The Little Red Library

No. 6Marx and Engels

on

Revolution in AmericaBy HEINZ NEUMAN

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The Little Red Library

No. 6Marx and Engels

on

Revolution in AmericaBy HEINZ NEUMAX

TEN 1 CENTS

DAILY WORKERPU1LISNIN0 COMPANY

ma w.

New Numbers///

Little Red LibraryWill be, ixyit-vd In a$ rapid successionas #H-i table material will allow.

TITLES NOW READY:No. 1.—TRADE UNIONS IN

AMERICA, by Wm. Z.Poster, J. P. Cannonand E. R. Browder.

No. 2—CLASS STRUGGLEvs. CLASS COLLAB-ORATION, by Earl R.Browder.

No. 3.—P R I N C I P L E S OFC O M M U N I S M , byFrederick En gels.Translation by MaxBedacht.

No. 4 . — W O R K E R CORRE-S P O N D E N C E , b yWm. P. Dunne.

No. 5.—POEMS FOR WORK-ERS, Edited by Man-uel Gomez.

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THE WORLD RULE OFWALL S T R E E T , byManuel Gomez.

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Twelve copies will be sent of any singlenumber—choice of numbers—or follow-ing numbers as soon as off the press.

Marx and Engels

on

Revolution in America

by

HEINZ NEUMANN

.290

INTRODUCTION

Marx and Engels were not only the theoreticiansbut, in the first place, they were the leaders of theproletarian revolution. It is in the study of theconditions of the proletarian struggle and its vic-tory that they perfected the science of Marxism,the science of the proletarian revolution.

In the First International these men saw an in-strument of proletarian struggle and leadership.Thru their theoretical works they supplied a guideto this leadership. Both Marx and Engels equippedthemselves in the most painstaking fashion with athorough knowledge of the conditions in the vari-ous countries so that they might give authoritativeadvice and instruction to the leaders of the workingclass movement all over Europe. Even in their oldage, they set themselves to master new languagesto enable them to draw from the literature andjournals of the respective countries a knowledge oftheir various conditions. And so we find displayedin their advice and instruction to their followers anintimate knowledge of the subjective and objectiveconditions of the labor movement, a knowledge thatwould surprise any native student.

The body of this little booklet is made up of ex-cerpts from letters written by Marx and Engelson conditions in the United States. To a large ex-tent these conditions still prevail, at least in so faras they deal with the subjective factors of the pro-letarian revolution. The ideology prevailing among

the American workers in those days showed a muchgreater resistance to counter-acting forces thanMarx and Engels had hoped. Marx and Engelsmisjudged the tempo of the process of dissipationof the illusions obsessing the .American workingclass but they were entirely correct in their esti-mation of the forces and methods that will finallydestroy them.

All these letters and quotations speak for them-selves. But a few words must be said as to theirorigin.

The heroic struggle of the Paris proletariat forthe Commune in 1871 had driven home to the rulingclasses of those days the reality of the danger of aproletarian revolution. No wonder, then, that, totheir ever-present hatred of the revolutionary as-pirations of their wage-slaves, they now added ahaunting dread. The International W orkingmen'sf

Association (The First International) came in fora full share of this hatred and fear. The place ofthe (fZinoviev letters" of today was taken in thosedays by letters from that <(arch fiend" Ka.rl Marx.It is but little known today that in the first tele-graphic reports of the Chicago conflagration (Oc-tober, 1871), it was not Mrs. Kelly's cow that causedit, but—the International Workingmen's Associa-tion. The General Council of that body was fullyjustified when it sarcastically complained that thetornado devastating the West Indies about the sametime was not booked to its account.

The defeat of the Commune brought the innerdifferences of the International to a head. Al-though the Centralists under the leadership of Mara)

Iand Engels defeated the Autonomists behindMichael Bakunin at the Congress of the Interna-tional at The Hague in September, 1812, yet it 'be-

came clear that only radical measures could save itfrom complete dissolution. In fact, neither Marxnor Engels had any hopes that it would be saved.But they wanted to secure it an honorable death.With the General Council in London it was Qertainthat the Blanquists would dominate it. To estab-lish the headquarters in any other European capi-tal was impossible under the existing conditions ofgeneral reaction. So Marx insisted on the removalof the General Council to New York.

The center of the General Council in New Yorkbecame its local leader, F. A. Sorge.

F. A. Sorge had taken an active part in the revo-lution of 1848 in Germany. For some time there-after he lived in exile in Switzerland. In 1851 hewent to London where he became acquainted withthe Communist Club and with Karl Marx. Whenlater he emigrated to America he settled in NewYork where, in 1857, he founded the CommunistClub ivhich later became the American Section ofthe First International. Sorge died in Hoboken, in1906. His whole life he had devoted to the revolu-tionary movement of the proletariat and the Ameri-can movement, especially, is indebted to him for itsfirst Marxian education.

The removal of the General Council of the Inter-national to New York did not terminate the leader-ship of Marx and Engels. Both kept in close touchwith affairs and numerous letters full of advice, in-structions, and suggestions, written by both Marx

and Engels to Sorge, testify to this. The need fora centralized leadership for the International wasalways clear to Marx and Engels. The basic issueof the struggle between Marx and'Bakunin waswhether the General Council of the Internationalshould be merely a statistical bureau and generalpostoffice for the exchange of views of the varioussections or whether it should be the instrument ofinternational leadership; Bakunin stood for theformer concept; Marx fought for the latter.

The First International ceased to exist with theresignation of Sorge from its General Council in1873. It had completed its task—that of explainingto the working class the conditions and methods ofits emancipation. The death of the First Interna-tional did not, however, mean a death blow to theidea of a centralized leadership for the internationalmovement of the proletariat. The Communist In-ternational, under the leadership of Lenin, has be-come the realization of Engels' hopes: "that the newInternational be not merely one of propaganda butone of action, built upon the undisguised and un-adulterated principles of Marxism, Communism."The Communist International is the rightful heir ofthe First International Workingmen's Association.

Some of the letters quoted in this booklet wereaddressed to Mrs. Florence Kelley Wischnewetsky.This is Mrs. Florence Kelley, at present general sec-retary of the National Consumers' League. Bornin 1859, Mrs. Kelley graduated from Cornell Col-lege in 1872 and upon her graduation went abroadand studied at Zurich and Heidelberg. Whileabroad she visited England and there came in con-

4

tact with Friedrich Engels. She became interestedin socialism and, under his supervision, translatedEngels' classic work, "The Conditions of the Work-ing Classes in England," which was published forthe first time in English in New York in 1886.After her return to America she continued to cor-respond with Engels regarding American affairs.Before his death Sorge was able to obtain Engels3

letters to her and turn them over together with hisown to the New York Public Library, where theystill remain and where most of the originals of themany quotations in this booklet may be found.Florence Kelley was one of the organizers of theIntercollegiate Socialist Society and has been formany years on their executive committee. In thelast ten years or so her former close contact withthe socialist movement lessened to a considerableextent.

