1904
SSF meeting 1-7 August 1904, Lyon

Acknowledgments: these sources come from the Archives Municipales de Lyon and from the Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon.

Full programme

file pdf
Programme 1-7/08/1904 [FRA]
1 MB
file pdf
Full report 1-7/08/1904 [FRA]
8 MB

Contributions

  • Georges de Pascal, “La propriété”, pp. 12-14 
  • Charles Antoine S. J., “Le travail", pp. 14-18
  • Émile Duport, Joseph Glas, Louis Durand, “Les institutions rurales”, pp. 18-25
  • Max Turmann, “Les œuvres complémentaires de l’École”, pp. 25-31
  • Ludovic de Contenson, "La ligue sociale d'acheteurs", pp. 32-34
  • Marie-Louise Rochebillard, “Les syndicats féminins. Une organisation féministe à Lyon”, pp. 34-35
  • Henry-Joseph Cetty, "L'Action ouvrière en Alsace", pp. 36-38
  • Étienne Martin de Saint-Léon, “Le devoir social d'aujourd'hui”, pp. 38-39
  • Étienne Martin de Saint-Léon, “Associations professionnelles”, pp. 40-48
  • Adéodat Boissard, “Les retraites ouvrières”, pp. 49-54

Biographical profiles

(Fumay, 16/12/1847 - Le Dorat, 24/04/1921)

Jesuit father, Charles Antoine had received a technical, engineering education at the “École des mines”, and, very likely, had originally graduated from “École Polytechnique”, which at the time was the principal access to “École des mines”. He first taught “social economics” at the Jesuit college (scolasticat) in Jersey, UK. In 1892, these classes were published as “Eléments de science sociale, leçons professées à Jersey, par le P. Ch. Antoine” (Poitiers, Oudin, 1893), which a few years later became his more famous work, “Cours d’économie sociale” (Paris, Guillaumin, 1896).

Interventions in the Semaines Sociales de France:

  • 1904, Lyon: course on “Property”
  • 1905, Orléans: course on “Salary and Work Contracts”
  • 1906, Dijon: course on “Three necessary societies: family, profession, city”
  • 1907, Amiens: course on “Are there Christian principles in social economics”
  • 1908, Marseille: course “The idea of justice in social economics”
  • 1909, Bordeaux: course on “Minimum wage”
  • 1910, Rouen: course on “Taxation”
  • 1911, Saint-Étienne: course on “Justice in the wage contract: the necessary and the personal component of wages”
  • 1912, Limoges: course on “The statements of theology concerning the familial society”
    course on “The familial idea, its consequences from the perspective of property”

Sources:

(Aix en Provence 11/12/1870 - Paris 31/01/1938)

Academic jurist, politician, and important social Catholic, Boissard was amongst the founding members of the “Semaines Sociales de France”. In 1896 he obtains his doctorate in law, and then begins an academic career in Catholic institutions. First, between 1896 and 1906, he is at the “Faculté Catholique de Lille” and then, from 1906 to 1931, at the “Institut Catholique de Paris”. In 1904, he is amongst the founders of the “Semaines Sociales”, together with Marius Gonin and others. After the war, he is elected to parliament, representing the Cote d’Or between 1919 and 1924, as a conservative republican. Author of a vast body of work on social questions, this work mostly appeared before 1914. It touched on subjects such as industrial relations, pensions, social and professional insurance, and strikes. Some of his papers are kept at the BNF (Nouvelles Acquisitions Françaises 27193).

Interventions at the Semaines Sociales de France:

  • 1904, Lyon: course on “Workers’ pensions”
  • 1905, Orléans: conference on “Workers’ pensions: latest developments and role of mutual aid”
  • 1907, Amiens: course on “The demands of justice in the wage relation”
  • 1908, Marseille: course on “The laws of social justice”
  • 1909, Bordeaux: course on “The right to strike”
    course on “The legalisation of strikes through the public law professional institutions”
  • 1910, Rouen: course on “Working class pensions and the 6 April 1910 law”
  • 1913, Versailles: course on “The bases of the tax obligation”
  • 1920, Caen: “The economic renewal of France and the financial problem”
  • 1921, Toulouse: “The new project of social insurance”

Sources:

(Colmar, 4/07/1847 - Mulhouse, 17/11/1918)

Born in Colmar in a family with Italian origins, Cetty quickly yielded to his religious vocation, being ordained a priest in 1872. As Alsace-Lorraine passed in German hands, Cetty, who was bilingual, developed his apostolic work in the First Reich. Initially a private tutor for the Ritter family, in Guebwiller, he later went to Mulhouse, where he operated in the parish of St. Steven. It is from here that he developed a complex and articulated body of work, centred on the social question. Part of this pastoral work consisted in the creation of Catholic social institutions of the working class, to counter the rising influence of socialism, inspired by the SPD. His workers’ circle ("Cercle de Saint Joseph"), established in 1891 and which became famous across both the German Reich and the French Republic, comprised institutions that engaged with areas of social life ranging from entertainment to education, from mutualism to job placement. But Cetty was also very active politically, launching in 1892 the “Mülhauser Volksblatt” – a newspaper which ended up being banned by the German authorities. He mobilized for elections, both local and national, failing to be elected in the Reichstag in 1893, but managing some limited success at the local level. He was a Christian democrat, in favour of a centrist Catholic party. He was the author of many articles and pamphlets, mostly published in the journal “L’Action Populaire”, amongst which we can count “Le Centre et son action sociale au Parlement” (1907), “En Allemagne: associations professionnelles chrétiennes” (1907), and “Le Cercle ouvrier de St-Joseph de Mulhouse et ses institutions économiques” (1908).

