciprocal, i.e., Germany and Austria should be included in their benefits as well as in their obligations. COLONIES. As regards Colonies, the International declares that upon the question of principle it maintains the point of view of past International Congresses on the right of indigenous populations and the illegitimacy of exploitation of colonies by the capitalism of the Great Powers. But since the colonial system continues to exist, the International declares that the Peace Conference ought not to have deprived Germany of its colonies. It is both an injustice and a mistake ; an injustice, because the other nations cannot very -well claim moral superiority for their administration ; a mistake, because they deprive Germany of the possibility of economic development at the very moment when certain parts of her territory have legitimately been taken from her and restored to their original national communion, and when heavy indemnities are being exacted from her for reparation of damage done. Taking account, however, of the actual situation created by the mandatory system adopted by the Peace Conference, the International declares that the follow- ing principles should be observed in every case on the revision of Article 19 of the Covenant : — 1. Equality of economic opportunity in all non-self-governing colonies should be assured under the League of Nations. 2. All such colonies and not merely the conquered German colonies should be subject to the mandatory principle. 3. The mandates should be granted by the League of Nations, not by the Allies. The conquered colonies should be ceded to the League of Nations, not to the Allies. 4. Germany should be afforded an opportunity to become a mandatory of her former colonies under the League of Nations. IO II. SPECIAL RESOLUTIONS, 1.— INTERVENTION IN RUSSIA. The Conference renews the former protests of the International formulated both by its Acting Committee and by its national sections against the intervention of the Allied Governments in Russia. It considers that the war having come to an end on the principal fronts, it is particularly mischievous not to endeavour to bring it to an end at all points where conflicts are still taking place. By maintaining troops against Russia, the Allied Governments violate in the most flagrant manner the right of the Russian people to dispose of themselves. If the International reserves for future debate examination of the methods of the revolutionary Dictatorship, it affirms that the capitalist Governments by their policy give every reason for declaring that they are only fighting Russia because it is in a state of revolution. They are thereby multiplying the reasons for civil war in Russia. It is, therefore, the duty of the International to defend the Russian working class, who after having suffered the violences of Kaiserism and of Pan-Germani at Brest-Litovsk, have now to submit to those of the capitalist States of the Entente. The Conference raises its protest against the military and financial help given to the counter-revolution led by Czarist agents like Denikin and Koltchak, con- trary to the unanimous wishes of all the Labour and Socialist organisations of Russia. It denounces the action as a challenge to democracy, and a threat of the capitalist Governments to all the Socialist Parties. The Conference protests against the maintenance of the blockade which leads to the starving of a hundred million human beings, driving them to despair to the profit of a counter-revolution which benefits from a systematic and exclusive re- victualling. The International relies upon the Socialist Parties to denounce and combat with all the means at their disposal the consequences of such an attitude, and it invites its sections to bring pressure to bear upon the allied Governments to with- draw their troops from Russia and to cease co-operation in any reactionary policy, whatsoever it may be. The Conference, therefore, puts all the moral force it possesses at the disposal of the Russian people outraged by the foreigner. It renews its request to go to Russia, as it has the right to do, in order to inform international socialism and public opinion of the facts of the revolutionary struggles, upon the differences between the Socialist Parties, on the intrigues of the counter-revolutionaries and of those foreign militarists in Russia, of German militarism, . as of the militarism of the Entente. 2.— COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY TO RUSSIA. The Conference renews its decision to send a Commission of Enquiry to Russia. It attaches special importance to this Commission seeking the causes of the differ- ences between the different Socialist parties, the origin of the oppressions, as well as the reasons for the conflicts between the Soviet Government and the Socialist Governments of the border States. The Conference relies upon the Soviet Government to co-operate with goodwill in the effort to attain a clear understanding which can and should be made by the International Commission, acting in an impartial and friendly spirit towards the Russian working class, for its own safety and well-being. 1 1 3.