The study of this pamphlet will help many ofthose active in the revolutionary labor movement inthe United States better to understand the prob-lems of the movement. Comrade Heinz Neumann.•> » 'one of the leaders of the Communist Party of Ger-many, performed a real service for the Americanproletariat by compiling and analyzing this valu-able material from the writings of the founders ofthe International Communist movement, Marx andEngels.

The reader who is familiar with the recent dis-cussions in the American Communist movementconcerning the role of the Labor Party movementin this country and its services in politically awak-ening the American masses to elementary forms of

class consciousness and class action will notice theremarkable applicability of many of the statementsand analyses of Marx and Engels to just this prob-lem. A careful study of this material will cast con-siderable light on the Labor Party question that isnow one of the fundamental problems facing theAmerican proletariat and its Party.

Agitprop Department^WORKERS (COMMUNIST) PARTY

OF AMERICA.

Marx and Engelson

Revolution in AmericaBy Heinz Neumann.

TN the imperialist epoch the United States as-sumed the role of the economically and poli-

tically predominating country of the bourgeoisiewhich England had played in the period of thecapitalism of free competition. America is themost powerful mainstay of imperialism. TheEuropean revolution cannot be successful with-out the help of the masses of the American work-ing class.

Leninism always combatted the theory of theSecond International, according to which thecourse of the revolution in the various capitalistcountries was dependent upon the "stage of de-velopment of the forces of production." Lenindemonstrated theoretically and practically thatthe proletariat is not first victorious in thosecountries where the productive forces are mosthighly developed, but in those countries where theworld system of imperialism is weakest and therevolutionary forces of the proletariat and of itsallied peasant masses are strongest.

But Lenin's theory of the proletarian revolu-tion means more than this. In his polemic against

Trotsky's theory of the permanent revolution,which maintained that the victory of the proleta-rian dictatorship in Russia was only possible"with the state aid of the working class in themore highly developed countries," Lenin pointedout repeatedly that the proletariat of the highlydeveloped capitalist countries already becomethe strongest allies of the victorious proletariat inthe backward countries even before the establish-ment of their own dictatorship. Not only the"state aid" but the very revolutionary struggle forthe seizure of power in the capitalist countriesrenders the consolidation of the proletarian dic-tatorship possible and the development of social-ism in the existing Soviet Republics.

When applied to the perspective of the Europ-ean, especially of the Central European and prim-arily the German revolution, the Leninist theoryrequires the correct estimate of the role of theAmerican proletariat and consequently the es-tablishment of a revolutionary mass Party in Am-erica as a decisive factor in gaining and defendingthe dictatorship of the proletariat in Germany.The development of imperialism after the firstworld war made America the metropolis of thecapitalist world* Germany and a constantly in-creasing number of other European states whichformerly were amongst the older and dominantcapitalist countries, sink to the level of economic-ally and politically backward countries, to indus-trial colonies of American finance capital. Al-though these countries had already accomplishedthe bourgeois revolution a long time ago, they

8

U

play a role with respect to American finance capi-tal similar to that which Russia played with re-gard to West European capital.

The Dawes regime lends this development notonly historical, but immediate political signifi-cance for Germany. The German proletariat canonly then conquer in its fight against AmericanDawes' rule, if it be supported by an extensiverevolutionary mass movement in America. Aslong as the rule of American finance capital doesnot meet with resistance in the metropolis itself,as long as the Communist Party of America re-mains a small sectarian party, as long as thegreat organizations of the American workingclass remain unchallenged in the hands of therepresentatives of the most reactionary laboraristocracy—in short, as long as no revolution-ary mass Party exists in America—-the strengthof the German bourgeoisie, supported by Ameri-can finance capital, and the difficulties of theGerman revolution, are increased ten-fold.

To deny this fact signifies the rejection of theLeninist viewpoint of the direct support of therevolution in comparatively backward countries,by the class struggle of the proletariat in the im-perialist metropolis. It signifies renouncing therevolutionary estimate of the role of the Ameri-can proletariat in the present stage of the Europ-ean revolution, and the recognition of the Trotsky-ist theory of "state aid," which, as an inseparablecomponent of the theory of the "permanent rev-olution," in this case ends in nothing else butKautsky's "doctrine of productive forces."

Marx and Engels clearly realized the future roleof America in the class strugle of the proletariat.In his third preface to the "Communist Manifesto"in 1883, Engels stated: "The limited extent ofthe spread of the proletarian movement at thetime the Manifesto was first published (January,1848), is best demonstrated by the last chapter:The Attitude of the Communists of the VariousOpposition Parties.' First of all, Russia and theUnited States are missing in this chapter. . ."Engels calls both countries "the great reserve ofEuropean reaction." He recalls the period "inwhich emigration to the United States absorbedthe surplus of the European proletariat." TheUnited States, like Russia, supplied "Europe withraw materials, and at the same time served as amarket for the sale of the latter's industrial prod-ucts." Engles then continues:

"Both functioned thus, in one way or another, aspillars of the European social order.

"How all this has changed today! European emi-gration has rendered possible the colossal develop-ment of North American agriculture, wfiich, throughits competition, is shaking the foundations of large aswell as small land ownership in Europe. At the sametime it enabled the United States to begin with the ex-ploitation of its rich industrial resources with sue/energy and upon such a scale THAT WITHIN MSHORT PERIOD THE INDUSTRIAL MONOPOLYOF WESTERN EUROPE MUST BE BROKEN. (Em-phasis here, as well as in all following quotations,mine—H. N.)

10

"And both these circumstances REACT UPONAMERICA IN A REVOLUTIONARY DIRECTION.The small and medium property of the farmer work-ing for himself, the foundation of America's wholepolitical system, falls more and more victim to thecompetition of the giant farms, while at the sametime, is formed for the first time a NUMEROUSPROLETARIAT in the industrial districts togetherwith a FABULOUS CONCENTRATION OF CAPI-TAL."

This utterance immediately precedes the fam-ous prophecy that "the Russian revolution will bethe signal for a workers' revolution in the West."Both of these statements fall in that period ofEngels' work, in which he had already recognizedthe decisive changes characterizing the trans-formation from the capitalism of free competitionto imperialism. With the Paris Commune, theperiod of the First International had to all intentsconcluded, although it continued to exist formal-ly. Marx and Engels continue to view the prob-lems of the labor movement from the standpointof the basic principles of the International Work-ing Men's Association. However, at the sametime, they seek a new form of labor movementwhich, corresponding with the changed historicalform of development of capitalism itself, risesabove the level of the past. In "The Civil War inPrance" and in the "Letters to Kugelmann," theMarxian theory of the State is developed to itsutmost issue; at the same time the leading roleof the Communist Party in the struggle of theproletariat is definitely expressed. Lenin always

11

refers to these works in his own writings; helooked to them for guidance upon the most im-portant problems of the proletarian revolution.There is no doubt that the passages in the corre-spondence of Marx and Engels dealing with theAmerican labor movement ought to come underthis head. These letters cover the historical con-tent of an entire generation—from 1868 to 1895.

