The Political Situation
Committee were not willing to act, or could not act, the Conference would take place without them. The members of the Dutch Delegation, on receiving this letter, and without waiting to obtain the opinion of their Belgian colleagues, decided to set out for Stockholm. They went via Germany. Huysmans, who signed on as a steward on a Dutch boat, was not long in joining them, and installed the secretary's office of the B.S.I, in the Trade Union House of the Socialist Party of Sweden.
Immediately, Hjalmar Branting, the Swedish Socialist leader, insisted that the convoking of a full Conference should not be left to the sole initiative of the Dutch Delegation. A convocation by the International Socialist Bureau was not possible, since the permanent members of the Executive Committee could not meet. They finally decided, in agreement with the Norwegians and the Danes, to create the Dutch-Scandinavian Committee, with the right of calling a full meeting of the International as soon as possible.
In the meantime our delegation went to Stockholm and got into touch with the
211
