Letter to Friedrich Engels, November 20, 1865

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To Engels in Manchester

[London,] 20 November 1865

Dear Engels,

Little Jenny is on the mend again now and thanks you very much for the wine.

Regarding the financial questions, it would be futile to approach Dronke about it. To have some peace with the landlord, and that is at the root of it all, I have persuaded him to take a bill of exchange up till the middle of February for the current quarter, for which I owe him 2/3. As for the other creditors, I have satisfied the most pressing with the £15 and am considering ways and means of putting together at least an instalment for the others. Your offer is very generous, and as soon as my work [Capital] is finished and out, the remainder will have to be made up through other commitments, or if that should not succeed, although I fully expect it will, we shall have to move somewhere cheaper, perhaps to Switzerland.

The Berlin letter is genuine [re an impending split in the German Workers’ Association]. Some days after it arrived, I received a letter about it from Liebknecht, who is in continuous contact with the Berliners. It also emerges from Liebknecht’s letter that those curs from the Social-Demokrat would oh so dearly love to resume their ties with us. The kind of illusions Liebknecht is for ever indulging in can be seen from the following passage:

• ‘the people that have applied to you from Berlin, are our friends. If you could come, show yourself but once — the gain would be immense. Come if it is possible.'*

Surely Liebknecht ought to know that even if I could go to Berlin at present, just as a visitor, I would have to be completely quiet and keep myself to myself and not address workers’ clubs!

Liebknecht also writes:

• ‘Professor Eckardt’* (now the ‘Principal’ radical in the south, as a letter from Stumpf in Mainz makes clear) *‘of Mannheim places the Wochenblatt at our disposal. He would be delighted if you and Engels were to write for it a few articles, but not too strong.’*

The Workman’s Advocate is as weak as ever. However, it must have some appeal as it appeared in a larger format last week. I know no more details, as I shall be present at the Association again for the first time tomorrow. The Parisians have published a report on the conference together with the programme we drew up for the next congress. It appeared in all the liberal, quasi-liberal and republican papers in Paris. You will see what a friendly reception it had from the following report by Fox on the last meeting of our Council which I am cutting out of The Workman’s Advocate for you. Our Parisians are somewhat taken aback that the para. on Russia and Poland which they did not wish to have, is the very one to create the biggest stir. I hope that you will now use some of your leisure time to write the occasional article on one subject or another for the Advocate.

The Paris publication absolves me from the trouble of writing a report on France.

The Jamaican business is typical of the utter turpitude of the ‘true Englishman’. These fellows are as bad as the Russians in every respect. But, says the good old Times, these damned rogues enjoyed ‘all the liberties of an Anglo-Saxon Constitution’. I.e. they enjoyed the liberty, amongst others, of having their hides taxed to raise money for the planters to import coolies and thus depress their own labour market below the minimum. And these English curs with their sensibilities sent up an outcry about ‘beast Butler’ for hanging one man! and refusing to allow the former planters’ diamond-spangled yellow womenfolk to spit in the faces of the Federal soldiers! The Irish affair and the Jamaica butcheries were all that was needed after the American war to complete the unmasking of English hypocrisy!

Please do not forget to obtain the necessary data from Knowles for me (and as soon as possible). Average weekly wages, either for a mule spinner, or for a female throstle spinner; how much yarn (or cotton, that is, including the déchet that is lost in spinning) is spun per week on average by an average number (Or, for that matter, any number) by each individual; and then, of course, an arbitrary (corresponding to the labour-wage) price for the cotton and the price of yarn. I cannot write out the second chapter until I have these details.

Ernest Jones’ address is now 47 Princess Street.

Salut

Your
K. M.