I wouldn't want to make too much of it, but Honest Abe did say this when he was running for Congress back in 1846: "In all ages of the world, that some have laboured, and others have, without labour, enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To secure to each labourer the product of his labour, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government."
^^^^^ CB: Don't forget, Lincoln was publisher of a German language newspaper in Illinois, at the time when many German 48ers, ( those who fought on the losing revolutionary side of the in the war of 1848) lived in Illinois, including Wedeymeyer, Marx and Engels "man" in America. Perhaps, Abe read _The Manifesto_. 48'ers
were important support for Lincoln's election to President and as experienced soldiers for the North in the war.
http://www.germanheritage.com/Essays/1848/civil_war_part1.html
"The new German wing of the Republican Party initially favored New Yorker William Seward for the presidency in 1860. But it willingly followed Abraham Lincoln after he endorsed a liberal homestead law and an anti-nativist "Dutch plank," written by Forty-Eighter Carl Schurz, a member of the platform committee. The party was well aware of the crucial importance of the German vote in many localities. Abraham Lincoln shrewdly bought the German newspaper Illinois Staatsanzeiger, press and all, before he set out for the national convention in Chicago and the Republicans employed German orators to stress German issues throughout the campaign."
For example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Schurz
Carl Schurz (German pronunciation: [ˈkaʁl ˈʃʊʁts]; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army General in the American Civil War. He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and noted orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate.[1]
His wife, Margarethe Schurz, and her sister, Berthe von Rönge, were instrumental in establishing the kindergarten system in the United States.[2] During his later years, Schurz was perhaps the most prominent independent in American politics, noted for his high principles, his avoidance of political partisanship, and his moral conscience.[3]
He is famous for saying: "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."[4] Many streets, schools, and parks are named in honor of him, including New York City's Carl Schurz Park.