- THE SITUATION IN HUNGARY. rhe Conference is under the profound impression that the withdrawal of the i Lungarian Councils ( Government has been followed almost immediately by a counter- klutionary regime which has become master of the situation, not merely by rea.son the indulgence of the Entente and its armies, but actually owing to its active protection. In this fact, the Conferen< 3 the logical consequence of the policy followed by the Governments of the Entente after the armistice. At that moment, they ought to have declared that hostilities should cease \ where. As regards Koumania, they have tolerated the advance of its armies as if the settlement of the frontiers was to depend upon the military occupation of territory. They ought to have facilitated a political consultation of the Hungarian people which would have permitted the formation of a Government based upon the explicit desires of the people. To-day they are using the difficulties they themselves created as a pretext for aiding the counter-revolution and the re-establishment of the Hapsburgs. This is a crime against democracy. The Conference expresses its sympathy for the efforts of the Hungarian working classes in this great trial and for the struggles which are still before it. The Conference recalls the protests raised by the workers of all countries and especially by those of the Entente, against armed intervention. It therefore formally condemns, as a clear sign of their counter-revolutionary desires, this fresh act of the Allied Governments which has led to the advent to power of the Archduke Joseph. The Conference calls the attention of the international working classes to the fact that the Allied Governments, in their desire to bring to nought all revolutionary conquests, do not even hesitate at the restoration of the ancient dynasties which were responsible for the war. The leaders of the Paris Conference thus prove that their action is directed against any Socialist government, and against all working class power whatever the form under which it is exercised. The Conference invites the Socialist Parties to resist this system of political reaction with all their strength, and to work with a view to ending it by the estab- lishment of organised socialism. 4.— THE PRISONERS OF WAR. The Lucerne International Socialist Conference, considering that ten months after the signature of the armistice by all the belligerents and several weeks after the signature of the peace, there are still a million and a half combatants detained as prisoners or interned in several countries of Europe ; that of 800,000 German prisoners alone, 345,000 are detained by France, 200,000 by England, 50,000 by America, 50,000 by Belgium, and nearly 50,000 are in Serbia, in Roumania and in Siberia ; Considering that there are still more than 300,000 Russian soldier prisoners, of which there are 240,000 in Germany whom the Entente appears to be willing to hand over to Denikin and Koltchak for their reactionary enterprises, and 72,000 in France, who are largely volunteers who agreed to defend the cause of the Allies, for which many shed their blood, but are nevertheless treated as real prisoners ; con- sidering that among these prisoners, classed as Russian, a certain number belong to the uew states constituted by the frontier populations of old Russia ; Considering that one can reckon not less than 110,000 Bulgarian soldiers who are still prisoners, 80,000 in Macedonia, and 30,000 distributed among France, Serbia and Greece ; and that this small country exhausted by three successive wars, therefore, now finds itself cruelly deprived for nearly a vear and a half of a great part of its male manual labour; The Conference protests with indignation against this maintenance in a veritable state of slavery of a population of 1,500,000 human beings, whose conditions of life and work, terribly aggravated since the armistice, often do not admit the possi- bility of their communicating with their distressed families, who frequently cannot even discover whether their fathers, their sons or husbands are well or ill, whether they are even alive or dead, for such a situation can only perpetuate the atrocious national hatreds engendered by the war. 12 Considering that the necessary restoration of the regions of France devastated in a most horrible manner by German militarism, cannot be allowed to reduce to an ignominious slavery hundreds of thousands of men who have done their duty as combatants and whom capitalism shows a tendency to employ as strike-breakers against French workmen, but that such reparation should be rapidly and effectively guaranteed by free workers, whose labour should not enter into competition with, nor increase unemployment among, the inhabitants of the devastated regions already so cruelly tried by the war ; Considering that against all right and justice thousands of interned civilians are still detained in concentration ' camps ; The Conference declares : — 1. That all prisoners and interned civilians should be immediately repatriated ; 2. That it is the imperative duty of the socialists of all countries to use every means in their power with their respective governments to bring about their repatriation ; 3. That in countries where the relations between the governments are not yet re-established, the International Red Cross and the different local Red Cross Societies should be responsible for the transport of the prisoners and should have every facility offered them by the various governments ; 4. That the -wishes of the prisoners should be scrupulously respected, whether they ask to be returned to their own country, whatever the form of its • government, or whether they wish to remain provisionally in the country where they find themselves under the protection of the International Red Cross — and that no pressure or propaganda of any kind should be brought to bear upon them in order to induce them to join any armed force whatsoever. The Conference calls upon the Socialists of France, Great Britain and the United States to bring pressure to bear upon their Governments so that they may take the necessary steps for the immediate return to their country of the 55,000 Czecho- slovak prisoners now in Siberia. 