Workers’ Republic, December 1901.
Republished in James Connolly: Lost Writings, (ed. Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh), Pluto Press 1997.
The notes, which are © 1997 Pluto Press, have not been included.
HTML Mark-up: Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.
FELLOW WORKERS,
Having been asked by the United Labourers of Dublin Trade Union to stand as Labour Candidate for this Ward, and as the majority of the members of that body live in this Ward, and their request has since been endorsed by a large number of other electors I have consented to allow my name to go forward for your suffrages.
As a member of the Irish Socialist Republican Party I endorse the national and municipal programme and policy of that body; that is to say I believe that in Ireland, as in the remainder of the world to-day, there are but two classes,
and that the Master Class live upon the labour of the Working Class, and use all the powers of government, nationally and municipally, in their own interest and against those who labour.
It is therefore, I believe, the duty of the workers to organise as a distinct party to put an end to this oppression by electing men drawn from their own ranks, conscious of their own interests and determined to defend them, on all bodies having the power either to make or to administer laws; the power of such bodies to be used consistently towards putting an end to the capitalist system of society, and making the Irish people really and fully the owners of Ireland, which is what is meant by an
The United Irish Leaguers have supported the Socialist candidate at North East Lanark in Scotland, and are supporting the Socialist candidate at Dewsbury, England; in opposing Socialist candidates in Dublin they are only acting in the inconsistent and treacherous manner that has marked their history from the beginning.
If elected I will consider it my duty to act in the interest of the class to which I belong – the Working Class; the interest of the other classes are too well looked after already. The Corporation of Dublin is at present ruled exclusively in the interest of the middle class, and it is the rule of the middle class in the towns, as of the aristocracy in the country, which has made life so miserable for the Irish worker. The landed aristocracy are the oppressors in the rural districts, and in the towns the Middle Class take advantage of our necessities to drive down wages and force up rents that they may profit whilst the people starve. Labour, first, last and always shall therefore be my especial care.
As a Republican in politics I consider that all bodies in the elective power of the democracy should be used for the organising of the sentiment of the Irish people against all forms of foreign rule – from the monarch to the capitalist.
I am a member of the Dublin Trades’ and Labour Council, and my candidature has received the hearty endorsement of the most trusted representatives of Labour in the city.
I append herewith the programme of reforms for which I shall agitate if returned.
Trusting to receive your hearty support at the polls on January next,
I remain, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Yours in the cause of Labour,
Last updated on 11.8.2003