Letter to August Bebel, November 15, 1889

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 15 November 1889


First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXVIII, Moscow, 1940
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 48


ENGELS TO AUGUST BEBEL

IN PLAUEN NEAR DRESDEN

London, 15 November 1889

Dear Bebel,

I got your letter of 17 October when I was up to my eyes in work on the 4th edition of Capital[1] —no small task, as it meant comparing yet again all the quotations Tussy had checked for the English edition and correct- ing the numerous copyist's and printer's errors. Hardly had that been done than I had to set to work again on Volume III, which has now got to be brought out quickly, for in Berlin little Schmidt has published a work on the average rate of profit[2] which shows that the laddie has—greatly to his credit—puzzled out more than one could wish. So you can see that my hands are already completely full; add to that the necessity of keeping up with the international party press and referring back to the economic liter- ature relevant to Volume III, some of which has to be read cover to cover—and you will see that I'm pretty well bogged down and hence you must forgive me if I don't communicate with you as often as I should like.

As for the French,[3] if you were to spend longer in their midst and become more closely acquainted with the sort of effect produced by their curious modes of procedure, you would probably take a more lenient view. The Party[4] there found itself in what was, for France, the unprecedented, if in the long run favourable, position of being strong in the provinces and weak in Paris. Thus what was needed was a victory of the steady-going provinces over arrogant, domineering, supercilious and partially corrupt Paris (the corruption being evident in 1. The domi- nance there of the corrupt Possibilist leaders, 2. The fact that successful opposition to that domination could, in Paris, only take the form of Boulangism). On top of that, there were two executives in the provinces—one in Bordeaux for the Trades Unions and one in Troyes[5] for the socialist groups, these being organised as such. So they lacked not only the customary executive in Paris (or any possibility thereof) but also a unified provincial executive resp. the intellectual aptitude for such and the general recognition it would call for.

That the position during this interregnum should seem to you people exceedingly confused and unsatisfactory I can quite understand. It is but temporary, however, but it was typical of the French that, despite such a disorganisation of their own party, and despite having made one mistake after another, they should nevertheless have convoked a congress in Paris[6] where all this must be plain for Europe to see. They rightly considered that any discredit incurred would be far outweighed by the fact of Europe's being represented at their congress and no more than a few sects at that of the Possibilists.[7]

That the creation of an immediate impact on the public should be to them a consideration of greater moment than it is to you and me and the bulk of the German party is a failing that is not confined to France. Here and in America the case is just the same. It comes from the greater free- dom of their political life and their long familiarity with it. Besides, Liebknecht is acting in just the same way in Germany (one of the chief reasons for our perpetual rows), and, if you were to abolish the Anti- Socialist Law[8] tomorrow, you'd soon see how quickly the deplorable consideration mentioned above would come to the fore.

Again, I think you would be deceiving yourself were you to conclude from what you experienced at the Paris congress that the working men were being thrust into the background by, say, the literary men. Such may appear to be the case at a congress in Paris, the more so as the impossibility of communicating in foreign languages thrusts the work- ing men into the background. In actual fact the French workers set far greater store than those of any other country by complete and, in partic- ular, formal, equality with men of letters and bourgeois, and, had you read the reports I received regarding Guesde's, Lafargue's, etc., agitation during the last elections,[9] you would probably take a different view.

It was only on account of Protot (see enclosed proclamation) that Guesde wasn't elected at Marseilles.[10] In France (because the number of candidates is not restricted in the second ballot, while the relative majority is decisive) it is the general rule that where there are 2 candi- dates of the same party, the one who polled fewer votes at the first ballot must stand down. Protot was in that position, but he remained a candidate and disseminated the most infamous calumnies about Guesde. Neither was known locally in Marseilles but, as an old member of the Commune, Protot was supported by the followers of that brag- gart Pyat, the former deputy for Marseilles. Hence it was understand- able that he should obtain the 900 votes that would have put Guesde in the Chamber. The best constituency in Marseilles had been chosen by Boyer who had, indeed, previously been returned there, and it was he who got in.

So now we have 7 men—by no means the best possible ones. They have chosen Guesde for their secretary and he is to concoct their speeches for them. On the Municipal Council, Vaillant, Longuet and others likewise constitute a separate group. The two groups will enlist the co-operation of Lafargue, Deville, etc., and afterwards form a central committee of the united (or federated) Blanquists and Marxists.[11] In this way an organisation will gradually take shape.

Besides the above, 3 socialists were elected as Boulangists and 2 as Possibilists but these will, of course, be excluded and allowed to fend for themselves.

I am very sorry that Auer should be in such poor case[12] —but no doubt you'll be getting better news anon. I can only deplore the relative weakness—and this also applies in the field of theory—of the younger generation. But now we have got little Schmidt; he was here for a year and I should never have guessed how much he had in him. If he retains his former modesty—megalomania being today the most insidious and commonest of diseases—he may do excellently.

Over here everything is going swimmingly, but not along the same simple, straightforward lines as in Germany. That calls for people with a natural aptitude for theory. In this country we shall have blunders and to spare. But never mind; the masses are now in motion and every new blunder will bring its own lesson with it. So man tau,[13] - as the Lower Saxons say.