5.-— THE MASSACRES IN ARMENIA. The International Conference, profoundly moved by the recommencement <>i the massacre of the Armenian populations, affirms the necessity of bringing this outrage to humanity to an end and declares that the duty of the Governments sitting at the Peace Conference, is to take all measures which may be useful to put an end to the system of barbarous and individual violence which is being perpetuated in the regions of the Caucasus. Until a stable situation is established and security can be guaranteed to all tin: inhabitants of these regions, without distinction of race or religion, the Conference asks the Allied Governments to maintain the British Army of Occupation in Armenia until the League of Nations decides in favour of its withdrawal. 6.— THE BALKANS. The Conference is in favour of a rapprochement among the Balkan peoples and their union in a federation of independent State> The frontiers of the federated States will be determined by the right of the Balkan nationalities and peoples to dispose of their own fate. This right will be expressed in a plebiscite under neutral control. The Conference is of opinion that, to-day more than ever, peace in the Balkans will only be re-established by the exercise of the free disposition of the peoples and that no peace, which is not based on these principles, can be lasting or salutary for the life of the Balkan peoples. Accepting these principles, the Conference appeals to all Socialists of the Balkans, that the peoples of these countries may live in concord and liberty and devote their strength in the future to Socialism. 13 7.— COREA. Airai; does at the unhampered free development of all peoples and the maintenance of a lasting peace of the world by creating a real League of Nations, including all peoples master of their own destiny, defending the rights and the interests of oppressed peoples and of subject races ; The International Socialist Conference in Lucerne protests against the bruta* violation of the rights of the Corean people and the foreign oppression by the Japanese Government, despite the unquestioned right of self-determination of the Corean people. The Conference invites the League of Nations to accept Corea as a member. The Conference declares itself in complete accord with the claims of Corea, which desires to be freed definitely from all foreign yoke and to be recognised as a free and independent state. 8.— EASTERN GALICIA. Considering : 1. That the Polish Government with the active moral and technical support of the Peace Conference and the Entente Powers, after a violent struggle with the Ukrainian army, has forcibly occupied Eastern Galicia ; 2. That the object of this war, directed against a country which, by the ad- mission of the Polish imperialists themselves, has a great Ukrainian majority, is the annexation of Eastern Galicia with its natural resources (naphta mines, &c.) under the pretext of historic rights ; 3. That, to our regret, these proceedings of the reactionary Polish Government have not met with adequate resistance on the part of the Polish democracy ; 4. That the regime introduced into Eastern Galicia by the reactionary Polish Government and the Military Representatives — a regime of terror and massacre accompanied by the complete prohibition of the Ukrainian Press and of all political as well as educational and economic institutions — must end in the complete ruin of the country and the suppression of the civil and political liberties of the Ukrainian population ; 5. That the mandate given by the Peace Conference to the Polish Government for the occupation of Eastern Galicia and the introduction of a Polish civil administration is in contradiction to every principle of justice, for it makes Poland both judge and jury ; 6 That all these acts are in flagrant contradiction with the fundamental principles of the International and the Berne resolutions against forced annexations ; The Lucerne ' International Labour and Socialist Conference protests against the policy of the Polish Government and the Entente Powers in Eastern Galicia, demands the immediate withdrawal of the Polish armies from that country, and insists upon the Ukraine-Polish boundaries in dispute being determined by the free will of the populations concerned. 9.— GREECE. The Conference calls the attention of the working classes of all countries to the present situation of the Greek proletariat. Greece is still in a stage of siege. Foreign troops occupy the country and all liberties are suppressed. Trade union leaders have been deported. In Attica all meetings are forbidden, even within doors. It is a " white terror " organised against the workers with the support of the armies of occupation. The Conference demands the instant liberation of the deportees, the immediate cessation of the state of siege, and the return to a normal political life throughout Greece. 10.