London, 28 May 1892 
122 Regent’s Park Road, N.W. 

Dear Comrade, 

Mrs Aveling got back safe and sound on Saturday when we were 
glad to hear that the business had been settled so quickly and satisfac- 
torily. Naturally it was not your fault that the colliery Manager should 
have duped you, but let that serve as a warning never to reach a final 
settlement with the colliery management without having first consult- 
ed the Scottish miners and us down here. In this country the Ger- 

* editorial staff-” editress of the daily Socialiste 

Engels to Siegel. 28 May [892 429 

mans are now reputed, not without some justification, to depress 
wages and provide blackleg labour more than any other nation and that 
is why Messrs Burt, Fenwick, etc., were determined not to find you 
work over here. Were the Germans in Muirkirk now to do anything 
at all that might serve to support this old anti-German prejudice, it 
would represent a most serious threat to international relations be- 
tween Germans and Englishmen generally, and this applies not 
merely to the miners, but to the workers in all branches of industry. So 
if you wish to continue operating in the spirit of the labour cause, you 
must do your best to learn enough English to enable you to talk 
things over with the Scots without risk of misunderstandings and to 
keep in daily, and if possible hourly, touch with the Scottish workers. 
You will find the Scottish workers very honest, very stalwart and, 
provided only that you can talk things over properly with them, very 
reliable, so it behoves you to get on really friendly terms with them. 
The colliery managements, on the other hand, are much more artful 
and mendacious than in Germany and thrice as experienced when it 
comes to exploitation. But until you feel really confident about your 
English it would definitely be advisable for you to write in German to 
Mrs Aveling, 65 Chancery Lane, London, W. C. whenever you are in 
doubt about anything. She will be glad to place her experience of la- 
bour relations over here at your disposal. 

It was fortunate that we had two Reichstag deputies and members 
of the Party Executive over here at that particular moment,*7? as 
they were able to intervene at once and advance the necessary funds. 
Otherwise the affair might have ended unpleasantly and brought 
great discredit on German workers throughout this country. 

Mrs Aveling will also have told you that people in Germany are 
saying Schroder induced you to leave by citing all kinds of inaccurate 
reports and that as a result you threw away an excellent position, al- 
though the danger was not nearly so great as people would have you 
believe. I must say that I had suspected as much all along and should 
be very happy were a man like you not to be entirely lost to the Ger- 
man miners’ movement. After all, you would be pretty sure of a 
Reichstag mandate and if, in course of time, you were to return 
and then, after a month or two in jug, do your best to keep the 
German miners on the right lines, it could only be to our 
advantage. 

You will be getting some newspapers shortly. 

Warm regards from Mrs Kautsky and myself to your wife, about 
whom Mrs Aveling has told us a great many nice things, and to you 
yourself, 

Yours, 
F. Engels 

I don’t mean, of course, that you should return to Germany this 
very instant; on the contrary it will be extremely useful if you acquire 
an intimate knowledge of labour relations over here and then, draw- 
ing on your own experience, point out to the Germans how much bet- 
ter off they would be, even in a capitalist economy, if only they stood 
up for themselves.