[London,] 12 September 1871 

Dear Mr Sorge, 

Kindly convey the enclosed letter from our Irish secretary, 
MacDonnell, to John Devoy. 

I had no time to reply to you in greater detail. We are so 
extremely busy here at the present time that I have been 
compelled for the past 3 months (and still am) to interrupt some 
very urgent theoretical work. 

I shall merely say in regard to the Rules that the English Evrtrion 
is the sole authentic one.* The conference will issue authentic 
versions in English, French and German,*” which is also necessary 
because various Congress resolutions relating to the Rules must be 
incorporated in them. 

The Centrat Commirrer in New York’ must not forget: 

1. That the General Council had contacts in America long 
before the Committee was established; 

9. That, as far as the Address” is concerned, it was on sale in 
London, and hence anybody had the right to send it to his friends 
in America at his own expense. The first shipment to New York 
was so small because the first edition was sold out in two days, 
which is why I did not get the number of copies allotted for my 
shipments. 

3. In Par. 6 of the Rules it is expressly stated that ‘No INDEPENDENT 
LOCAL SOCIETY SHALL BE PRECLUDED FROM DIRECTLY CORRESPONDING WITH THE 
General Council’, and in Washington, for example, the branch 
declared that it did not want to enter into contact with New 
York.?”. 

Salut fraternel, 

Karl Marx