| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 30 July 1851 |
TO MARX IN LONDON
[Manchester,] 30 July 1851
Dear Marx,
I am surprised not to have heard from you for a fortnight.
Our predictions in the last Revue of an enormous expansion in ocean-going steam shipping are already being borne out.[1] Apart from several small lines, there are now two new, large and highly important lines in operation: 1. the screw-vessels from Liverpool to Philadelphia-every fortnight-4 vessels in the line; 2. the steamers between Liverpool, Rio de Janeiro and Valparaiso, etc., every 7 weeks, 4 vessels in the line. Furthermore, in a month or two there will be regular overland journeys to California-New York, to San Juan, from there by steamer to Lake Nicaragua overland to Leon, thence direct to San Francisco; the journey to California cut by a week at least.
Next month a train will be running between London and Aberdeen-550 English miles, or 8 degrees of latitude, in one day.
One can now travel from Leeds to London and back for five shillings with one railway company and four and sixpence with another. Next Saturday the fares are going to be reduced here as well. If they get as low as that, I shall come to London at least once a fortnight.
Provided nothing untoward happens within the next 6 weeks, this year's cotton crop will amount to 3,000,000 bales or 1,200 million to 1,350 million lbs in weight. Jamais on n'a vu la plante aussi florissante.[2] At the same time symptoms of declining trade: East India is overstocked and is crying out for a STOPPAGE of imports of cotton goods, in this country the market for yarn and cloth still upset by fluctuating cotton prices-if the CRASH in the market coincides with such a gigantic crop, things will be cheery indeed. Peter Ermen is already fouling his breeches at the very thought of it, and the little tree-frog's a pretty good barometer.
Voilà the industrial potpourri for today.
Your
F. E.