Letter to Otto Wachs, end June-early July 1894

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 30 June 1894


First published, in Russian, in: Marx and Engels, Works, Second Russian Edition, Vol. 39, Moscow, 1966
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 50

TO OTTO WACHS[1] IN BERLIN

[Draft]

[London, end of June-beginning of July 1894]

To Major Wachs

Unfortunately, as things are in the Party today, I was obliged to maintain a certain reserve in view of the fact that he[2] contributes to Das Volk. Not because of the paper's standpoint which would have counted for little in a purely personal relationship, but until very recently its editor-in-chief, Mr Oberwinder, played a role in, and on the periphery of, the Social Democratic Party such as to make it absolutely imperative that we also observe a certain reticence vis-à-vis his colleagues.[3] Needless to say, it would never occur to me to ask of these, Mr Oberwinder's colleagues—as to whose good faith I am not in doubt—that they should believe what we know about him. As you are aware, every social group has its own point d'honneur[4] and that is what is at stake in this instance amongst us Social Democrats.

  1. ↑ Wachs, Otto (1836-1913)—Prussian army officer, fought in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, later major of the German Army General staff, author of a number of works on military and political problems. (MECW)
  2. ↑ Hellmut von Gerlach
  3. ↑ Der Sozialdemokrat (Zurich) on 24 December 1887 promulgated a list of Berlin police agents. Among the agents exposed by Swiss Socialists was Heinrich Oberwinder, formerly a member of the First International (see also Engels' letter to Paul Lafargue of 29 December 1887, present edition, Vol. 48).
  4. ↑ sense of honour