Letter to Paul Lafargue, April 30, 1889

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 30 April 1889


Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 48


ENGELS TO PAUL LAFARGUE

AT LE PERREUX

London, 30 April 1889

My dear Lafargue,

Père Duchêne,[1] I see, is in a filthy temper this morning, describing everyone as ne'er-do-wells even when they have not done anything at all. The worthy fellow would do well to look about him and ask himself what name would be most fitting for those who allowed three Egalités and one Socialiste to die, thus putting paid to your Party's international existence, for a Party which can neither communicate with the others nor make its presence felt ceases in their eyes to exist.

But enough of that. Can you really not see that what the Belgians have done[2] has restored your freedom of action? That now, since you are so intent on it, you can convene your congress for whatever date you choose, 1 July, 14 July or 1 August? That it's by no means too late to do something about it now, provided you act at once and provided, as seems to be the case, you have at your back a Party prepared to foot part of the bill?

I have written and told Bebel that I shall no longer feel able to advise you not to act and that, since mistakes have been made on all sides, you were right to complain.[3] That was yesterday; today he writes[4] to say that the Dutch intend to follow the example of the Belgians and send delegates to each of the two congresses; that the Germans will not go to the Possibilist congress, despite the votes of Auer and Schippel, who expressed a contrary opinion (Bonnier replied to both)[5] ; that he, Bebel, is in favour of sending a delegation to your congress, which he suggests should be held in August; but that, in order to pass a definitive resolution, the deputies would have to meet,[6] which cannot be done until the next session of the Reichstag on 7 May.

Now, having already waited long enough, you cannot wait until 7 May for an uncertain result. I shall therefore write to Bebel saying that you will probably act now, in accordance with your own views, and I shall beg him to prevent over-hasty resolutions, should the date you select not be altogether agreeable to them.

There is very good reason for the Germans' reserve. Within the next day or two there is to be a monster trial of 128 Barmen-Elberfeld Socialists. In the bill of indictment now being drawn up, the public prosecutor has made it known that, after sentence has been passed on the 128 and the Reichstag has adjourned, he intends to accuse all the Party deputies of constituting the central committee of Germany's vast Socialist secret society.[7] It's the most sinister ploy they have ever concocted against us. Included in the evidence is the convocation of the Wyden[8] and St. Gallen congresses. We knew all about this five or six weeks ago and it was fear of providing additional material for the indictment which inhibited Bebel from doing anything.

As for the attitude of the Dutch, it seems a bit dubious to me, considering the way Nieuwenhuis behaved at The Hague.

Bernstein believes that, if the two congresses meet at the same time, this would suffice to create a climate of opinion, especially among the foreign delegates, that would be strongly in favour of a merger. You will be able to judge whether or not this view holds water; in any case, supposing the above should happen, your congress might very well join the other, on the invitation of the whole congress and after verification of credentials by each congress individually. If you freely assent to voting by nationality, the sovereignty of the congress will be saved.

Bernstein also tells me that, as regards propaganda in Germany in support of your congress, the Sozialdemokrat will do its utmost, despite the right honourable deputies; he says: 'They have asked me so often to pursue an independent policy that would enable them to disown the Sozialdemokrat, supposedly their organ, that I shall oblige them for once. This might, of course, lead the deputies to issue a categorical order, but we haven't nearly got to that stage yet.'

So my advice is that you assemble your committee,[9] convene the congress, settle on the date you think best in the circumstances, and write a convocation circular, which Laura will translate into English and I shall gladly translate into German. All this will take until next week and if, in the meantime, further news arrives involving, perhaps, some minor alteration, there will still be time enough. Your circular should be printed in French by the end of next week and distributed forthwith. I shall send you the addresses you will need. Printing in English and German would be done over here. Your congress once convened for a definite date, the dispute will again revive and we shall help to keep it going.

In your convocation circular you must stress the sovereignty of the congress and the purely provisional character of the rules laid down by you. You would also have to suggest some basis for representation, i.e. one delegate per local group—subject, of course, to confirmation by the congress. This has been kept open by the others in order that they might have three or four delegates per Paris group in the event of your being represented by one delegate per provincial group. By proposing a cut-and-dried basis, you would force the others to lay their cards on the table.

