Bridlington Quay, Yorkshire 
11 August 1881 
1 Sea View 

Dear Moor, 

Your registered letter arrived yesterday evening but it, too, was 
open, this time completely. I enclose the envelope for you to see; it 
just wasn’t stuck down. 

I’ve this moment sent Tussy a cueque for £50, registered. If you 
want all or part of the remaining £ 20 (over and above the £ 30 you 
spoke about) sent to Paris, Tussy can arrange things more quickly 
than if payment was made by a cueque on London posted straight to 
you over there. She can easily get hold of a money order on Paris. 

As regards the French elections I am entirely of your opinion. 
This Chamber won’t continue sitting much longer anyway; once the 
scrutin de liste* has come through, it will soon be dissolved again. 

Yesterday morning I informed Mr Shipton that he wouldn’t be 
getting any more leading articles from me.” Kautsky had sent me an 
insipid thing on international factory legislation in a poor translation 
which I corrected and sent to Shipton.'’* Yesterday the proof and 
a letter arrived from Shipton who thought 2 of the passages ‘too 
strong’, having, what’s more, misconstrued one of them; he asked me 

* Here: result of the poll.-» See previous letter. 

74, Engels to Marx. 11 August 1881 121 

whether I would be prepared to tone them down. I did so and replied 
as follows: 

1. What did he mean by submitting me the request for amend- 
ments on Tuesday*—i.e. Wednesday up here—when my reply 
couldn’t have reached London until Thursday, after the paper’ had 
come out. 

2. If he thought ¢hzs too strong, how much more so my own far 
stronger articles? Accordingly it would be better for us both if I gave 
up. 

3. My time no longer permitted me to write a leading article reg- 
ularly each week and I had already planned to inform him of this af- 
ter the Trane Union Concress (September).!7° Under the circumstan- 
ces, however, it would no doubt improve his position vis-a-vis that 
congress were I to give up then and there. 

4. He damned well ought to have shown me the Max Hirsch arti- 
cle before it was printed.!73 I couldn’t remain * on the staff of a paper 
which lends itself to writing up these German Tyade Unions, compar- 
able only to those very worst English ones which allow themselves to 
be led by men sold to, or at least paid by the middle class *.« Apart 
from that I wished him the best of luck, etc. He will get my letter this 
morning. 

I didn’t tell him the most vital reason of all, namely, the total inef- 
fectiveness of my articles so far as the rest of the paper and its readers 
are concerned. Any effect there may be takes the form of an invisible 
response on the part of unavowed apostles of Free Trade. The paper re- 
mains the same old omnium-gatherum of probable and improbable 
CROTCHETS; in matters of politics it is +,‘ but if anything more Glad- 
stonian. The response, which once showed signs of awakening in one 
or 2 nos., has died away again. The British working MAN just doesn’t 
want to advance; he has got to be galvanised by events, the loss of in- 
dustrial monopoly. En attendant, habeat sibt.: 

We have been here for a fortnight now, weather changeable, 
mostly cold and often threatening, but not very often actually wet. 
We shall stay at least another week, perhaps a fortnight, but certainly 
no longer. 

Since I’ve been here I have been taking The Daily News instead 
of the Standard. It is even more stupid, if that’s possible. Preaches anti- 
vivisectionism! Also as deficient in news as the Standard. 

@ 9 August-> The Labour Standard-° See this volume, p. 119.-4 more or less-° In the 
meantime let him do as he likes. 

Hirsch? may suffer for his pleasure jaunt. But he can’t help being 
what he is. 
Best wishes to everyone. 

Your 
F. E.