| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 9 August 1894 |
ENGELS TO PABLO IGLESIAS
IN MADRID
[Draft]
[London, between 9 and 14 August 1894]
Dear Iglesias,
I have received your letters of 8 June and 27 July. With regard to your congress 390 I have written to Berlin (the answer is affirmative) and to Vienna (no answer so far); also to the Social Democratic Federation 44 here (H. W. Lee, Secretary), the Independent Labor Party 114 (Tom Mann, Secretary) and the gas workers 391 (W. Thorne, Secretary; Comrade Aveling[1] is a member of the Executive Council)—they will all drop you a line. Further, to the Standing Parliamentary Committee of the Trades-Unions Congress 28 (Fenwick, Secretary, M. P.), the League for Eight Hours 197 (Sheridan, Secretary; they are certain to write to you) and the Fabian Society 43 (E. R. Pease, Secretary), from which I have received no reply.
The above list will give you an idea of the personal divisions, jealousies and quarrels adorning the labour movement here. Look: on Monday, the 6th instant, the S. D. F. held a conference. There it was proposed that in the coming parliamentary elections the S. D. F. should support the candidates of the Independent Party provided that they declared themselves socialists. The proposal was rejected. But if the 'independents' refuse to vote for the Federation's candidates and to support them, they will be seen as traitors! Further, the S. D. F. Conference resolved that because the London international congress in 1896 392 is not to be exclusively socialist, the Federation will convene an exclusively socialist international
congress, to be opened three days before the general congress of workers!! What will the socialists of other nations say? While all that—and much else—has no practical importance, those are attempts by various groups to exploit in their particular interests the convocation and holding of an international congress. It is best not to discuss or attach too much importance to those things in the press until they have taken a more distinct form. For all that, the movement among the working masses is making headway, the idea of socialising the means of production is gaining ground, and the day will come when the class-conscious masses throw out all schemers and corrupt leaders.
Every week Comrade Eleanor Marx-Aveling publishes in Workman's Times a report on progress in the international movement. You would do well to send her El Socialista if possible, for she understands Spanish. Address: Eleanor Marx-Aveling, etc.
Take care of yourself. All the best from your old and faithful friend.