Interventions at the Semaines Sociales de France:

  • 1904, Lyon: general conference “The Catholic workers’ action in Alsace”

Sources:

(Lyon 28/02/1861 - Ameugny 28/01/1936)

Aristocrat, Baron of Contenson, he graduated in 1881 from the Saint-Cyr military school. In his career in the infantry, he was captain and then commander (chef de bataillon territorial). An accomplished writer on history and geography, in 1902 he was awarded the Montyon prize from the “Académie Française” for his book “Chrétiens et musulmans” (Paris, Plon, 1901). In the first decade of the 20th century, he wrote extensively on social subjects, including books such as “Les Retraites ouvrières” (Paris, de Soye, 1901), “Syndicats, mutualités, retraites” (Paris, Perrin, 1904), and “Les Syndicats professionnels féminins” (Paris, Bloud, 1909). In 1915, he received the “Legion d’Honneur”. For a period, he was the director of the “Revue d’Histoire Diplomatique”.

Interventions in the Semaines Sociales de France:

Sources:

(1840-1917)

Ordained priest in 1865, he initially operated in the Lyon area. Doctor in Theology. Preacher at the Dominican convent of S. Maximin, in the Var region. Teaches political economy at various institutions ("Faculté Libre de Lille", “Collège Libre des Sciences Sociales”, “Institut Catholique de Paris”). Close to the Action Française, from 1906 he teaches at their Institute. Collaborates with Paul Bourget and Édouard Drumont. Author of over 26 books, including “La Juiverie”, preface de Édouard Drumont (Paris, Henri Gautier,1887), “Le pouvoir social et l’ordre économique” (Lyon, Librairie Vitte et Pérussel, 1889), “Les Indulgences. Théorie et histoire” (Paris, Bloud, 1907), “Le régime corporatif et l’organisation du travail” (Paris, Bloud, 1908).

Interventions at the Semaines Sociales de France:

Sources:

(Paris 31/10/1860-14/03/1934)

After obtaining a degree ("licence") at the “École libre des sciences politiques”, a doctorate in law at the University of Paris (1886) and working as a lawyer for over a decade, he quit the legal profession to join the “Musée Social”, where, in 1897, he was entrusted with the responsibility of curator of the library. During the war, aged 56, he volunteered for military service and served in the infantry, gaining promotion to the grade of captain. After the war, he became secretary of the legal section of the “Musée Social” and, from 1925, city councillor in Versailles. An important figure of the reform networks of the pre-war period, he was, in 1913, an administrator of the “Société d’économie sociale”, revealing his proximity to Leplaysian networks. A committed social Catholic, he is the producer of a substantial body of work, centred around the questions of professional organizations and corporatism. Amongst his major works, we can cite “Histoire des corporations de métiers depuis leurs origines jusqu’à leur suppression en 1791” (Paris, Guillaumin, 1897), “Le compagnonnage” (Paris, Colin, 1901), “Syndicalisme ouvrier et syndicalisme agricole” (Paris, Payot, 1920), and “L'Encyclique ‘Rerum novarum’ et l'organisation professionnelle en France” (Milano, Vita e Pensiero, 1931).

Interventions at the Semaines Sociales de France:

  • 1904, Lyon: course on “Professional associations”
    conference on “Social duty today”
  • 1905, Orléans: course on “Professional unions and their economic institutions”
  • 1906, Dijon: general conference
  • 1907, Amiens: course: “Revolutionary syndicalism and the CGT”
  • 1908, Marseille: course: “The crisis of apprenticeship and the reform of professional apprenticeships”
  • 1910, Rouen: course: “The new tariff regime and its social consequences”
  • 1911, Saint-Étienne: course on “Justice in transactions”
  • 1912, Limoges: course on “The organization of credit for small retailers and small firms”
  • 1913, Versailles: course on “The general strike. Results from a Belgian experience”
  • 1914, Besançon (cancelled): course on “Commercial property"
  • 1919, Metz: “Professional organization and social Catholics”
  • 1920, Caen: “The backlashes of war and afterwar on consumption and cost of living”
  • 1921, Toulouse: “The current struggle against unemployment in France and abroad” 
    documentary session: “The National Association for the Legal Protection of Workers”

Sources:

(Lyon 6/12/1851 - Vaugernay 27/07/1906)

Landowner in Saint-Lager, north of Lyon, he was amongst the first rural trade unionist and organizers. Close to Albert de Mun, he established, between 1884 and 1887, the “Union du Sud Est”, a rural union of local landowners, of which he was also president from 1893 until his death in 1906. Author of mostly technical works on viniculture ("Remarques pratiques sur la culture de la vigne en Beaujolais", Lyon, Typographie J. Gallet, 1887), he has a close relationship with the MP Hyacinthe de Gailhard-Bancel, with whom he consulted regularly to advance the cause of agricultural syndicalism.

