KARL MARX

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KARL MARX: A BIOGRAPHY
or we can go to sleep.' The word 'proletariat' is now used as an empty
word, as is the word 'people' by the democrats. To give this phrase any
reality all petty-bourgeois had to be declared proletarians which meant
in fact that we were representing the petty-bourgeois and not the
proletariat. 70
Marx concluded by saying that the majority would be within its rights in
expelling the minority from the League, but that this would be detrimental
to the interests of the 'party' whose unity he had found a way of
preserving while at the same time separating the two factions. There were
at most twelve people he would like to see in his group and he would
naturally resign from the Association.
Schapper followed with an impassioned and rather inarticulate speech.
He declared himself in favour of Marx's first two proposals but disagreed
with the third, which he regarded as far too subtle. They should split
into two Leagues, 'one for those who work with the pen, the other for
those who work differently'. 71 Finally, he could not accept that the bourgeoisie
would come to power in Germany, as this robbed the proletarian
movement of its whole purpose. Marx replied by insisting that his proposal
ensured a complete separation while preserving the unity of the League.
He then took up Schapper's point about the next revolution:
If the proletariat came to power, it would employ measures that were
petty-bourgeois, not directly proletarian. Our party can only become
the governing one when circumstances allow it to carry out its own
views. Louis Blanc gives the best example of coming to power too soon.
Moreover in France it is not the proletariat alone but also the peasants
and petty-bourgeois who will come to power and the measures taken
will have to be common to them all - not those of the proletariat
alone. 72
After Eccarius had supported Marx, Willich left the room without a
word and Marx's proposals were adopted, being supported by six out of
the ten possible votes.
The Cologne group, having now achieved (with Marx's agreement) its
ambition of being in charge of the League, was spurred to fresh activities
- though the Willich-Schapper group probably commanded the loyalty
of most of the League members in Germany. Marx duly got the new
statutes accepted by a general assembly of the London members. Thereafter
he seems to have lacked enthusiasm for the League's activities and
devoted himself more to economic studies. In May 1851, however, widespread
arrests in Germany - which meant the effective end of the League's
activities - compelled Marx to demonstrate his solidarity. The Prussian
Government had increased its campaign against subversive elements, fol-