The International Workingmen's Association, 1872
Written: in Spanish;
Translated: by Richard Dixon & Alex Miller, for Progress Publishers, 1976.
Transcribed: by [email protected].
Great as is the duty which we all have to work with all our strength so that the proletariat, of which the form a part, will triumph in the struggle against those who usurp property and the fruit of its labour; great as is the duty, we repeat, which we all have to expose and frustrate the manoeuvres of those who are bent on destroying the might of our organisation by all means at their disposal, much greater is the duty which you have, you who have the eminent honour to be the representatives of a large part of the proletariat fighting in the revolutionary ranks of our Association.
If, as we do not doubt, you have the character, if you have the courage, if, finally, you have the determination, to leave aside sympathies and antipathies (which, in the final account, are petty if you consider the mission with which you have been entrusted) to go straight to the main objective, which is to make our organisation greater and greater, to reorganise it so that it can better achieve its aim and while giving us immense strength it may also be practically effective -- a condition without which we shall have accomplished nothing -- then we shall say that you have fulfilled your duty and have fulfilled it with credit.
At present, one of the most dangerous things for our dear Association is the so-called Alliance of Socialist Democracy: by its secret manoeuvres as much as by its public calumny; by the efforts it has made to divide us as much as by the intrigues it has used.
For this reason you must have sufficient energy, taking into account the facts and proofs which you have against it, to expel from our midst those who inspire it, that band of sectarians who have infiltrated into our Association to disorganise and vilify it, utilising for this men with great influence, the most active elements in all countries, who up to the present time have been their accomplices, sometimes without even knowing it.
It is not contemplation, comrades, it is energy, great energy, that is necessary to come to a decision, for on this depends the future of the International.
Accept fraternal salutations, dear comrades, from this New Madrid Federation, which wishes you success and social liquidation and concludes with the call:
Long live the International Working Men's Association!
In the name of the New Madrid Federation,
Madrid, September 1, 1872
The secretary for external affairs,
Victor Pagés