with the development, organization and exploitation of their national resources or the reformation of their political institutions, in other words: the modern capitalist mode of production was still in its infancy—in its embryonic state.
However, one historic fact loomed forth portentously in all these countries, namely: that in proportion as the capitalist mode of production slowly cast off its swaddling clothes and grew into a vigorous specimen, so the class-consciousness of the exploited masses showed signs of awakening and development. Indications of a growing unrest amongst the workers were visible everywhere. In England the remnants of the Chartist organization were ably assisting in the building up of the trades-unions; factory legislation, regulating the hours of employment and particularly child labor, was the first direct product of this agitation and growing consciousness. In Germany Ferdinand Lassalle was sounding the tocsin of proletarian action along class lines; and in France the activity of the workers' organizations, particularly in Paris, Lyons and other industrial centers, clearly betrayed an ever growing spirit of working-class solidarity.
This growing solidarity amongst the workers was stimulated and urged on to a more concrete manifestation, through the growing friendship and fraternal relations between the capitalists of various countries, an illustration of which was given at the second Universal Exhibition, held in London in 1862. This exhibition brought together a large number of business men and manufacturers from every nook and corner of the globe. And here, at receptions and banquets, the acquaintances were developed and the relations between the exploiters of the world solidified to such an extent that the exhibition became to be known amongst workingmen as the "International of the bourgeoisie." The supplement to this "International" was born, when on September 28th, 1864, workers' representatives from England, France, Germany, Poland and Italy gathered in St. Martin's Hall, London, and upon the proposal of the French
