London, 2 December 1893 
122 Regent’s Park Road, N. W. 

Dear Sorge, 

Many thanks to you and your wife for your good wishes and for your 
letter of 19 November. 

I am very sorry to hear that you are suffering from gout and hope that it 
will recede as time goes on; it’s an insidious complaint. 

The repeal of the silver purchase law '*’ has saved America from a serious 
financial crisis and will help to promote an industrial recovery. But I am not 
sure whether it might not have been better had there really been a crash. The 
phrase ‘cheap money’ seems to be deeply engraved in the minds of your 
Western farmers. In the first place, when they suppose that, if there be ample 
means of circulation in a country, the rate of interest must fall, they are 
confusing means of circulation with disposable money capital, a matter upon 
which considerable light will be shed in Volume II I.* And, secondly, all 
debtors find it convenient to incur debts in good currency and subsequently 
pay them off in depreciated currency. Hence every indebted Prussian Junker 
clamours for bimetallism *” that would rid him of his debts in disguised, 
Solonic fashion. *”’ Had it been possible to postpone silver reform in the 
United States until there had been time for the consequences of this 
foolishness to redound on the farmers also, it would have dinned some sense 
into many a thick skull. 

Tariff reform, *’' however slowly it may be put into operation, would 
already seem to have given rise to a kind of panic among the manufacturers 
of New England. I have learnt—both from private sources and the 
newspapers—that large numbers of workers are being laid off. But all this 
will die down the moment the Bill goes through and puts an end to the 
uncertainty. I am convinced that, in all the larger branches of industry, 
America can boldly go into competition with England. 

As regards the German Socialists in America, things are pretty dire. 

“K. Marx, Capital, Vol. II 1, Chapters XXIX-XXXIV. 

The chaps you get from Germany are not as a rule the best—these stay over 
here—and are not in any case a fair sample of the German party. And, like 
everywhere else, every new arrival at once feels impelled to destroy and 
refashion everything that already exists so that a new era may be seen as 
having started with him. Moreover, the majority of these greenhorns remain 
stuck in New York for a long time if not for life, they are constantly being 
reinforced by new importations and are thus relieved of the necessity of 
learning the language of the country or acquiring a proper knowledge of 
American conditions. All this does a great deal of harm no doubt, but on the 
other hand there is no denying that conditions in America present 
considerable and peculiar difficulties to the steady growth of a labour party. 

In the first place the constitution, based as in England on party gov- 
ernment, whereby any vote not given to a candidate put up by one of the two 
government parties is regarded as Jost. And neither an American nor an 
Englishman, since he wishes to influence the body politic, will throw away 
his vote. 

Then, and more especially, immigration, which splits the workers into two 
groups, native-born and foreign, and the latter again into 1. Irish, 2. 
Germans, 3. a number of smaller groups, each speaking only its own lan- 
guage—Czechs, Poles, Italians, Scandinavians, etc. And, in addition, the 
negroes. To form a party of one’s own out of all these calls for exceptionally 
strong incentives. Every now and again a powerful élan may suddenly make 
itself felt, but all the bourgeoisie has to do is to stick it out passively, 
whereupon the dissimilar working-class elements will disintegrate again. 

3. Finally, the protective tariff system and the steady growth of the 
domestic market must have exposed the workers to a prosperity unlike 
anything that has been experienced for many years in Europe, (with the 
exception of Russia where, however, it is not the workers who reap the 
benefit but the middle classes). 

A country like America, when really ripe for a socialist labour party, is 
certainly not going to be deterred by a handful of German socialist 
doctrinaires. 

Part I of Vol. II I (246 ms. pages out of approx. 1855) is ready for press.* 
This is between ourselves. Progress will, I hope, now be rapid. 

*“K. Marx, Capital, Vol. Il 1, Book I 1, Chapters I-VII . 

Cordial regards to you and your wife, and best wishes for your recovery 
from L. Kautsky and 
Yours, 
F. Engels 

L. Kautsky, who will reply shortly, thanks you for your kindness, and has 
already written re the Arbeiter-Zeitung (Vienna); the Pionierkalender has not 
arrived.