Letter to Karl Marx, September 3, 1873

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 3 September 1873


First published in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. IV, Stuttgart, 1913
Printed according to the original
Published in English in full for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 44


ENGELS TO MARX

IN LONDON

Ramsgate, 3 September 1873

Dear Moor,

Received your wife's letter this morning, according to which Jenny[1] has successfully put it behind her. Our warmest congratu- lations. There is always some cause for concern the first time and hence a double sense of relief if all goes well.

The Genevans are complete philistines. So everything is to be overturned on the possibility that des sections jurassiennes will return to the fold! I am convinced that they are already up to their tricks with the others and absolutely dying to compromise— had we gone there, we might well have found everything settled in advance. The confidential report of the General Council can hardly be entrusted to such a congress[2] in extenso. Incidentally, the others are also making a rather poor beginning with only 30 members![3]

I had given my agreement to Le Moussu on 2 matters unconnected with each other[4] :

1. to advance him the £23 for his patent, whatever the situation;

2. if Lafargue were to leave him in the lurch, or back out of his own accord, or if there were to be a separation in any other form that would not prejudice my relations with Lafargue—then I would enter into negotiations with him and Moore[5] on the same basis as they had established with Lafargue previously. It seems to follow from your letter that the terms of the separation were such that Lafargue cannot reproach me with anything if I take his place and go into partnership with Le Moussu. If this is right—and your opinion on this will be entirely sufficient for me—then Moore and Le Moussu can come and visit me in the evening, when I have to be in because of Andrews, and we can talk the matter over. But if he has to have the money for the patent immediately, he must let me know at once, since I would have to go to London right away to see to it.

My congratulations on your NARROW ESCAPE.[6] Unfortunately, such fits cannot be produced to order with any certainty. The raspberry vinegar, and even more solid bodies, might have got into your wind-pipe a hundred times over without provoking the same symptoms.

Have written to Hepner.[7]

Would you inform Le Moussu of what I said above, if you believe that I can do it with a good conscience vis-à-vis Lafargue? It should be made clear, incidentally, that my offer only refers to Lafargue's position in 'Moore & Le Moussu'. The other affair— the big printing works—should be abandoned for the time being, if only for commercial reasons. We shall have enough on our hands, for the moment at least, with exploiting the patent itself. I shall explain all this when I come.

Best regards to the whole family from Lizzie and myself. I hope that Andrews has also sent you the title, the table of contents and the cover. Put on the cover, in small print at the bottom: Prix 2 sh.

Your

F. E.

  1. ↑ Jenny Longuet
  2. ↑ A reference to the next regular congress of the International scheduled for September 1873. The 6th Congress of the International Working Men's Association was held in Geneva between 8 and 13 September 1873. Of the 31 delegates present at the Congress, 28 were representatives of the International's Swiss branches or its émigré sections in Switzerland. When considering the General Rules, the majority headed by Johann Philipp Becker endorsed the decisions of the Hague Congress of 1872 on extending the functions of the General Council (against opposition from Henri Perret and a number of other Swiss delegates). The Congress stressed the need for the working class to engage in political struggle. New York was left as the General Council's headquarters until the next Congress scheduled for 1875. The Geneva Congress of 1873 was the last congress of the International Working Men's Association.
  3. ↑ A congress of anarchist and reformist organisations within the International, which had refused to abide by the resolutions of the Hague Congress, was held in Geneva on 1-6 September 1873. Its organiser was the Bakuninist Geneva Section of Propaganda and Revolutionary Socialist Action (see Note 339). Having declared rejection of all authority as the basic principle of the international anarchist association, the congress abolished the General Council, revoked the right of congresses to pass any definite decisions on issues of principle, and removed from the General Rules Article 7a on the political action by the working class.
  4. ↑ See this volume, p. 527.
  5. ↑ George Moore
  6. ↑ See this volume, p. 526.
  7. ↑ In a letter which Adolf Hepner received on 4 September 1873, Engels described the circumstances in which the Geneva Congress of the International was being convened and advised him not to go to Switzerland. The letter has not been found, but its contents can be inferred from Hepner's reply of 5 September 1873 in which he agrees with Engels' reasoning.