Letter to Friedrich Engels, April 2, 1866

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 2 April 1866


Part of this letter was published in English for the first time in Karl Marx, On the First International. Arranged and edited, with an introduction and new translations by Saul K. Padover, New York, 1973
First published in full in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 3, Stuttgart, 1923
Published in English in full for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 42


MARX TO ENGELS

IN MANCHESTER

Margate, 2 April 1866
5 Lansell's Place

Dear FRED,

D'abord[1] the £10 received with kindest thanks. In my absence there has been a changement de décoration,[2] or rather, de direction on The Commonwealth[3] which will be realised next week. Odger, EDITOR; FOX, SUBEDITOR; the SON OF TOIL"[4] contracted to supply an article a week for 10s.; Cremer OUT OF PLACE; has also tendered his resignation as GENERAL SECRETARY of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION. Taken as a whole, I have no objection to the CHANGE. Eccarius could hardly have (or at least ought not to have) imagined that he would be allowed to retain nominal control from the moment the paper established itself. I warned him to no avail. It was a 'political' error on my part to have given way to his entreaties and proposed him by letter for his now defunct job. If I had not been ill, he would have knocked on the door in vain. I knew in advance that I would find the affair coming home to roost. Avoidance of any appearance of pursuing personal interests or abusing personal influence for clandestine purposes, and good understanding with the English must, of course, be more important to us than satisfying Eccarius' more or less justified ambition.

People of a dry disposition like Eccarius also have a certain dry egoism, which easily leads them astray. When the REFORM LEAGUE decided on the big MEETING in St Martin's Hall,[5] the League's COUNCIL nominated him as one of the PUBLIC SPEAKERS. The fellows in Potter's clique objected to him as a FOREIGNER. I warned him expressly not to accept his 'BRIEF'. However, he thought he had got over all his troubles and flattered himself with the important part in the METROPOLITAN MOVEMENT. And he was A DEAD FAILURE. The poor fellow has, of course, lived a life of DISAPPOINTMENTS, and the honorary positions the English SPONTANEOUSLY allowed him, as Vice-President of the 'INTERNATIONAL', etc., deceived him to the point where he now believed he could suddenly make up for the whole of his past life. If he had followed me, operated slowly, maintained a modest posture, everything would be in the best of order. If I even went so far as to muddy myself for his sake, despite his lack of discipline and his wilful behaviour, I was moved to do so particularly by the consideration that he has always worked with us and never reaped the fruits of it. But one always makes BLUNDERS if one allows oneself to be influenced by suchlike considerations.

As regards the newspaper itself,[6] the danger—arising from lack of funds—lies in the growing encroachments and dominance of the Nonconformist clique.[7]

The accursed traditional nature of all English movements is manifesting itself again in the REFORM-MOVEMENT. The same 'INSTAL- MENTS' which but a few weeks ago were rejected with the utmost indignation by the people's party—they had even refused Bright's ultimatum of HOUSEHOLD SUFFRAGE—are now treated as a prize worthy to be fought for. And why? Because the Tories are screaming blue murder. These fellows lack the METTLE of the old Chartists.

What d o you think of the Austro-Prussian troubles[8] ? I see n o continental papers at all. However, it is at least clear to me that Russia is behind the Prussians and that the Austrians, who know this, are nolens volens[9] consoling themselves with French support. A pretty game these heads of state are playing! It is the eternal dilemma the German philistine confronts us with at every turn. For Bonaparte, real CIVIL WAR IN GERMANY would be a true GODSEND.

Admittedly, there is still always the possibility that one fine day the affair will simply end with the worthy Bismarck's dismissal. But since Düppel, 'William the Conqueror'[10] believes his 'glorious armies' are invincible, a n d a second Olmütz[11] must appear to be a risk even to him, in view of the INTERNAI, CONFLICT.[12]

T h e weather has been very bad here for several days, as if it had been made especially to order for the COCKNEYS who have invaded this place for the Easter holiday.

For how long must I take the arsenic? MY COMPLIMENTS TO MRS BURNS.

Your

K. M.

My friend Kaub has written to me from Paris that a certain M. Rebour has found a means to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, using a method which would entail the expenditure of 2 sous per day FOR A FIRE TO MELT IRON WITH. He is, however, keeping the matter secret for the time being still, as on a previous occasion a discovery had been stolen from him and patented in London. Qui vivra verra[13] You know how often we have both dreamed of a cheap way of making fire from water.

  1. ↑ Firstly
  2. ↑ change of decor
  3. ↑ The Workman's Advocate (see Note 230) was renamed The Commonwealth on 10 February 1866. Despite the reorganisation the newspaper remained the official organ of the International Working Men's Association. It continued to publish reports of the Central Council meetings and other documents of the International. Marx remained on the Board of the Industrial Newspaper Company which owned the paper until 9 June 1866. Thanks to his efforts Eccarius, who became the editor of The Workman's Advocate not long before, retained his post. However, the reformist leaders of trade unions managed to paralyse the influence of Marx's supporters. In April 1866 George Odger was appointed its editor-in-chief. In issue No. 183, 8 September 1866, the newspaper declared itself to be the organ of the Reform League (see Note 155) and in fact fell under the influence of the radical bourgeoisie. It ceased publication on 20 July 1867.
  4. ↑ pen name for Johann Georg Eccarius
  5. ↑ The mass meeting was held by the Reform League (see Note 155) in London, in St Martin's Hall, on 12 December 1865.
    The committee for preparing the meeting consisted of the following members of the Central Council of the International: George Odger, John B. Leno, John Longmaid, William Dell, William Stainsby, George Howell and Robert Hartwell. The majority of those present at the meeting were workers and trade union members. The meeting adopted a resolution demanding manhood suffrage.
  6. ↑ The Commonwealth
  7. ↑ See this volume, p. 224.
  8. ↑ In the spring of 1866 the conflict between Prussia and Austria sharpened over their joint possession of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The Bismarck government regarded Austria as its main rival in the struggle for hegemony in Germany and sought for a casus belli. With this aim in view it accused Austria, which ruled Holstein, of encouraging the anti-Prussian movement there. Austria rejected Prussia's accusations and on 16 March 1866 sent a circular dispatch to several member states of the German Confederation (a union of German states founded by the Vienna Congress in 1815) asking for their mediation in the conflict or military assistance against Prussia. Prussia in its turn also sought the support of the German Confederation. In its circular dispatch of 24 March 1866 to the German states, the Prussian government proposed a reform of the political and military institutions of the German Confederation. Bismarck demagogically proposed that this reform be carried out through a German parliament elected on the basis of universal suffrage.
  9. ↑ willy nilly
  10. ↑ William I (an ironical comparison with the Norman William who conquered England in 1066)
  11. ↑ Czech name: Olomouc
  12. ↑ A meeting between the Prime Minister of Prussia, Manteuffel, and the Austrian Prime Minister, Schwarzenberg, took place in Olmütz (Olomouc) on 29 November 1850. Under the pressure of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I, Prussia had to give up her claims to take part in suppressing the uprising in the Electorate of Hesse in favour of Austria and in general, to abstain from attempts to establish her hegemony in Germany.
  13. ↑ Time will tell.