| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 22 March 1875 |
ENGELS TO RUDOLF ENGELS[1]
IN BARMEN
London, 22 March 1875
Dear Rudolf,
I have received your letter as well as the two from Ermen & Engels and have made entries in conformity with them. Many thanks for dealing with the matter, which has been settled to my entire satisfaction.
Today there is something else. The day before yesterday in the evening little Heinrich Ermen suddenly turned up from Manchester with the following story:
Gottfried Ermen intends to retire in two years' time and has actually allowed Peter Ermen to insinuate his son-in-law, Matilda's husband, the schoolmaster Roby, into the business as an associé[2] . No more than a fortnight after Roby's arrival, however, he apparently had second thoughts when it transpired that the aforementioned Roby, who had been described to him in glowing terms as a man of many parts, a builder of schools and heaven knows what else, was no good at business. But Gottfried had become so deeply involved that he could find no way out and, despite the fact that Roby does nothing save study the bank account and The Times, Gottfried now wants to [force] him—now his nephew—onto his nephews as principal associé with a share approximately as large as those of the three nephews (Heinrich and his brother Franz and Franz, Franz's son) put together.
This Roby, you see, had a very nice little post on the ENDOWED SCHOOLS COMMISSION, a government commission set up by Gladstone several years ago to investigate and redress at least some of the most flagrant abuses in the administration of the very considerable endowments designated for schools; he was one of the commissioners. But as soon as Disraeli took the helm he engineered a vote in Parliament whereby he was authorised to disband the whole commission and assign such work as was still outstanding to the CHARITY COMMISSIONERS who, having been elected under a Conservative government, are much more inclined to conserve moderate abuses.[3] In this way our Roby lost his little post and, with Peter's help, hit upon the ingenious notion of becoming a manufacturer.
Now, the contract which Gottfried has had drawn up for this purpose between Roby and the three nephews is so framed that the three nephews actually undertake to work for fourteen years, in return for which Mr Roby can expect to get an income of £5,000 and they, between the three of them, perhaps slightly more. True, the two Franzes have signed but not, as yet, Heinrich, and if needs be this will enable the other two to withdraw, as Heinrich thinks his brother Franz would do, should he, Heinrich, not sign and find something else.
He then asked me to inquire whether you might feel disposed to carry on the business of Ermen & Engels in Manchester with him and/or his brother Franz and turn to account its already established reputation, either by simply forming a partnership with the pair of them or, as is now very common over here, by turning the concern into a limited partnership (Ermen & Engels LIMITED, as the firm would then be called); in that case it would have to be ascertained which of the associés (the gérants of the Code Napoléon) would be liable to the full extent of their assets—the law on this point is almost exactly the same as in the Code Napoléon. As to the capital, he maintains that he will be able to raise it immediately—whether for the former or the latter—as soon as you give your assent, and this I can well believe, for after the good years of 1870-73 Lancashire is again so flush with money that people don't know how to invest it.
I said you would be unlikely to agree to this. You had quite enough to cope with; a limited company would be unlikely to suit you and you would be unlikely to agree to an ordinary company, if only because it might entail the removal of one of you to Manchester, and that wouldn't suit you; moreover you would be unlikely to start up a firm on the money that could be raised in Manchester. In short I was fairly lukewarm about the matter.
But the fact remains that there is still a fair amount of money to be made with the firm of Ermen & Engels in Manchester, particularly if, as would be the case here, one starts off with entirely new machinery which will soon be obtainable very cheaply. Heinrich is a very good spinner and twister and has a wife and 4½ children, which does at least provide some guarantee for his performance. Franz has an exhaustive knowledge of bleaching, dyeing and bobbin manufacture and of the whole actual manufacturing process of SEWING and KNITTING yarns, including steel thread. On top of that Heinrich says that Franz has become an excellent businessman, which I can well believe, for all his talents lay in that direction. At any rate the two together would always be more acceptable to me than Gottfried. If you feel inclined to take up the idea, H. Ermen will come over at once when you will be able to take a closer look at him and question him at greater length about the details of his plan.
So think the matter over and let me know as soon as possible; apparently Heinrich can't postpone a definite decision vis-à-vis Gottfried for very much longer.
Love to Mathilde,[4] the children and yourself,
Your
Friedrich
Devil take the Rhenish Engelses! Trusting in the numerous assurances of prompt payment, I have let myself in for all kinds of things and am now in a bit of a jam.