Karl Marx; his life and work
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223 Now, there can be little doubt at this time that the actions j of Her Majesty’s Government admirably represented British« public opinion, meaning thereby the opinion of the upper and middle classes. There was no other public opinion, for the j lower classes, the proletariat, had not been heard from. It was not customary to consider proletarian opinion very seri ously. Louis Blanc, who was then in England, declared that what sympathy there was for the North was like a dam, while that for the South was like a torrent, and the aphorism gives an admirable explanation of the facts. By the latter part of December, 1862, recognition of the Confederate states seemed to be only a few days off. It was understood that the emancipation of all slaves had been promised by the leaders of the Southern Confederacy as the price of official recognition by Great Britain as an independent state. It is hardly neces sary to say that if that plan had been successfully carried out, and the war stopped by the intervention of the allied hostile Powers, all the tremendous sacrifice would have been rendered vain, and the separation of the Union into two nations would have been the result. But, suddenly, almost as if by magic, a mighty roar of protest j was heard reverberating throughout the limits of Great Britain, | and completely drowning the clamor made by the upper and f middle classes. The voice of English working-class radical- f ism was raised in protest against the attitude of the govern- j ment and in behalf of President Lincoln and the Union. The j trades unionists in particular organized tremendous mass meet-1 ings, and adopted ringing resolutions which filled the hearts of ( Her Majesty’s ministers with dread, but bore hope and cheer ^ to President Lincoln. On the eve of the New Year great mass meetings were held in London, Sheffield and Manchester to celebrate the Procla mation of Emancipation, declaring the English and American
It is to the everlasting credit of the working class that their firm stand effectually turned the tide in favor of the Northern cause as against that of the Southern Confederacy. Within a few weeks it became impossible for the hitherto arrogant mid dle-class support of the Southern states to be expressed at meetings to which the public were invited. Those who sympa thized with the cause of the South were forced to the expedi ent of holding carefully guarded “ ticket meetings ” whenever they desired to express their views, and even these were some times rudely broken up. It was utterly impossible for Her Majesty’s Government, in the face of this strong reaction, seri ously to consider giving official recognition to the Southern Confederacy. ( To Karl Marx, more than to any other man, is due the i credit for that uprising of the working class of Great Britain. ■ It was he who started the movement, and caused the trades | unionists of London to take the first step toward raising a * protest of the working class against the action of the govem- tment, and in favor of Lincoln and his policies. Marx called “ DAS KAPITAL ” 025 upon one of his lieutenants, George Eccarius, a leading spirit of the London Trades Council, to move in that body for the holding of a great demonstration of the organized workers of London, and the issuance of a call to the organized workers of other great industrial centres to take similar action. Not only that, but the resolutions adopted were *in substance sug gested by Marx, if not actually written by him. Marx, it must be remembered, was a most passionate and j devoted admirer of President Lincoln. It is probable that the | message which Lincoln addressed to Congress early in Decem- f her, 1861, had much to do with the admiration and esteem with which Marx regarded him. In that message Lincoln had de- ; clared that “ Labour is prior to, and independent of, Capital.^ Capital is only the fruit of Labour, and could never have ex isted if Labour had not first existed. Labour is the superior | of Capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” Such t sentiments could not fail to appeal to the Socialist. Added to that fact there was the fact that Lincoln was what Marx iwas pleased to call “ a single-minded son of toil,” one of the (common people. How sincere was his desire to be of assistance * to Lincoln and the Union cause may be gathered from the fact that he advised the committees responsible for those great trades union demonstrations to secure the services of John Bright and Richard Cobden. He detested both men, even more than he detested Palmerston and Gladstone. Principally on account of their bitter opposition to factory legislation, he regarded both men with an almost unspeakable loathing. But he was quite willing that they should be used by the workers to voice their support of Emancipation and the Union, and their protest against the threatened recognition of the seceding, slaveholding states.Contrary to his hope and expectation, Marx made practically ?. no progress with Capital during the years 1863-1864. For a long time in 1863, and a still longer period in 1864, he was | ill, the old functional disorders recurring in an aggravated!
