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@Montagut | On February 1, 1891, the first elections with universal suffrage were held after the reform promoted by the liberals of Sagasta and the PSOE presented itself to them. This article is about the message that the National Committee of the Socialist Party addressed to the workers on the eve of these elections, where its program was summarized, and there was great emphasis on presenting the Republicans as class enemies. Said manifesto was signed on January 22, and was published in The Socialist on January 30th.
As approved at the Bilbao Congress, the Party had decided to go to the elections. The first purpose for the “electoral struggle” was to agitate the mass of workers, to clearly state the division that existed between exploiters and exploited, and to unite the forces that were happy to seize power in order to destroy the privileges of the bourgeoisie and achieve the emancipation of the working class. The socialists were actually aware of their weakness, and did not contemplate the possibility at that time of obtaining a minority in parliament, “because it was still early.”
The first purpose for the “electoral struggle” was to agitate the mass of workers, to clearly state the division that existed between exploiters and exploited.
Given these objectives, and in line with what was defended from the beginning, the PSOE did not contemplate an electoral alliance with the republican parties, those known as “advanced parties” because they represented the bourgeoisie, and despite the fact that within Spanish socialism there were sectors defending a rapprochement that, as is well known, did not occur until the aftermath of the Tragic Week. The manifesto was clear in expressing that no matter what the Republicans said, or their supposed appearances, they were nothing more than “defenders of the capitalist class”surely in reference to the federals, the Republicans most concerned about the social issue. They would be the defenders of individual ownership of the means of production that caused the slavery of the majority of people through the purchase of the working force for a salary, that is, the maintenance of the system.
Next, the socialists recalled the situation of the workers in Spain at the beginning of the last decade of the 19th century, which they considered had worsened, wondering what the monarchists had done to improve it, but the republicans would not have contributed much either. For neither of the two political spheres, the working class was of much interest, since their concerns were always aimed at solving the problems of the capitalist class. The Manifesto continued charging against the republicansthe main rivals, in reality, in the fight for the workers’ vote, since they were accused of not having fought in parliament the repressive measures of power towards the workers, especially in the face of strikes. They were also criticized because the Republicans had described socialist principles as “utopian, absurd and absurd,” in addition to launching all kinds of insults and slander against the representatives of the Socialist Party.
The Manifesto intended to make it very clear to the workers that the solution was not to vote for the Republicans, but rather to group around a workers’ party.
But the PSOE candidates would represent the organization and immediate improvement of the working class, and their emancipation as soon as possible. To achieve all this the socialist program was the following:
– Fight through legal means to expand the political rights of the working class.
– Fight with the same means to expand protective labor legislation as stipulated in the Second International in the Paris Congress, as well as, in favor of other measures such as the establishment of a minimum wage and an equal salary for male and female workers, as stated in the PSOE program.
– In relation to economic emancipation, the aim was for the working class to conquer power so that, using it, they could transform the means of production into social property, “common or collective”, because it was the only way to abolish classes and May solidarity and harmony triumph.
As we see, the Manifesto intended to make it very clear to the workers that the solution was not to vote for the Republicans, but rather to group around a workers’ party that defended their interests, and this was insisted on in the final part of the text.
#PSOE #workers #approval #universal #suffrage
