Letter to Karl Marx, February 21, 1869

Author(s)	Friedrich Engels
Written	21 February 1869

First published in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 4, Stuttgart, 1913
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 43

ENGELS TO MARX

IN LONDON

Manchester, 21 February 1869

Dear Moor,

Thanks very much for the pipe, which will be tried out right away this evening.

Here is the report.^[1] The things themselves I shall return to you tomorrow. Such miners' guilds, taken over from mediaeval times—the humbug of the Middle Ages still clings to them in their 'accoutrements and parade rules, mining festivals and church parades'—still operate in all German mines.

Since Liebknecht's sheet^[2] is, after all, the gazette for these Lugauans, you might send the report on to Wilhelm for translation, once you have read it, but on the explicit condition that it is not spread over more than 2 nos. Otherwise it is no use. He can send the original back to you if you need it again.

I hear from Wehner that the bad behaviour of the Prussian police in Hanover is becoming steadily worse; letters opened every day, particularly those of Hanoverian officers who have entered the service of Saxony. But, of course, what does one expect Stieber to do with the 400,000 thalers of secret funds that the Prussian Chamber voted him from the ex-princes' income!^[3]

Your

F. E.

↑ Engels wrote the 'Report on the Miners' Guilds in the Coalfields of Saxony' (see present edition, Vol. 21) at Marx's request on the basis of material sent in by the Saxon miners from Lugau, Nieder-Würschnitz and Oelsnitz, who informed the General Council and Marx personally of their wish to join the International (see Note 241). The report, which Engels had written in English, was read at the General Council meeting of 23 February 1869. An abridged version appeared in The Bee-Hive, No. 385, 27 February 1869. Other English newspapers, including The Times, The Daily News and The Morning Advertiser, refused to carry the report. In early March 1869 Marx himself translated it into German, and it was published in Der Social-Demokrat, No. 33, 17 March, Demokratisches Wochenblatt, No. 12 (supplement), 20 March, and Die Zukunft, nos. 67 and 68, 20 and 21 March 1869.
↑ Demokratisches Wochenblatt
↑ As a result of the victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, in which the Kingdom of Hanover fought on the side of Austria, Prussia annexed Hanover in September of that year and turned it into a province, to which the operation of the Prussian constitution was extended in 1867. George V, King of Hanover, fled to Austria, where he attempted to head a movement against affiliation with Prussia. He failed and, on 1 February 1868, had to sign a treaty with Prussia under which he agreed to abdicate for a certain compensation. However, as early as 2 March 1868, the Prussian government passed a resolution on the confiscation of the ex-King of Hanover's property and lands.

[1] Engels wrote the 'Report on the Miners' Guilds in the Coalfields of Saxony' (see present edition, Vol. 21) at Marx's request on the basis of material sent in by the Saxon miners from Lugau, Nieder-Würschnitz and Oelsnitz, who informed the General Council and Marx personally of their wish to join the International (see Note 241). The report, which Engels had written in English, was read at the General Council meeting of 23 February 1869. An abridged version appeared in The Bee-Hive, No. 385, 27 February 1869. Other English newspapers, including The Times, The Daily News and The Morning Advertiser, refused to carry the report. In early March 1869 Marx himself translated it into German, and it was published in Der Social-Demokrat, No. 33, 17 March, Demokratisches Wochenblatt, No. 12 (supplement), 20 March, and Die Zukunft, nos. 67 and 68, 20 and 21 March 1869.

[2] Demokratisches Wochenblatt

[3] As a result of the victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, in which the Kingdom of Hanover fought on the side of Austria, Prussia annexed Hanover in September of that year and turned it into a province, to which the operation of the Prussian constitution was extended in 1867. George V, King of Hanover, fled to Austria, where he attempted to head a movement against affiliation with Prussia. He failed and, on 1 February 1868, had to sign a treaty with Prussia under which he agreed to abdicate for a certain compensation. However, as early as 2 March 1868, the Prussian government passed a resolution on the confiscation of the ex-King of Hanover's property and lands.

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