London, | February 1894 
122 Regent’s Park Road, N. W. 

Dear Fischer, 

Discussed the matter with Aveling yesterday. **’ After the Erfurt Party 
Conference, **' and armed with the documents provided by you, Aveling 
again went to the Daily Chronicle and notified them of the facts (he had 
already been there once before and denounced Reuss as a spy, whereupon 
they had said they would get rid of him). But now all of a sudden the story 
was that the proprietor of the paper wished to keep Reuss on and so there 
was nothing they could do about it. But if Reuss nevertheless asserts that he 
gave notice himself on 9. Nov. 1891, i.e. immediately afterwards, it shows 
that, as a result of what Aveling had told them, they treated him in such a 
manner as to force him to give notice—the fact remains that he was made to 
go. 

However you cannot publicly ventilate any of these matters because you 
would risk a public denial by the Chronicle people, since etiquette in this 
country strictly precludes publication of a newspaper’s internal affairs and 
the chaps can thus tell any lies they choose and do so with complete 
impunity. If I were you I should drop the matter altogether since it is no 
longer of any importance whatever. The very most you could say would be 
that the Erfurt Conference took place in October 1891, immediately after 
which the information about Reuss was sent to London and that, as early as 9 
November Reuss had, by his own admission, found it necessary to give 
notice—and let the reader draw his own conclusions. Should you venture one 
step further, the Chronicle will state that, so far as it is concerned, the thing 
simply is not true, and neither it nor any other London paper will print a line 
of rectification from you. Such is the etiquette of the press over here. 

We know nothing about Reuss being pilloried for the second time in the 
Vorwarts; you will have to look for it yourselves. 

Would you pay my fee >” to the party treasurer who can receipt it in the 
monthly account with the initials F. E. in L.