At the same time, they stated their willingness to talk over matters with the Russian unions. To this the Executive Committee of the Russian trade unions answered that they were ready to talk with the Amsterdam International and even to propose to talk seriously on the question of a United Front, the struggle against Fascism, etc. They received an answer over the signature of Oudegeest (they have their left and right hand and when it is necessary to sign something especially reformistic in character, it is signed by Oudegeest) in which he said that the proposal of the Executive Committee of the Russian Unions would be discussed by the Amsterdam International at the beginning of August and that they wished to know if the Russian unions are speaking in their own name or in the name of the Red International of Labor Unions. As to the conference of the Transport Workers, it is further stated, the International Federation of Trade Unions does not take any responsibility for its decisions.
The Central Committee of the Russian Unions in its letter to the Amsterdamers mentioned the conference of the transport workers and stated its willingness to come to such agreements in other industries as well. But the pressure of the reformists was so great that they succeeded in the recent (August) council of the International Transport Workers in passing a resolution which states that on one hand the United Front is a good thing, but that on the other hand it is necessary that this question shall be discussed by the Amsterdam International. It is natural that when one says, "On the one hand—yet on the other," there is neither head nor tail to it. In this case it happens that although the decisions adopted by the Berlin Conference are recognized in principle by the Federation of Transport Workers, in practice they have not been applied at all.
We decided, for instance, to create international committees of action, but the reformists went no further than "in principle." It is known that Henry the Fourth had a wish that every peasant should have a chicken for dinner, but out of this wish "in principle," the French peasant not only had no chicken but not even black bread. Such principles don't mean anything.
Anyhow, the Amsterdamers succeeded in stopping that which we began. It is quite possible that we, the representatives of the Russian trade unions will have to meet again with the representatives of the Amsterdam International, because the pressure from below for a United Front is so great that the reformists willy-nilly shall be forced to come to agreement with us.
We may consider as a strong pressure the decision of the last Belgian trade union convention which ended the first day of August. At this Convention a resolution was adopted which instructs the central bureau to defend the United Front in the Amsterdam International. If
