London, 18 June 1892 

Dear Sorge, 

I don’t know whether I have already acknowledged receipt of your 
letter with moncy order postmarked 28 April and your card of 
3 May; what with so much correspondence and other unforeseen 
events, I am somewhat at sea. The money arrived all right and I have 
repaid Mendelson the half that was due to him.*97 

During the second half of May we had Bebel here, likewise Singer 
who stayed with the Bernsteins.*’7* We had a very jolly time and dis- 
cussed everything there was to discuss relevant to the German move- 
ment. I am in complete accord with Bebel; we see eye to eye about al- 
most everything and, if not, are quickly agreed, as indeed has been 
the case for years with this clear-sighted man who not only sees things 
as they really are but has also acquired a remarkable grasp of theory. 
Nor has he ever been any trouble to me. Singer possesses considerable 
practical vision and dexterity in his own sphere but if he departs from 
it, he’s apt to blunder; however, in this respect he is perfectly willing 
to be guided by Bebel whose superiority he freely acknowledges. Both 
men have not only realised, but have learnt from practical experi- 
ence, that Liebknecht is only fit for the scrapheap and has become 
a positive impediment to the party. He has been marking time for 
years, whereas the party has made tremendous strides— also in the 
field of theory, as all its literature (even the smaller newspapers, 
somewhat to my surprise) goes to show. This had been known to me 
for a long time, but what could I do? Upon the abolition of the Anti- 
Socialist Law,'! Liebknecht was, quite ineluctably, editor of the Vor- 
wdaris which he now edits atrociously, and the worst of it is that they 
can’t get rid of him without wreaking more havoc than he is doing al- 
ready. I have advised them to pension him off as decently as they can 
but, aside from any other difficulties, he will dig his heels in. Well, we 
shall just have to let things take their course; luckily the party is now 

robust enough to withstand a good deal of stress, and in the end 
things will resolve themselves one way or the other. 

The above is, of course, written in the strictest confidence and solely 
for your own consumption. You will realise to what lengths things have 
gone when I tell you that Liebknecht considers all the members of the 
Party Executive to be enemies who are intriguing against him — 
save, perhaps, for Singer who, however, sees just as plainly as anyone 
else what the position is. I feel sorry for Liebknecht, but I have seen 
this coming for years and he has only his own pig-headedness to 
blame. Any of our people would gladly make him a bridge of gold 
and we can only hope that he will eventually realise this. 

The German and Austrian miners’ delegates to the international 
congress here *°? have been to see me a couple of times —- two West- 
phalians, a Rhinelander from the Saar, a Saxon and a Czech. For the 
most part good, sound men just as Siegel, who is now working in 
Scotland, was a good, sound chap. The miners make a splendid addi- 
tion to our ranks — all sturdy chaps and most of them ex-soldiers and 
enfranchised. The only snag lies in the many Wasserpolacken 
and other Poles (Dortmund district 22,000, Essen district 16- 
18,000), Ultramontanes to a man and stupid as they come, but it’s 
only a transitory ill; in the long run they too will become involved 
and will then constitute a disaffected element in Upper Silesia, Posen * 
and West Prussia. 

I look forward to hearing more about the gerrymandering in your 
presidential elections.+°° Never before have I had such an opportu- 
nity to observe the modus operandi” and this time I shall be on the qui 
vive. Having once thoroughly investigated the thing, one would 
know what was happening on subsequent occasions. 

I have not yet written to Dietz about your business, firstly because 
your articles °°° are not yet ready, secondly because I have been hav- 
ing to correspond with him about his new edition, now shortly due, of 
the Condition of the Working-Class in England‘ and didn’t want to get 
the two things mixed up, thirdly because Bebel told me that he, 
Dietz, had not done very well out of republishing stuff from the Neue 
Kew, and fourthly because I may very possibly be going to Stuttgart 
with Bebel in August, when I should see Dietz in person.? However, 
I feel sure that someone will be glad to publish your work, particular- 

* Polish name: Poznan-? method of operation-° F. Engels, Die Lage der arbeitenden 

Klasse in England, Stuttgart, 1892.-" See this volume, pp. 489-92. 

ly if you include some new material and thus make it a third or half as 
long again. Should I fail to arrange things with Dietz (though I’m 
sure I won't), the Vorwarts book publishers in Berlin would take it. In 
my view, the additional bits should primarily aim at supplementing 
the factual material, while in the book you would be able to express 
yourself more freely about the follies of the German Socialist Labor 
Party '** than you might have deemed advisable in the Neue Zeit. 

I am glad that your wife“ is getting better. Here too the winter has 
taken a heavy toll, notably as a result of influenza. Our friend Schor- 
lemmer never recovered from his attack and now has cancer of the 
lung so that he’s unlikely ever to get up again. A fortnight ago when 
I visited him, the poor chap’s physical and mental powers were 
failing him and he was confined to bed, but luckily he feels no pain 
and we can only hope that this will last up till the end which, alas, can- 
not be far off. 

Warm regards to you and your wife from Louise and 

Your 
F. Engels 

I have several times heard from Florence Kelley-Wischnewetzky.