The year 1863 is a memorable one in Socialist annals, for in that year the Social Democratic movement of Germany arose. | In February, Dr. Otto Dammer, acting on behalf of the Central j Committee of an organization of workingmen at Leipsic, wrote to Lassalle setting forth that the workers he represented had come to the conclusion that the cooperative associations ad vocated by Schulze-Delitsch could not materially benefit the proletariat, and informing Lassalle that the Central Committee had resolved:
It seems that, previous to sending this communication, the members of the Central Committee — Dr. Dammer, the au thor; F. W. Fitzsche, the cigarmaker, and Karl Julius Vahl- teich, the ex-shoemaker journalist — had interviewed Lassalle and that he had suggested the form their official invitation [ should take. Lassalle responded with his famous Open Reply Letter, in which he pointed out that the political organization of the working-class was a historical necessity, and emphasized Karl Marx
227 the need of a struggle for “ universal suffrage in order to obtain * State help for cooperative enterprises.” Although Lassalle I called himself a disciple of Marx, and accepted his theories,! his programme was much more like that of the English Chart-; ists than that of present-day Marxian Socialists. It was not*j a programme over which Marx and his friends could be ex- f pected to wax enthusiastic. On May 23, 1863, the Uni-J versal German Workingmen’s Association was formed, with' Lassalle as its first president. The attitude of Marx toward the movement seems to have p been one of complete neutrality. That he was always kept completely informed of its progress is certain, for toward the end of 1863, Liebknecht and other members of the Marx circle • joined the Association, greatly to the delight of Lassalle. j Marx kept quiet concerning the organization and when in 1864, soon after Lassalle’s tragic death, serious dissensions broke out among the members of the Association, he declined j to take any part in the controversies which developed. True, j when the Social Democrat appeared on January 1st of the fol- ; lowing year, Marx became a contributor to it, as did Engels and J Liebknecht. The situation had changed somewhat with the ; organization of the International, and Marx could not afford « to appear indifferent to the German movement. Perhaps, too, « he had already conceived the idea of weaning it from its Las- * sallean principles. In September, 1864, the International Workingmen’s As- • sociation was founded^ and Marx at once became its acknowl edged, but unofficial, leader. For the next seven years his life was mainly devoted to the affairs of that greatest proletarian organization of modern times, so that to write the story of the International is to write the life of its founder during that f period. Only those who are familiar with the history of the International Workingmen’s Association can have any idea of the enormous amount of work which fell upon Marx during the years 1864-1872.
of the Russian viceroy, the Grand Duke Constantine, all the Poles suspected of being hostile to the government were dragged from their beds and forcibly enlisted as soldiers. He gloried in the heroism of the insurgent Poles, though he realised perfectly well that they were certain to be overwhelmed by Russia. The sanguinary measures adopted by General Mou- ravieff for the suppression of the rebellion roused a storm of indignation in England, indignation which Marx fully shared. . It was Marx who, through George Eccarius, induced the London Trades Council, of which body Eccarius was a member, to arrange for a great meeting to protest against the sanguinary suppression of the Poles by Russia, in the same way as he in spired the great protest meetings held in London, and in great provincial towns like Sheffield and Manchester, in 1862-1863, to voice the friendship of the workers for President Lincoln and the Northern States. The Polish meeting was held in April, 1864, at St. James’s Hall. Delegates from France were present in response to an in vitation to join in the protest. Resolutions were adopted call ing upon the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, to intercede on behalf of the oppressed Poles. Of course, nothing practical resulted from this appeal to Lord Palmerston, and Marx cer tainly could not have expected anything. It was good, how ever, to have the English workers espouse the cause of Poland,
During a large part of 1864, Marx was ill and unable to do ; much work upon his book. The agitation in favour of Poland ; and the founding of the International absorbed practically all his = time and strength. Fortunately, the small legacy received from I his mother’s estate made this a more comfortable year than j any he and his wife had known since their marriage. At the* end of November he wrote to Kugelmann, “ I think that next year my book Capital will at least be ready for the printer.” He had written in much the same strain to the same friend two years before. Throughout the year 1865 the affairs of the International oc- / cupied most of his time. He attended all the meetings of the ij General Council and took part in the discussions upon political 1 and economic questions to which these meetings were devoted. I Besides this, he carried on an enormous correspondence and ! wrote practically every word of the public statements of the In-1 ternational. Prudence was thrown to the winds and, in spite of ( all warnings, he worked with titanic energy, often as many as eighteen hours a day. Before the autumn was ended his strength once more gave way and his condition alarmed his friends. Night work and excessive smoking had induced a