Declaration (Marx, November 1859)

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Vogt, who knows the people he has to deal with, executed a very cunning manoeuvre when he shifted the source of the denunciation of himself from the so-called democratic camp into the socialist one. But I for my part have no interest in aiding and abetting this quid pro quo, and can therefore not permit Blind’s declarations in No. 313 of the Allgemeine Zeitung to go unanswered.

1. On May 9, on the platform of the Urquhart meeting, Blind communicated to me all the accusations against Vogt contained in the pamphlet Zur Warnung. He gave the same details to others, to Freiligrath, for instance. Given the complete identity of both style and substance between his verbal statement and the printed pamphlet, he was naturally regarded as its author de prime abord.

2. In the London Free Press of May 27, an anonymous article of Blind’s appeared with the title “The Grand Duke Constantine to be King of Hungary”, which in all essentials anticipated the pamphlet Zur Warnung. In that article Blind declared that he knew of liberals in Germany and democrats in London who had been offered “large bribes” on behalf of Bonapartist propaganda. While Vogt’s lawsuit was pending, I received a visit from Mr. D. Collet, the responsible editor of The Free Press, who asked me at Blind’s request to make no use of my knowledge concerning the authorship of the article in question. I replied to Mr. Collet — who found it quite appropriate — that I would not commit myself to anything but that my discretion in the matter would rather depend on Blind’s conduct.

3. Fidelio Hollinger’s declaration is simply ridiculous. Fidelio Hollinger is aware that he has formally infringed English law by publishing the pamphlet without declaring the place of publication. He himself therefore issues a testimonial stating that he did not commit the peccadillo in question. It so happened that the reprint in Das Volk was made from the type still standing in Hollinger’s print-shop. Thus even without the need to call witnesses. a simple comparison of the pamphlet and the reprint of it in Das Volk would be sufficient to prove to a court that the former “came from F. Hollinger’s print-shop”. The transfer of the trial from Augsburg to London would, in general, resolve the entire Blind-Vogt mystère.

Karl Marx
November 15, 1859

9 Grafton Terrace, Maitland Park,
Haverstock Hill, London