London, 19 May 1892 

Dear Victor, 

I have reached an understanding with Dietz and he with Wigand 
in regard to a new edition of the Condition of the Working-Class in En- 
gland, the initial benefit of which will be a fee of 1,000 marks. Dietz 
promises to pay '/, in the autumn and '/, in the New Year of 1893 
but August, who is over here, believes we can get at least part of it out 
of him even sooner. Also an additional fee of some sort for Neue Zeit ar- 
ticles. Now I should like to pass this on to you Austrians but would 
take the liberty of making a few stipulations regarding its use; these 
I have discussed with August who agrees to them. 

For even though I may be unfamiliar with the details, I know well 
enough for practical purposes that your activities on behalf of the Au- 
strian party are being continually hampered by the inability of that 
self-same party to secure for you the material position that would per- 
mit you to devote all your time and energy to the cause. I also know 

that the misfortunes you have met with of late have involved you in 
expenditure and that the party is unable to offer you the means with 
which to meet it. So I regard it as one of the prime conditions for the 
continued growth of the Austrian movement that you should be given 
an opportunity firstly to weather the present period of exceptional ex- 
penditure and, secondly, to secure for yourself, if possible, the neces- 
sary increase in pay which cannot yet be provided over there. The 
former is the more essential, but the latter is bound up with it. 
I should now like to put a suggestion to you, namely that the above 
fees should be placed at your disposal for either the former or the lat- 
ter purpose or both — how they are to be used will then depend en- 
tirely on circumstances which you alone will be competent to judge. 
I need hardly add that there would then be no grounds for ac- 
knowledging in public, say, receipt of these sums. 

I trust you will do me the pleasure of accepting my proposal. 
I know from my own experience, even though that was long ago, how 
greatly one’s ability to work, will to work and time for work is restrict- 
ed by the economic struggle for existence and we three* here are all 
of the opinion that you can do the Austrian party no greater service 
than to fall in with this little scheme. 

Your May Day celebrations made a very good impression over 
here, the more so since Paris did not in fact participate this year as 
a result of the squabbles going on there. However Lafargue writes to 
say that in 22 places (the biggest being Roubaix and Marseilles where 
we got everyone home) we gained a majority on the city council —- four 
hundred seats in the first ballot and a further 200 in the second.*?° 
The effect this has had can be gathered from the Orleanist Soledl 
which I am sending you. 

Many regards, then, from 

Your 
F. Engels