Page:Marx and Engels on Revolution in America - Heinz Neumann.djvu/25



Therefore, Engels considers as of the greatest importance, not the formation of a purely immigrant party, but "of a real mass movement amongst the English speaking population:"

"For the first time there exists a real mass movement amongst the English-speaking (Engels refers to the preparation for strikes to obtain the eight-hour day and to the enormous growth of the Order of the Knights of Labor in spring, 1886—just before the bomb-throwing affair in Chicago. H. N.) It is unavoidable that this at the beginning moves hesitatingly, clumsily, unclearly and unknowingly. That will all be cleared up; the movement will and must develop through its own mistakes. Theoretical ignorance is the characteristic of all young peoples, but so is practical speed of development.

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