in any
form. It appeared to him that the true means of action was to obtain the
opinion of everyone. "The vote," he declared, "simply divides an
assembly into a majority and a minority.... The only truly practical
means of obtaining a consensus of opinions is to have them placed in the
minutes without voting."[6] That view seemed to prevail, and the
amendment to this question suggested by Hales of England was _voted down
by the majority_!

These two decisions of the congress will convey an idea of the anarchist
conception of organization. There was to be no executive or
administrative body. Nor were the decisions of the congress to have any
authority. Anybody could join, believing anything he liked and doing
anything he liked. Only those federations which voluntarily accepted the
decisions of the congress were expected to obey them. Matters of
principle were in no-wise to be voted upon, and each individual was
allowed to accept or reject them according to his wishes. The actual
rules, adopted unanimously, ran as follows: "Federations and sections,
composing the Association, will conserve their complete autonomy, that
is to say, the right to organize themselves according to their will, to
administer their own affairs without any exterior interference, and to
determine themselves the path they wish to follow in order to arrive at
the emancipation of labor."[7]

It was fully expected that, in addition to its work of reorganization,
if we may so speak of it, the congress would definitely devise some
method, other than a political one, for the emancipation of labor. The
general strike had been put down upon the agenda for discussion. In the
report of the Jura section it was declared: "If the workers affiliated
with the Association could fix a certain day for the general strike, not
only to obtain a reduction of hours and a diminution[V] of wages, but
also to find the means of living in the cooeperative workshops, by groups
and by colonies, we could not decline to lend them our assistance, and
we would make appeal to the members of all nations to lend them both
moral and material aid."[8] Unfortunately, the congress had little time
to discuss this part of its program. In the _Compte-Rendu Officiel_
there is no report of whatever discussion took place. But Guillaume, in
his _Documents et Souvenirs_, gives us a brief account of what occurred.
After two resolutions had been put on the subject they were withdrawn
because of op