Letter to August Bebel, September 11, 1892

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 11 September 1892


First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXIX, Moscow, 1946
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 49


ENGELS TO AUGUST BEBEL

IN BERLIN

London, 11 September 1892

Dear August,

So you intend to keep the Witch with you for one more day. No doubt in order to instruct her how best to manage the General in re- gard to his drinking and other sins; meanwhile you carry on urging me to keep an eye on her — but you mustn't imagine that I don't see through you. You want to stir up trouble between us, though what your perfidious motives may be, heaven knows, but you wait, my lad, it isn't as simple as all that. By way of revenge I shall bombard you with more work than you want and shall start straight away.

The TRADES Congress in Glasgow 540 has declared war on us Conti- nentals. Malice on the part of the leaders of the old unions and, on the part of the new,[1] stupidity combined with a want of confidence either in themselves or each other — hence, too, of organisation as a party at the Congress where for decades the old unions have consti- tuted a tightly knit group. When the chaps realise what they have done, most of them will regret it.

Well, the Zurich Committee had sent to the Parliamentary Commit- tee 5 5 7 a letter addressed to the Congress containing an invitation to Zurich in 1893 541; this had been composed by Tussy.[2] The Parlia- mentary Committee attempted to suppress the letter. Will Thorne vainly pressed for news of it and demanded that it be read out, but met with repeated refusals on the grounds that the Congress must leave it to the Parliamentary Committee to decide which documents it should produce!! In the end Matkin (Liverpool) moved that the

TRADES UNION Congress should convene an international congress for 1 May 1893 to adopt resolutions and pave the way for an interna- tional legal eight hour day.— Parnell, who had been in Paris,[3] was against it. They should, he said, send delegates to the Zurich Congress and settle the matter there. A big debate ensued in the course of which the 'old' unionists kept asking what point there was in going to Zurich, whether it was desirable to identify oneself with the continen- tal socialists' WILD schemes, etc.— There was a further demand that the Zurich letter be read out and at last it was resolved that this should be done. And so, to save appearances, the Zurich letter was fi- nally read out, whereupon a vote was taken and Matkin's resolution regarding the congress (which, however, is to be held IMMEDIATELY in- stead of on 1 May 1893) was adopted by 189 to 97. Thus, with hardly a second thought, the Zurich invitation was not so much rejected as consigned to the waste paper basket. In return, however, the 'ill- organised' continental proletariat was most graciously permitted to attend a congress in England, there to be lectured, indoctrinated and organised by the true leaders of the 8 hours movement — by those who only the day before had been engaging them in mortal combat. You will see from the detailed report in a Scottish paper, which I shall send you as soon as I get it, that the old unionists have insulted us for all they were worth while the young ones have acted like schoolboys.

Meanwhile I enclose the only report I have to hand. However one must not take it too hard. The new unions are so de- lighted with the old unions' conversion to the legal 8 hours that they have allowed themselves to be caught napping over this issue. Most of them are undoubtedly regretting it already, as will they all as soon as they realise what they have done. In my view it is up to the Continen- tals to bring this home to them, and provided the former act together, the affair will end badly for the 'old' unions.

1. France and Germany must act together. All the rest will then follow suit. Accordingly I am today proposing to the French through Laura that they should get in touch with you people in order that the aforesaid resolution should be followed by resolution couched, if possible in identical terms[4] at your congresses in Marseilles[5] and Berlin.[6] So far as I can judge at this moment (I haven't yet seen Aveling who was present at Glasgow, nor have I consulted anyone else), your best plan would be to point out in firm but calm and not unfriendly language that you utterly reject the newly-fledged eight hours congress, while, at the same time, renewing your invitation to the individual TRADES UNIONS to send delegates to the Zurich Congress.

(The Zurich Committee would also have to do the same, that is to say in a circular — Tussy will be writing to them about it but a push from you people would also be a help.)

2. If, however, one wants to go further and heap coals of fire on the heads of infants who don't know what they are about, then it would be up to the French and Germans to send one man each to explain the position and register a protest against the Glasgow resolution. They will have to be delegated by the Central Trades Union Committee and be, or have been, bona fide working men, otherwise they won't be admitted.

