Letter to Maltman Barry, January 7, 1872

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 7 January 1872


First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXVI, Moscow, 1935
Reproduced from the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 44


MARX TO MALTMAN BARRY

IN LONDON

[Draft]

[London,] 7 January 1872

Dear Sir,

I regret that you found neither me nor Mr Engels at home. You seem to proceed in your letters from the idea that we form a distinct party in the Council. If we opposed Mr Hales in what we considered wrong, we did only our duty[1] and would, under the same circumstances, have followed the same line of conduct towards any other member of the Council.[2] This, however, has nothing to do with party. We know of no parties in the Council. There are among the friends of Mr Hales very worthy men who have worked for a long time in our cause.

If Mr Mottershead has 'consented to stand for the secretary- ship', we at all events did not invite him to do so. His position as paid secretary of the 'Labour Representation League'[3] makes the thing almost impossible. Mr Engels told you expressly after last Tuesday's meeting[4] that his mind was not yet made up as [to] who was the proper person to vote for, and for the present we see difficulties on all sides. Hence we have resolved to leave our continental friends to their own discretion.

In our opinion the important thing is, to settle the position and composition of the Federal Council. As to the secretaryship, it is mainly a personal matter which need not and, perhaps, cannot be settled in a hurry. At all events this will depend upon cir- cumstances.

Yours truly,

K. M.

  1. ↑ The Eastern Post, Nos. 168 and 169, 16 and 23 December 1871 (see preceding letter)
  2. ↑ In his letters to Marx and Engels of 2, 9 and 29 December 1871 and 1 and 4 January 1872, Maltman Barry proposed that a new secretary of the General Council be elected, since John Hales had been elected secretary of the British Federal Council (see Note 330).
  3. ↑ The Labour Representation League was founded in November 1869. It embraced trade union leaders who sought to have working-class candidates elected to the House of Commons by making a deal with the Liberals. The League ceased to exist around 1880.
  4. ↑ meeting of the General Council on 2 January