crisis. The family physician ordered a complete rest and re duced his cigar allowance to one a day. Concerning his passion for tobacco, Liebknecht tells a rather amusing story. Marx smoked a pipe frequently, but was es pecially fond of cigars, of which he proudly imagined himself to be a connoisseur. In point of fact, no matter how good a judge of cigars he might have been in his early years, his taste had been completely ruined by long years of indulgence in the cheapest and most abominable brands to be had. A well-to-do visitor from Germany having brought some fine imported cigars with him during the great exposition of 1862, a time when Marx was specially hard pressed, Liebknecht and other mem- 23.0 KARL MARX bers of the little circle decided to play the “ old man ” a trick. When Marx entered the room the rare aroma tickled his nose and he cried out, “ Ah, that smells excellent! ” Of course, he was invited to smoke “ a genuine Havana ”— and they gave him not one of the good, imported cigars, but a cheap cigar, the vilest obtainable in a long search through St. Giles, the worst proletarian district of the West End. Marx smoked his “ gen uine Havana ” with great relish, remarking: “ I was a little suspicious at first; generally they bring a miserable weed from Germany, but this one is really ’good 1 ” Not for some days did his friends attempt to disillusion him, and then he obsti nately refused to believe them. The cigar was a genuine Ha vana and they were now trying to hoodwink him 1His chronic poverty compelled him to be continually on the lookout for cheap tobacco and cigars, greatly to the detriment of his health. Cigars are quite expensive in England, yet those smoked by Marx often cost less than a penny each, according to a statement made by one of his intimate friends to the present writer. Out of this necessity for economy he whimsically evolved a “ theory of saving ” with which he used to amuse his associates, little dreaming that such a theory would come to be seriously held by some of the British economists. Having dis covered a brand of cigars — dubbed “ cabbage smokes ” by his friends — which cost eighteenpence a box less than those he had been using, he argued that he thus “ saved ” eighteenpence each time he consumed a box. If he could only manage to smoke a box a day, he would be able on a pinch to live upon his “ savings 1 ” How seriously Marx took the meetings of the General Coun cil of the International, and everything connected with them, may be judged from a single incident. At one of the meetings j of the General Council a prominent member, named Weston, read a paper dealing with the law of wages, a topic suggested by | the regular epidemic of strikes which prevailed all over Europe * in the first half of the year 1865. Marx was present and lis- “ DAS KAPITAL ” 231 tened to Weston’s paper with great interest. Weston argued that the amount of production determined the amount of real wages, that is, of wages measured by conditions. Therefore, it was foolish for the workers to strike for the purpose of rais ing wages, since, while they might succeed temporarily, a re action was inevitable. Marx listened to this strange argument with rare patience and in the discussion which followed it criti cized Weston’s theory trenchantly but with great kindness. That same night he began work upon Value, Price and Profit, his reply to Weston. Written in great haste, this little book is; still unsurpassed as an epitome of the first volume of Capital. Marx addressed the paper to the General Council, reading it at one of the meetings, and despite its length it was ordered to be presented to the ensuing International Congress. It seems to have been the intention of the General Council to publish the essay, but for some reason it was never published until some years after the death of its author, when it was discovered among his papers by his daughter, Eleanor Marx-Aveling. The year 1866 opened badly for Marx. Having rallied from the illness of the previous autumn, he had thrown him self into his work with all his customary ardour. Early in the New Year the General Council had, upon his suggestion, arranged a campaign in favour of franchise reform, and Marx was specially gratified by an immense mass meeting at which none but workingmen spoke. The meeting attracted a great deal of attention, the Times discussing the subject in two con secutive issues. What most gratified Marx was the fact that he could write to Kugelmann: “ Some of the more important trades unions, which formerly only thought about wages, are now taking a prominent part in other agitation.” To secure working-class unity and action had been his constant aim even before 1848, and the smallest sign of progress in that direction was welcome. In addition to the work of the reform agitation, he had once more resumed the copying of the manuscript of the first 232 KARL MARX volume of Capital. “ I am still working twelve hours a day in copying out my manuscript,” he wrote. Of course, this meant more night work, and in a few weeks his condition was so bad that he had to be ordered to Margate for a complete rest. In Margate he remained for several weeks, staying at No. 5, Lan- sell’s Place. When the present writer lived at Ramsgate some ten years ago, there was an old retired naval officer there with whom Marx had become acquainted during his stay at Mar gate in 1866. He spoke of Marx with profound respect and said that what most impressed him was his insatiable thirst for knowledge. Walking from Margate to various points of in terest in the neighbourhood, Marx would ply his companion with questions upon marine matters. Upon several occasions he was almost enraptured by the scenic