Dear friend!

Of course I too want correspondence — let us continue it.

And did I laugh at your postcard — I clutched my sides, as they say. "In France there is no hectare, but there is an acre, and you don't know whether an acre is large..." It was hilarious, nothing more!

* Which article is in question has not been established. —Ed.

The metric system was introduced — imaginez-vous?* — by France. According to the metric system adopted in the majority of countries in the world, ha = hectare = 100 ares. Acre is not a French measure, but an English one, approximately 4/10 of a hectare.

Well, don't be offended that I laughed. I meant no harm. And what is surprising about the fact that you rarely encounter the words hectare, ha, and so forth? They are uninteresting, specialized words.

A great thank you for the translation of the theses.399 I shall send them to Abramovich and Guilbeaux.

Rework them for France? Hardly worth it — things are quite different there.

There was a meeting of the left here today: not everyone came, altogether 2 Swiss + 2 foreign Germans + 3 Russian-Jewish-Polish...** Weak! I think it will come to almost nothing: second meeting in 10 days... Things are difficult for them, because the whole matter is really a struggle against Grimm, and they have far too little strength. Time will tell.

Regarding women I agree with your addition.

You are quibbling with the thesis that social democrats (1) in Switzerland (2) now should not vote under any circumstances for military credits. After all, the whole time at the beginning we are speaking about this given, imperialist war. Only about it.

"The worker has no fatherland" — this means that (.) his economic position (le salariat***) is not national but international; (.) his class enemy is international; (.) the conditions of his emancipation as well; (.) the international unity of workers is more important than the national.

Does this mean, does it follow from this, that one should not fight when it comes to overthrowing foreign national oppression?? Yes or no?

War of colonies for liberation?
— Ireland against England?

And is not (national) uprising a defense of the fatherland?

I shall send you my article against Kievsky on this matter****.

* — imagine that. —Ed.

** And the report did not come out, but only a discussion.

*** — the system of wage labor. —Ed.

**** See "A Caricature of Marxism and 'Imperialist' Economism" (Collected Works, Russian ed., vol. 30, pp. 77–130). —Ed.