Letter to Paul Lafargue, March 21, 1889

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 21 March 1889


First published in Le Populaire de Paris, No. 948, 29 November 1920
Printed according to the original
Translated from the French
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 48


ENGELS TO PAUL LAFARGUE[1]

AT LE PERREUX

[London], 21 March 1889

My dear Lafargue,

You and Bebel are both right and the thing is quite simple. It was resolved at The Hague[2] that, should the Possibilists not accept the conditions laid down, the Belgians and Swiss would together take steps to convene a congress in Paris, and that a joint declaration would be made against the Possibilists; the congress would be held by the end of September.

This was resolved—if you were absent—in the presence of Bonnier, who was your interpreter from the German and who should know. The Belgians gave their express consent.

Now, if the Belgians and Swiss take the initiative, it will be your organisation to which the organisation and all the preparations will be entrusted, which means that you will be getting everything you have asked for, so do be a little patient.

If your groups prove to be as unreasonable as the Possibilists, it will be their own fault if the whole thing ends up in victory for the latter.

It's a matter of making the Possibilist congress a failure, of which there are good prospects, provided you don't spoil everything by your impatience.

The Possibilists have put themselves in the wrong in the eyes of all the world. Now, mind you don't go and do the same yourselves by appearing to want to lay down the law for the Socialists of other nations.

Either the Belgians must comply or they too will put themselves in the wrong—I would beg you not to provide them with a plausible excuse for extricating themselves from their quandary. Even if the Belgians cannot comply, all will not yet be lost, not in my opinion, at any rate. Always providing you don't spike your own guns by undue precipitation.

That you will not be able to hold your congress on 14 July is beyond doubt, unless you choose to hold it in isolation. I am not arguing about which date is or is not suitable but, since the matter appears to have been decided at The Hague, there's no changing it, do what you will.

In negotiations one cannot always get one's own way. The Germans for their part have had to concede quite a number of points in order to ensure common action. So accept what is offered you which, in fact, is all you are entitled to ask and which, provided you don't put a foot wrong, will result in international exclusion of the Possibilists and recognition of yourselves as the only French Socialists with whom contact should be maintained.

It was a mistake that you should not have been officially presented with a copy of the relevant resolution taken at The Hague. But, as you are aware, it is not the first case of carelessness at an international conference.

Yours ever,

F. E.

Herewith a copy of Justice. We are preparing a reply in which Possibilists' intrigues[3] will be unmasked to the English. So, as you can see, we are doing everything we possibly can but, if you are as obstinate as the Possibilists, it will be all to no avail.

  1. ↑ Paul Lafargue (1842-1911)—prominent figure in the French and international working-class movement; took part in the Paris Commune of 1871; member of the General Council of the International Working Men's Association; one of the founders of the Workers' Party of France; propagandist of Marxism; Marx's son-in-law.
  2. ↑ The International Socialist Conference was held in the Hague on 28 February 1889. It was attended by representatives of the socialist movement of Germany, France, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland. The conference was convened at the suggestion of the Social Democratic faction in the German Reichstag with the aim of framing the conditions for the calling of an International Socialist Working Men's Congress in Paris. The Possibilists refused to attend the conference despite the invitation and did not recognise its decisions. The conference defined the powers of the forthcoming congress, its date and agenda. The International Working Men's Congress took place on 14 July 1889.
  3. ↑ A reference to the pamphlet The International Working Men's Congress of 1889. A Reply to 'Justice', London 1889. Its original version was written by Eduard Bernstein at Engels' suggestion in reply to the editorial comment entitled The German 'Official' Social Democrats and the International Congress in Paris and carried by the newspaper Justice on 16 March 1889, No. 270. Having been edited by Engels, the pamphlet appeared in English in London, and then it was published by the German newspaper Der Sozialdemokrat and signed: E. Bernstein.