Letter to Eduard Bernstein, May 23, 1884

Add a subpage to this text

Read the help page for usage.

 

To Eduard Bernstein in Zurich

London, 23 May 1884

Dear Ede,

I trust your business trip was eventually crowned with success. All that is necessary to begin with, I think, is for the gentry to be thrown off the scent; once you have managed to do that, the old route, or parts of it, can again be made use of. The stupidity of the police will see to the rest.

I ordered Rodbertus’ Normal-Arbeitstag, but it was out of print. I should be grateful if you could let me have the thing — on loan, of course,— since it contains the only authentic version of his proposed labour reforms.— I am now returning the issues of the old Social-Demokrat by REGISTERED MAIL, having discovered that Lessner possesses them. The translation to be agreed with Lafargue is still pending, which is why I had to have the original here; now, of course, it can be returned.

Singer has been over here and I informed him, amongst other things, of my views regarding the tactics to be adopted in the case of final ballots. For I consider it nonsensical to try and set up universally applicable rules for these which, when it actually comes to the point, are never adhered to. We have great potential power of which no use at all will be made if abstention from the polls is prescribed in all cases where none of our people are involved in the final ballot. As it happens, in all such cases electoral pacts — e.g. with the Centre — invariably come into being automatically: We shall vote for you here if you vote for us there, and many a seat have we acquired thus. Blunders may result of course, but blunders will always be made, nor is this any reason for committing an even greater one. I therefore told him that, in places like Berlin, for instance, where the electoral campaign is virtually confined to ourselves and the men of Progress, pacts before the general election were not out of the question — you cede us that constituency and in return we cede you this one — but only, of course, if one can count on their being observed. What I consider inept is, in effect, the attempt by congresses to formulate in advance universally valid rules for as yet non-existent tactical cases.

Au fond, I am rather glad that the Anti-Socialist Law was left in force and not repealed. The liberal philistine would have won a great victory for the conservatives at the elections for he is prepared to go not only through fire and water but even through the deepest muck-pit to keep the Anti-Socialist Law in operation. And then a new and stricter law would have been the result. As it looks now it has been extended most likely for the last time, and if old Wilhelm should kick the bucket from his renal colic it will soon cease to exist in practice. That the German liberals and the Centre thoroughly disgraced themselves when the vote was taken is also worth something, but still more Bismarck’s right to work. Ever since that muddlehead took hold of this there are prospects of our getting rid of wailers like Geiser. Incidentally it takes a Bismarck to do such a stupid thing in face of a labour movement that cannot be held in check even with exceptional laws. In the meantime our people are quite justified in getting him more and more involved in this matter by pressing him for fulfilment. As soon as that fellow has committed himself a little more (which he is sure not to do so soon) the whole flimflam will resolve itself into Prussian police rule. Qua electoral programme, the slogan by itself will do him damn' all good.

The right to work was first advanced by Fourier, but with him it is realised only in the phalanstère and therefore presupposes the adoption of the latter. The Fourierists – peace-loving philistines of the Démocratie pacifique, as their paper was called, disseminated that phrase precisely because it sounded innocuous. The Paris workers of 1848 – with their utter confusion in theoretical matters allowed this phrase to be palmed off on them because it looked so practical, so non-utopian, so readily realisable. The government put it into practice – in the only way capitalist society could put it into practice – by building nonsensical national workshops. In the same way the right to work was realised here in Lancashire during the cotton crisis of 1861-64 by building municipal workshops. And in Germany it is also put into operation by establishing starvation and flogging colonies for the workers, which are now arousing the enthusiasm of the philistines. Put forward as a separate demand the right to work cannot be realised in any other way. One demands that capitalist society should make that right effective but this society can do that only within the framework of its conditions of existence and if one demands the right to work in this society one demands it subject to these definite conditions; hence one demands national workshops, workhouses and colonies. But if the demand of the right to work is supposed to include indirectly the demand for the transformation of the capitalist mode of production, it is a cowardly regression in comparison with the present state of the movement, a concession to the Anti-Socialist Law, a phrase that can serve no other purpose than to confuse and muddle up the workers with regard to the aims they have to pursue and the sole conditions under which they can achieve their aims.

In the Paris municipal elections, our people have in fact pursued the tactics recommended by you, only putting up Dereure against Joffrin because there was at first no Opportunist standing against him, so that in this instance opposition was pretty well obligatory. Simoneau did not come upon the scene until later, whereupon Guesde immediately demanded that Dereure withdraw; but at this point Dereure’s courage failed him and thus he suffered a resounding defeat. Vaillant, on the other hand, triumphed over the Possibilists in his arrondissement, for Retiès was a tosspot (poivrard) of the worst repute and was deservedly defeated. And if Joffrin was defeated in the final ballot, it was not our people but his who were to blame. It will, by the way, be necessary to go on opposing the Possibilists until they deign to come to an agreement with our chaps at election time; so long as they simply go on making themselves out to be the parti ouvrier par excellence, they will force our chaps into direct opposition. So either — or; it’s for those gentlemen to decide.

As regards Joffrin in particular, his programme was so lousy and lukewarm that even the Radicals refrained from putting up a rival candidate, Joffrin’s programme being, in essence, their own!

Over here Justice gets more wretched by the week.

Your

F.E.

I shall also set to work on the Dühring. When roughly do you want to start printing? Once I have begun, I shall be able to knock off some 6 to 8 sheets straight away, although it is precisely at the beginning that there is much revision to be done.

The Peasant War will be completely rewritten save for the account of military events. I have learned a great deal about the subject in recent years and shall be including quite a lot of German history. This as soon as Dühring is ready!