ENGELS TO EDUARD BERNSTEIN ?+ 

London, 10 February 1883 

Dear Mr Bernstein, 

I respectfully confirm mine of yesterday’s date* and herewith 
enclose a letter for Kautsky whose old address may no longer be 
any good. 

To come back to the stock exchange tax, there is absolutely no 
need for us to deny the ‘immorality’ and rascality of that exchange; 
we can even paint a really lurid picture of it as the spearhead of capi- 
talist gain where ownership becomes directly synonymous with theft, 
but then go on to conclude that it is by no means in the interests of the 
proletariat to destroy this immaculate spearhead of the present econ- 
omy; rather it should be allowed to deploy perfectly freely, so that 
even the most stupid can see where the present economy is taking 
them. We shall leave moral indignation to those who are avaricious 
enough to have recourse to the stock exchange without themselves 
being stock exchange men and who, as is only right, are cleaned out. 
And then if the stock exchange and ‘solid business’ come to blows and 
if the country Junkers, who also seek to dabble in securities and are 
inevitably fleeced, make a third in the three-sided battle between the 

4 See previous letter.- See next letter. 

main elements of the exploiting class, then we, the fourth, shall be the 
ones to laugh. 

The request for an exact address with number and street applies to 
you as well. Otherwise I cannot send any money, which I must 
certainly do, inter alia, for 6 copies of the Schmidt pamphlet 
which Schorlemmer and I wish to send to Germany and which 
I ask for. 

But now I must close. 

Yours, 
F. E.