splendour and recited appropriate poetry, both German and English, much to his companion’s delight. The old man spoke also of the great love of children which Marx displayed, and the delight with which he watched them gambol upon the beach. Some eight years later, when his physician once more ordered him to Mar gate, he went instead to Ramsgate in order to be near his old naval friend. . Marx left Margate in the middle of April, 1866, greatly ) benefited by his stay there. By the middle of the summer, ! owing to the heavy expenditures occasioned by his illness and f, the entire cessation of remunerative work, his financial condition | was once more desperate. The legacy from his mother’s estate : was entirely exhausted and he was once more at the mercy of the loan sharks. In a letter to Kugelmann, he wrote, on Oc tober 13, 1866: “ Owing to my long illness, and in consequence of the many things I have had to give up, my private affairs have become embarrassed and I am in the midst of a financial crisis. This, in addition to the unpleasantness for my family, is especially awkward in London, where so much depends on appearances. What I wanted to know from you was whether you knew one “ DAS KAPITAL ” 233 or more persons who would lend me about 1,000 thalers at 5 or 6 per cent for two years. (I need hardly say that this is strictly private.) At present I am paying 20 to 50 per cent interest for the small sums which I borrow, and I do not know where to turn for money, and if it goes on there must soon be a crash.” The injunction of secrecy imposed upon Kugelmann in the foregoing letter is quite characteristic. It recurs constantly in his letters. Marx was extremely sensitive about his private affairs and only the most desperate need could induce him to reveal his true situation to his most intimate friends. He was always anxious lest Bismarck should learn the full extent of his poverty —■ possibly because he felt that the Iron Chancel lor would endeavour to entrap him if he knew. A letter which he wrote to Kugelmann in August, similar in contents to the one written in October, failed to reach Kugelmann for some time, owing to the latter’s travels. Marx hastily concluded that the letter had been seized by the Prussian government. He wrote in the second letter: “ This loss of my letter is very unpleasant to me, as I do not want Prince Bismarck to know about my private affairs. If he wants to know about my political views he can write to me direct and I will let him know all about them.” If he feared that Bismarck would use the knowledge of his poverty to ensnare him, the fear was not without foundation, for Bismarck had already made a cunning attempt to do that very thing. It is well known that Bismarck attempted to secure the serv- j ices of Marx as contributor to the government organ, the Staats Anzeiger. Marx, he knew, was desperately poor, and, while he might not be induced to accept a bribe, it might be possible to persuade him to accept a position as correspondent for the organ of the government. Accordingly, Marx received the following letter: “Berlin, October 8, 1865, “ Schoneberger Ufer 31. “ Most Esteemed Doctor! “ Business first 1 The Staats Anzeiger desires to obtain regu- 234 KARL MARX lar monthly reports concerning the movements of the money market (and, of course the produce market, where these are inseparable). < “ I was requested to recommend someone and replied that, according to my knowledge, you were the most capable and qualified. I was thereupon bidden to apply to you. “ No limitations are set regarding the length of the articles —■ the more thorough and comprehensive the better. Regard ing the contents, it is self-understood that you will follow your own scientific conviction; however, in consideration of this class of readers (haute finance )—'not of the editors — it will be advisable to allow the heart of the same to become obvious only to experts, and to avoid controversies.“ There is one stipulation —■ that these articles may be re lied upon to reach here regularly on a certain date, to be des ignated by you. “ Kindly write whether you agree to undertake this, and what compensation you desire; also when you will begin. “ How much has occurred and been destroyed since that excursion to Virginia Water! Lassalle’s last month will al ways remain a psychological riddle to me. Owing to his contempt for women, I should not have believed him capable of falling in love, nor can I comprehend that he could have looked for a satisfaction of his wounded pride in that affair. “ I myself have returned, as you know, to my first love, the manuscripts, and thank God every morning. “ That now my thoughts no longer must flow “To bid me write what I don’t know. “ I always differed with Lassalle concerning his belief in a rapid development. Progress will have changed its skin many times before it dies; therefore, he who wishes to serve the nation during his lifetime must rally ’round the government. “ Kindly remember me to your wife, and give my kindest regards to the young ladies, especially the smallest one. “ With great esteem, “ Devotedly yours, L. Bucher.” At the time this letter was written, Lothar Bucher was Bis marck’s right-hand man. Formerly he was a revolutionist, connected with the Communist League from 1848 to the date of its abandonment. Exiled on account of his revolutionary
