| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 14 December 1892 |
ENGELS TO PYOTR LAVROV
IN PARIS
London, 14 December 1892
My dear Lavrov,
I do not see why I would oppose the publication of the letter from Lopatin about a conversation that he had with me. 97 Therefore do as you like.
I was pleased to learn from Mendelson that you are well. As for me, I have no reason to complain—quite the contrary. For three months now I have been working on the 3rd volume of Capital, and although there is still a great deal to do, this time I have grounds to hope that I will finish it.
As for the Berlin resolution, I am of the opinion that the Germans committed at Brussels the mistake of promising—although indirectly— more than they can fulfil. 54 The 1st May 1890 and '91 has shown that in Germany a strike is impractical; the sacrifices were not worth the possible gains. At Hamburg alone the attempt cost more than 100,000 marks. 98 The coincidence that 1st May 1892 was a Sunday led them to forget in Brussels that real world to which the crisis—more acute this time in Germany than elsewhere—has sharply returned them.
The strike on 1st May '93 could cost us too dear—in Germany, and, by reaction, elsewhere. A strike in Germany would dry up both funds and financial credit of the party for more than a year. And that at a time of military crisis and the possible dissolution of the Reichstag, 76 with elections in May or June.
It is the law of the development of parties that a party which has achieved a certain degree of power finds that the very demonstrations which it could not do without in its early days have become impractical.
For the rest, as for the forms, one could have shown a little more regard for the susceptibilities of others. However, what will you—these are the grobe Deutscht[1] who do not know how to sugar the pill.
As regards the rest, it seems to me that Panama 60 is more important than 1st May, given the times. Panama puts me in mind of 1847, when every day one could expect some new scandal. 61 1847 dug the grave of the July Monarchy, and what will 1892 bring?
Yours,
F. Engels