| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 20 August 1892 |
ENGELS TO AUGUST BEBEL
IN ST GALLEN
Ryde, 20 August 1892
Dear August,
Your letter of the 17th arrived this morning. I am replying at once because, tomorrow being Sunday and this being England, there would otherwise be no certainty of my note reaching you while you are still in St. Gallen. For I wanted to ask you to observe caution vis-à-vis K. Kautsky in regard to Ede. The latter is definitely on the mend, as his article in the Neue Zeit goes to show,[1] and we must do nothing that might interfere with this. Where his friendship with Ede is concerned, K. Kautsky isn't exactly the soul of discretion and should his letters suggest to Ede that we were secretly conspiring to counteract his enthusiasm for Fabianism, it might bring about a serious relapse. Neurasthenics are mistrustful, and in my view his vexation over the Lassalle business[2] was not only the first symptom of his illness but also quite definitely the cause of its onset. So we must see that there isn't a recurrence. I also suspect that his unduly high opinion of the FABIANS is partly attributable to his illness and that this will subside provided we don't keep harping on the subject.
Yesterday at long last a letter arrived from the Witch in which she grumbles about my not coming. But how could I help it? And what would she have said if I had been stricken down in Engelskirchen or Zurich, as I surely would have been had I set out? And far worse stricken than here, where I could deal with the thing in good time. She also tells me that, whatever happens, she will accompany you to Berlin.
I am very glad that I need not embark on the journey, if it comes off, before 7 September. That gives me a whole month's rest, by which time I hope I'll be fit to travel again. Since yesterday I have at last noted signs of improvement — very slight, but something at any rate. So we shall have to see.
Apropos — have we still got lawyers in Cologne who are members of the party? I still don't quite trust my Prussians and if I had the address of one such I should be armed against all eventualities.
I was very distressed by what you wrote and told me about Victor. Let's hope you'll be able to find some solution. His wife's health also depends on this — worry about the future is said to have been largely responsible for her illness. I had no idea that things were so bad. But the Austrians are like the French and Irish, none of whom are capable of collecting contributions regularly. What is asserting itself here is the Celtic blood of their forebears, the Norici, who were first Romanised and then Germanised. If you want to get an idea of how the General Council of the International fared with the French and their contributions, you should read Paul's two Epistles — especially the second — to the Corinthians[3] throughout which he complains that les cotisations ne rentrent pas[4] .
Couldn't you vote the Austrian party a regular subsidy on condition that it goes to Victor? He would, after all, soon be kicked out of Germany since, unlike K. Kautsky, he'd be obliged to work, not on a learned journal[5] but on a propagandist paper.
The Lancashire cotton operatives are almost literally falling over each other to vote for the 8-hour day (48-hour week). Today the delegates are meeting in Manchester. Yesterday in Preston, there were 3,600 for and 600 against. But this is a question that Lancashire will decide for the rest of England because last year it was still the seat of concerted opposition.
It was Mrs Croesel (she's even better than her husband) who told Tussy the stories about the London Independents' Club. But no harm will be done if we save the thing up until we are all back in London again. As regards the source of the money, there might still be some interest left over from the Guelph funds, and the stupidity of the police is beyond all bounds. At all events, Gilles had and may still have a great deal of money at his disposal. The other chaps are his men of straw.
Today comes the pleasing news that William[6] refuses to have any truck with the proposal for a two-year period of military service.[7]
But since this carrot has already been dangled before the noses of the philistines, even the National Liberals will find it hard to relinquish it. And this means better chances for a dissolution of the Reichstag.
What pitiful creatures these German bourgeois are! With the government's financial requirements increasing year by year, they could not be better placed to purchase a concession of political power in return for each grant of supply, as the English have been doing in a small way from time immemorial. But they don't want to; they leave all the power in the hands of the government and are content to haggle over a few paltry pence.
Cordial regards to Mrs Julie[8] and to Mrs Frieda and husband.[9]
Your old friend,
F.E.
The Roshers send their kindest regards. I shall be staying here at any rate until the 31st.[10]