Letter to Collet Dobson Collet, February 19, 1870

Author(s)	Karl Marx
Written	19 February 1870

First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXIX, Moscow, 1948
Reproduced from the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 43

Note : MECW vol. 43 writes "TO CHARLES DOBSON COLLET". It is most probably an error.

MARX TO COLLET DOBSON COLLET^[1]

IN LONDON

London, 19 February 1870

My dear Sir,

When I received your last letter, I was dangerously ill and, therefore, unable to answer.

The very minimum of the Russian Railway Loans amounts to 100 mill. £St. This sum has been mainly raised in Holland, Frankfort on the Main, London, Berlin, and Paris.

As appears from the Moscovite public journals, the Russian government intends raising, if possible, in the course of the next two years, no less than 50 mill. £St.

In regard to the last Railway Loan of 12 mill. ^St., its history comes to this:

As you will be aware, the Russian government had successively, but vainly tried to raise money, first by Thompson and Bonar, then by Baring. Being hardly pressed for money, it succeeded at last to get from Rothschild, acting through his agent Bleichrb'der at Berlin, a loan of something like two millions £St.

With a view to get further securities for the repayment of this loan, Rothschild undertook to bring out the last Railway Loan.^[2]

He stipulated

1) 4 per cent commission for himself—which, on 12 mill. £St., amounts to the nice round sum of 480,000 £St.;

2) another 5,000£ to be annually paid to him for 80 years for his trouble of paying out the coupons.

Rothschild proceeded very cautiously. He limited the English share of the loan to but 4 mill. £St., part of which he took up on his own account, while the rest was placed exclusively with confederate stockjobbers and City friends. Thus, when the loan was thrown on the open market, it was mere child's play to push it quickly to 4 per cent premium.

Still Rothschild's anticipations were quite surpassed. So floated was he with applications that he expressed his regret of not having at once issued a loan of 20 mill. £St.

The present financial distress of the Russian government may be inferred from the following facts:

About a year ago the Russian government issued a 'series' of paper money to be refunded after a certain term of years, and amounting to 15 mill, roubles. The official pretext of this new issue was that by this operation 15 mill, roubles of the old paper assignats should be withdrawn from the market and replaced by a more solid sort of currency. But hardly had the 'series' been issued in the way of state payments, when the Petersburgh Official Gazette" declared in a short, dry note that, for the present, no paper assignats would be withdrawn.

During the few last months, the Russian government has again issued no less than 12 new 'series' of that new sort of paper money, amounting together to 36 mill, roubles.

The Russian Exchange on London is now 28-29d. per rouble, while the par of exchange would be 40d. per rouble.

One reason of this state of things is avowed by the Russian press itself, viz. that, consequent on several bad harvests in the North- Eastern provinces, and still more on revival of American competition, the Russian corn exports have fallen by Va-

Yours truly

Karl Marx

↑ A reference to the series of eight articles on the Irish question written by Marx's daughter Jenny and published in La Marseillaise between 1 March and 24 April 1870, under the pen-name of J. Williams (see present edition, Vol. 21, pp. 414-41). The third article was written by Jenny in collaboration with her father. In subject-matter they have a connection with Marx's essay 'The English Government and the Fenian Prisoners' (see Note 556)
↑ The Russian Railway Loan bonds worth £12 mln were released for sale by Lionel Nathan Rothschild in Paris on 27 January 1870. This was reported, specifically, by Moskovskiye Vedomosty, No. 11, 27(15) January 1870.

[1] A reference to the series of eight articles on the Irish question written by Marx's daughter Jenny and published in La Marseillaise between 1 March and 24 April 1870, under the pen-name of J. Williams (see present edition, Vol. 21, pp. 414-41). The third article was written by Jenny in collaboration with her father. In subject-matter they have a connection with Marx's essay 'The English Government and the Fenian Prisoners' (see Note 556)

[2] The Russian Railway Loan bonds worth £12 mln were released for sale by Lionel Nathan Rothschild in Paris on 27 January 1870. This was reported, specifically, by Moskovskiye Vedomosty, No. 11, 27(15) January 1870.

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