The working-men of Europe, not excepting Germany, respond to the mandate of Philosophy, and insist that the War System shall be abolished. At public meetings, in formal resolutions and addresses, they have declared war against War, and they will not be silenced. This is not the first time that working-men have made themselves heard for international justice. I cannot forget, that, while Slavery was waging war against our nation, the working-men of Belgium in public meeting protested against that precocious Proclamation of Belligerent Rights by which the British Government gave such impulse to the Rebellion; and now, in the same spirit, and for the sake of true peace, they declare themselves against that War System by which the peace of nations is placed in such constant jeopardy. They are right; for nobody suffers in war as the working-man, whether in property or in person. For him war is a ravening monster, devouring his substance, and changing him from citizen to military serf. As victim of the War System he is entitled to be heard. The working-men of different countries have been organizing in societies, of which it is difficult at present to tell the number and extent. It is known that these societies exist in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and England, as well as in our own country, and that they have in some measure an international character. In France, before the war, there were 438,785 men in the organization, and in Germany 150,000. Yet this is but the beginning. [Footnote: La Solidarite, 25 Juin 1870,--as cited by Testu, _L' Internationale, (me edit.,) p. 275.] At the menace of the present war, all these societies were roused. The society known as the International Working-Men's Association, by their General Council, issued an address, dated at London, protesting against it as a war of dynasties, denouncing Louis Napoleon as an enemy of the laboring classes, and declaring "the war-plot of July, 1870, but an amended edition of the _coup d'etat_ of December, 1851." The address then testifies generally against war, saying,-- "They feel deeply convinced, that, whatever turn the impending horrid war may take, _the alliance of the working classes of all countries will ultimately kill war_." [Footnote: The General Council of the International Working-Men's Association on the War, (London, July 23, 1870.) p. iv.] At the same time the Paris branch of the International Association put forth a manifesto addressed "To the Working-Men of all Countries," from which I take these passages:-- "Once more, under the pretext of European equilibrium, of national honor, political ambitions menace the peace of the world. "French, German, Spanish working-men! _let our voices unite in a cry of reprobation against war!_ * * * * * * "War for a question of preponderance, or of dynasty, can, in the eyes of working-men, be nothing but a criminal absurdity.