Letter to August Siegel, May 28, 1892

ENGELS TO AUGUST SIEGEL

IN MUIRKIRK

London, 28 May 1892

122 Regent's Park Road, N. W.

Dear Comrade,

Mrs Aveling got back safe and sound on Saturday when we were glad to hear that the business had been settled so quickly and satisfac- torily. Naturally it was not your fault that the colliery MANAGER should have duped you, but let that serve as a warning never to reach a final settlement with the colliery management without having first consult- ed the Scottish miners and us down here. In this country the Ger- mans are now reputed, not without some justification, to depress wages and provide blackleg labour more than any other nation and that is why Messrs Burt, Fenwick, etc., were determined not to find you work over here. Were the Germans in Muirkirk now to do anything at all that might serve to support this old anti-German prejudice, it would represent a most serious threat to international relations be- tween Germans and Englishmen generally, and this applies not merely to the miners, but to the workers in all branches of industry. So if you wish to continue operating in the spirit of the labour cause, you must do your best to learn enough English to enable you to talk things over with the Scots without risk of misunderstandings and to keep in daily, and if possible hourly, touch with the Scottish workers. You will find the Scottish workers very honest, very stalwart and, provided only that you can talk things over properly with them, very reliable, so it behoves you to get on really friendly terms with them. The colliery managements, on the other hand, are much more artful and mendacious than in Germany and thrice as experienced when it comes to exploitation. But until you feel really confident about your English it would definitely be advisable for you to write in German to Mrs Aveling, 65 Chancery Lane, London, W. C. whenever you are in doubt about anything. She will be glad to place her experience of la- bour relations over here at your disposal.

It was fortunate that we had two Reichstag deputies and members of the Party Executive over here at that particular moment,^[1] as they were able to intervence at once and advance the necessary funds. Otherwise the affair might have ended unpleasantly and brought great discredit on German workers throughout this country.

Mrs Aveling will also have told you that people in Germany are saying Schröder induced you to leave by citing all kinds of inaccurate reports and that as a result you threw away an excellent position, al- though the danger was not nearly so great as people would have you believe. I must say that I had suspected as much all along and should be very happy were a man like you not to be entirely lost to the Ger- man miners' movement. After all, you would be pretty sure of a Reichstag mandate and if, in course of time, you were to return and then, after a month or two in jug, do your best to keep the German miners on the right lines, it could only be to our advantage.

You will be getting some newspapers shortly.

Warm regards from Mrs Kautsky and myself to your wife, about whom Mrs Aveling has told us a great many nice things, and to you yourself.

Yours,

F. Engels

I don't mean, of course, that you should return to Germany this very instant; on the contrary it will be extremely useful if you acquire an intimate knowledge of labour relations over here and then, draw- ing on your own experience, point out to the Germans how much bet- ter off they would be, even in a capitalist economy, if only they stood up for themselves.