Leninism is not, as several opportunists main-tain, only a sub-division of Marxism. It is neitherthe Marxism of the "early period" nor the Marx-ism of the "mature period." Leninism is thewhole of Marxism in the epoch of imperialism andof the proletarian revolution. But no Chinesewall separates the epoch of imperialism from theepoch of the capitalism of free competition. Be-tween the epoch of the bourgeois-democratic rev-olution and the epoch of the proletarian worldrevolution there lie no insuperable barriers. Be-tween them there lies a period of transition. Inthe ranks of revolutionary Marxism this periodof transition in its broadest sense is embodied inthe left, revolutionary wing of the Second Inter-national. In a narrow sense it is expressed in thework of Marx's and Engels' concluding years,which historically already tower over the periodprior to the Paris Commune and almost directlyintertwine with the foundations of Leninism.

For this reason it is not admissable to considerthe statements of Marx and Engels upon theproblems of the American labor movement as"quotations from a bygone period." They belongrather, to the tactical doctrines of Marx and

12

i

Engels, which on all essentials of method agreewith the tactics of Lenin and which in the mainstill apply today to the problems of our tactics.

II. METHOD.TN his letter to Sorge dated September 16, 1887,

Engels wrote as follows upon the Americanlabor movement:

"In spite of all, the masses can only be set inmotion in a way suitable to the respective countriesand adapted to the prevailing conditions—and this isusually a roundabout way. But everything else is ofminor importance if only they are really aroused."

The method with which Engels approached theproblems of the American labor movement re-quired, therefore, firstly, the consideration ofthese specific national characteristics of thecountry, without the schematic application of the"ways" which had been tested in other countries,as the only correct ones; and secondly, shiftingthe tactical focus of interest to the "real arous-ing" of the American laboring masses, in whichconnection all doctrinary questions are of "minorimportance."

In his letter to Mrs. Wischnewetsky, dated Sep-tember 15, 1887, Engels remarks:

"Fortunately the movement in America has now gotsuch a start that neither George, nor Powderly, northe German intriguers can spoil or stop it. Only itwill take UNEXPECTED FORMS. The real movementalways looks different to what it ought to have donein the eyes of those who were tools in preparing it."

13

That signifies, thirdly, that European experi-ence does not suffice to decide a priori upon rigidforms of the American labor movement. Theseforms can only be developed in the course of Am-erican practice itself. There is no recipe forthem. They will be "unexpected."

In Engels' letter to Sorge dated April 8, 1891,he writes:

"It proves how useless is a—theoretically for themost part correct—platform if it is unable to get intocontact with THE ACTUAL NEEDS of the people."

Engels here wants to demonstrate to the sec-tarians of the Hyndman group in England as wellas to the German emigrants of the "Socialist La-bor Party" in America, the necessity of gainingprimarily the support of the workers organizedin the trade unions. Of importance methodo-logically in this connection is, fourthly, the factthat Engels sets the actual requirements of thelabor movement higher than the theoretical plat-form. In his letter dated June 10, 1891, he statesexpressly that the transition from a sect to amass party is even more important than an "or-thodox" Marxist platform:

"The comical phenomenon is very significant thathere, as in America, those persons who parade as or-thodox Marxians, those who have reduced our IDEASOF MOVEMENT to a rigid dogma which must bememorized, that those people figure here as well asover there as a pure sect."The method, by means of which Engels deter-

mined the tactics of the American Communists,

14

contains the following four salient points: Thepoint of origin is the specific national peculiaritiesof the American conditions. The principal taskis, to begin with, the "real arousing" of the work-ers. The forms of tactic can only be foundthrough the practice of the movement itself.Linking up with the actual needs of the workingclass is of more importance than the theoreticalplatform.

He sums up this method in a classic form in hisletter to Mrs. Wischnewetsky dated January 27,1887:

"The movement in America, just at this moment, isI believe best seen from across the ocean. On thespot personal bickerings and local disputes must ob-scure much of the grandeur of it. And THE ONLYTHING that could really delay its march would be theconsolidation of these differences into establishedsects. To some extent that will be unavoidable, butthe less of it the better. . . Our theory is a theoryof evolution, not of dogma to be learned by heart andto be repeated mechanically. The less it is hammeredinto the Americans from the outside and the morethey test it through their own experience. . . themore will it become part of their own flesh and blood."

III.

The Historical Peculiarities of the AmericanLabor Movement.

T3OTH England and America have always offereda number of particularly knotty problems for

the exponents of Marxism. In practice, both

15

countries were characterized by the absence of arevolutionary workers' party; in the theoreticalfield, they led Marx and Engels to utter the well-known epigram—that the proletarian revolutioncould take place hi a peaceful manner in Englandand America. Kautsky employed this phraseagainst Lenin in the polemic about the dictator-ship of the proletariat. Lenin replied in his pam-phlet against Kautsky:

"In the 'seventies, was there anything which madeEngland and America . . . exceptions? It shouldbe a matter of course for anyone in the least degreeacquainted with the requirements of science in thefield of historical problems that this question must beraised. Not to put this question signifies falsifyingscience and being satisfied with sophistry. If thisquestion is raised, however, there can be no doubtof the answer; the revolotionary dictatorship of theproletariat signifies the rule of force against the bour-geois. The necessity of this rule of force is, as Marxand Engels repeatedly and at length. . . pointedout, primarily conditioned by the existence of militar-ism and of bureaucracy. At a time when Marx madethis statement, in the 'seventies of the nineteenthcentury, these institutions did not exist in Englandand America! (However, they are now to be foundin England as well as in America)."

The causes of the late development of thesetypical phenomena of the capitalist state in Eng-land were the existence of the industrial monop-oly and the century-old tradition of parliamen-tarism. In America, the historical period of feud-alism had never existed; America has been demo-

cratic from the very beginning of its existenceas an independent state. While in England capi-talist monopoly delayed the development of abureaucratic-militaristic state machine, in Amer-ica the diametrically opposite cause, the imma-turity of capitalist development, acted in the samedirection. Engels was already able in the 'eight-ies to state that on the one hand England's indus-trial monopoly had been shaken to its founda-tions while on the other hand, the United Stateswas changing from an agrarian country into anindustrial power. Thus, almost simultaneously,the harmonizing of the most developed and theleast developed capitalist countries took place,with the general legal line of development of thebourgeois state as analyzed by Marx. The pre-mises for the "exception" to the Marxian theoryof the state, thus vanished.