— THE GREEK OCCUPATION OF ASIA MINOR. The Conference protests against the policy of the Entente in Asia Minor, and especially against the military occupation by troops of the Greek Government, in the pay of the Entente, of the town and vilayet of Smyrna, where the Turkish population is five times greater than the Greek. This occupation by force of arms, under conditions entirely contrary to the rights of peoples, and after the conclusion of the armistice, is likely to provoke Biost deplorable results in the Mussulman world, and arouse warlike passion and a spirit of revenge in all Anatolia. It is the first act in a general plan prepared by the greed of the Imperialist Allies for the cutting up of Asia Minor, and against which we protest in the name of the International. 14 11.— INDIA. This Conference declares itself against the capitalistic and imperialistic policy in India, which is hindering the progress of mankind. It greets the endeavours of the Indian population to obtain human rights and the right to order its fate through the establishment of democratic Governments. In accord with the British labour movement, the Conference declares that the ' Rowlatt Act," which has been passed against the will of the entire Indian popu- lation and their political representatives should be withdrawn immediately and that liberty of Press, of public speech and assembly should be secured. It demands also for the Indian working-class the right of direct representation in the Legislative Councils. As the extreme poverty and misery of the Indian working-class is the con- sequence of the exploitation of Indian Labour by the great Indian and English landowners and capitalists, which yearly exposes millions to death by famine and disease, the Conference is of opinion that the land and soil, railways and mines of India should be socialised. 12.— BESSARABIA. Considering : 1 . That the Province of Bessarabia has been annexed to Roumania by military force without any consultation of the people ; 2. That the annexation has been confirmed by the Germano- Roumanian Peace Treaty of Bucharest ; 3. That the Royal Government of Roumania has destroyed all public liberties in Bessarabia, and all democratic guarantees, as well as the institutions given to this province by the Russian Revolution of February 1017 : 4. That the Roumanian authorities in occupation ceaselessly persecute all the labour and socialist organisations — both professional and co-operative — in Bessarabia ; that, amongst others they have shot the peasants' deputies Katarosse, Roudieff, both members of the Constituent ; Panzir, Prach- nitzky, Tchoumatchenkis, Vranoff , members of the Diet of Bessarabia ; and Grinfeld, the Democratic Socialist deputy ; 5. That the Roumanian domination in Bessarabia maintains its position solely through terror and by the bloody repression of all manifestations of popular discontent ; Considering also the protestations of the Bessarabian Delegates, representing the Central Rural Committee (Council of Peasant-Deputies), the Peasant group of the Diet of Bessarabia and the Bessarabian Socialist Organisations, transmitted by the Russian delegation ; The Conference at Lucerne protests against the reign of Terror, against the atrocities committed by the Roumanian Government agents in Bessarabia, against the violent annexation of Bessarabia without consulting the wishes of the people, and demands, in conformity with the Berne resolutions, that a referendum should be taken in Bessarabia under the control of the League of Nations. 13.— THE EVACUATION BY GERMAN TROOPS OF LITHUANIA AND LETTLAND. In spite of all protestations and petitions for evacuation presented by the Socialist Party of Lettland, the German army of occupation has not yet left the territory. Indeed, according to latest information, fresh fully equipped divisions are constantly arriving. The demoralised force upholds reaction and the Baltic nobility, menaces the Lettland and Esthonian Republics, pillages the country, committing murders and acts of violence against the population. The sorely tried country will be menaced with yet another famine, if the evacua- tion of Lettland does not shortly take place. German troops are also occupying various parts of Lithuania. The International urges the German Socialists, as well as those of the Entente countries, to press their Governments for the evacuation of these troops from Lithuania and Lettland and to insist that no further recruiting or transport of troops shall take place with the object of reinforcing either the German army of occupation, the territorial Baltic army, or the troops of Denikin or of Koltchak. The International protests most energetically against the present state of affairs, which is a flagrant violation of the peace of Lithuania and of Lettland. 14.— THE INDEPENDENCE OF LETTLAND. The declaration of independence of the Lettish people is entirely in accordance with the decisions of Congresses of the International Congress on the right of peoples to free self-determination. The International Conference requests the Paris Conference and all the powers to recognise the independence of the Lettish People and Republic. 15.— THE INDEPENDENCE OF LITHUANIA. The declaration of the independence of the Lithuanian people is entirely in accordance with the decisions of Congresses of the International on the right of peoples to free self-determination. The International Conference requests the Paris Conference and all the Powers to recognise the independence of the Lithuanian People and Republic. 