London, 11 May 1889 

Dear Sorge, 

There’s so much writing and running about to be done in connection 
with the damned congress that I hardly have any time left for other 
matters. It’s the devil of a job—nothing but misunderstandings, rows 
and vexation all round, and in the end there’l! be nothing to show for it. 

The Hague Conference people allowed the Belgians to make fools 
of them. Instead of at once proceeding, as had been decided after the 
Possibilists’!? refusal, to protest and convoke a rival congress (which 

ought to have been done jointly by the Swiss and Belgians), the Belgians 
did nothing, obstinately refused to answer any letters and ended up by 
trotting out the lame excuse that they had got to submit the matter to 
their national congress—21/22 April*©> —! Whereupon the others did 
nothing whatever (because, through the Swiss, Liebknecht was intrigu- 
ing with some of the Possibilists since it was he who must succeed in 
bringing about an understanding), and thus the Possibilists captured all 
the publicity with their proclamations while our chaps either remained 
silent or, when asked about the possibility of a rival congress by such 
Englishmen as were still wavering, returned nothing but non-committal 
answers. The ultimate outcome of this cunning policy was that even in 
Germany our people turned rebellious, and Auer and Schippel 
demanded that delegates be sent to the Possibilist congress.48 This 
finally opened Liebknecht’s eyes for him and, after I and Ede Bernstein 
had told the French they were now at liberty to convoke their congress, 
also on the 14th of July? as originally intended, he wrote and told them 
exactly the same thing. And so the French have got their way, but are 
rightly cursing Liebknecht’s procrastination and general jiggery-pokery, 
the blame for which they are laying on the Germans as a whole. 

In this country, however, it is we who are having to suffer worst from 
Liebknecht’s clever-clever goings-on. Our pamphlet? had struck home 
like a thunderbolt and shown up Hyndman & Co. for the liars and 
cheats they are; everything was in our favour and, if Liebknecht had 
been prompt to act vis-a-vis the Belgians, as he damned well ought to 
have done, or else had let them go hang and himself negotiated with the 
others, either convoking, or getting the French to convoke, the congress 
at some definite date, we should have won over the masses, and the 
Social Democratic Federation would have deserted Hyndman. But as 
it was, we were fobbed off with assurances and told to wait; and, since 
the chief bone of contention in the Trades Unions here was whether to 
comply with the leaders’ wishes and not send delegates to the congress 
or whether to defy them and send delegates regardless—the quality of 
the congress being of secondary importance and their sole concern, 
entry or non-entry into the international movement—it was clear that 
the chaps would join forces with those who know their own minds 
rather than with those who didn’t. And thus we lost a splendid position 
we had only just won, nor, unless some miracle happens, will any 
Englishman of note attend our congress. 

4 See this volume, p.301 

Bernstein was here just now and has held me up until posting time, so 
I must close. 

Wischnewetzky* hasn’t been to see me. Don’t know what these 
people are after. 

Your 
EE.