Letter to Friedrich Engels, July 27, 1869

Author(s)	Karl Marx
Written	27 July 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,] 27 July 1869

DEAR FRED,

Amongst the enclosed PAPERS, look at the Vorbote and especially what I marked on pp. 105, 106.

You will see that OLD Becker^a cannot give up making himself important.⁴⁰⁹ With his language group system he casts aside our whole Rules and the spirit of the statute, and alters our organic system into an artificial construction of arbitrary language relations instead of real state and national relations. Extremely reactionary business, fitting for the pan-Slavists! And all this because we allowed him provisionally to remain the centre for his former correspondents, until the International in Germany gets stronger. I immediately put a spoke in his wheel when he attempted at the Eisenach Congress³⁷¹ to promote himself as centre for Germany.

Bebel has sent me 25 thalers for the Belgians from his Workers' Educational Association.^[1] Today I ACKNOWLEDGED this gift, and took the opportunity to write to him about Becker's fantasy plans.

I drew his attention to Article 6 of the Rules,^b which only recognises national central committees in direct contact with the General Council and, where this is impossible because of the police, obliges the local groups in each country to correspond directly with the General Council. I explained to him the absurdity of Becker's pretensions and finally stated that if the Eisenach Congress—quoad^c THE INTERNATIONAL—accepted Becker's suggestion, we would immediately and publicly quash it as contrary to the Rules.

Incidentally Bebel and Liebknecht had written to me earlier, SPONTANEOUSLY, that they had written to Becker telling him they did not recognise him but corresponded directly with London.

Becker himself is not dangerous. But, as we have been informed from Switzerland, his secretary Remy was pressed upon him by Mr Bakunin and is Bakunin's TOOL. This Russian obviously wishes to become the dictator of the European workers' movement. He should be careful. Otherwise he will be officially excommunicated.

Your

Moor

As soon as I receive copies from Meissner I shall send them to my friends in Manchester and Charles Roesgen.

^a Johann Philipp Becker - ^b Rules and Administrative Regulations of the International Working Men's Association (see present edition, Vol. 20, pp. 441-46). - ^c regarding

↑ A receipt written by Bernard, Corresponding Secretary for Belgium, has come down to us: 'Received from Mr. Marx the sum of 25 thaler for the victims of Seraing and Borinage (Belgium). London, 22 July 1869. Bernard, Secretary for Belgium, twenty-five thaler.' Marx wrote on the receipt: '(This money was sent to me by Bebel in the name of the Leipzig workers. K.M.)' (See: The General Council of the First International 1868-1870. Minutes, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1974, pp. 443-44).

[1] A receipt written by Bernard, Corresponding Secretary for Belgium, has come down to us: 'Received from Mr. Marx the sum of 25 thaler for the victims of Seraing and Borinage (Belgium). London, 22 July 1869. Bernard, Secretary for Belgium, twenty-five thaler.' Marx wrote on the receipt: '(This money was sent to me by Bebel in the name of the Leipzig workers. K.M.)' (See: The General Council of the First International 1868-1870. Minutes, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1974, pp. 443-44).

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