16.— POGROMS: COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY. The International Socialist Conference decides to send a Commission to enquire into the pogroms and persecutions directed against the Jews in Poland, Lithuania and the Ukraine. The Acting Committee will form this Commission and give to the Jewish, Polish and Ukrainian Socialist Parties representation therein. 17.— POLISH POGROMS. The Conference protests against the massacres and persecutions, of which the Jews have been the victims in Poland, in those districts of Lithuania now under military occupation by the Poles, and in the Ukraine. It requests New Poland not to allow her independence to be sullied by tolerating these crimes. It requests the Peace Conference, which is the guarantor of Polish independence, to advise Polish statesmen to pursue a policy eliminating any repetition of these horrible brutalities. It also invites the Polish Socialist Party to exercise vigorous intervention in order to lealise this earnest desire of the Conference. i6 III. THE INTERNATIONAL: PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION. (This provisional constitution, drafted by the Acting Committee, was approved by the Lucerne Conference, (August, 1919). The Conference decided that it should be put in force provisionally, and submitted to the Geneva Congress (Feb. 1920) for final sanction. Texts of further amendments should reach the Secretariat not later than January 1st, 1920.) I. PREAMBLE. The International is based on the following principles : — 1 . The political and economic organisation of the working class for the purpose of abolishing the capitalist form of society and achieving complete freedom for humanity through the conquest of political power and the socialisation of the means of production and exchange, that is to say, by the trans- formation of capitalist society into a collectivist or communist society. 2. The international union and action of the workers in the struggle against jingoism and imperialism and for the simultaneous suppression of militarism and armaments, with the object of bringing about a real League of Nations, including all peoples master of their own destiny, and maintaining world peace. 3. The representation and defence of the interests of oppressed peoples and subject races. These principles find three forms of expression in the working class movement, each at different stages of development, but each necessary : the political, the industrial, and the co-operative. These must, as autonomous bodies, continue to strengthen their national influence and their international unity, and at the same time, as their ultimate aims are common, and as they are aspects of one great world movement, they should take every opportunity for joint action in an internationalist and revolutionary spirit for the maintenance of the world's peace. II. RULES. 1.- — The International is a federation of national sections which include all the Labour and Socialist organisations of any state or nationality whose right to autonomy or independence has been recognised by the Congresses of the Inter- national, and which accept the principles contained in the preamble. 2. — The permanent organs of the International are : — (a) The Congress. (b) The International Council. (c) The Executive Committee. (d) The Secretariat. REPRESENTATION OF AND WITHIN NATIONAL SECTIONS. 3. — The national sections themselves decide, according to the Rules of the International, how they shall be represented in the various organs of the Inter- national. They will provide for the equitable representation of minorities. Any party or organisation, whether affiliated or not, may appeal from the decision of a national section to the International Council, whose decisions shall be final. *7 THE CONGRESS. 4. (a) The Congress shall be the supreme authority of the International. It shall establish principles for the guidance of the Executive and Council of the International and its affiliated parties and organisations. An affiliated organisation may notify the Executive Committee of any lapse from the principles of which another organisation may be guilty. The Executive Committee will make enquiry and refer the result to the next Congress or to a Congress which may be sitting at the time. (b) The Congress shall be composed of the delegates of the National Sections. Each affiliated National Section may send to a Congress six delegates or a number of delegates equal to twice the number of votes which have been assigned to it for the time being by the International Council. A section cannot be represented at a Congress by a member or members of another section. (c) The Congress shall meet regularly once every two years, and be convened by the Executive Committee, in agreement with the International Council. The Executive Committee may convene an Extraordinary Congress at any time, and is obliged to do so on a request made by sections carrying in the aggregate at least one-third of the votes represented in the Inter- national. A Biennial Congress shall be held in August, 1921. (d) Invitations to a Congress shall be sent by the Secretary of the International to the Secretaries of the affiliated National Sections, who shall be responsible for the distribution of the invitations in their respective countries. The names of the delegates to a Biennial Congress together with the delegation