[London,] 5 April 1871 
To Citizen Ph. Coenen, Antwerp 

Dear Citizen, 

As I already told you in my last letter, I felt it incumbent upon 
me to submit the contents of your letter concerning the strike of 
the cigar-workers to the Central Council when it met yesterday 
evening. At the same time I requested the Council to afford our 
Antwerp members all possible help and support. 

In this I received vigorous support, more especially from Citizen 
Cohn, president of the London cigar-workers, who informed the 
Council that the cigar-workers of his Association had voted a loan 
of 150 pounds sterling, or about 3,750 francs, to their colleagues 
in Antwerp; that the Association of Belgian Cigar-workers 
employed over here had voted £20; that his Association proposed 
to urge another Association here, and that of the cigar-workers of 
Liverpool, to advance funds in support of the strike, etc. 

The Council then unanimously resolved: 

1. That an appeal to the English resistance societies in London 
and the provinces be immediately drafted, printed and despatched 
to all the associations, urging them to intervene on behalf of the 
Antwerp strikers. 

2. That deputations from the Council be sent to the big 
centralised associations in London, with whom we are in touch, to 
approach them with the same end in view. 

Having learned from Citizen Cohn that you had already taken 
the necessary steps to prevent the debouchment of Dutch 
cigar-workers by the Antwerp manufacturers and that similar 
attempts would not be successful here in England, all I could do 
on your behalf was to write a short note for our German journal, 
the Volksstaat of Leipzig, in which I relate the origins of the strike and 
urge the German cigar-workers to prevent any debouchment of 
workers for the [said] place, Antwerp, and, if possible, to advance 
you some funds to support the strike. This note will be publish-
ed next week; in addition I asked the editor to take up your 
cause. 

As to the success of these various moves, it is hard to judge in 
advance. Should the English associations consent to give us advances, 
several weeks will probably have to elapse before the necessary 
formalities can be completed. The German associations, having been 
ruined by the war, will hardly be in a position to advance any 
funds. 

In the meantime, please keep me informed of what is 
happening as regards the cigar-workers’ strike, so that I shall be 
able to act if needs be, and without loss of time. Is it true, as 
Citizen Cohn has said, that the 300 cigar-workers of Brussels are 
also on strike? The Council has been told nothing about it and the 
Brussels people would be greatly to blame were this really the 
case; for how are we to act if news is kept back from us? 

For some time copies of the Werker intended for the Council 
have failed to reach us. The General Council must be sent two 
copies of each of our journals, one for the library where a 
complete collection of all such journals is being made to help with 
the future history of the proletarian movement in all countries, 
the other for the secretary of the country where the journal 
appears. It would be a pity if De Werker were no longer to reach 
us, since we have always read it with close attention. 

The £150 should have been sent to you today. If it fails to arrive 
within 24 hours after receipt of this letter, kindly write without 
delay to Citizen Cohn, whose address you have got. 

I shall make it my business to do everything in my power for 
the Antwerp workers whom I have the honour to represent on the 
Council here; only please keep me properly informed about all 
that goes on. 

With fraternal salutations, 

Yours, 
Frederick Engels