Interventions at the Semaines Sociales de France:

Sources:

(Lyon 1859-1916)

Lawyer from Lyon, his name is linked to the development of rural credit unions – “Caisses Rurales” in French. Close to the “Union du Sud Est” and to Émile Duport, in 1890 he was tasked by this union to study the proposal for rural credit by Jules Méline. He thus discovered the Raffeisen system and became the promoter of this solution especially with regards to agriculture. In 1891, he published the results of his studies in “Le Crédit agricole en France et à l'étranger” (Paris, Chevalier Marescq, 1891) and in 1893 he set up the “Union des caisses rurales et ouvrières à responsabilité illimitée” (UCROF). A lifelong supporter of the development of rural credit unions, he published numerous works on the subject. His position tended to be liberal, i.e. sceptical towards the idea of the involvement of the state in the provision of rural credit.

Interventions in the Semaines Sociales de France: 

  • 1904, Lyon: session on “Rural Credit” in the course on “Rural Institutions”

Sources:

Collaborator of Émile Duport, his main area of activity are rural unions and associations. From 1894, he is the director of the “Coopérative Agricole du Sud Est”, and from 1906 he is an administrator for the “Union du Sud Est”. He writes numerous articles for the “Bulletin de l'Union du Sud Est des syndicats agricoles”, the official organ of the “Union du Sud Est”. He is also the author of a volume on insurance for rural business, “Simples notes sur les assurances contre les accidents agricoles” (Lyon, Imprimerie du Salut Public, 1896).

Interventions in the Semaines Sociales de France:

  • 1904, Lyon: session on “Rural insurance” in the course on “Rural Institutions”

Sources:

(Changy 4/06/1860 - Lyon 30/01/1936)

Issuing from a white-collar background, the financial ruin of her family forced her into the job market. Catholic, in 1899 she established two unions specifically dedicated to women: one for women employed in the commercial sector, which she will preside, and one for female silk workers. These syndical endeavours will produce two publications: “Le Travail de la femme à Lyon, monographie de syndicats de femmes” (Paris, 1901) and “Syndicats d’ouvrières lyonnaises” (Paris, V. Lecoffre, 1904). Though partially undemocratic (an initial steering committee was exempt from re-election), these unions were based not only on the principle of accepting only women, but, more radically, they were real workers’ union, closed to managers and business owners. Together with the core union activities, these institutions offered job market placement services and, above all, took care of the education of the workforce, developing a programme of courses offered to their members.

Interventions in the Semaines Sociales de France:

Sources:

(Bordeaux 23/02/1866 - Vivier 22/07/1943)

Sociologist, social reformer, and jurist. In 1901, he won the Juteau-Duvigneaux Prize (500 Francs) from the “Académie Française” for his book “L’Education populaire” (Paris, Lecoffre, 1900). He obtained his Doctorate in Political and Economic Sciences from the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris in 1903. By 1905, he had begun teaching at the “Collège Libre de Sciences Sociales”. In 1906, he was again rewarded by the “Academie Francaise” for his book “Initiatives Féminines” (Paris, Victor Lecoffre, 1905), which was awarded the “Prix Montyon” (500 Francs). In 1906, he became an adjunct profession in business management (Gestion d’entreprise) at the University of Fribourg, in Switzerland, an important hub of European social Catholicism. In 1909, he became full professor at this institution, covering the role of Dean of the Faculty of Law for two years during the Great War. Between 1918 and 1936, he was full professor of Political Economy at the Zurich Polytechnic, while still maintaining his position in Fribourg. In the interwar period, he wrote extensively on Christian syndicalism, most notably in his “Le syndicalisme chrétien en France” (Paris, Valois, 1929) and collaborated with the ILO’s “International Labour Review”.

Interventions at the Semaines Sociales de France:

  • 1904, Lyon: course on “Post-scholastic education”
  • 1905, Orléans: conference on “Popular education”
  • 1906, Dijon: course on “The feminist movement”
  • 1907, Amiens: course on “Coalitions of producers. Cartels and trusts”
  • 1909, Bordeaux: Course on “A social movement in a democratic country: insurance in Switzerland”
  • 1912, Limoges: Course on “Referenda in Switzerland: the case of the social referendum of the 4th February 1912”
  • 1919, Metz: “Contemporary achievements of social Catholicism in industrial organization: factory councils and bonuses”
  • 1920, Caen: “The relationship between production and the banking regime of a country”
  • 1921, Toulouse: “The exchange rate crisis”

Sources: