Letter to August Bebel, August 4, 1879

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 4 August 1879


First published in Die Kommunistische Internationale, Heft 23, Berlin, 1931
Printed according to the copy checked against the manuscript of the draft
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 45


ENGELS TO AUGUST BEBEL[1]

IN LEIPZIG [Copy]

London, 4 August 1879

Dear Bebel,

Since I last wrote on 25 July1'1' Hirsch has informed us of his correspondence with Bernstein and Liebknecht about the new

a In the original, the following passage is deleted: 'and the class struggle which finally leads to a social revolution. What distinguishes critical and revolutionary

[2] [3] [4] [5]

paper.[6] To judge by this, matters would appear to be materially different from what your letter had entitled us to assume.

Since Hirsch's altogether justifiable inquiries as to what arrange- ments had been made and who would be running the paper, on the one hand financially, on the other administratively, met with no other reply from Liebknecht save: 'the party plus Höchberg',[7]

and the reiterated assurance that everything was in order—we could only assume, even then, that the paper would be financed by Höchberg and that the 'we' to whom, according to E. Bern- stein's letter, 'the production and supervision' would be en- trusted,[8] would, once again, be Höchberg and his secretary Bernsteine

From Bernstein's second letter to Hirsch just received, it transpires that such is indeed the case.[9]

You will not, I presume, fail to perceive that the errors against which I warned in my last [letter] will now almost inevitably form an intrinsic part of the paper. Höchberg has shown himself to be exceedingly muddle-headed in matters of theory and, in practice, impelled by an irresistible urge to fraternise with all and sundry who profess to be, not merely socialist, but also and even simply social. He showed his true colours in the Zukunft, discrediting the party both as regards theory and in practice.

What the party needs above all is a political organ. And really Höchberg is at best a wholly unpolitical man, not even a social democrat, but a social philanthropist. Nor, according to Bernstein's letter, is the paper to be in the least political, but socialist on principle, which, in such hands, necessarily means social-fantastic, a new edition of the Zukunft. A paper of this kind would represent the party only if the latter were willing to degrade itself and become a mere appendage to Höchberg and his armchair socialist friends. If the party leaders were really to try and bring the proletariat under the leadership of Höchberg and his ambiguous friends, the workers would be unlikely to go along with them;

11 The following is deleted in the manuscript of the draft: 'That C. Hirsch cannot assume the editorship in these circumstances without quite specific guarantees of his independence vis-à-vis his superior on the financial side, goes without saying. I doubt very much whether sufficient guarantees of this kind could be given, and regard it as fairly certain that the negotiations with C. Hirsch will come to nothing. But even were they to succeed, it is virtually certain that Hirsch's position would

[10] [11] [12] [13]

dissension and disorganisation would inevitably result; but Most and the ranters over here would experience their greatest triumph.

In these circumstances, which were quite unknown to us when I wrote my last letter, we believe that Hirsch is absolutely right in refusing to have anything to do with the matter. The same applies to Marx and myself. Our consent regarding contributions was given in respect of a genuine party organ and hence was applicable only to such — not, however, to a private organ of Mr Höchberg's masquerading as a party organ. To that we would in no circumstances contribute.[14] Marx and I therefore specifically ask that you should kindly ensure we are not named as contributors.

  1. ↑ Nothing is known about what has happened to the original letter. There is a copy and a rough draft which largely coincide. Engels may have made the copy for Carl Hirsch (see Note 497).
  2. ↑ socialism from its predecessors is, in my opinion, precisely this materialist basis. It
  3. ↑ shows that at a certain stage of historical development the animal inevitably
  4. ↑ transforms into a man'.
  5. ↑ b In the manuscript of the draft: 'which I trust you received (it was registered)'.
  6. ↑ This refers to the preparations for the publication of the illegal newspaper Der Sozialdemokrat in Zurich, the new central printed organ ot the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany. The need for such a newspaper emerged after a ban on the entire party press, above all the Vorwärts, following the introduction of the Anti-Socialist Law in October 1878 (see Note 462). In July-September 1879, extensive correspondence on the political line of the new paper and its editors was maintained between August Bebel, Wilhelm Liebknecht, Louis Viereck (in Leipzig), Carl Hirsch (in Paris), Eduard Bernstein, Karl Höchberg, Carl August Schramm (in Zurich), and Marx and Engels (in London).
    The campaign Marx and Engels conducted for a sound political line of the party's future central printed organ is fully expounded in their Circular Letter TO AUGUST BEBEL, Wilhelm Liebknecht, Wilhelm Bracke and Others of 17-18 September 1879 (see this volume, pp. 394-408).
  7. ↑ A phrase from Wilhelm Liebknecht's letter to Carl Hirsch of 28 July 1879 (see also this volume, p. 396), which Hirsch sent on to Marx and Engels.
  8. ↑ Bernstein's letter to Hirsch of 24 July 1879 is also quoted and mentioned by Marx and Engels in the Circular Letter (see this volume, p. 395).
  9. ↑ Mentioned here is Eduard Bernstein's letter to Carl Hirsch of 31 July 1879. Marx and Engels quote it in their Circular Letter (see this volume, p. 395).
  10. ↑ ultimately become untenable through his being controlled by two superiors of
  11. ↑ whom one, who provides the finances, is not a social democrat but a social
  12. ↑ philantropist. and the other, as Liebknecht admits, "would himself like to be
  13. ↑ editor".'
  14. ↑ The following is deleted in the manuscript of the draft: 'We shall continue to correspond with C. Hirsch and shall see what can be done if he accepts the editorship. As circumstances are now, he is, of all possible editors, the only one in whom we would have sufficient confidence.'