Ryde, Isle of Wight, 23 August 1892 

Dear Sorge, 

If I have not yet begun negotiations with Dietz regarding your 
book, °°° it is because I was prevented by the following circumstan- 
ces: 

I had arranged with L. Kautsky, who is in Vienna, and with Bebel, 
who is staying with his son-in-law “* in St Gallen, that at the end of this 
month Bebel and I should go to Stuttgart together and thence to Ber- 
lin via Vienna, where we were to collect Louise Kautsky and take her 
with us. While in Stuttgart I had intended to settle the matter ver- 
bally with Dietz. 

Now during my stay here in Ryde with Pumps, °°° the old trouble 
in my groin, which had ceased to bother me for five years past, has 
suddenly made itself felt again ----and to such good purpose that for 
the past twelve days or so I have been crippled and unable to move. 
This put paid to my journey and now, although I am visibly better, 
I don’t know whether I shall be in good enough shape to undertake 
a shorter tour. In any case I should not take in Stuttgart and hence 
shall shortly begin negotiations with Dietz by letter — as soon, that is, 
as I know that he hasri’t gone off on a lightning tour with Bebel. The 
matter as such is already settled; all we are concerned with are the de- 
tails, so you can go ahead with your addenda and the more compre- 
hensive you make them the better. Notably, should you propose to do 
a more detailed account of the post-1870 period, you might well in- 
clude the vicissitudes of the professedly socialist (German) party '3% 
and the blunders it has made. For you should remember that you are 
writing for a public that knows nothing whatever about transatlantic 
matters and has got to be told what’s what. And even if this elicits 
a snarl from the worthy leaders in New York and Cincinnati, it 
needn’t worry you, for after all you have long been used to that sort of 
thing. 

Here is a piece of news which you must keep secret, above all from 

* Ferdinand Simon 

the gentlemen of the press, until I write and tell you more. Guesde 
and Lafargue have signed a contract with some capitalists whereby 
they are to bring out a daily in the grand manner and be its directeurs 
politiques. 500 000 fr. are to be expended on it and it is to appear on 
1 October. *?3 But being always somewhat sceptical in such matters 
and not having heard from Paris lately, I feel that something may yet 
intervene and that’s why nothing whatever must get into the papers. 

As you will have seen from the municipal elections in May *?° and 
the departmental elections in July, °°* the French are increasingly 
following in the footsteps of the Germans and learning to make use of 
universal suffrage instead of inveighing against it. And the cause is 
proving a great draw. At the Marseilles Congress °°° the ‘Marxists’ 
will acquire a standing such as they have never had before. 

Add to which the splendid progress made here in England. The 
elections were a great success. 5°* You will have noticed how different 
the tone of the Workman’s Times has been since the beginning of July, 
and how Mr Burgess (Autolycus) is already attempting to found a se- 
parate ‘Independent Labour Party under Avs own leadership, alongside 
the one which the Sociarisr Democratic Feperation 7° claims to lead. 
You will have gleaned the essentials from Louise Kautsky’s °°° and 
Tussy’s °3° articles in the Vienna Arbeiter-Zeitung and the Neue Zeit and 
will find a certain amount more in the preface to the new edition of 
the Condition of the Working Class in England* which | shall be sending 
you as soon as I get back to London. The Trades Union Congress to be 
held in Glasgow in a fortnight’s time °*° will mark a great step for- 
ward: 1. because of the impact of the elections which has been all the 
greater in that the Parliamentary Committee °°’ elected last year in 
Newcastle, ?°° and consisting oddly enough entirely of former ox 
umonists, has treated with disdain all the political resolutions of the 
self-same Congress, and has implemented none of them; and 2. be- 
cause of the conversion of the textile workers who, last year, went to 
make up the bulk of the opposition to the 8-hour day but have now, 
because of the poor state of trade, suddenly and en masse declared 
themselves in favour of 8 hours. Last week the whole of Lancashire vot- 
ed in all districts for 8 hours instead of 10, usually by a very big 

* F. Engels, ‘Preface to the Second German Edition (1892) of The Condition 
of the Working-Class in England’. 

majority. In short, here too the cause is going ahead quite famously 
and next year, not only Austria and France, but also England, will be 
marching behind Germany, which in turn cannot fail to have the de- 
sired effect on your Anglo-Americans, particularly if your militia does 
a bit more shooting, by finally purging the chaps of some of their re- 
publican and Great countTRY arrogance. 

In Germany everything is going splendidly; if you follow the party 
news in the Vorwarts you will see that we are making tremendous 
headway amongst the rural population — even in the east where it is 
most necessary. 

And now you want me to tell you whether I shall be coming over 
next year. It’s not out of the question, though it certainly won’t be in 
the heat of July and August— one August in New York was quite 
enough for me. **! Bebel is thinking of visiting America after the Zu- 
rich Congress, °*! i.e. in September or October. If he does, I might 
accompany him. But these are castles in the air. For, as you can see, 
even the plan I made for this year fell through a fortnight after it had 
been definitely decided upon, so how can I be expected to make plans 
a whole year in advance? 

I realised long ago that some time you’d find it necessary to break 
with that madman Hepner. The man’s got a mass of bees in his bon- 
net and either learns nothing or else gets it all wrong. 

Cordial regards to your wife. * 

Your 
F.E. 

My regards to Schliiter also.