In a similar fashion, but much more slowly, theapproach of the American labor movement to theEuropean type is in process. The British workeralready began this assimilation to the proletarianclass struggle of the continent in the 'nineties.At that time Engels established the fact of thedevelopment of a "new unionism." This newtendency in the British labor movement requiredforty years to mature—its most recent fruits arethe radicalization of the British trade unionsthrough the Purcell group. The class struggle ofthe American proletariat has had to travel a muchmore difficult path. The after-effects of thedownfall of an industrial monopoly were easierto overcome than the influence of bourgeois ideol-

17

ogy in America, the derivation of which from thefeudal period is not evident to the American work-ers in consequence of the lack of an Americanfeudalism. The penetrating eye of Engels sees inthis specific characteristic of America's historythe reason for American workers' well-known"contempt for theory," which was one of thegreatest obstacles to the formation of a revolu-tionary mass party. He writes to Sorge on Sep-tember 16, 1886:

"In a country as elemental as America, which hasdeveloped in a purely bourgeois fashion without anyfeudal past, but has taken over from England a massideology surviving from the feudal period, suchas English common law, religion and sectarianism,and in which the necessity of practical work and ofthe concentration of capital has produced a generalcontempt for all theories, which is only now beginningto disappear in educated and scientific circles,—insuch a country the people must come to realize theirown social interests by making mistake after mistake.Nor will the workers be spared that; the confusionof trade unions, socialists, Knights of Labor, etc. willcontinue for some time to come, and they will onlylearn by injuring themselves. But the chief thing isthat they have been set in motion. . ."

In another letter, dated February 8, 1890,Engels draws the conclusion that this "elementalconservative" ideology of the American workerscan be overcome "only through experience," andonly through getting in contact with the tradeunions:

18

"The people of Schleswig-Holstein and their des-cendants in England and America, cannot be convertedby preaching; this stiff-necked and conceited crewmust learn through their own experience. They aredoing that from year to year, but they are elementallyconservative—just because America is so purely bour-geois, has absolutely no feudal past, and is therefore,proud of its purely bourgeois organization—and there-fore, will only be freed througih experience from oldtraditional intellectual rubbish. Hence with tradeunions and such like, must be the beginning, if there isto be a mass movement, and every step forward mustbe forced upon them by a defeat. But, however, afterthe first step beyond the bourgeois viewpoint has beenmade, things will move faster, just like everything inAmerica. . . and then the foreign element in thenation will make its influence felt by its greatermobility."Prom the rise of a mass movement, therefore,

Engels hopes not only for the revolutionization ofthe "native" workers, but at the same time theovercoming of a sectarian spirit and of doctrinair-ism amongst the foreign-born proletarians. Theshifting of the center of gravity to the nativeworkers in the trade unions is in no way intendedto limit the historical role of the "foreign ele-ment," but to extend it by the exploitation of thelatter's "greater mobility" and by linking to-gether the two elements of the American workingclass.

Engels considered the antagonism between thenative-born and the immigrants one of the princi-pal obstacles to the development of a mass party.

19

The danger of this antagonism consists in the factthat it coincides with the class antagonism be-tween the labor aristocracy and the mass of un-skilled wage workers. The connection of the na-tional with the social distinctions within theworking class is for him the most importantreason for the slow development of the Americanlabor movement.

"It appears to me that your great obstacle in Ame-rica is the privileged position of the native-born work-er. Until 1848, a native-born, permanent working classwas the exception rather than the rule. The scatteredbeginnings of the latter in the East and in the citiescould still hope to become farmers or members of thebourgeoisie. Such a class has now developed and hasorganized itself to a large degree in trade unions. Butit still assumes an aristocratic position, and leaves (asit may) the ordinary, poorly-paid trades to the immi-grants, of Whom only a small percentage enter thearistocratic trade unions. These immigrants are, how-ever, divided into nationalities, which do not under-stand one another, and for the most part do not under-stand the language of the country. And your bour-geoisie understands even better than the Austriangovernment, how to play off one nationality againstanother. . . so that, I believe, there exist in NewYork differences in the standard of living of the work-ers such as are out of the question anywhere else. . ."

In the same letter to Schlueter, dated March 30,1892, Engels explains the rhythm of the Americanlabor movement through the coincidence of thisnational and social line of demarcation within theproletariat:

20

"In sudh a country repeated starts, followed by justas certain relapses, are unavoidable. The only differ-ence is that the starts grow more and more vehement,and the relapses less and less paralyzing, and that on

the whole things do go forward. But I consider one thingcertain: the purely bourgeois foundation without anyfraud behind it, the correspondingly gigantic energyof development which manifests itself even in the in-sane exaggeration of the present protective tariff sys-tem, will some day bring about a change, which willastonish the whole world. When the Americans oncebegin, they will do so with an energy and virulence,in comparison with which we in Europe will be chil-dren."

Therefore,'Engels considers as of the greatestimportance, not the formation of a purely immi-grant party, but "of a real mass movementamongst the English speaking population:"

"For the first time there exists a real mass move-ment amongst the English-speaking (Engels refers tothe preparation for strikes to obtain the eight-hourday and to the enormous growth of the Order of theKnights of Labor in spring, 1886—just before thebomb-throwing affair in Chicago. H. N.) It is un-avoidable that this at the beginning moves hesitating-ly, clumsily, uncleanly and unknowingly. That willall be cleared up; the movement will and must de-velop through its own mistakes. Theoretical ignor-ance is the characteristic of all young peoples, but sois practical speed of development.

"Just as all preaching is of no avail in England,until the actual necessity is at hand, so too in Amer

21

ica. And this necessity is present in America and isbeing realized. The entrance of the masses of nativeworkers into the movement in America is for me oneof the great events of 1886. . ." (Letter to Sorgedated April 29, 1886).

In his correspondence with the American So-cialists, which lasted for decades, Engels repeat-edly emphasized that the German Marxist Social-ist Labor Party is of much less importance thanthe development of a mass party of the native-born workers, even if the latter is not consciouslyMarxist. On the other hand he replied to the ob-jections which were already then raised by theGerman immigrants, to the effect that he wasthus "denying the role of the Party," and was"showing preference for the 100 per cent Ameri-cans," with the sentences of the above-quotedletter; that amongst the conscious Marxian immi-grants, there still remains

"A nucleus, which retains the theoretical insight in-to the nature and the course of the entire movement,keeps in progress the process of fermentation, andfinally again comes to the top/'

Engels writes even more lucidly to Mrs. Wisch-newetsky on February 9, 1887:

"As soon as there was a national American work-ing class movement independent of the Germans, mystandpoint was clearly indicated by the facts of thecase. The great national movement, no matter whatits first form, is the real starting point of Americanworking class development; if the Germans join it

22

in order to help it or to hasten its development, inthe right direction, they may do a deal of good andplay a decisive part in it: if they stand aloof, theywill dwindle down into a dogmatic sect, and wil l bebrushed aside as people who do not understand theirown principles."

