ENGELS TO PAUL LAFARGUE*”’ 
AT LE PERREUX 
London, 23 March 1889 
My dear Lafargue, 
There is no denying that agreement was reached at The Hague? that, 

should the Possibilists fail to comply, the Belgians and the Swiss, the two 
neutral nations, should convene the congress; that a joint declaration 

against the Possibilists be issued; and that the congress be convened in 
Paris for the end of September. 

According to what Bernstein tells me, he told you as much, besides 
which, it seems impossible that something so important could have 
happened without your knowing anything at all about it. And Bonnier, 
so Bernstein tells me, was present—even if you were not. 

Well, now, if things are to be taken to a successful conclusion, it is 
absolutely essential that everyone abides by what has been resolved. 

You can perfectly well leave the initiative of the convocation to the 
Belgians and Swiss; an international congress can perfectly well meet 
without its having been convened by the Socialists of the locality where 
it is to be held. What is certain is that the real business—organisation and 
preparation—will be in your hands, and this must suffice you. If you ask 
anything more, you will not have a congress at all and the Possibilists 
will emerge victorious from the fray. Before the eyes of all Europe they 
will hold their own congress, which will then be the only international 
working men’s congress of the year. 

If the matter were still open to discussion, I myself would be 
inclined to share your view that the congress should be held alongside 
that of the Possibilists, even at the risk of a fight with them. But it was 
thought fit to hold it in September and resolved accordingly. There 
is no going back on that and, should you insist, you will hold a 
congress all on your own, to the glee of Europe and the delight of the 
Possibilists. 

On the other hand, I have written to Bebel telling him he has no right 
to present you with an ultimatum or to say: if the Belgians go back on 
their word, we shall be free and will not attend the congress. Also that 
they, the Germans, are too deeply committed to pull out in such a way, 
and that a Belgian withdrawal, should it take place—and this we cannot 
tell—would not relieve the others of their mutual obligations. Bebel is a 
man of great common sense and I have every reason to believe that he 
will think better of it, provided you do not raise fresh objections and 
attempt to go back on the resolutions taken once and for all at The 
Hague. 

Things are going admirably and you are the only people who can put 
a spoke in the wheel. 

But even supposing the Belgians were to withdraw—in that event 
the Swiss would convene the congress on their own and, as they 
would be acting on behalf of the other nationalities, success would be 
assured. 

But there is only one way in which the Belgians can be relieved of 
their responsibility or given a pretext for breaking faith and that is for 
you, the French, to act in contravention of the Hague resolutions and to 
be the first to do so. If you abide by them, I am pretty sure the Belgians 
will also assent, in which case the Possibilists will be isolated, which is, 
after all, the main objective to be kept in view. 

Our reply to the attacks in Justice (essential, now that the 
Sozialdemokrat has set up in London) has appeared and, at the same 
time as this, but by book post, I am sending you six copies, of which 1 
each for Laura, Longuet and Vaillant. On Monday the thing is going to 
be disseminated throughout London, handed out at all socialist meet- 
ings, and despatched into the provinces. It will, I hope, give the 
Possibilist gentry and Mr Hyndman something to think about. 

You have doubtless seen the attack in Justice, which I believe I enclose 
in my last letter.* 

Now, let me repeat: Be reasonable, carry out faithfully what has been 
resolved, do not make it impossible for your best friends to lend you 
their support, give and take, use the position gained at The Hague for 
your point of departure, as the first position wrested from the enemy 
and as a base for future victories. But do not force down the throat of the 
other nationalities things which they certainly will not swallow. The 
battle’s as good as won, I tell you, and if you were to lose it now, you 
and you only would be to blame. 

Yours ever, 
EE.