| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 22 July 1892 |
ENGELS TO PAUL LAFARGUE
AT LE PERREUX
London, 22 July 1892
My dear Lafargue,
Let's hope that this time the Battle of Eylau will not, like its predecessor, be a DRAWN BATTLE[1] and that whatever Mr Weinschenk decants for you will be wine of a respectable sort.[2] I begin to understand French anti-Semitism when I see how these Jews of Polish origin with German names are insinuating themselves everywhere, claiming everything as their own, pushing themselves forward even to the extent of shaping public opinion in the City of Light,[3] a city of which your Parisian simpleton is so proud that he believes it to be the supreme power in the universe.
At all events, it's not a symptom to be overlooked if these gentlemen are now of the opinion that a socialist newspaper is a sound investment. We're quoted on the Stock Exchange! That really is a sign of progress.
I believe Millerand is right in advising you to deposit 25 or, better still, 50 thousand fr. in your name at a good bank. That is the only guarantee, but take care that the bank places it to your credit without any conditions. They should send you a formal letter, stating that the sum of... has been placed to your credit and that you are at liberty to dispose of it whenever you wish. Moreover, in the contract with you and Guesde, Weinschenk should authorise you to withdraw this sum in the event of his breaking the contract. For otherwise the private contract between him and the two of you would not be binding on the company to be floated — unless the latter had expressly accepted it. But these are legal niceties and Millerand will doubtless advise you properly.
As regards the cholera, it is virtually certain to arrive here. Meanwhile it is completing the work of peace begun in 1891 by the famine in Russia. What is beyond my comprehension is the stupidity of your French bourgeois who evidently believes that Russia is a power capable of doing anything whatever for France. If he had only a modicum of common sense he would see that at this moment the alliance with France is absolutely indispensible to Russia and that whatever France wanted, Russia would have to concede. But in all western countries the attitude of our official politicians to Russia is stupid beyond belief. France, in the shape of her army, has all the safeguards she needs. I have been reading an article by an English officer, not one of your generals of the old school, who owe their promotion to their ignorance, but a colonel who knows his business and who speaks of the French army with an envy that is genuinely felt — he is envious because he knows that the advantages it enjoys are impracticable in England by reason of the fundamental difference between the two military systems. What he especially admires is what is, after all, the most important factor — in the regiments, namely its vital organisation—, that officers and men respect one another and work together towards the same end, that all ranks know their trade, that even the territorials[4] have made better soldiers than might have been expected, that real discipline is excellent and based on the good will of all, that military training is confined to things which are really necessary in war, but that within those limits such training is perfectly adequate, and that all superfluous parades are rigidly eschewed. In short, if you except the better training received by the French, it is a description of the Prussian army as reorganised after 1807 under Scharnhorst and that's the greatest compliment one could pay the French army. I'm beginning to believe that battalion for battalion it's just as good as the German army, if not better. The Germans' superiority lies in the large number of officers on the reserve, the superiority of the French in the good relationship between the men and their officers. In our case the men are shamefully ill treated.
You are right. Next week I am off to Ryde.[5] Louise departs next Sunday for Vienna and I shall probably depart on Wednesday.[6] So if you write after Tuesday, the address is: The Firs, Brading Road, Ryde.
I trust Laura is well; we haven't heard a word from her.[7] Since distance precludes my giving her a kiss, give her a kiss on my behalf.
My regards, Mr Wandering Jew,
F. E.