London, 10 August 1890 

Dear Liebknecht, 

I am still held up here because my house is in the process of chang- 
ing owners. So far as I can see, we shall not be leaving until Thurs- 
day, when we shall probably go to Folkestone. I shall leave our ad- 
dress at the orrice” here in Kentish Town and shall also send it to you 
in Leipzig. I hope that, as soon as you arrive, you will come and join 
us at the seaside. As you write and say that you cannot come before the 
15th of this month, I would venture to suppose that you won’t be able 
to get away immediately after the 15th either — to judge by recent de- 
lays, at any rate. So if you were to come on about | September or 
soon after, you would still be able to spend some time with us, and 
then return to London in our company (about 11 September), where 
you would be assured of a place to stay with us. 

During our absence the house is being decorated; this year the car- 
pets have got to be taken up, and there is also the papering and white- 
washing to be done. Moreover, owing to some unfortunate expe- 
riences in puncto of expenditure, I shall be obliged while we’re away 
to put the housemaid on board waces, i.e. give her so much a week in 
return for which she has to keep herself——an arrangement that is 
awkward, in that it precludes, not only hospitality, but also to some 
extent the very possibility of my spending a night in the house during 
that particular period. So if you were to arrive earlier, it would prob- 
ably mean your accepting Motteler’s invitation. However, I dare say 
you will be able to fall in with the above suggestions. 

At all events I hope to see you before the congress. Your draft !7 
has its weaker sides, the weakest, and one which to my mind pro- 
vides quite unnecessary occasion for perpetual recrimination, being the 
proposal that the Executive should zse/f— albeit with the consent of 
the parliamentary group — determine its own rates of pay. I have to- 
day received the Sdchsische Arbetter-Zeitung in which the literary gents 

b 

* editorial office of the Sozialdemokrat - ” in the matter 

criticise the draft. Much of their criticism is utterly puerile, but they 
have instinctively smelt out isolated weaknesses. For instance, that 
every constituency may send up to 3 representatives. Any old Bahl- 
mann or Hochberg, provided he is prepared to stake his money on it, 
could thus send 3 representatives from a constituency in which we 
had polled barely a thousand votes. Needless to say, money as regula- 
tor of the number of delegates sent will, generally speaking, play 
only an indirect role. However, I think it unwise that the proportion of 
delegates to the number of party comrades they represent should be 
made to depend on that alone. 

Again, according to § 2—to go by the wording — any three nonenti- 
ties may combine to expel you from the party until such time as you 
are rehabilitated by the party Executive. The party conference, on 
the other hand, may not expel anyone but only act as a court of ap- 
peal. 

In any active party having parliamentary representatives, the parlia- 
mentary group is a power of great importance. It has that power, 
whether or not it is expressly recognised in the rules. It may therefore 
be asked whether it is wise that the rules should accord it the addi- 
tional status whereby it has absolute authority over the Executive, 
as is done in §§ 15-18. Supervision of the Executive, att ricut, but 
maybe it would be preferable for an indictment to come up before 
an independent committee which would be responsible for the 
verdict. 

During the past 3 years your party has seen a massive increase of 
one million. The existence of the Anti-Socialist Law |! has meant that 
these new recruits have not had sufficient opportunity for reading or 
for agitation to place them on a par with the older party members. 
Many of them have only the good will and good intentions with 
which the road to hell is notoriously paved. It would be a miracle if 
they were not burning with zeal like all neophytes. Thus they consti- 
tute material that positively invites appropriation and exploitation by 
the thrustful literati and academics who oppose you. As, indeed, has 
transpired in, for instance, Magdeburg. Herein lies a danger which 
should not be underestimated. Obviously at this congress, you will easi- 
ly be able to cope with it. But you must take care that no seeds of fu- 
ture difficulties are sown. Do not make martyrs unnecessarily, show 

Sozialdemokratische Sibliathek. 
XXXL 
Das 

Kommunistische Wanifelt. 

nn 

Vierte autorificte deutsche Undgabe. 

Mit ctacee uesen Borwort sou Friedrich Eagels. 

aa 7a 

Cig 

German Cooperative Publishing Co. 
114 Kentish Town Road NW 
1890. 

Title page of the fourth German edition 
of the Manifesto of the Communist Party 
with Engels’ dedication to Laura Lafargue 

that there is freedom of criticism, and zf you have to throw anyone 
out, do so in cases where the facts— overt acts of turpitude and be- 
trayal—are quite blatant and completely demonstrable. That is 
what I think. More when we meet. 

Your 
F. E. 

Many regards to your wife and to Theodor.*