232

THE  SOCIALISM  OF  TO-DAY.

in  large  factories,  the  Alliance  made  rapid  conquests  there.
At  one  time,  as  the  result  of  successful  insurrections,  it  had
several  large  towns  in  its  hands,  but  it  soon  succumbed  in  the
midst  of  the  disorder  and  anarchy  it  had  created.  Up  to
about  1867,  the  labour  movement,  directed  by  the  newspaper
the  Obrero,  was  in  no  way  revolutionary;  it  aimed  at  the
establishment  of  societies  for  mutual  aid,  for  savings,  and  for
production.  After  the  overthrow  of  the  throne  of  Isabella  the
International  sent  delegates  to  Spain,  who  were  well  received.
On  the  2ist  of  October,  1868,  the  general  council  addressed
a  manifesto  to  the  Spanish  working  men,  urging  them  to
demand  social  reforms.  “  Without  economic  equality,”  it  said,
“the  political  liberty  offered  you  is  a  snare.  Without  the
overthrow  of  existing  civil  institutions,  even  the  republic  will
profit  you  nothing.  What  you  must  aim  at  is  the  social
revolution.”  At  the  congress  of  the  International,  which  met
at  Brussels,  a  Spanish  delegate.  Sarro  Magadan,  of  Barcelona,
was  present.  On  the  2nd  of  March,  1867,  in  this  great  industrial ­
  town,  the  first  section  was  founded,  and  a  newspaper,  the
Federación,  published.  Soon  a  central  section  was  established
at  Madrid.  The  principal  leaders  were  Morago  and  Francesco
Mora,  who  also  edited  a  newspaper.  La  Solidaridad.  The
police  commenced  prosecutions  ;  but  nevertheless,  the  number
of  the  sections  rapidly  increased,  and  at  the  close  of  1869
there  were  195  of  them,  with  more  than  twenty  thousand
members.*  Curiously  enough,  a  very  active  section  was
established  at  Palma,  in  the  island  of  Majorca,  with  its  organ.
La  yusticia  Sociale.  The  agricultural  labourers  took  part  in
the  movement,  and  formed  groups,  especially  in  Andalusia,
where  the  latifundia  exclude  the  cultivators  from  the  possession ­
  of  the  land,  and  reduce  them  to  an  insufficient  wage.
In  February,  1872,  the  minister  Sagasta,  frightened  at  the
*  yisiting  Spain  in  1869,  I  was  present  at  several  sittings  of  these
Socialistic  clubs.  They  were  usually  held  in  churches  erected  for  religious
worship,  r  rom  the  pulpit,  the  orators  attacked  all  that  had  been  previously
venerated  there:  God,  religion,  the  priests,  the  rich.  The  speeches  were  at
white  heat,  but  the  listeners  remained  calm.  Many  women  were  seated  on
the  floor,  working,  suckling  their  babes,  and  listening  attentively,  as  to  a
sermon.  It  was  the  very  picture  of  ’93.