fees should be in the possession of the Secretary of the Inter- national at least one month before the Congress meets. Their credentials will be examined by the International Council, which shall meet for this purpose on the eve of the Congress and report on them. (e) Each National Section or the parties which constitute a National Section affiliated to the International are obliged to prepare a Report to each Biennial Congress on their activities since the previous Congress and send it to the Secretary so as to reach him not later than the ist June in the year in which the Biennial Congress meets. These reports shall be published by the International in French, German and English, and be circulated at the Congress. A Report of the Proceedings of each Congress shall be published in French, German and English. {/) Notices of resolutions for the Biennial Congress and nominations for the President, Treasurer, Secretary and the Executive shall reach the Secretary not later than the 15th February in the year of the Congress. (g) The agenda of the Congress shall be prepared by the International Council from the proposals made by the National Sections, and be issued forthwith to the National Sections. Further questions shall be placed on the Agenda only in agreement with the International Council or by the decision of the Congress itself. (h) The International Council may entrust the examination of any question on the agenda to a special Commission, whose report shall be distributed among the National Sections in good time before the Congress. The number of Committees which a Congress may appoint shall not exceed six. (i) An affiliated National Section in respect of which affiliation fees have not been paid up to and including the preceding financial year, shall not be admitted to a Biennial Congress. i8 THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL. 5. (a) The International Council continues the work of the Congress. It shall be composed of two delegates from each National Section, appointed by the National Sections themselves, and the members of the Executive Committee. (b) It shall meet at least twice in the interval between two Biennial Congresses, the first time in April, that is to say, eight months after a Congress, and the second time four months before the following Congress. But in the transition period preceding the Congress of August, 1921, the Council shall meet in August, 1920, and April, 1921. (c) Meetings of the Council shall be convened by the Secretarv, with the con- sent of the Executive Committee. Any National Section may propose questions for discussion by the Council. (d) Notices of proposals to be placed before the Council shall reach the Secre- tary not later than six weeks preceding the date for which the Council has been convened. Other questions may only be placed on the Agenda with the consent of the Executive Committee or the Council itself. (e) Four weeks before the Council meets the Secretary shall send the Agenda to the Secretaries of the National Sections. (/) The expenses of a member in attending meetings of the Council shall be met out of a common fund according to rules made by the International Council. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 6. {a) The Executive Committee shall be the administrative authority of the International, subject to the control and direction of the Council and Congress. (b) It shall be composed of the President, Secretary and Treasurer of the Inter- national and six other members. (c) It shall meet at least once every three months and shall report to the Council and Congress. (d) The travelling expenses of members of the Executive Committee shall be defrayed out of the funds of the International according to rules made by the Council. (e) The Secretary is the principal administrative officer of the International. He shall be a full time officer at a salary to be fixed by the Inter- national Council. He appoints his own staff. In a case of "force majeure " he may supersede the Executive in the execution of the resolutions of the Congress. He may, with the consent of the Executive, convene an administrative meeting of some, or all, of the national secretaries. (/) The Treasurer is the financial officer of the International. He shall present a statement of Income and Expenditure to each Biennial Congress. (g) The President presides over the meetings of the Executive and the Council, and at the opening session of the Congress. (h) The President, Secretary, and Treasurer and the six other members of the Executive Committee shall be elected by the Council meeting held during Congress. They may be chosen from any of the national sections. VOTING. 7. — Voting at meetings of the Congress and Council shall be by hand, but if three sections demand it, voting shall take place by National Sections according to a scale of votes ranging from 1 to 30 for a section. This scale shall be drawn up and periodically revised by the International Council. It shall have regard to :— (a) the number of paying members in relation to the number of inhabitants ; (b) the importance of the Nationality ; (c) the strength of the trades union, co-operative and political organisations ; (d) the political power of the Socialist or Labour Party or Parties. The allotment of votes within each section shall be determined by the sections themselves, but il there is disagreement, the International Council, whose decision shall be final, shall determine the allocation of the votes. l 9 PARLIAMENTARY MEETINt 8. — The Executive Committee may convene meetings of delegations or parlia- mentary groups. The Secretary shall act as inter-Parliamentary Secretary. PRESS. 