| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 16 March 1895 |
ENGELS TO CARL HACKENBERG
IN BARMEN
London, 16 March 1895
41 Regent's Park Road, N. W.
Dear Sir,
Following are my brief answers to your questions:
1) Becker[1] was in Cologne when we came there in May 1848; I had heard nothing of him previously.
2) 1 know-nothing about this. 3) ditto. 4) We got to know Becker as belonging to the more moderate trend in the democratic party.
5) I believe Becker also gave talks in the Democratic Association (the Eiser Hall) from time to time, but I hardly ever went there. W. Wolff, F. Wolff and Dronke attended more frequently on behalf of our editorial board[2] than did Marx or I.
6) I do not know what associations you mean. On the whole, the Workers' Union and the Democratic Association worked hand in hand in Cologne, although the former was more radical than the latter. As for what had been going on before our arrival, at the time when the Workers' Union had been led by Dr. Gottschalk, I can say nothing definite about it.
7) If by the Central Association you mean the central section of democratic associations, led by the Frankfurt Left, I must say the Rhenish democrats soon lost trust in it and made themselves independent.
8) We were on the same good terms with Becker as with the other bourgeois democratic leaders in Cologne, without making a secret of the fact that we were going considerably further than they and without expecting them to unconditionally support the stance taken by the Neue Rheinische Zeitung. The majority of them, Becker included, were not contributors to the paper, except, at the most, for publishing short, usually signed, articles from time to time in the local news section (then printed 'under the line'). You will often come across the initials H. B. there. After the onset of reaction, in the autumn of 1848, democracy became more radical and Becker also drew closer to us. But he did not work more for the paper then either.
9) I've no knowledge of this at all. I was already gone by then, we left Cologne in May.
10) After we had gone, Becker and Heinrich Burgers founded the Westdeutsche Zeitung, one might say on the inheritance of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung?
11) I have no further material on the Communist trial concerning Becker specifically. Becker had joined the Communist League, which was set up anew on the Continent at the end of 1849 or the beginning of 1850, and sat on the Cologne district authority, which was entrusted with the functions of central authority after the split in London.
12) I know of no attempts to free Becker while he was on remand. If anything of the kind was contemplated, certainly good care was taken not to mention it in letters to London, for it would hardly have escaped the notice of the Prussian postal service.
For the rest, I regret to be unable to give you any further information. I hope you have the latest edition (Zurich 1885) of Marx's revelations con- cerning the Cologne trial,[3] with my introduction.[4] If not, you may obtain a copy from the bookshop of Vorwärts, 2 Beuthstrasse, Berlin; the earlier editions are incomplete.
Incidentally, Becker's involvement with the League was only an episode in his life, caused by the then rampant reaction. With the return of calmer times he again became what he had been previously, a bourgeois democrat, and, as you will know, went through all the changes undergone by German, and particularly Prussian, bourgeois democracy. This attitude stemmed from his whole nature, so I am far removed from seeing any sort of careerism in it; on the contrary, if he had tried to remain more radical and carry the communist episode on, he would have missed his calling. In this he differed, very favourably, from Miquel.
I hope these notes will be of use to you.
F. Engels