Letter to the Editor of The Northern Star (1)

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Note from MECW vol. 3, 1975 :

This letter written by Engels to the editor of The Northern Star is incomplete: only the part of it which was published in the newspaper’s editorial article on May 4, 1844, “The ‘Movement’, at Home and Abroad”, has survived. Without mentioning the author’s name, the editor of The Northern Star introduced him to the readers as the author of an essay on “Continental Communism” (they had in mind Engels’ article: “Progress of Social Reform on the Continent” which had been reprinted in the newspaper). Engels’ offer to contribute to the newspaper met the intentions of its editor Harney, who wanted to impart an international character to the newspaper by extending information on foreign affairs, as the editorial article mentioned above stated. From that moment Engels worked as an official reporter of the Chartist newspaper. The same issue carried Engels’ note on the situation in Prussia marked: “From our own Correspondent”, which (sometimes with slight alterations) was used in respect of all the material he sent to The Northern Star. Articles written by Engels were printed in the section: “Movements Abroad” under the editorial headings denoting the country the information referred to (“Germany”, “Prussia”, “Bavaria”, “Poland”, “Russia”, “Switzerland”, “France”, etc.). Sometimes several articles by Engels were printed in the same issue under different headings (e. g., on May 18 and 25, 1844). it is possible that in such cases the editors themselves divided the material of a single report into several parts.

I propose furnishing you with reports concerning the progress of the movement party on the Continent for the Star, extracts from the German papers, and of my correspondence with well-informed men in Paris and Germany. I see with pleasure, that your paper contains more and better information about the state of public opinion in France than all other English papers together; and I should like to place you in the same position as far as regards Germany. The political state of Germany is becoming more important every day. We shall have a revolution there very shortly, which cannot but end in establishment of a Federal Republic. At the same time, I shall not confine, myself to Germany, but report to you everything about Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Russia, &c., which will be likely to prove interesting to your readers; and I shall leave it entirely to yourself to make what use you think proper of the materials furnished by me.