struggle of the workers. The unions and the party have, therefore, an equally important task to perform in the struggle for proletarian emancipation. Each of the two organizations has its distinct domain, defined by its nature, and within whose borders it should enjoy independent control of its lines of action, but there is an ever-widening domain in the proletarian struggle of the classes in which they can reap advantages only by concerted action and by co-operation between the party and the trade unions.

"As a consequence, the proletarian struggle would be car ried on more successfully and with more important results if the relations between unions and the party are strengthened without infringing the necessary unity of the trade unions.

"The Congress declares that it is to the interest of the working class in every country that close and permanent relations should be established between the unions and the party.

"It is the duty of the party and of the trade unions to render moral support the one to the other and to make use only of those means which may help forward the emancipation of the proletariat. When divergent opinions arise between the two organizations as to the effectiveness of certain tactics they should arrive by discussion at an agreement. "The unions will not fully perform their duty in the struggle for the emancipation of the workers unless a thoroughly Socialist spirit inspires their policy. It is the duty of the party to help the unions in their work of raising the workers and of ameliorating their social conditions. In its parliamentary action, the party must vigorously support the demands of the unions.

"The Congress declares that the development of the capitalist system of production, the increased concentration of the means of production, the growing alliance of the employers, the increasing dependence of particular trades upon the totality of bourgeois society, would reduce trade unions to impotency if, concerning themselves about nothing more than trade interests, they took their stand on corporate selfishness and admitted the theory of harmony of interests between capital and labor.

"The Congress is of the opinion that the unions will be able more successfully to carry on their struggle against

exploitation and oppression, in proportion as their organizations are more unified, as their benefit system is improved, as the funds necessary for their struggle are better supplied, and as their members gain a clearer conception of economie relations and conditions, and are inspired by the Socialist ideal with greater enthusiasm and devotion."

The attitude of the Socialists during and after the War will be treated in a later chapter in connection with the Spartacide

movement.

CHAPTER III

Socialism and Labor in Italy *

The Socialist Party was rather late in taking form in Italy as compared with Germany, Belgium and Denmark, but it was very quickly organized and became extremely powerful, owing to the fact that it not only joined forces with and helped to organize the industrial worker, but also helped to form unions among the peasants in a way that was unknown either in Germany or in France. This led to a very early development of co-operative societies in which the peasant unions played a very important part. These peasant organizations were not only economic and political but had strong leanings from the beginning toward Republicanism, which was engineered very quickly into Socialism. The leader in this peasant movement was Enrico Ferri.

These unions were among the first to establish special banks, which facilitated agricultural operations on a large scale. The industrial workers developed very much in the French manner, meeting in labor chambers or local centers which were called "Camere di Lavoro." These workmen's organizations were often under the protection of local municipal officials, and this added to the ease with which they were organized and developed.

In

The Socialist Party, almost from the beginning, directed the political action of both the industrial and peasant branches. The Socialist vote is reckoned as having grown from about 26,000 in 1902 to 320,000 in 1904 in the parliamentary elections. the city elections the domination of the Socialists has been remarkable even in the largest cities. Socialist propaganda in Italy is not so much carried on in literary and journalistic forms in the north, as it is through the efforts of brilliant orators.

Between 1880 and 1900 the Socialists became divided into three sections or parties; the first, under the direction of Ferri, which was opportunist in character; the second, under the direction of Turati, whose program was distinctly Marxian, and who exercised the strongest influence among the intellectual classes, and especially in the north of Italy; the third party, led by Labriola, which was far more violent and revolutionary in its program and did not take much account of parliamentary methods, and which was supported by the Syndicalists.

The Italian parties are naturally rather extreme in their expressions of opinion and the differences among the three factions for a long time prevented unity of program, but more and more influence was gained by the radical section until it became evident, long before the war, that the Italian Socialist Party as a party would be defeatist.

The trade union membership in Italy in 1912 was already close to 1,000,000, larger in proportion to the population than that of France. The struggles between the groups were shown at the various congresses. In 1906 the Syndicalists and the Socialists had a bitter fight, the Moderates winning by about five to one. Shortly afterward Labriola resigned and formed a separate group. At the Congress of Rome in 1910 the Reformist Party, led by Turati, obtained a large majority against both the Radical Revolutionists, headed by Lazzari, and the Integralists, headed by Ferri. At the time of the war in Tripoli (1912) the party took a decided stand against the war, expelling one of its important leaders, Bissolati, and forecasting its action in 1914.

During the year before the war, in 1913, after the extension of the franchise, the Socialist Party obtained 960,000 votes, while the new moderate wing recently formed by Bissolati and his friends, called the Socialist Reformist Party, had 200,000 votes. The proportion of the total votes cast for the Socialists represented about one-quarter, as compared with more recent votes after the war, which total about one-third of the whole electorate. Notwithstanding the increased radicalism of the party as a whole, the labor elements in Italy remained in alliance with it.

The activities of the Socialist Party in Italy, its attitude toward the war, and toward the Bolsheviki, have many points of contact with past and possible conditions in the United States.

Was the Italian Socialist Party loyal to its government during the war, when Italian independence was in danger of being destroyed by the invasion of the Central Powers?

The answer is that it was not. It betrayed its country in every way possible.

The Socialist Party issued an official manifesto at the opening of the war in which it opposed the war and urged the soldiers to throw down their arms and go home. This was in 1915. The Socialists organized an elaborate defeatest campaign in the army, by leaflets and pamphlets and personal propaganda. As a result of this came the so-called Caporetto disaster, which nearly re

sulted in Italy's conquest. The Austrian and German armies penetrated through gaps left open for them by Socialized Italian regiments. Even after the popular national revolution and stiffening of patriotic resolve, the Socialist Party again issued another defeatist manifesto against the war.

The official statements of the Italian government, in and out of parliamentary debate, admit that this Socialist treachery almost brought about Italy's downfall. The theoretical Socialist opposition to war was, therefore, in Italy's case, inexorably carried out in practice.

The attitude of the Italian Socialists toward Lenin and Trotzky has been one of consistent approval and co-operation. The propaganda in the army was modelled on that of the Bolshe viki to disrupt the Russian army's morale, discipline and patriotism. Their efforts since the war have turned in the direction of gaining control of labor and of bringing on mass strikes. They planned a universal strike throughout Italy on July 20-21, 1919, to protest against interfering with the Bolsheviki in Russia and Hungary. They celebrated, on November 7, 1919, the anniversary of the Bolshevist revolution in Russia, by demonstrations in the principal cities of Italy. The extraordinary success of the Socialist candidates at the polls, due largely to the discontent with the high cost of living, has made the party a formidable element in the Italian Chamber.

It is generally considered that as a party the Italian Socialists approach more closely to the Bolshevik type than any other European section of the party. There must be a certain reaction of this attitude in that of the Italians in this country who have Socialist sympathies.

"The Italian Socialist Party was the first Socialist Party of power and influence to ally itself with the Third (Moscow) International, and which openly endorsed the program and manifesto of the Moscow Conference. This important step was taken by the National Executive Committee of the party which met in March, 1919, at Milan, by a vote of ten to three, and which was later endorsed by an overwhelming vote at the National Convention of the party. At the previous convention, the party decided to withdraw from the International Socialist Bureau and declined to send delegates to the Berne International Conference. The National Executive Committee later decided, however, to send two of its members to Berne to observe the activities of the