No. 149, June 25, 1850

The German Refugees in London.

For some time the funds for the German refugees here have come in so meagerly that they are abandoned to the direst poverty. A number of them, who till now could find no employment in their trade here, have been sleeping for almost a week in the streets and the parks, and are grappling with hunger. The differences between the committees and the allegedly partisan distribution of the money have been cited from various quarters as a pretext for sending no funds for the refugees. Messrs Struve, Bobzin and others have contributed to this by declaring that the undersigned committee supports only “Communists”.

We hereby declare once again that we have supported everyone without distinction who gave proof of being a German refugee in need of support. Our books and receipts are available to prove it, and are ready for inspection at any moment by the senders of funds or their mandataries. The co-signatory, Willich, in a full sitting of the committee, asked the refugees supported there, in the presence of Messrs Struve, Bobzin and others, which of them had been asked whether he was a “Communist”. Not a single one came forward!

We declare the above assertion of Messrs Struve, Bobzin and others to be a lie and a slander.

Thus the pretext falls away under which support for the London refugees has hitherto been withheld from various quarters.

London, June 14, 1850.

The Social-Democratic Refugee Committee,
K. Marx. F. Engels. C. Pfänder. A. Willich. H. Bauer.

Letters and contributions requested under the address C. Pfänder, 21 King Street, Soho, London.