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Special pages :
Mandate of the Lausanne Workers' Association for Frederick Engels
| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 8 December 1848 |
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 8
Brother,
Because of the impossibility of sending a delegate we have elected you to represent us at the Workers’ Congress in Berne[1]; as an old fighter for the proletariat you will certainly not fail in your task here either, although you will have to deal in this case not with bourgeois and other sordid souls, for it is only proletarians whom you will have to act with and for; accordingly, we tell you briefly our wishes regarding a central association.
1) The purpose of the united associations must be:
a. Foundation of a central association and a central treasury.
b. Social and political education of the workers.
c. To establish contact with the German Workers’ Committee in Leipzig,[2] in order chiefly to strengthen the links between the workers.
2) The duty of the elected central association must be:
a. To establish contact with the Workers’ Committee in Leipzig.
b. To facilitate correspondence, mainly to distribute the paper ( Verbrüderung) issued by the Central Committee.
c. To administer the central treasury and to render its accounts every six months.
d. Immediately to inform the fraternal associations of all important events.
3) Duties of the fraternal associations to each other and to the central association:
a. Every member pays a contribution of at most 1 batz[3] per month, while the exchange of letters is always conducted not pre-paid by either side.
b. Every branch association must issue cards to its members.
c. Every member holding a card has free entry into every association, but the card must be signed by the president of the last association of which he was a member.
Concerning our choice: As before we think that the Berne Association is the most suitable one.In case our last circular should be discussed: it was purely the consequence of the fact that already this summer we had nominated the Berne Association to be the Central Association, but since we had no information at all on the state of affairs, we called a meeting here which decided on the above circular. We have rejected the contribution of V2 batz per week because it would lead to a reduction in the number of members and thus the income would not be much higher.
In the name of the forty-one members of the Association
Greetings and handshake
G. Schneeberger
Bangert
Chr. Haaf
Lausanne, 8.12.1848
- ↑ The First Congress of German Workers' Associations and Democratic Organisations of Switzerland was held in Berne on December 9-11, 1848. On the work of the Congress and Engels' participation in it see Note 175.
- ↑ The reference is to the Central Committee of German Workers in Leipzig (see Note 199).
- ↑ A Swiss coin, equal to 30-32 pfennigs.— Ed.