To work then! You have a good two months ahead of you and that should be ample. And see that your convocation circular is conciliatory—the Possibilists are not sparing of soft soap, so the more thickly you apply it, the better things will go. You are perfectly entitled to say that, while yet there was hope, you submitted to all the demands made by the others, but that it has now become your duty to take the initiative. But play down the Belgian betrayal as much as you can—so as not

  1. ↑ Le Pere Duchesne was a newspaper published at the time of the French Revolution by the Jacobins (1790-94), as the mouthpiece or genuinely popular interests. The paper got its name from the French folk hero, le pere Duchene, allegedly a real person, who had been defending the oppressed and destitute. The same name was given to newspapers during the revolutions of 1848-49 and 1871. By calling Paul Lafargue 'le pere Duchene' ('Father Duchene), Engels questioned Lafargue's confidence that he could speak out on behalf of all the French Socialists.
  2. ↑ This refers to a congress of the Workers' Party of Belgium on 22 April 1889 at Jolimont, which decided to send delegates both to the International Working Men's Congress convened by Marxists in Paris and to the congress convened by the Possibilists, contrary to the opinion of the Ghent delegation that opposed the convocation.
  3. ↑ The whereabouts of this letter is unknown.
  4. ↑ Apparently Engels means August Bebel's letter of 28 April 1889, about the preparation of the International Socialist Working Men's Congress in Paris and the stand of the German and Dutch Social Democrats with respect to the congress contemplated by the Possibilists.
  5. ↑ The reference is to the appeal of the German Social Democrats Ignaz Auer and Max Schippel in the German Party press for participation in the Possibilist-sponsored congress. The newspaper Berliner Volks-Tribune, where Schippel was one of the editors, carried the article 'Zum Pariser Arbeiterkongres' in its issue of 27 April 1889. The Berliner Volksblatt came forward with the article 'Der internationale Arbeiter-kongres', No. 94, 21 April 1889, pp. 1-2. Speaking of Charles Bonnier's reply to these articles, Engels has in mind his article 'In Sachen des internationalen Arbeiterkongresses' published by the newspaper Berliner Volksblatt, No. 97, 26 April 1889 in its feature Politische Ubersicht.
  6. ↑ Under the conditions of the Anti-Socialist Law (see note 52), the Social Democratic faction in the Reichstag exercised the functions of the party's Executive Board. On 18 May 1889, it issued an appeal to Germany's workmen and urged them to elect their representatives to the International Socialist Workingmen's Congress in Paris, convened by the Marxists. This appeal was published in the newspaper Der Sozialdemokrat, No. 21, 25 May 1889, p. 2, (Die sozialdemokratische Fraktion des deutschen Reichstages).
  7. ↑ The court prosecution of most of the defendants was discontinued due to numerous protests from the workers, and the court proceedings adjourned.
  8. ↑ Wyden (Switzerland) was the venue of the first illegal congress of the German Social Democrats after the introduction of the Anti-Socialist Law (see note 52). This congress, held on 20-23 August 1880, denounced the activities of the anarchist group that denied any use of legal methods of struggle and staked all on individual terror. The anarchists embarked on an open struggle against the party leadership. The congress expelled the anarchist leaders Johann Most and Wilhelm Hasselmann from the party ranks. The congress decided in a unanimous voice to amend the second clause of the party's Programme adopted at Gotha in 1875 - a clause stipulating that the party was to prosecute its aims 'by all legal means' - and strike out the word 'legal'. The newspaper Der Sozialdemokrat was endorsed as the party's official organ. About the St Gallen Congress, see note 174.
  9. ↑ A reference to the Organising Committee for the Convocation of an International Working Men's Congress. Set up in Paris on the eve of 1889, it included representatives of the Syndicates Federation (Boule, Besset, Feline, Monceau, Roussel), of a group of socialists - members of the Paris Municipal Council (Longuet, Vaillant, etc.) and of a socialist group from the Chamber of Deputies (Ferroul, Planteau). Paul Lafargue and Besset became its secretaries.