Letter to Friedrich Adolph Sorge, September 26, 1889

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 26 September 1889


First published, slightly abridged, in Briefe und Auszüge aus Briefen von Job. Phil. Becker, Jos. Dietzgen, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx, u. A. an F.A. Sorge und Andere, Stuttgart, 1906, and, in full, in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXVIII, Moscow, 1940
Printed according to the original
Published in English in full for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 48


ENGELS TO FRIEDRICH ADOLPH SORGE

IN HOBOKEN

[London], 26 September 1889

Thanks for the Volkszeitung, etc. I was much tickled by the revolution in a tea-cup you have had over there.[1] May possibly be a turn for the better. The progress of Nemesis is slow but sure and, by a quirk of history, it's the very people who have always relied on the support of the New Yorkers against the bulk of the party, especially that in the West, who are now being overthrown by the New Yorkers.

Haven't heard a word from the Russian.[2] Will return his postcard in my next.[3]

If I'm writing no more than a postcard it's because there's so much work to do. Awaiting me on my return from Eastbourne was the news that a fourth edition of Capital, Vol. I, was wanted. Though only a few alterations and additional notes will be needed, they will have to be selected and worked out all the more carefully, and the printed text will require a minute scrutiny in order that no distortion of the sense slips through. Again, the references to Book III will now have to be made more precise.

The dock strike[4] was magnificent. Tussy was involved and worked like a Trojan and the envy aroused by the position she thus gained is already becoming apparent in sundry quarters. I am sending you Harney's article which was quoted in the Labour Elector.[5] The old chap's laid up 12 miles away from here; in August he almost gave up the ghost, but is now better. Lenchen thanks you for the Kalender[6] and sends her regards. In France Guesde has a chance of getting in on the second ballot. Unfortunately I have no precise news about the elections. Kindest regards to your wife and to the Schlüters.

Your

F.E.

The Nationalzeitung of Boston (Nos 1-5) received with thanks. They're the local Fabians.

  1. ↑ The reference is to the changes within the Executive of the Socialist Labor Party of North America that had occurred as of September 1889; these changes reflected the factional struggle in the party ranks. National Secretary W. Rosenberg and several members of the Executive were removed from the leadership. A sequel to the ensuing split was the holding of two separate conventions in Chicago. The convention of 12 October 1889, held by a group of party members who had rallied around the newspaper New Yorker Volkszeitung, adopted a new party programme that reflected the views of its progressive wing.
  2. ↑ Hartmann
  3. ↑ At that time many German newspapers carried reports about a conversation allegedly held by a correspondent of the London newspaper Evening News and Post with Lev Hartman, who said he had been staying for six months in Germany, Austria, France and Switzerland under an assumed name with the aim of organising there an 'overthrow party' and that this party was getting ready for big events. At Engels' request, Sorge turned to Hartman for explanations; the latter refuted such inventions - he said he had not left the United States at the time. Sorge informed Engels about this in his letter of 7 August.
  4. ↑ The strike of the London dockers from 12 August to 14 September 1889 was a major event in the chronicle of the British labour movement of the late 19th century. It involved thirty thousand dockers and over thirty thousand - largely unskilled - workers of other trades not affiliated with the trade unions. Displaying tenacity and organisation, the strikers succeeded in their demands for higher wages and better working conditions. The strike contributed to stronger proletarian solidarity (with about £50,000 being donated to the strike fund) and promoted working-class solidarity. It gave rise to the dockers' union and other trade union organisations uniting a large number of general and unskilled workmen; the 'new trade unions' emerged as a result. The text of the excerpts from this letter coincides with some passages from a series of articles by E. Bernstein in the newspaper Der Sozialdemokrat (No. 35, 31 August, No. 36, 7 September and No. 37, 14 September 1889) on the London dockers' strike; these articles were written on F. Engels' advice.
  5. ↑ George J. Harney's article 'The Revolt of the East End' was published by the newspaper Newcastle Weekly Chronicle on 26 September 1889. Excerpts from this article were published by the newspaper Labour Elector, Vol. II, No. 38, on 28 September 1889, p203, in an editorial note 'A Voice from the Past'.
  6. ↑ Pionier. Illustrirter Volks-Kalender