TUE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL.  185
and  Eccarius  for  the  Bethnal  Green  branch  in  London.  The
report  contains  a  remarkable  address  from  the  “  Italian  Committee ­
  for  the  Social  Revolution.”  This  address  gives  a
faithful  picture  of  the  peculiar  character  of  the  Socialist  movement ­
  in  Italy,  and  it  further  proves  that  it  is  not  well  to
exclude  such  a  movement  from  common  rights,  by  depriving
it  of  the  power  of  acting  openly.  The  address  contains  the
following  extracts  :—“  The  Italian  masses,  being  inclined  to
conspiracy,  accept  the  International  only  with  great  distrust
.  .  .  this  organization  in  the  light  of  day  is  absurd.  .  .  .
Freedom  of  speech,  the  right  of  assembly,  liberty  of  the  press,
and  all  the  other  liberties  inscribed  on  the  Italian  Statute-book,
are  so  many  snares  of  which  our  enemies  know  how  to  make
use.  Therefore,  from  all  parts  the  demand  arises  for  a  radical
change  of  system,  and  already  a  vast  and  solid  revolutionary
Socialist  conspiracy  is  beginning  to  push  its  roots  down  to  the
lowest  stratum  of  the  Italian  proletariat.  .  .  .  Wholesale  suppression, ­
  decreed  by  the  government,  has  led  us  to  an  absolutely ­
  secret  conspiracy.  As  this  organization  is  far  superior
to  the  former  one,  we  may  congratulate  ourselves  that  persecutions ­
  have  put  an  end  to  the  public  International.  We  shall
continue  to  march  along  the  secret  path  that  we  have  adopted,
as  the  only  one  which  can  lead  us  to  our  final  goal,  the  Social
revolution.”  Suppression  tried  in  Germany  has  had  similar
results.  Socialism,  instead  of  acting  openly,  has  been  transformed ­
  into  a  conspiracy,  the  advance  of  which  is  equally
rapid,  as  the  recent  elections  have  shown,  and  the  danger  of
which  is  far  more  real.  Liberty  has  a  double  advantage  :  it
soon  reveals  the  impotence  and  the  nothingness  of  false
doctrines  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  warns  Conservatives  to
keep  on  their  guard  and  to  introduce  reforms  demanded  by
justice  and  the  general  weal.
The  eighth  congress,  which  met  at  Berne,  on  the  26th
October,  1876,  was  no  more  International  than  the  preceding.
It  was  composed  almost  exclusively  of  delegates  from  the
Federation  of  the  Jura,  to  whom  were  added  a  Belgian,  two
Spaniards,  two  Frenchmen,  and  some  Italians.  The  reports
from  the  different  countries  stated  that  the  International  saw