| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | July 1894 |
ENGELS TO BORIS KRICHEVSKY
IN WEGGIS [Draft]
[London, July 1894] Dr Krichevsky—Weggis
1. You say: 'V. Zasulich's and Plekhanov's intention was, it is true, known to us long before the 10th of May, but only at third hand'. The said third hand was that of Mr J. Blumenfeld, whose address, 3 Ch. de la Roseraie, Genève, is the only one supplied on the jacket of your edition of [K. Marx, Wage Labour and Capital]'[1] . According to the self-same advice, even subscriptions to Kautsky's work,[2] are to be sent to the same address (no other being supplied). If, therefore, V. Zasulich and Plekhanov sent the information in question to what was your Library's sole official address, this was perfectly adequate and it is puerile, anarchistic casuistry to describe it as information at third hand.
2. The moment you were in receipt of that information you were more than ever bounden to address yourself to me as the only person having the right to decide between the two claimants in this case. You did not do so because you already knew what my answer would be, because you wished to steal a march on V. Zasulich and Plekhanov in a dishonourable manner, and were counting on my bowing to a fait accompli. You were totally mistaken, because generally mistaken, in regard to the times, imagining that, at the present state of development both of the European and of the Russian socialist movement, it would be possible to revert to the old prevarications and impertinencies of a Bakunin or a Nechayev and this time, what's more, with success.