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bility which the first really International Executive body had assumed at a time when highly important processes of development were going on in many countries, in countries of great significance for the modern labour movement. We take it for granted that between Congresses the International Executive Committee possesses decisive power. But we also felt that, whenever important questions arise, and if there are any possibilities of doing so, it is the duty of the Executive Committee to appeal to the Congress as the source of all our decisions. And in view of the fact that we have problems of prime importance to solve in a number of countries, we were of the opinion that, since the possibility existed, it was our duty to assemble the World Congress at the earliest possible moment, and have it decide on these momentous questions.
I shall now submit, comrades, a number of statistics concerning the activities of our Executive Committee. Hardly 11 months have passed since our Second Congress. During this period the Executive Committee held 31 sessions and discussed 196 questions; 128 of these were purely political, the remainder were of an organisational nature. Our best connections were with Germany, and it was just in that country that the development within the labour movement was of greatest significance. Germany appeared on the agenda of the Executive Committee 21 times during the period mentioned, Italy 12 times, America 12, England 9, Roumania 12, Checho-Slovakia 10, France 7, Bulgaria 7, and the Near and Far East 10. Then there were other countries which appeared 2, 3, or 4 times on the agenda. I also desire to point out that, as most of you know, we had a Small Bureau besides the Executive, consisting of 7 comrades, which met even more frequently than the Executive—about twice as often. We received a great number of visitors from various countries during this year. In this respect we have less to com-