What are your wife and the future wife of the doctor of medicine[14] doing?

Your

F. E.

  1. ↑ Volume I
  2. ↑ Conrad Schmidt, Die Durchschnittsprofitrate auf Grundlage des Marxschen Werthgesetzes
  3. ↑ In his letter of 17 October 1889, A. Bebel criticised the French Socialists for their poor propaganda and organisational work.
  4. ↑ Engels means the French Workers' Party (Parti ouvrier francais), formed at the 1880 Le Havre congress, when a party programme drawn up with Marx's participation was adopted (see his 'Preamble to the Programme of the French Workers' Party', present edition, Vol. 24). The adoption of the programme led to an aggravation of the inner-party struggle between the Possibilists (see note 19) and the Guesdists (the revolutionary wing), and to a split at the 1882 St Etienne congress. The Guesdists retained the name of the Workers' Party. They relied for support on the workers of France's largest industrial centres, in particular those of some big plants in Paris. The struggle to win broad support among the workers was one of the party's top priorities.
  5. ↑ A reference to the National Council in Bordeaux and the Executive Commission in Troyes, set up in 1888 at a labour unions congress in Bordeaux and at a Workers' Party Congress in Troyes, respectively (see notes 329; 331).
  6. ↑ The International (Socialist) Working Men's Congress was in session in Paris on 14-20 July 1889, on the centennial of the storming of the Bastille. In fact, it became a constituent Congress of the Second International. Taking part were 393 delegates, representing the worker and socialist parties of 20 countries of Europe and America.
    The Congress heard the reports of representatives of the socialist parties on the situation in the labour movement in their countries; it outlined the principles of international labour legislation in respective countries by supporting demands for a legislative enactment of an 8-hour working day, prohibition of child labour and steps toward the protection of the work of women and adolescents. The Congress stressed the need of political organisation of the proletariat and of a struggle for implementation of democratic demands of the working class; it spoke out for a disbandment of regular armies and their replacement by armed detachments of the people. It resolved to hold, on 1 May 1890, demonstrations and meetings in support of an 8-hour working day and labour legislation.
  7. ↑ A reference to a campaign by the Possibilists in France, and their supporters from the Social Democratic Federation (see note 62), to discredit the International Working Men's Congress held by the Socialists (see note 473).
    Only a few foreign delegates attended the Possibilists Congress held in Paris at the same time as the International Working Men's Congress; the representation of most of its delegates was of a purely fictitious nature.
  8. ↑ The Anti-Socialist law (Gesetz gegen die gemeingefahrlichen Bestrebungen der Sozialdemokratie) was introduced by the Bismarck government, with the support of the majority of the Reichstag, on 21 October 1878, as a means of combating the socialist and working-class movement. It imposed a ban on all Social Democratic and working-class organisations and on the socialist and workers' press; socialist literature was subject to confiscation, and Social Democrats to reprisals. However, under the Constitution, the Social Democratic Party retained its group in parliament. By combining underground activities with the use of legal possibilities, in particular by working to overcome reformist and anarchist tendencies in its own ranks, the party was able to consolidate and expand its influence among the masses. Marx and Engels gave the party leaders considerable help. Under the pressure of the mass working-class movement the Anti-Socialist Law was repealed (1 October 1890). For Engels' characterisation of the law see his article 'Bismarck and the German Workers Party' (present edition, Vol. 24, pp407-09).
  9. ↑ During the election campaign of September 1889 the French Workers' Party and the Central Revolutionary Committee of the Blanquists (see note 33) issued a joined manifesto, signed by Guesde, Lafargue and Vaillant and circulated in more than 100 towns.
  10. ↑ On the eve of the parliamentary election of 1889, E. Protot mounted a campaign of slander against J. Guesde in Marseilles with the aim of preventing him from being elected to the Chamber of Deputies. Protot accused Guesde of espionage for the German Government: he claimed that in 1879, as editor-in-chief of the newspaper Egalite, Guesde had received 4 thousand francs from Hohberg, allegedly the chief of the German police. Sued by Guesde for libel, Protot was sentenced to a fine. Under the court decision, Marseilles and Paris newspapers carried a report about the sentence.
  11. ↑ P. Lafargue wrote to Engels in his letter of 4 November 1889, about the plan to set up Socialist factions in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Municipal Council; this initiative came from J. Guesde, E. Vaillant, G. Deville and P. Lafargue. He said that if this plan came off, the parliamentary faction should issue a declaration, stating its independent and socialist stand and setting the objective of inducing the Chamber of Deputies to give a legal seal to the decisions of the International Working Men's Congress of 1889. The unification of the Guesdists and the Blanquists into the Socialist Party of France took body and form at the Rheims Congress of September 1903.
  12. ↑ In his letter of 17 October 1889, A. Bebel told Engels about I. Auer's nervous disease and his stay at Zurich for treatment. The newspaper Der Sozialdemokrat (19 October, No. 42) reported Auer's plans to move south after treatment. In Switzerland Auer had been collecting documents on the subject 'The Law on the Socialists in Ten Years' Time'.
  13. ↑ let 'em do
  14. ↑ Julia and Frieda Bebel