INTERNATIONAL WORKING MEN'S ASSOCIATION

Collection of press cuttings concerning the IWMA's 4th congress, said to be made by Robert Applegarth.

The International Working Men's Association (IWMA) was formed in September 1864. Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a central figure in the IWMA, and wrote any of its early resolutions, declarations and manifestos. One of the IWMA's founders was the trade unionist Sir William Cremer (1828-1908), who was secretary of the British section of the IWMA until he resigned following a dispute with another leader. The anarchist Prince Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) was also a member. The General Rules of the International Working Men's Association written in October 1864 that the IWMA would strive towards the: '...the emancipation of the working classes and the abolition of all class rule; That the economical subjection of the man of labor to the monopolizer of the means of labor that is, the source of life lies at the bottom of servitude in all its forms' The IWMA had therefore been formed to: '...afford a central medium of communication and co-operation between workingmen's societies existing in different countries and aiming at the same end; viz., the protection, advancement, and complete emancipation of the working classes'. A General Working Men's Congress of the IWMA met annually, consisting of delegates of the branches of the Association. The Congress will: '...have to proclaim the common aspirations of the working class, take the measures required for the successful working of the International Association, and appoint the General Council of the society'. Robert Applegarth (1834-1924)

Applegarth was born in Kingston-upon-Hull, the son of a mariner. In 1854 he went to the USA, and spent some time at Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois. Applegarth was a member of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners from the first, and also General Secretary of the Society 1862-1871. He was a member of the Sheffield No. 1 Branch of the ASC and Joiners. Applegarth was also a member of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the CD Acts, the first workman so appointed. He was a member of the Reform League, of the London General Council of the International Working Men's Association, and a delegate to the fourth annual Congress of the IWMA at Basle in 1869. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), he was a war correspondent, writing for the Sheffield Independent, the Scotsman and the New York World.

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