Letter to Friedrich Engels, January 1, 1869

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 1 January 1869


First published in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 4, Stuttgart, 1913
Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 43


MARX TO ENGELS

IN MANCHESTER

[London,] 1 January 1869

DEAR FRED,

HAPPY NEW YEAR! From the enclosed letter from Lafargue you will see that I have received a special NEW YEARS GIFT—THE DIGNITY OF GRANDFATHER.[1]

From the attached 2 numbers printed in Paris—Cloche and Diable à quatre—you can see what an arrogant tone prevails there. It should be compared to the language used by the opposition in Prussia! This petite presse[2] —and its men included even Rochefort—was the Bonaparte regime's very own product. Now it is the most dangerous weapon against it.

From the enclosed issues of the Vorbote[3] you can learn about the scandal in Basle.[4] These bloody fellows—I mean our spokesmen over there—have a talent all their own for making the International Working Men's Association responsible for every local QUARREL between MASTER and MEN. At the same time, they neglect to take any measures for the event of war, i.e., establishing TRADES UNIONS. Instead they shout the more loudly. The petty cantonal government intervenes. The smallest incident thus becomes important. Then comes an appeal to the International Working Men's Association in general and the London General Council in particular to pay, ON THE SHORTEST NOTICE, the Swiss war costs. And then 'old man' Becker writes[5] that we should not 'compromise' ourselves again, as in the Geneva affair,[6] etc. Soon more about this and the Russian-International intermezzo/

The whole FAMILY sends the COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON. Tussy says POOR FRED, HE MUST FEEL RATHER SEEDY BY THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. Addio.

Your

K. M.

  1. ↑ Marx refers to the birth of Charles Etienne Lafargue
  2. ↑ little press
  3. ↑ Der Vorbote, No. 11, November 1868 'Zur Geschichte der Internationalen Arbeiterassociation', and No. 12, December 1868, 'Bericht über die Arbeiterbewegung in Basel'.
  4. ↑ Marx is referring to the economic struggle of the Swiss weavers and building workers, which began on 9 November 1868 with the strike of the ribbon-weavers and dyers in Basle and lasted until the spring of 1869. Marx described it in detail in the 'Report of the General Council to the Fourth Annual Congress of the International Working Men's Association' (see present edition, Vol. 21, pp. 68-82).
  5. ↑ See this volume, p. 203.
  6. ↑ In March and April 1868, 3,000 building workers were on strike in Geneva. They demanded that the working day be reduced to ten hours, wages be raised, and payment by the day be substituted by payment by the hour. On the initiative of the Central Committee of the International's Geneva sections, the workers in other industries rendered assistance to the strikers. In 'The Fourth Annual Report of the General Council of the International Working Men's Association' to the Brussels Congress of 1868 written by Marx it is stated: 'In the struggle maintained by the building trades of Geneva the very existence of the International in Switzerland was put on its trial. The employers made it a preliminary condition of coming to any terms with their workmen that the latter should forsake the International. The working men indignantly refused to comply with this dictate' (present edition, Vol. 21, p. 16). The victory of Geneva workers was made possible by the solidarity action organised by the General Council in England, France and Germany.