Letter to Karl Kautsky, April 20, 1892

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 20 April 1892


First published in Aus der Frühzeit des Marxismus. Engels Briefwechsel mit Kautsky
Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 49


ENGELS TO KARL KAUTSKY

IN STUTTGART

London, 20 April 1892

Dear Baron,

Needless to say you will be getting the introduction to the English version of Sozialismus[1] etc.— in German of course; it's got to come out and where else could I get anything as long as this published except in the Neue Zeit? It went off yesterday and so, until the proofs arrive, I shall be hors de combat. It's so infernally long because I've made it the vehicle for all sorts of old grudges against the English bourgeoisie and look forward to seeing what the British philistine has to say about it.

We over here are at last clear about what is to happen on May Day — or rather the reverse of clear. The TRADES COUNCIL and the SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION have done their utmost to ensure that on this occasion matters should be placed completely in their hands and, above all, that the Eight Hours League be totally excluded. For just now the SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION is working hand in glove with the most reactionary elements — Shipton, etc.— in the TRADES COUNCIL, to which body it is wholly subordinating itself so far as the May Day demonstration is concerned; the TRADES COUNCIL is to conduct the campaign against the independent elements in the EAST END, while the SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION hopes to reap the fruits thereof. Those elements they sought to get rid of have, of course, found a rallying point in the Avelings, the latter's mainstay being 1. the GASWORKERS UNION, 2. the METROPOLITAN RADICAL FEDERATION,[2] 3. a number of the smaller unions who would rather make their mark in the EIGHT HOURS LEAGUE that be forced to play second fiddle to the OLD, petty-bourgeois-minded UNIONS in the TRADES COUNCIL. There was a great deal of manoeuvring on both sides and, at a meeting of delegates from London's labour organisations — in which, of course, the majority was rigged—, the TRADES COUNCIL succeeded in assuming control of the demonstration. Nevertheless, although it had previously decided not to enter into any negotiations with the Eight Hours League, it had to climb down and admit into the Executive Committee first 1 and then 2 delegates from the Eight Hours League, besides placing two platforms in the Park[3] at the latter's disposal. In addition the METROPOLITAN RADICAL FEDERATION likewise has a couple, which are also ours, whereas the SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION only has two.

Now the eight-hour day advocated by the majority on the TRADES COUNCIL merely implies payment of the ordinary wage for 8 hours, any work over and above this being payable as overtime at one and a half times or twice the ordinary rate; thus the eight hour day advocated by these people is quite different from our own, which means that in the course of this year, after May Day, the conflict will flare up in real earnest and be fought out anew. Such is the issue that will at long last receive an airing over here. So don't allow yourself to be hoodwinked by anything anyone from the Vorwärts, etc., may say about May Day here; from our point of view the whole thing's a swindle; it's an eight hour day IN A PICKWICKIAN SENSE, as is bound to come out in the long run, whereupon the equivocal situation from which both the SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION and the FABIANS[4] are profiting will cease to exist.

You should make use of The Workman's Times only for its factual material. The editor is a provincial who is relapsing into belletrism, is anxious to keep in with everyone and both talks and accepts a great deal of bosh. But the reports are all done by working men, STUPID though the 'ERRAND BOY' and his mother, the 'MARXIAN' (an out-and-out duffer), and the 'PROLETARIAN', etc., may be.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag of which you also know, has gained a footing there.</ref>

Mother Wischnewetzky has had to suffer all manner of rough treatment at her husband's hands, has got divorced, calls herself Mrs Kelley again and lives in Chicago with her 3 children of whom she is the legal custodian.

I wonder very much what results our Frenchmen will obtain in the municipal elections on 1 May. It will be the first time they have been really put to the test.

Regards from one household to the other.

Your

F.E.

  1. ↑ F. Engels, 'Introduction to the English Edition (1892) of Socialism: Utopian and Scientific'.
  2. ↑ The radical clubs were democratic associations in Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century. They consisted mostly of workers and were formally connected with the Liberal Party. The clubs exerted a certain influence on the British working class. In the late 1880s, in connection with the rise of the labour movement in the country, their number increased and socialist ideas won wide currency among their members. In 1885, the Metropolitan Radical Federation was set up, which united the Radical Clubs of London.
  3. ↑ Hyde Park
  4. ↑ The Fabian Society was a British reformist organisation set up by a group of intellectuals in 1884 and led by Sidney and Beatrice Webb. The Society's name derives from Fabius Maximus, a Roman general of the 3rd century B. C. nicknamed Cunctator (Delayer) for his tactic of evading a set battle in the war against Hannibal.