Letter to Carl Speyer, November 10, 1871

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 10 November 1871


First published in Briefe und Auszüge aus Briefen von Joh. PhiL Becker, Jos. Dietzgen, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx u. A. an F. A. Sorge und Andere, Stuttgart, 1906
Printed according to a handwritten copy
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 44


MARX TO CARL SPEYER

IN NEW YORK

London, 10 November 1871
1 Maitland Park Road, Haverstock Hill, N.W.

Dear Speyer,

Lessner acquainted me with your letter. Overwork and then illness have prevented me from replying to you sooner. There are a number of errors in your letter.

1. According to the Rules the General Council in YANKEELAND should concern itself primarily with the Yankees.

2. But as far as the private correspondence with West, etc., is concerned, the General Council has absolutely nothing to do with it A number of the English members of the General Council, in particular George Harris and other sectarians of the school of O'Brien, the CURRENCY QUACK DOCTOR,[1] are in contact with West et Co. Anything they may write to the UNITED STATES has no official status. If you can supply proof that Harris, etc., have taken it upon themselves to write to America in the name of the GENERAL COUNCIL, we shall soon put a stop to such mischief.

3. As far as any other correspondence from members of the General Council is concerned, we are not in a position to forbid it.

Firstly, I do not see what objection can be made to the correspondence between Eccarius and Jessup. It has not come to my notice that Jessup, one of our oldest correspondents in the UNITED STATES, has been acting against the New York COMMITTEE.[2]

Secondly, my correspondence with Sigfrid Meyer. Meyer and Vogt were mandataries of the GENERAL COUNCIL; I do not know either of them personally, but had regarded Meyer, and have always thought of Vogt, as having long been active members of the workers' party.[3] I have been advising them both for a long time now to join the organisation established by the Central Committee in New York.

I have not had a letter from Vogt for some years now, and if he does intrigue, he will certainly find no support from me. I am concerned only with the interests of your movement, and not with private individuals.

As for Sorge, I am no more acquainted with him personally than I am with Meyer and Vogt. It is my conviction, however, that the General Council owes him a profound debt of gratitude for his activities—a belief which I have repeatedly expressed in the GENERAL COUNCIL.

4. You must strive to win the support of the TRADES UNIONS AT ALL COSTS.

This letter is addressed only to you personally. You must not show it to anyone except Sorge.

Write to me soon.

Salut fraternel

Yours sincerely,

Karl Marx

  1. ↑ The reference is to the followers of James O'Brien. On a number of questions, such as nationalisation of the land and the Irish question, they supported Marx in the International. Some other points of their programme were of a Utopian character, viz: 'a just and direct exchange' of the products of labour at their cost-price through the establishment of public warehouses and the introduction of symbolic labour money.
  2. ↑ Marx is referring to a decree issued by Gambetta on 31 January 1871 which deprived all persons who had held high official posts during the Second Empire of the right to stand for election. On 3 February Bismarck sent a protest to Gambetta referring him to the clause on 'freedom of elections'. The government in Paris also issued a decree on electoral procedure which led to a serious conflict between Gambetta and the other members of the government, after which Gambetta resigned.
  3. ↑ Prior to the establishment in December 1870 of the International's Central Committee for North America, the General Council maintained contact with the International's sections in the USA through its local permanent correspondents, who received their plenary powers from the General Council. The General Council approved the appointment of Sigfrid Meyer and August Vogt on 29 September and 13 October 1868, and Marx sent their credentials to the USA on 28 October 1868 (see present edition, Vol. 43, pp. 148-49).