If Marseilles and Berlin are at one, Austria, Spain and Italy will follow. Switzerland is a certainty, for she was the immediate recipient of the affront; Belgium will probably follow and likewise the Scandi- navians. In which case Mr Nieuwenhuis, the Possibilists 3 and the Blanquists are welcome to go and visit the TRADES UNIONS, whereupon they really will find themselves outside the great European move- ment.

That, provisionally, is my opinion just now. As soon as I hear any- thing further I shall write again. Meanwhile you people might think the matter over. At all events the arrogance of the 'old' unions and the spinelessness of the new afford you a splendid opportunity to ex- plain your point of view to the English and to show them that the class-conscious continental proletariat has no intention of placing it- self under the leadership of people who regard the wage system as an eternal and immutable universal institution.

It is a real blessing that the blinkered, biassed, exclusively trades union movement should now have exposed its reactionary nature in so merciless a light.

One more vignette: as a result of a formal resolution at the last con- ference of the SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION,[7] Mr Hyndman was requested (unanimously so it is said) to keep himself more in the background and to discontinue his activities at the head of the SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION.

The main concern of us all is that Marseilles and Berlin should act resolutely and in concert. All else is of secondary importance. If both of them pass identical resolutions, these will be adopted throughout Europe and that's the kind of thing that finds its way into all the papers over here. Your trades union congresses ought also to protest.

The Scottish paper with report is going off to you by this post. Warm regards to Mrs Julie,[8] the Witch, you yourself and all my friends.

Yours

F.E.

  1. ↑ This refers to the New Trades Unions, which were called into being by the rise of the British working-class movement in the late 1880s and early 1890s. One of the biggest among them was the Union of Gas Workers and General Labourers, found ed in 1889 (see Note 164). In contrast to the 'old' unions which, as a rule, consist ed of workers of only one trade, the new ones were based on the production princi ple (workers of different trades in one industry could belong to the same union). The new unions opened their doors to unskilled workers, who hitherto had re mained outside the union movement. An important part in the formation of the new unions was played by British socialists, who had the direct assistance of Engels. He characterised the New Trades Unions in his article 'May 4 in London' and in his 'Preface to the 1892 English Edition of The Condition of the Working-Class in Eng land in 1844 (see present edition, Vol. 27, pp. 257-69).
  2. ↑ See this volume, pp. 495 and 496 97.
  3. ↑ at the 1889 International Socialist Congress
  4. ↑ See this volume, p. 521.
  5. ↑ The tenth congress of the French Workers' Party was held in Marseilles from 24 to 28 September 1892. It discussed the party's position and activities, in particular its work in the countryside, the celebration of May Day, the party's participation in the International Socialist Workers' Congress in Zurich in 1893 (see Note 541) and in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, and other matters. The congress adopt ed an agrarian programme which contained a number of specific demands reflect ing the interests of the farm labourers and small peasants. The congress decided against the party's participation in the international congress called by the British trades unions to discuss the eight-hour working day (see Note 540) and for inviting British trade unionists to the Zurich Congress.
  6. ↑ The Berlin Congress of the German Social-Democratic Party (14-21 November 1892) discussed the reports of the party's Executive and the Reichstag group, the preparations for and celebration of May Day in 1893, the forthcoming Interna tional Socialist Workers' Congress in Zurich (1893), the use of boycott, and the So cial-Democrats' attitude to so-called state socialism. After a long debate the con gress pronounced against state socialism. It turned down the invitation to send del egates to the international congress called by the Trades Union Congress in Glasgow (see Note 540) and resolved to take part in the Zurich Congress. It also urged the German working class to fight against militarism and the build-up of ar maments, which it described in its resolution as the main threat to international peace.
  7. ↑ This refers to the twelfth annual conference of the Social Democratic Federation (see Note 29), held in London on 1 August 1892. It heard the reports on the Feder ation's activities and finances and discussed addenda to its programme, the Feder ation's attitude to the Independent Labour Party, then being formed (see Note 515), its participation in the 1893 International Socialist Workers' Congress in Zur ich (see Note 541) and other matters.
  8. ↑ Julie Bebel