The problems of the mass party and of its re-lation to the trade unions, is dealt with by En-gels in close connection with the, at that time,equally acute trade union problem in England.In his letter to Sorge dated December 7, 1889, hereminds the American socialists of the HyndmanSocial-Democratic Federation in England—whichshould serve them as a warning—which was"Marxist," it is true, but which became a sect inconsequence of its fanatic aversion to the tradeunion movement:

"Here it is demonstrated that a great nation can-not have something hammered into it in such a simpledogmatic and doctrinaire fashion, even if one has thebest theory, as well as trainers who have grown upin these special l iv ing conditions and who are relative-ly better than those in th§ S. L. P. The movement isfinally under way, and, as I believe, for good. But notdirectly socialists; and those persons amongst theBritish who have best understood our theory, are out-side of it; Hyndman, because he is an incorrigiblebrawler, and Bax, because he is a savant without prac-tical experience. The movement is first of all formallya trade union movement, but entirely different from

23

the old trade unions of the skilltd laborers, of thelabor aristocracy.

"These people -are attacking the problem in analtogether different way, are leading much more co-lossal masses into battle, are shaking the foundationsof society much more profoundly, and are makingmuch more far-reaching demands; the eight-hour day,a general federation of all organizations, completesolidarity. . . moreover, these people consider theirdemands of the moment as only provisional, althoughthey themselves do not yet know the goal towardswhich they are striving. But this vague notion isdeeply enough embedded in them to influence themto elect only declared socialists as their leaders. Justas all the others, they must learn through their ownexperience, and through the consequences of their ownmistakes. But that will not last very long since they,in contradiction *o the old trade unions, deceive withscornful laughter any reference to the identity of theinterests of capital and labor."

Eighteen years prior to this letter, Karl Marxwrote in his letter to P. Bolte, a member of theNew York Provisional Federal Council, the fol-lowing famous passage:

"The International was founded .in order to set thereal organization of the working class for the strug-gle in the place of the socialist or semi-socialist sects:The original statutes as well as the inaugural addressshow that at a glance. On the other hand, the Interna-tional would not have been able to maintain itself, ifthe course of history had not already destroyed sectar-ianism. The development of socialist sectarianism has

24

always been inversely proportional to that of the reallabor movement. As long as the sects are justified(historically), the working class is still not ripe enoughfor an independent historical movement. As soon as itreaches this maturity, all sects are essentially reac-tionary. Meanwhile, there has been repeated in thehistory of the International what history proves every-where. The obsolete endeavors to re-establish and tomaintain itself within the newly gained form.

"And the history of the International was an inces-sant struggle of the General Council against the sectsand the endeavors of amateurs, who try to maintainthemselves against the real movement of the workingclass within the International." (Letter to Bolte,dated November 23, 1871.)

As examples of these sectarian tendencies,which time and again attempt "to re-establishand to maintain themselves" within the Interna-tional Working Men's Association, Marx men-tions the Proudhonists in Prance, the Lassaleansin Germany, and the Bakuninists in Italy andSpain. He adds in the same letter:

"It is a matter of course that the General Councildoes not support in America what it combats in Europe.The decisions 1, 2 and 3 and IX now give the New YorkCommittee the legal 'weapon to put an end to allsectarianism and amateur groups, and in case of needto expel them."

The decisions, 2 and 3 of the London Confer-ence of the I. W. M. A., forbid all sectarian namesof the sections, branches, etc., and provide fortheir exclusive designation as branches or sec-

25

tions of the International Working Men's Associa-tion with the addition of the name of the locality.Decision IX emphasizes the necessity of the poli-tical effectiveness of the working class, and de-clares that the latter's economic movement andpolitical activity are inseparably united.

This dialectic relationship of the economic andthe political aspects of the labor movement, werealready at that time one of the chief problemsin the tactical discussion in America. In a post-script to the same letter to Bolte, Marx again de-fines the inseparable unity of the economic andthe political struggle in one of those famous pas-sages, which are again and again quoted by Eu-ropean Marxists, but which today very few knoware written for the socialists of America, just likeMarx's criticism of the sects.

"N. B. to political movement: the political move-ment of the working class naturally has as its goal theconquest of political power, and to that end is neces-sary of course, a previous organization of the workingclass, developed to a certain degree, which arises ofitself from the latter's economic struggles.

"On the other hand, however, every movement inwhich the working class as a class faces the rulingclasses and attempts to force its will upon them bypressure from without, is a political movement and inthis manner there everywhere arises from the scat-tered economic movement of the workers a politicalmovement, that is, a movement of the class, in orderto fight for its interests in a general form, in a formwhich possesses general, socially compulsory force.When these movements are subordinate to a certain

26

previous organization, they are just as much meanstowards the development of the latter organization.

"Where the working class is not yet sufficiently ad-vanced in its organization, in order to undertake a de-cisive campaign against the collective power, i. e,, thepolitical power, of the ruling classes, it must underall circumstances be trained for this by incessantagitation against the hostile political attitude of theruling class towards us. Failing, it remains a play-thing in the latter's hands . . ."

IV.The Formation of an Independent Working

Class Party.

A S early as July 25,1877, Marx wrote to Engels:

"What do you think of the workers of the UnitedStates? This first explosion against the associatedoligarchy of capital, which has arisen since the CivilWar, will naturally again be suppressed, but can verywell form THE POINT OF ORIGIN FOR THE CON-STITUTION OF AN EARNEST WORKERS'PARTY. The policy of the new president will makethe NEGROES, and the great expropriations of land(exactly the fertile land) in favor of railways, min-ing, etc., companies will make THE PEASANTS OFTHE WEST, who are already very dissatisfied,ALLIES OF THE WORKERS. So that a nicesauce is being stirred over there, and the transfer-ence of the center of the International to the UnitedStates may obtain a very remarkable post festumopportuneness."

27

Marx thus demanded, in consequence of thechanges which had taken place in the UnitedStates since the Civil War, the "constitution of anearnest workers' party." In this connection it isof great importance that he emphasized the spe-cial role of the farmers in view of the agrariancrisis and of the land expropriation in direct con-nection with the formation of the mass party ofthe proletariat.

