Letter to Ferdinand Jozewicz, November 6, 1871

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 6 November 1871


First published in Die Gesellschaft, No. 3, Berlin, 1933
Printed according to a handwritten copy
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 44


MARX TO FERDINAND JOZEWICZ[1]

IN BERLIN

[London,] 6 November 1871

Dear Friend,

I enclose a copy of the French translation of the Conference resolutions.[2] They have also appeared in English, and the German translation will be sent off to the Volksstaat tomorrow.

The single English edition of the Rules and Regulations of the International[3] will come out tomorrow. We shall probably publish a German edition in Leipzig and a French one in Geneva. According to the latest Conference resolutions every member must possess a copy of the Rules. I shall send you the stamps as soon as they are available.

With regard to Berlin, my view is that public meetings 'in general' should not be held until more propaganda has been made on the spot. In the meantime, however, every situation with broader implications and of public interest should be exploited both for meetings and for printed manifestoes.[4]

The next opportune occasion will be the scandalous trial of the members of the ex-committee of the Social-Democratic Party in Brunswick, where the International figures as the central feature of the indictment.[5] However, it will be as well to bide one's time until the public sessions, which will focus the attention of Germany on Brunswick.

In the same way, the proposed laws concerning the International which the government intends to lay before the German Reichstag will provide a favourable opportunity. It is to be hoped that the German workers will come out as energetically as the Spanish workers did against similar government interventions.

I made one mistake in my last letter.[6] Bebel had sent me one detailed report in 1870, at the time when we had settled on Mainz as the venue for the Congress (shortly before the outbreak of the war).

It is not just my duty as corresponding secretary for Germany, it is also a great pleasure for me to be in constant communication with our other friends in Berlin through yourself and Kwasniewski.

Salut et fraternité.

Karl Marx

  1. ↑ Engels attached these calculations to his article 'Notes on the War.—III', which he enclosed with his letter to Marx. As from 31 July Engels forwarded his articles directly to The Pall Mall Gazette.
  2. ↑ K. Marx and F. Engels, 'Resolutions of the Conference of Delegates of the International Working Men's Association Assembled at London from 17th to 23rd September 1871'.
  3. ↑ K. Marx, General Rules and Administrative Regulations of the International Working Men's Association.
  4. ↑ In his letter of 18 October 1871 Ferdinand Jozewicz informed Marx about the activities of the Berlin Section of the International and enquired about the expediency of the Section's public statements.
  5. ↑ The trial of Wilhelm Bracke, Bonhorst, Spier and other members of the Committee of the German Social-Democratic Workers' Party took place in the Brunswick district court in November 1871. (On their arrest see Note 115.) The main point of the indictment was their membership of the International. The court found Bracke and Bonhorst guilty of 'infringing public order' and sentenced them to 16 months in prison. In February 1872, however, the court of appeal quashed the sentence as groundless and cut the term of imprisonment from 16 to 3 months, also deducting the period of preliminary detention; this virtually amounted to an acquittal.
  6. ↑ See this volume, p. 221.