Letter to Filippo Turati, June 28, 1895

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 28 June 1895


First published in the language of the original, French, in: Lo stato operaio, No. 3, 1933
Published in English in full for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 50


ENGELS TO FILIPPO TURATI

IN MILAN

[Draft]

Eastbourne, 28 June 1895

4 Royal Parade Dear citizen Turati,

To write a summary of the three volumes of Capital is one of the most

difficult tasks a writer could set himself. In the whole of Europe there are, in my opinion, no more than half a dozen men capable of undertaking it. Among other prerequisites one must have a profound knowledge of bourgeois political economy, and also complete mastery of the German language. Now you say that your Labriolino[1] is not very strong in the second, while his articles in Critica Sociale[2] prove to me that he would do better to begin by understanding the 1st volume before wishing to produce his own work on all three volumes. I do not have the legal right to prevent him from doing this, but I must wash my hands of the affair completely.

As for the other Labriola,[3] the malicious tongue which you attribute to him may have a certain justification in a country such as Italy, where the socialist party, like all the other parties, has been invaded, like a plague of locusts, by that 'declassed bourgeois youth', of which Bakunin was so proud.

Result: rampant literary dilettantism which only too often lapses into sensationalism and is inevitably followed by a spirit of camaraderie domi- nating the press. It is not our fault that this is the state of affairs, but you are subjected to this environment, as is everyone else. I would speak at greater length about Labriola but when I find that bits and pieces from my private letters have been reproduced in the Critica Sociale without my knowledge, you must agree that it is better if I remain silent. For the rest, after all the quarrels and controversies, the party would seem to have behaved in general at the last elections as the situation required: independent confirmation at the 1st round when that did not help the Crispinis, support for the radicals and republicans at elections where our candidates had no chance of winning. Warmest greetings from Dr and Mme Aveling, who are here with me, and also from myself, to you and citizen Anna Kulishov.

Yours,

F.

Please continue to address my letters to London.

  1. ↑ Arturo Labriola
  2. ↑ Arturo Labriola, La teoria marxista del valore e il saggio medio del profitto and La conclusioni postume di Marx sulla teoria del valore, in: Critica Sociale, Nos. 3 and 5, February I and March 1, 1895
  3. ↑ Antonio Labriola