A decade later Engels touches upon thei sameproblem in his letter to Sorge dated November 29,1886. He clearly and unmistakably demands thatthe American socialists work within the Knightsof Labor to arouse the masses. Despite his desig-nating this order as one of "confused principlesand a ridiculous organization," he demands thatthe American Marxists "build up within this stillwholly plastic mass a nucleus of persons," whowill have to take over after the inevitable split ofthis "Third Party" J:he leadership of the latter'sproletarian elements:

"To tell the truth, the Germans have not beenable to use their theory as a lever to set the Ameri-can masses in motion. To a great extent they do notunderstand the theory themselves and treat it in adoctrinaire and dogmatic fashion as if it were some-thing which must be committed to memory, but whichthen suffices for all purposes without further ado.FOR THEM IT IS A CREDO, NOT A GUIDE FOR AC-TION . . . hence the American masses must seektheir own road and APPEAR for the moment tohave found it in the K. of L. whose confused prin-ciples and ridiculous organization APPEAR to con-

2$

form to their own confusion. However, according towhat I hear, the K. of L. are A REAL POWER inNew England and in the West, and are becomingmore so day by day as a result of the brutal opposi-tion of the capitalists. I believe that it is necessaryto work within it, TO BUILD UP WITHIN THISSTILL WHOLLY PLASTIC MASS A NUCLEUS OFPERSONS, UNDERSTANDING THE MOVEMENTAND ITS GOALS, AND THUS OF THEMSELVESTAKE OVER THE GUIDANCE OF AT LEAST ASECTION IN THE COMING UNAVOIDABLE SPLITOF THE PRESENT 'ORDER.' . . . The first greatstep, which is of primary importance in every coun-try first entering the movement, is always THECONSTITUTION OF THE WORKERS AS AN IN-DEPENDENT POLITICAL PARTY NO MATTER

OF WHAT KIND, SO LONG AS IT IS ONLY A DIS-TINCT WORKERS' PARTY . . . That the first pro-gram of this Party is still confused and extremelydeficient, that it sets up H. George as its leader,are unavoidable evils, which, however, are only tem-porary. The masses must have the opportunity andthe time to develop themselves; and they only havethis opportunity as soon as they have their ownmovement—no matter in what form, if only it betheir own movement—in which they will be drivenforward by their own mistakes and will grow wisethrough injury to themselves."

Engels compares—in 1886—the role of theMarxists in the American Labor movement withthe role which the "Kommunistenbund" had toplay amongst the workers' societies before 1848.At the same time, however, he points out the dif-

29

ferences in order to avoid the opportunist inter-pretation of any schematic comparison of the sit-uation of the American labor movement at thattime with "the situation in Europe prior to 1848":

"Only that things will now move forward InAmerica INFINITELY MORE RAPIDLY; that themovement should have obtained such success in theelections after only eight months' existence is en-tirely unprecedented. And what is still lacking willbe supplied by the bourgeois; nowhere in the wholeworld are they so brazen-faced and tyrannical asover there . . . Where the battle is fought by thebourgeoisie with such weapons, the decision arrivesquickly . . ."

In his letter to Mrs. Wischnewetsky dated De-cember 28, 1886, Engels again emphasized thatthe American Marxists should not pooh pooh theproletarian "Third Party" from without, but rev-olutionize it from within." He again uses un-minced words in condemning the German sectar-ians in America and their dogma of the "role ofthe party" which in reality, then as now, rendersimpossible for the party to fulfill its role in theproletarian revolution by separating it from themasses. The remarks made by Engels in thispassage on the dialectic-materialist conception ofthe role of theory are moreover the direct pointof departure from which Lenin developed his doc-trine of the importance of theory in the proleta-rian revolution:

"It is far more important that the movement shouldspread, proceed harmoniously, take root and EM-

30

BRACE as much as possible THE WHOLE AMERI-CAN PROLETARIAT, than that it should start andproceed from the beginning on theoretically perfectlycorrect lines. There is no better road to theoreticalclearness of comprehension than to learn by one's ownmistakes, 'durch Schaden klug werden.'* And for awhole large class, there is no other road, especiallyfor a nation so eminently practical and so contemptu-ous of theory as the Americans. THE GREAT THINGIS TO GET THE WORKING CLASS TO MOVE AS ACLASS; that once obtained, they will soon find theright direction, and all who resist. . . will be leftin the cold with small sects of their own. ThereforeI think also the K. of L. a most important factor in themovement WHICH OUGHT NOT TO BE POOH-POOHED FROM WITHOUT BUT TO BE REVOLU-TIONIZED FROM WITHIN, and I consider that manyof the Germans then have made a grievous mistakewhen they tried, in the face of a mighty and gloriousmovement not of their own creation, to make of theirimported and not always understood theory a kind ofalleinseligmachendts** dogma and to keep aloof fromany movement, which did not accept that dogma. Ourtheory is not a dogma but the exposition of a processof evolution, and that process involves successivephases. To expect that the Americans will start withthe full consciousness of the theory worked out inolder industrial countries is to expect the impossibleWhat the Germans ought to do is to act up to theirown theory—if they understand it, as we did in 1845

* 'Grow wise through injury to oneself.'** Claiming the monopoly of all means of grace.

31

and 1848—to go in for any real general working classmovement. ACCEPT ITS FAKTISCHEN*** START-ING POINT as such and work it gradually up to thetheoretical level by pointing out how every mistakemade, every reverse suffered, was a necessary conse-quence of mistaken theoretical orders in the originalprogram: they ought, in the words of the CommunistManifesto: IN DER GEGENWART DER BEWEGUNGDIE ZUKUNFT DER BEWEGUNG REPRESENTIE-REN.**** But above all give the movement time toconsolidate, do not make THE INEVITABLE CONFU-SION OF THE FIRST START worse confounded byforcing down people's throats things which, at present,they cannot properly understand but which they soonwill learn. A MILLION OR TWO WORKINGMEN'SVOTES NEXT NOVEMBER FOR A BONAFIDEWORKINGMEN'S PARTY IS WORTH INFINITELYMORE AT PRESENT THAN A HUNDRED THOU-SAND VOTES FOR A DOCTRINALLY PERFECTPLATFORM. The very first attempt—soon to be madeif the movement progresses—to consolidate the mov-ing masses on a national -basis—will bring them allface to face, Georgites, K. of L., Trade Unionists, andall; . . . then will be the time for them to criticizethe views of the others and thus, by showing up theinconsistencies of the various standpoints, to bringthem gradually to understand their own actual posi-tion, the postion made for them by the correlation ofcapital and wage labor. But anything that might de-

*** Actual.**** Communist Manifesto: To represent the futureof the movement in its present.

32

lay or prevent that NATIONAL CONSOLIDATION OFTHE WORKWOMEN'S PARTY— on no matter what-platform—I should consider a great mistake. . ."

