London, 13 February 1865 
1 Modena Villas, Maitland Park, 
Haverstock Hill 

Dear Engels, 

You'll see from the enclosed how things stand with regard to 
our statement* about Moses.'** At the same time, you will have 
read Moses’ scrawl in the last Social-Demokrat.> 

This time I believe Liebknecht is right: Mr von Schweitzer is 
pretending to see in our statement only a personal attack on 
Moses; he ‘overlooks’ the stand against Bonapartism, etc., probably 
knowing full well what he is about. It might perhaps not come amiss 
to Schweitzer if a public break (who knows whether he has 
committed himself to something which will soon force one or not?) 
were occasioned by this Moses business, instead of ad vocem* 
Bismarck? I have therefore written him letter (copy retained '**) in 
which I d’abord’ give him a summary of our relations to date and 
ask him where in all this we for our part have gone ‘beyond the 
bounds’? And I analyse the Moses case once more. | then say that 
because of Moses’ latest silly outburst, our statement is ‘ro a CERTAIN 
degree out-of-date, and the matter can therefore be allowed to rest. 

a K, Marx and F. Engels, ‘To the Editor of the Soctal-Demokrat’. - » [Moses] H[{ess], 
‘Paris, 7. Febr. [Amerika—Der Orient—Italien—Die Internationale Arbeiter- 
Association]’, Der Social-Demokrat, No. 21, 12 February 1865. - © concerning - 
d firstly 

As far as the other point in the statement is concerned, the hint to 
the workers, we would be setting out our position at length 
elsewhere on the attitude of the workers towards the Prussian 
government. At the same time, I took the opportunity—apropos 
of the telegram in today’s Times about the Prussian ministerial 
statement—to make our opinion quoad Bismarck and Lassalle ‘** 
clear to Mr von Schweitzer once again. 

(I would in fact not be at all surprised if Bismarck were to reject 
outright the repeal of the Combination Laws to the extent that 
some of the men of Progress” have now been obliged to demand. 
The right of combination, and all that it entails, interferes too 
much with police domination, the Rules Governing Servants,'** the 
flog-em and birch-’em rural aristocracy and bureaucratic tutelage 
in general. As soon as the bourgeoisie (or some of them) appear to 
turn serious, the government will certainly make a joke and doa 
volte-face.” The Prussian state can not tolerate coatitions and trades 
unions. That much is certain. On the contrary, government support 
for a few lousy co-operative societies suited their dirty game to a 
tee. Officials becoming even more nosey, control of ‘new’ money, 
bribery of the most active of the workers, emasculation of the 
whole movement! However, since the Prussian government is so 
short of money just now, this plan is scarcely more to be feared 
than the Order of the Swan of old!'*” 

Nota bene, Lassalle was opposed to the campaign for the right of 
combination. Liebknecht improvised it among the Berlin printers 
against Lassalle’s wishes. That was the starting-point of the whole 
affair that beau Becker‘ has now taken over.'*°) 

For the present we should—in my opinion—exercise ‘restraint’ 
quant au* the Social-Demokrat. I.e. write nothing (Eccarius excepted). 
Things will soon reach such a pass that we shall either have to 
break openly with it, or we shall be able to collaborate with it in a 
proper manner. Moses will have to receive his chastisement on 
some later occasion. 

Meanwhile, I am delighted that you have got into the swing again. 
You are by nature always able to get back to working at speed. I 
take it my letter came in time?‘ 

As long as these abominable Lassalleans rule the roost in 
Germany, that country will be infertile ground for the ‘ International 
Association. For the present, we must be patient. The 

4 concerning - > about-turn - © Bernhard Becker - 4 with regard to - € See this 
volume, pp. 86-88. 

Prussian government will put an end to this foul morass of 
Izzyness* soon enough. 

Apropos. Cutting from the latest Hermann enclosed. You must 
make a few bad jokes about this notice from Messrs Blind- 
Wolffsohn, for me to pass on to Eccarius for insertion in his 
London correspondence.’** | have been so put out by this lousy 
correspondence with Berlin (apart from the amount of time the 
Internationar Association inevitably takes up) that I absolutely must 
make up the lost ground. 

Tyndall has succeeded in using a simple mechanical technique 
to break down sunlight into heat-rays and pure light-rays. The 
latter are cold. You can light your cigar straight from the former, 
and through a burning-glass they can melt platinum, etc. 

* My best compliments to Mrs Burns. I am indeed very glad to 
hear that the o was an inorganic intrusion upon her name, and 
that she is a namesake of the great poet.” If Mrs Gumpert declines 
becoming a member of a Workingmen’s Association, I hope Mrs 
Burns will not follow that example, but will believe with her 
namesake that ‘a man is a man for all that’.“* 

Salut. 

Your 
K. M. 

Have an Eve upon Jones! He Is a FELLOW ‘TOO CLEVER BY HALF’! 

Apropos. I think I should be in a position to send you the cards 
by Tuesday. I senp anour 2 pozen, which you don’t need to dispose of 
all at once. But give some of them to E. Jones. 

The latter has written to me about the electoral agitation 
(whereupon I wrote him that he should write me a 2nd letter!” 
which I could read out at the Comité Which he duly did).’*° But he 
didn’t say anything in his letter about the Inrernationat Association. 
As he is a fox and I want to pin him down, you should insist that 
he forms a BRANCH Committee immediately (the number of memsers 
doesn’t matter for the present) and that he and his friends take out 
CARDS OF MEMBERSHIP. They must realise that the ‘Inrernationar is the 
only means and method of establishing co-operation (political) 
between London and the provinces! 

Concerning the cards, our rutes are as follows: existing societies . 
(unions, etc.) who wish to affiliate in that capacity need only take out 
corporate membership. That doesn’t cost them anything, or they can 

a Lassalleanism - > Robert Burns - © R. Burns, Is There for Honest Poverty. 

make a voluntary donation. On the other hand, every member of 
such a society who wishes to become an supernumerary Member Of the 
Association, must take out his annual membership card at Is. 1d. 
In France and Belgium, because of the laws there, it has ‘turned 
out’ that they will all have to become ‘inpvinvat’ mempers of the 
English society, since they are not able to join as societies. Every 
branch society or affiliated society outside London and _ environs 
elects a secretary to correspond with us. We can ‘reject’ people we 
disapprove of.