ENGELS TO WILHELM LIEBKNECHT[1]
IN BERLIN
[London,] 30 June 1890
A reply in your own name[2] issued by me would only provoke Mr Hyndman into retorting: it's not Mr Engels' opinion we want, but Liebknecht's own testimony—and, besides, that sort of approach is quite contrary to local custom. As you know, Mr F. Gilles seized on the affair so as to make capital out of it. If you don't wish to write direct to Justice, you should send your reply to The People's Press (editor Robert[3] Dell), 1 Hare Place, Fleet Street, London, E.C.; I am sending you its latest number.
Searching for lodgings in Berlin must certainly be a pleasant occupation!
Your
F. E.
- ↑ Engels wrote these lines on a post card. Indicated on the reverse side was the address: Herrn Reichstagsabg. W. Liebknecht, Fiirbringerstr.17, II, Berlin, Germany.
- ↑ Probably W. Liebknecht requested Engels to write a refutation to the newspaper Justice over the publication in it, 21 June 1890, No. 336, Vol. VII, of a commentary under the heading 'Make a Note of This!'. In it, with reference to one of the Possibilist leaders, Paul Brousse, as a source, Liebknecht was reported to have made the following statement on behalf of the German Social Democratic Party: 'We are not revolutionaries', and he allegedly said that the German Social Democrats were pinning all hopes on propaganda, not on revolutionary actions. On 28 June 1890, Justice, No. 337, Vol. VII, carried F. Gilles' letter to the editorial board 'German Social Democrats still Revolutionists'. Gilles made it clear that even though Liebknecht might have uttered the statement ascribed to him, he could in no way speak on behalf of the party which, at all its congresses, reasserted its loyalty to revolutionary principles. On 2 August 1890, The People's Press published explanations from Liebknecht concerning the assertions of Justice.
- ↑ Richard in the ms