In another letter to Mrs. Wischnewetsky, En-gels speaks of the necessity of first, and mostimportant of all, "gaining the ear of the workingclass." He then develops this idea as follows:

"I think all our practice has shown that it is pos-sible to work along with the general movement of theworking class AT EVERY ONE OF ITS STAGESWITHOUT GIVING UP OR HIDING OUR OWN DIS-TINCT POSITION AND EVEN ORGANIZATION, andI am afraid that if the German Americans choose a dif-ferent line they will commit a great mistake." (Letterof January 27, 1887.)

It should be noted that Engels wrote these linesjust at the moment of the disgraceful behavior ofthe K. of L. towards the Chicago prisoners. H.George founded at that time in New York a week-ly in which he disavowed the New York Socialistsand refused to do anything in favor of the an-archists condemned in Chicago. Without hesi-tating a moment Engels supported Aveling, theson-in-law of Marx, who even in this situationbitterly fought the sectarian tactics of the Na-tional Executive of the Socialist Labor Party.

The viewpoint of Marx and Engels in the ques-tion of the American labor party is thus absolute-ly clear; they demanded of the American Marxiststhe formation of a national working-class partyin America at any price, without regard to its pro-gram so long as the latter included the class

33

struggle, but with the complete maintenance ofthe political independence and the organizationof the Marxist nucleus with the great mass party.

V.The Role of the Marxist Nucleus Within the

Working Class Party.

WE have already pointed out that Marx and En-*- gels never wanted to give up the mainte-nance of a real Marxist party of the most class-conscious and progressive elements of the nativeand foreign-born in the working class within thegreat mass party. For thirty years, in their cor-respondence with the American Socialists, theyrejected any endeavor to set up a mechanical dis-tinction between the Marxist party and the laborparty, as two opposites which exclude each other.The sectarians in the German S. L. P., who ac-cused them of "liquidating the leading role of theMarxist party," were criticized unmercifully bythem. More than that, year after year theypointed out through the results of the progress-ing labor movement in America that the leadingrole of the Marxist party can be best realized andcan only be realized within the great revolution-ary mass party. Only when the Marxist—or put-ting it in modern phraseology—the Bolshevikparty fulfills this task within an extensive prole-tarian mass party—a labor party—can the his-torically conditioned backwardness of the Ameri-can movement be overcome by the practical ex-perience of the masses themselves, and can the

34

differences and antagonisms within the workingclass be settled. In his letter dated November 29,1886, Engels formulates the task of the Marxistparty, "to build up within this still wholly plasticmass a nucleus of persons who understand themovement and its goals "and which later takesover the real leadership of the movement, as fol-lows:

"But just now it is doubly necessary for us tohave a few people who are thoroughly versed inTHEORY and well-tested TACTICS . . . for theAmericans are for good historical reasons far behindin all theoretical questions, have taken over no med-iaeval institutions from Europe, but have takenmasses of mediaeval tradition, English common(feudal) law, superstition, spiritualism, in short, allthe nonsense which did not directly hurt business andwhich is now very useful for stupefying the masses.And if THEORETICALLY CLEAR FIGHTERS areavailable, who can predict for them the consequenceof their own mistakes, who can make clear for themthat every movement, which does not incessantly fixits, eye upon the destruction of the wage systemas its final goal must go astray and fail, many mis-takes can be avoided and the process can be consid-erably shortened." (Letter to Sorge dated Novem-ber 29, 1886).In the letter of January 27, 1887 (quoted be-

fore), Engels outlined the fundamental tacticalpolicy of the American Marxists: working alongwith the general movement of the working classat every one of its stages without giving up orhiding their own political position and organiza-tion.

35

In his letter to Sorge dated February 8, 1890,he denotes as their task "to take .over throughtheir superior theoretical insight and experiencethe leading role" in the masses, as events them-selves drive the American proletariat forward.And he adds, in order to reassure Sorge, whofears for the preservation of the past results ofthe pure Marxist party:

"You will then see that your work of years has notbeen In vain."

Although Engels time and again points out thatthe working class can only learn from its own ex-periences, he is far from becoming a worshipperof spontaneity. In the same letter, he tells theAmerican Marxists in connection with the suc-cesses of the miners' movement in 1890 in Ger-many:

"Facts must hammer it into people's heads and thenthings move faster, MOST RAPIDLY OF COURSE,WHERE THERE ALREADY IS AN ORGANIZEDAND THEORETICALLY TRAINED SECTION OFTHE PROLETARIAT. . ." ,

Finally, taking up the specific conditions inAmerica, he foresees that in the great laborparty, principally composed of native workers,"the foreign element in the nation will make itsinfluence felt through its greater mobility." Thisforeign element, however, comprised and com-prises of necessity in America the majority of thepure Marxist parly. It is just the Communists'confining themselves to the ranks of their ownsupporters and those who are already in whole-

36

hearted sympathy with them, it is just the renun-ciation of the formation of a mass party whichleads to the spontaneity theory, to "Khvostism,"to the hindrance of the Communist task of takingthe leadership of the entire class in the revolu-tion.

VI.The Role of the Farmers.

TN his letter of July 25, 1877, Marx predicted therole of the farmers, who are being revolution-

ized in consequence of the agrarian crisis andtheir expropriation through big business, as thatof the allies of the working class. He designatedthe revolutionization of the farmers as well as thebeginning of the Negroes' awakening "to favor-able circumstances" for the "constitution of anearnest workers' party." On the other hand En-gels proves in his letter to Sorge dated January6,1892, that the American farmers as a class havenot the strength for the formation of an indepen-dent political party. Every endeavor to form anindependent farmers' party in America must ofnecessity make this party the plaything of pettybourgeois political speculators and consequentlyan appendage of the two capitalist parties:

"The small farmers and petty bourgeoisie willscarcely ever be able to form a strong party. Theyare composed of too rapidly changing elements—thefarmer is often a wandering farmer, who cultivatestwo, three or four farms in different states and terri-tories one after the other; immigration and bank-ruptcy promote the change of personnel in both; eco-

37

nomic dependence upon creditors also hinders inde-pendence—but to make up for that they are excellentmaterial for politicians, who speculate with their dis-satisfaction in order to sell them later to one of thebig parties/'

The oppression of farmers by immigration hasmeanwhile disappeared, but to compensate forthat, bankruptcies have multiplied. Under anycircumstances, the fact remains that the workingfarmers in America can never defend their classinterests against finance capital through an in-dependent party. They can only fight the bour-geoisie and its big parties under the leadershipof a mass party of the American workers, whichin turn is led by a Marxist party.

