Proudhon - A Biography

THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
ing the Bank. Proudhon, in Le Representant du Peuple o f the 8th
June, reproached him for not giving a direct ‘N O ,’ instead of
‘enveloping himself in puns, ambiguities and personalities.’ In a
way that throws much light on his own ideas o f revolutionary
action, he went on to analyse the differences between Girardin’s
conception o f the Revolution and his own.
‘M. de Girardin is a revolutionary from above-, he has never been
and never will be a revolutionary from below. That is to say that
M. de Girardin is one o f the worst kind of revolutionaries. The
Revolution from above is the intervention of power in everything;
it is the absolutist initiative of the State, the pure governmentalism
o f Mehemet Ah and Louis Blanc. The Revolution from above is the
negation of collective activity, of popular spontaneity... What
serious and lasting Revolution was not made from below, by the
people? How did the Revolution of 1789 come about? H ow was
that o f February made? The Revolution from above has never been
other than the oppression of the wills o f those below; we reject
the Revolution as M. de Girardin understands it.’
With differences of this kind among its sponsors, the scheme for
the Bank of Exchange soon fell to pieces. But Proudhon did not
give up his efforts; he now decided to make a direct call to the
workers, and in December, 1848, after the election of Louis Bona­
parte had finally convinced him of the folly o f expecting anything
from political action, he began to devote his time to putting the
People’s Bank into operation. On the 31st January, 1849, after
long discussions with his close friends and associates, he appeared
before a notary in Paris and registered the Act of Incorporation
of the People’s Bank, officially designated ‘P. J. Proudhon and
Company,’ with himself as the sole responsible manager. With
the Bank was to be associated a subsidiary organisation known as
the ‘General Syndicate o f Production and Consumption,’ for the
purpose of encouraging association among workers. It was to be
directed by Jules le Chevalier.
On the 15 th February, Proudhon told Maurice that the Bank
had begun gathering subscriptions at its office in the working-class
Saint-Antoine district. With typical provincial caution, Proudhon
did not trust Parisian radicals with the more important managerial
functions, but sent to Besangon for a trio of his reliable Franc-
Comtois friends, Guillemin, Mathey and Prevel, men with busi­
ness experience whom he had known since youth. As assistant