Letter to Philippe Coenen, April 5, 1871

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 5 April 1871


First published, in Dutch, in De socialis tische Gids, No. 8/9, Amsterdam, 1928
Printed according to a handwritten copy
Translated from the French
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 44


ENGELS TO PHILIPPE COENEN

IN ANTWERP

[London,] 5 April 1871

To Citizen Ph. Coenen, Antwerp

Dear Citizen,

As I already told you in my last letter,[1] I felt it incumbent upon me to submit the contents of your letter concerning the strike of the cigar-workers to the Central[2] Council when it met yesterday evening.[3] At the same time I requested the Council to afford our Antwerp members all possible help and support.

In this I received vigorous support, more especially from Citizen Cohn, president of the London cigar-workers, who informed the Council that the cigar-workers of his Association had voted a loan of 150 pounds sterling, or about 3,750 francs, to their colleagues in Antwerp; that the Association of Belgian Cigar-workers employed over here had voted £20; that his Association proposed to urge another Association here, and that of the cigar-workers of Liverpool, to advance funds in support of the strike, etc.

The Council then unanimously resolved:

1. That an appeal to the English resistance societies in London and the provinces be immediately drafted, printed and despatched to all the associations, urging them to intervene on behalf of the Antwerp strikers.

2. That deputations from the Council be sent to the big centralised associations in London, with whom we are in touch, to approach them with the same end in view.

Having learned from Citizen Cohn that you had already taken the necessary steps to prevent the debouchment of Dutch cigar-workers by the Antwerp manufacturers and that similar attempts would not be successful here in England, all I could do on your behalf was to write a short note for our German journal, the Volksstaat of Leipzig, in which I relate the origins of the strike and urge the German cigar-workers to prevent any debouchment of workers for the [said] place, Antwerp, and, if possible, to advance you some funds to support the strike.[4] This note will be published next week; in addition I asked the editor[5] to take up your cause.

As to the success of these various moves, it is hard to judge in advance. Should the English associations consent to give us advances, several weeks will probably have to elapse before the necessary formalities can be completed. The German associations, having been ruined by the war, will hardly be in a position to advance any funds.

In the meantime, please keep me informed of what is happening as regards the cigar-workers' strike, so that I shall be able to act if needs be, and without loss of time. Is it true, as Citizen Cohn has said, that the 300 cigar-workers of Brussels are also on strike? The Council has been told nothing about it and the Brussels people would be greatly to blame were this really the case; for how are we to act if news is kept back from us?

For some time copies of the Werker intended for the Council have failed to reach us. The General Council must be sent two copies of each of our journals, one for the library where a complete collection of all such journals is being made to help with the future history of the proletarian movement in all countries, the other for the secretary of the country where the journal appears. It would be a pity if De Werker were no longer to reach us, since we have always read it with close attention.

The £150 should have been sent to you today. If it fails to arrive within 24 hours after receipt of this letter, kindly write without delay to Citizen Cohn, whose address you have got.

I shall make it my business to do everything in my power for the Antwerp workers whom I have the honour to represent on the Council here; only please keep me properly informed about all that goes on.

With fraternal salutations,

Yours,

Frederick Engels

  1. ↑ This letter by Engels has not been found.
  2. ↑ General
  3. ↑ Marx and Engels learned about the strike of the cigar-workers in Antwerp from a letter written by Philippe Coenen, an organiser of the International's sections in Belgium and the Netherlands, on 29 March 1871. They immediately took steps to organise international aid for the strikers. At the General Council meeting of 4 April 1871 Engels spoke about the strike and proposed that the Council send letters and delegations to the British trade unions to organise support.
    In response to the General Council's appeal, money to the Antwerp cigar-workers was sent by a number of British trades unions and by the workers of Brussels, where the cigar-workers walked out in solidarity.
    The support by the General Council of the Antwerp cigar-workers defending their trade union enabled them to hold out till September 1871 and to push through their demands.
  4. ↑ F. Engels, 'On the Cigar Workers' Strike in Antwerp'.
  5. ↑ Wilhelm Liebknecht