VII.The Modern Development of America,

TN the third preface to the Communist Manifesto,written in 1883, Engels pointed out the change

in America's position in the capitalist world.Marx and Engels often spoke in the last few yearsof their lives of the predominating participationof the United States in the fight for breakingBritish monopoly. In one passage of his corre-spondence, which has received altogether too lit-tle attention, Engels speaks directly of the pos-sibility of an American monopoly, of the comingdomination of American capitalism over thewhole world. In his letter to Sorge dated Janu-ary 7, 1888, he speaks of the danger of the Eu-ropean war which Bismarck threatened to bring

3S *

about. "Ten to fifteen million combatants"would take part. "There would be devastation,similar to that in the Thirty Years' War."

"If the war would be fought to a finish without in-ner movements, a state of exhaustion would resultsuch as Europe has not experienced for two hundredyears. AMERICAN INDUSTRY WOULD THEN WINALL ALONG THE LINE AND WOULD SET US ALLBEFORE THE ALTERNATIVE: either a relapse topure agriculture for our own needs (American grainforbids any other kind), or—SOCIAL TRANSFORM-ATION."

Engels thus foresees the imperialist World Warand the resulting world monopoly of Americanimperialism. His prediction that under these cir-cumstances Europe would relapse into pure agri-culture has not been, literally fulfilled. Its placehas been taken by the specifically imperialistmethod of pillaging and subjugating old Europeanindustrial countries through the loans and in-vestments of the Dawes system. The historicalperspective sketched by Engels, however, remainsunchanged; the monopoly of American financecapital is not to be compared with the formermonopoly of British industrial capital. It cannotmaintain itself for a long period of time; it is nomonopoly in the true sense of the word. It mustbreak down in consequence of the unequal de-velopment of the various imperialist powers, ofthe competition of British finance capital, andprincipally as a result of the rebellion of the work-ing masses in Europe and the colonies. In thewords of Engels, it sets "us all before the alterna-

39

live" of the proletarian revolution.Even more clearly than the development of

American imperialism did Engels foresee the fu-ture course of the American labor movement. Heknew that the progress of capitalist productionmust unavoidably lead to the revolutionization ofthe American labor movement:

"As for those nice Americans who think theircountry exempt from the consequences of fully ex-panded capitalist production, they seem to live in bliss-ful ignorance of the fact that sundry states, Massa-chusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, etc., havesuch an institution as a Labor Bureau from the re-ports of which they might learn something to thecontrary."

Engels sees the difficulties .in the path of the de-velopment of the revolutionary labor movement.After the defeat of the Knights of Labor move-ment, he writes to Sorge on October 24, 1891, asfollows:

"I readily believe that the movement is again at alow ebb. With you everything happens with great upsand downs. But each up wins definite terrain and thusone does go forward. Thus for instance, the tremen-dous wave of the Knights of Labor and the strikemovement from 1886 to 1888, despite all defeats, didbring us forward. There is an altogether differentspirit in the masses than before. The next time evenmore ground will be won. But with all that, the stand-ard of living of the native American working man isconsiderably higher than that of the British and thatalone is sufficient to allot him a back seat for some

40

time to come; added to that, immigration, competition,and other things. When the point is reached, thingswill move forward over there with colossal rapidityand energy, but until then, some time may have toelapse."

The chief obstacles, the high standard of livingof the majority of native workers and the compe-tition caused by the incessant stream of immi-grants have been eliminated to a certain degree.The World War brought with it the increase ofwages of all unskilled workers in America. Theeconomic crisis after the war led to radical reduc-tions of wages not only among the foreign-born,but in even greater degree among the nativeworkers. The competition of foreign workers hasbeen considerably reduced by the restrictions up-on immigration.

Another obstacle, the diversion of the workersfrom the class struggles by the hope of obtainingland, has for the most part been removed by thedisappearance of the possibilities of free settle-ment. There exists " a generation of native-bornworkers who have nothing more to expect fromspeculation:"

"Land is the basis of speculation, and the Americanpossibility of and craze for speculation is the chief in-fluence of the bourgeoisie. Only when we have a gen-eration of native-born workers who have nothing moreto expect from speculation, will we have firm groundunder our feet in America." (Letter to Sorge datedJanuary 6, 1892.)

Engels time and again emphasized that the

41

revolutionization of the American labor move-ment, which he foresaw as unavoidable, wouldbegin under tremendous difficulties and would ex-perience incessant ups and downs, but would thendevelop "with colossal rapidity and energy." Hisletter to Schlueter dated March 30, 1892, con-cludes with the sentence:

"When the Americans once begin, they will do sowith an energy and virulence, in comparison withwhich we in Europe will be children."

VIII.The International Role of the American Labor

Movement.

JN his letter to Mrs. Wischnewetzky dated June3, 1886, Engels writes:". . . one thing is certain: the American work-

ing class is moving, and no mistake. And after a fewfalse starts, they will get into the right track soonenough. This appearance of the Americans upon thescene I consider ONE OF THE GREATEST EVENTSOF THE YEAR.

"What the breakdown of RUSSIAN CZARISM wouldbe for the great military monarchs of Europe—THESNAPPING OF THEIR MAINSTAY-—that is for thebourgeoisie of the whole world THE BREAKING OUTOF CLASS WAR in America. For America after allwas the ideal of all the bourgeoisie: a country rich, vast,expanding with purely bourgeois institutions unleav-ened by feudal remnants or monarchial traditions andwithout a permanent and hereditary proletariat. Here

42

every one could become, if not a capitalist, at all eventsan independent man, producing or trading, with hisown means, for his own account. And because therewere not, as yet, classes with opposing interests, our—and your—bourgeois thought that America stood aboveclass antagonisms and struggles. The delusion hasnow broken down, the last bourgeois Paradise on earthis fast changing into a Purgatorio, and can only beprevented from becoming like Europe, an Inferno, bythe go-ahead pace at which the development of thenewly-fledged proletariat of America will take place."

This analysis of the international significanceof the proletarian class struggle in America holdstrue even today, stronger and more vital thanever. There already exists in America a "stand-ing hereditary proletariat." The illusion of thebourgeois paradise has already been dissipated.The outbreak of the class war in America, itsleadership by a revolutionary mass party, at thehead of which the American Communists willplace themselves, and the inception of revolution-ary mass struggles in America, would in realitysignify the "snapping of the mainstay" of imperi-alism throughout the world.

THE END.

43

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Wilt find in the Little Red Library arare opportunity for ttteir development.Manuscripts on any subject will be givenmost careful attention: Trade I n ions,Communism, History, Poetry, Literature,iri eti

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must be typewritten and stamps must lt€for return postage tot etc-

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Ail the booklets of this serieswill carry carefully selected ma-terial on all phases of the Labormovement: T r a d e Unions,Communism, Philosophy, His-tory, Literature, Art and othersubjects—to form a little libraryof real value to Labor. Newnumbers will be issued steadily.