9. — The Secretary shall establish in the Office of the International a Press Bureau which shall deal, especially, with the organisation and distribution of news tor the Labour and Socialist Press. It will also publish a Bulletin, in three languages, which shall appear at least once every three months, and shall distribute among the National Sections all the important documents of the affiliated i rganisations and of the parliamentary groups. Each National Section for its part shall undertake to publish at least every two months a Bulletin which will keep the organisations informed of events in the respective countries. » PERMANENT DELEGATES. 10.— The organisations situated at a great distance from the Office of the Inter- national may appoint permanent delegates, who should be consulted by the Executive Committee and the Secretary on all questions of interest to these organisations. 11. — The International Council shall have the right of appointing permanent e legates, who shall take part, in a consultative capacity, in the meetings of the Councils or central Committees of the national sections. These delegates should be members belonging to other national organisations than those to which they are accredited. FINANCE. 12. — The financial vear of the International shall end on the 31st December. Each National Section affiliated to the International shall contribute annually to the funds of the International not less than ^20 for each vote allotted to the section by the Council. These affiliation fees shall become payable on the 1st January each year. In order to meet the expense of organisation and the publication of the Report of Proceedings, a Congress delegation fee of £2 shall be paid in respect of each delegate to a Congress by the National Section which he represents. * 20 PROVISIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF VOTES, Argentine ... .... 12 Armenia 4 Australia 15 Belgium 15 Bolivia 2 Bulgaria 6 Canada 4 Chili 2 Czechoslovakia 15 Denmark v . . 10 Esthonia 2 Finland 8 France 30 Georgia 4 Germany 30 German-Austria 15 Great Britain 30 Greece 3 Holland 10 Hungary 10 Ireland 2 {Rule 7). Italy ., 24 Lettland 2 Lithuania 4 Luxembourg 1 Norway 8 Palestine 4 Peru Poland 10 Portugal 2 Roumania 2 Russia SO South Africa t* Spain t; Sweden 15 Switzerland 10 Ukraine 15 United States 39 Yougo-Slavia S 408 IV. ORGANISATION OF THE GENEVA CONGRESS. 1. — A General Congress shall be convoked in Geneva to open on the 2nd February, 1920, to which all national sections of the Labour and Socialist movement accepting the principles of the International shall be invited. 2. — The Congress shall be convoked on the basis of the Provisional Statutes adopted by the Permanent Commission at Lucerne. 3. — The Agenda shall be prepared from subjects of which notice has been given by National Sections in addition to the following : — (a) The adoption of the Constitution of the International. (b) Questions of responsibility. (c) General Policy of the International, including Peace, Democracy ver- Dictatorship, Socialisation, Labour Legislation. (d) The Organisation of the Press. 4. — Considering that the duty of the working classes is not only the acquisition of political power, but also its socialistic reorganisation, the Conference decides to appoint a Commission for the study of this question. At least two months before the next Congress, this Commission will transmit its report to the Secretary of the International for publication. 5. — A concurrent Conference of Parliamentary representatives of Socialist and Labour Parliamentary- Groups shall be organised with a view to the creation of a Permanent Commission of Labour and Socialist Parliamentary Groups, and to con- sider how joint action between Parliamentary Parties in the different countries may best be promoted through an exchange of information and the study of questions of common interest, and also to decide upon the steps which may be necessary for securing the universal adoption of decisions which have as their object the establishment of International Labour Standards. 6. — A concurrent Press Conference shall be organised, with special instructions to consider the question of the establishment of an international telegraphic agency. 21 V. * THE INTERNATIONAL: COUNTRIES AND DELEGATES. AT LUCERNE. AUGUST, 1919. Armenia Belgium Bulgaria Czechoslovakia Denmark Esthonia France Georgia German-Austria Germany Great Britain Holland Italy Lettland Lithuania Palestine Russia Sweden Ukraine Came too late Azerbeaidjan (Caucasus) Luxemburg Poland Roumania Varandian. Vandervelde and De Brouckere. Marcoff. Nemec and Smeral. Borgbjerg. Martna. Longuet, Cachin, Frossard, Mistral, and Renoult ; Renaudel, Poisson, Grumbach, and Severac. Tseretelli and Tschenkelli. Adler. Wels and Molkenbuhr ; Cohn, Bernstein, Crispien, Hilferding and Kautsky. Henderson and MacDonald. Troelstra and Vliegen. Canepa and Vercelloni. Seja and Kalnin. Galvanovski and Pajaujis. Kaplanski and Chasanovitch. Axelrod, Soukhomline, Roussanof, Sensinof, Tschoupak, and Gavronski. Engberg. Matiouchenko and Didouchok ; Hzuchevski and Issaievitch. Cheizamanoff. Blum and Francois. Moraszewski. 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