Karl Vogt “ DAS KAPITAL ” 235 activities in 1848, he lived in London until 1859, when he was permitted to return to Berlin. During the years of his exile in London, Bucher was very intimate with Marx, especially during the first half of that period. The references to Lassalle in the letter quoted recall the fact that Bucher was an intimate friend of the great apostle of Ger man Socialism. How little he really understood Lassalle’s nature may be judged from the letter itself; evidently the pro fessed “ contempt for women,” which was part of the Lassal- lean pose, completely deceived him. That Lassalle trusted the man and respected his judgment may be inferred from the fact that in his will he named Bucher as one of his literary execu tors. A man of remarkable intellectual gifts, Bucher, soon after his return to Germany, allied himself with Bismarck. He be came a Privy Councillor, and Bismarck’s most intimate friend and confidant to whom the most important and delicate mis sions were entrusted. He probably influenced the great Chan cellor more than any other single force. He was, indeed, if we may trust such a shrewd observer as Mr. Whitman,1 “ the power behind the throne.” There can be little doubt that in offering Marx a position on the Staats Anzeiger he was acting for Prince Bismarck, his master.The subtlety of the tempter is evident. Marx might very easily have reasoned that, since no restrictions would be placed upon him in that regard, the circulation of the Staats Anzeiger would offer him a splendid opportunity to get his ideas before the German public; that, even if the real meaning of the economic events dealt with could only be expressed in a manner intelligible to “ experts,” their interpretation could be easily supplied by the active propagandists of the movement. Without any lack of loyalty to the cause, another man might have accepted the offer. Lassalle would probably have done
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KARL MARX so and considered that the position was a vantage point of »great importance to the movement. But Marx was adamant j and declined, in face of the fact that he was terribly harassed i by poverty and debt at the time. He knew well the importance of being, not only innocent of wrongdoing, but free from the faintest suspicion of it. He realized, too, that the freedom offered was a delusion and a snare; that the effect of his accept ance of Bismarck’s offer would be to “ draw the teeth ” of the revolutionary movement which he represented. Two years later, on December 7th, 1867, Marx wrote to Kugelmann: “ Bucher has, as I think I told you, asked me to be the economic correspondent of the Royal Prussian state news paper. You can see that if I were willing to make use of such channels I could do so without being beholden to a third per son.” Whether this refers to the offer made in 1865, or to a later offer, there is nothing in the letter to indicate. There is a story to the effect that, in the summer of 1867, Bucher had a personal interview with Marx, at which he tried to persuade him to accept the position. It is said that he laid a blank check before Marx, telling him to fix his own salary. The story lacks confirmation, though it was implicitly believed by several of the intimate friends of Marx. Bucher served Bismarck successfully in many an important and delicate mission, but he completely failed when he attempted to entangle Marx by inducing him to accept this favor at Bis-, marck’s hand. Later, as we shall see, Bucher served Marx upon more than one occasion; some act, or acts, of Bucher had, it appears, practically given his fate into the keeping of Marx.1 It is known that the one-time revolutionist ultimately sank so low that he drafted the Anti-Socialist Law in the seventies. He died at Glion, Switzerland, in the autumn of 1892. J By the last of January, 1867, the long task of copying 1 the manuscript of the first volume of his great work was com 1 See page 296. “DAS KAPITAL” 237 pleted, and he began to plan the trip to Germany for the pur- f pose of arranging its publication. Some word of his intention to visit Germany appears to have leaked out, for some of the German papers referred to a mysterious mission which the ogre- like head of the terrible International was about to undertake in Germany. The Norddeutschland Zeitung specifically stated that Marx was about to visit Germany and other places in con nection with an insurrection in Poland which he was planning. On the 18th of February he wrote to Kugelmann, enclosing a letter contradicting these rumours, calculated to throw his foes “ off the scent,” begging Kugelmann to get it inserted in the press. The matter was of great importance to him, for he was soon to visit Germany and did not want the attentions of the police. In the early part of March he left London for Germany, taking with him the precious manuscript, some of the first chapters of which he had already sent to Meiszner, the publisher, at Hamburg. He did not, however, go direct to Hamburg, as might have been expected under the circumstances. Instead he went to Hanover on a visit to his friend Kugelmann. He seems to have stayed there for about two weeks, and really to have enjoyed the visit. The delicate attentions of Kugelmann and his wife pleased him greatly, and he afterward wrote, “ My stay in Hanover is one of the finest and most peaceful oases in my life.” In Hamburg, in addition to arranging for the publication of his book, he met a man with whom he is often confused, and for whose vagaries he is held responsible, Wilhelm Marr. In a great many books and pamphlets on Socialism, and in many popular lectures on the subject, Marx is quoted as follows: “ The idea of God must be destroyed. It is the keystone of a perverted civilization. The true root of liberty, of equality, of culture, is Atheism.” Had the opponents of Socialism been familiar with Marx’s teaching, they would know that he could not have uttered such ideological nonsense. The quotation is
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