Letter to Paul Lafargue, June 29, 1893

Author(s)	Friedrich Engels
Written	29 June 1893

First published in: F. Engels, P. et L. Lafargue, Correspondance, t. III, 1891-1895, Paris, 1959
Printed according to the original
Translated from the French
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 50

ENGELS TO PAUL LAFARGUE

AT LE PERREUX

London, 29 June 1893

My dear Lafargue,

I am writing to Bebel and explaining the situation to him; there are certainly many reasons in favour of a postponement of the Congress to a later date. But

1. November is out of the question, nobody goes to Zurich in winter when it is raining and cold. Further, your Chamber, the Reichstag and the British Parliament will be in session then. So give up that date. Another can be settled later.

2. It would be regrettable if the French Marxists and the Germans, and they alone, proposed an adjournment. But it would be quite another matter if all the French socialist fractions unanimously made this request. See what can be done in this regard, but do it quickly, for

3. The Swiss will have to submit your request to the others and take their advice—at any rate they will plead that necessity, seeing that Seidel, the secretary of the committee, is a fanatical anti-Marxist and intrigues with all our opponents here and in France.

You will have some difficulty in persuading the Blanquists and the two kinds of Possibilists to support your motion, but it is very important. If the others are satisfied with the dates 6-12 August, you are hardly likely to succeed on your own.

Ever yours, in haste,

F. Engels