Letter to Georg Heinrich von Vollmar, August 13, 1884

Author(s)	Friedrich Engels
Written	13 August 1884

First published, abridged, in: G. Mayer, Friedrich Engels. Eine Biographie, Bd. II, 1934 and in full in: Marx and Engels, Works, Second Russian Edition, Vol. 36, Moscow, 1964
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 47

ENGELS TO GEORG HEINRICH VON VOLLMAR

IN MUNICH

Worthing, England, 13 August 1884
48 Marine Parade

Dear Comrade,

It was not till yesterday that your esteemed letter was sent on to me from London, hence my delay in replying.

The question you put to me 282 is difficult, or rather only to be an- swered in the negative. No science is so botched today as economics, and this at every university in the world. Not only is there no one anywhere who expounds the old classical economics along the lines of Ricardo and his school; it would actually be difficult to find any one who expounded common-or-garden free trade, i. e. so-called Man- chesterism à la Bastiat,^[1] in unadulterated form. In England and America, as in France and Germany, the pressure of the proletarian movement caused bourgeois economists, almost without exception, to acquire an armchair-socialist cum philanthropic complexion,^[2] while an uncritical, benevolent eclecticism is everywhere in evidence — a soft, elastic, gelatinous substance that can be compressed into any de- sired shape and, for that very reason, exudes an excellent nutrient fluid for the culture of careerists just as does real gelatine for the cul- ture of bacteria. The effect of this insubstantial, enervating, intellec- tual pap has made itself felt in Germany, at any rate, as also here and there among German Americans, even within the very confines of our party, while on the periphery it luxuriates unchecked.

Such being the case, I would find it difficult to discover any appre- ciable difference between the various universities. Independent and thoroughgoing study of classical economics, from the Physiocrats and Smith to Ricardo and his school, as also of the Utopians Saint-Simon, Fourier and Owen and, finally, of Marx, combined with the constant use of one's own judgment, would probably yield the best results. I am assuming that your friend would study the actual sources and not let herself be led astray by text-books and other secondary sources. In Capital Marx has indicated the most important sources of informa- tion on actual economic conditions. How the official statistics of the various countries should be evaluated, and to what extent they are or are not useful, can best be learnt from an actual study and comparison of them. And in just the same way, one's individual stu- dies, the more advanced they become, provide the best guidance as to the ways and means of learning more, always supposing one has started off with genuinely classical texts and not with the most worth- less of all — German economic text-books and/or the lectures of their authors.

That is about all I can say on the subject. And I shall be delighted if Miss Kjellberg finds anything here that can be of use to her.

I look forward, by the way, to the general elections ' 9 4 and remain

Very sincerely yours,

F. Engels

↑ Manchesterism — the Manchester School—a trend in economic thought which reflected the interests of the industrial bourgeoisie. Its supporters, known as Free Traders, advocated freedom of trade and non-interference by government in economic life. The centre of the Free Traders' agitation was Manchester. Marx dealt in detail with Frédéric Bastiat's views in the Economic Manuscripts of 1857-58 (see present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 5-16).
↑ economy which emerged in the last third of the 19th century in response to the growth of the workers' movement and the spread within it of the ideas of scientific socialism. They preached bourgeois reformism at universities, passing it off as socialism. They alleged that the state, specifically the German Empire, was above all classes and could help achieve improvements in the condition of the working class by way of social reforms.

[1] Manchesterism — the Manchester School—a trend in economic thought which reflected the interests of the industrial bourgeoisie. Its supporters, known as Free Traders, advocated freedom of trade and non-interference by government in economic life. The centre of the Free Traders' agitation was Manchester. Marx dealt in detail with Frédéric Bastiat's views in the Economic Manuscripts of 1857-58 (see present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 5-16).

[2] y which emerged in the last third of the 19th century in response to the growth of the workers' movement and the spread within it of the ideas of scientific socialism. They preached bourgeois reformism at universities, passing it off as socialism. They alleged that the state, specifically the German Empire, was above all classes and could help achieve improvements in the condition of the working class by way of social reforms.

[1]

[2]