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“Reds” vs. Philosophical Anarchists
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Press dispatches state that an organization,
to be known as the “Republic,” is being formed in Chicago to do
battle under oath-bound processes with Anarchists. At the same time
it has been declared that men of the Czolgosz type are not true
Anarchists and that true Anarchism is perfectly peaceable—of the
Count Tolstoy type. It is a fact that the philosophic Anarchists
of the Tolstoy type are diametrically opposed to the “reds,” and
it is also a fact that for the past few years they have been exerting
a wholesome influence upon the “reds” by showing them a “more excellent
way.” It only needs a little further work along this line, together
with the enforcement of such laws as we already have, to make of
red Anarchy a thing of the past, so far as this country is concerned,
at least.
An organization such as the “Republic”
is calculated to interfere greatly with the pacific work of the
philosophic Anarchists, and throw the reds back to all those detestable
resorts for which they have been famous. When we see converts approaching
the mourner’s bench under the peaceable teaching of some proficients
in the line it should be the part of wisdom to encourage them on
to the new, rather than to excite them to go back again to their
past. The country is in no danger from Anarchists. Czolgosz would
never have been heard of had he found the “luck” in life that he
expected. He was an offshoot of our public schools and not of Anarchy.
He said: “I received my education in the public schools of Detroit.
I never had much luck at anything, and this preyed upon me. It made
me morose and envious.”
There are thousands of young men in
this country at this minute who say the same as the above. They
are to be found everywhere. They expected to receive “soft snaps”
as their portion in life. They were educated to believe that the
work of their fathers was beneath them. In their disappointment,
some take revenge on society in one way and some in another. Socialists
tell us there are 3,500,000 tramps, other authorities say 60,000.
They are all the product of the public schools. Our fathers knew
them not. Added to them is the large number of young men, like Czolgosz,
who are drifting around without steady employment and from whom
anything can be expected. If we were educating the rising generations
aright, these tramp and half-employed classes would cease to exist[.]
Czolgosz assumed the role of a red Anarchist; but the philosophical
Anarchists repudiate him, his act, and all who agree with him.
Anarchists of the Tolstoy type seek
to live in perfect harmony with mankind. They want to educate men
up to the regenerated heart condition in which each may be a law
unto himself, and, in harmony with God, man, and nature, live out
life without law and without war. As the churchman says, he wants
“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven,”
so the philosophic Anarchists would seek the same practical end.
Both should have an equal right to preach their doctrines and work
for their goals. As we do not extirpate a church community
because a murderer develops in its midst, so we should not seek
the extirpation of those peaceful Anarchists who in word and deed
show their abhorrence of blood. Many of the philosophic Anarchists
will not take animal life, and there are some who refuse to eat
any flesh that ever had life, or even wear [l]eather that is made
from hide.
It is, of course, folly to suppose
that in the present condition of society, life and property would
be for a moment secure without law. The Jacksonville fire and the
Galveston flood prove that. We also know that in no city or hamlet
of the land can a man keep one thousand dollars in his own home
and be certain of his life. We should welcome any sect or party
that, however remotely, seriously attempts to remedy human crime
either by educating the mind philosophically or by regenerating
the human heart. A precedent for life without rulers has been furnished
by the scriptures. It is found in Judges xvii, 6: “In those days
there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right
in his own eyes.” As men grow into obedience to the law of nature,
or the law of God witten [sic] in the heart, they must become of
one mind in all things, in which “the fatherhood of God and the
brotherhood of man” is recognized, and it follows that they can
live without any human law whatever. But this highest of attainments
is the very opposite of the lowest of vices, and men seeking either
nature’s harmony or God’s image should not be confounded with assassins.
One of these philosophic groups of
Anarchists has heen [sic] in existence for some time at Home, Washington;
and since the assassination they have been visited by a reporter
of the News, of Tacoma, and long accounts are given of them in that
paper of Sept. 11 and 12. The editor, much fairer than the Tacoma
Ledger, gave Editor Morton of the Home group a full hearing, but,
yielding to the excitement of the moment, pronounced against the
group and advocated their extermination, or deportation, or suppression
in some form. If these people were “red” Anarchists I would have
no word of defense for them, but as it is, I have sought to defend
them in the News and all other Press-Writers should do the same.
Many editors, politicians, and others are coming forward with quite
a change of front toward the Anarchists and are publicly demanding
that the philosophical class, Quaker-like as they are, are not to
be classed with the “reds.”
The Kansas City Times lately gave
an article on this line from the pen of the veteran old Democrat,
Hon. David Overmeyer of Kansas. The same was copied in Bryan’s Commoner
of Oct. 4, Mr. Bryan indicating that he, too, is partial to a distinction
being made. Among other things, Mr. Overmeyer says:
“I have long known that there are
people calling themselves Anarchists who do not believe in murder
or violence. The time has come, however, when these should change
their name. Anarchy was always a bad name for people who want peace
and who yearn for a Platonic age. They adopted that name after it
had gained an evil significance. If they look forward to Utopia
or the millennium, they might call themselves ‘Utopians’ or ‘Millennialists.’
If they favor the idea of non-resistance to evil they might be ‘Tolstoians.’
The word Anarchy should be blotted from the vocabulary of civilization.”
My idea was along Mr. Overmeyer’s
line before I heard from him, and I now find that many of the Press-Writers
think the same. We have among our Press-Writers a number of these
philosophical Anarchists. Miss Kate Austin is one of them and she
has just appeared in the Baltimore American in repudiation of assassins
and force in every form. In circular 3300 a few of the Press-Writers
are classified as specialists on philosophical Anarchists; but in
all of that circular that I henceforth send out I will substitute
“Individualism” as their specialty, and I trust that others will
do the same without equivocation. “A rose is just as sweet by any
other name.”
The bigots of every class are availing
of the present excitement to call for the suppression of every species
of Liberalism, and every Liberal in the country must in one way
or another gird himself to do battle for his liberties. The Boston
Banner of Light of Sept. 21, under the heading of “Danger,” valiantly
called upon the Spiritualists to do their duty. So it must be with
all of the Liberal school. The Masons have also come forth in defense
of free speech and free press, and argue that the nation betrays
its imbecility in exhibiting such a terror over a handful of Anarchists
as would jeopard [sic] the very fundamentals upon which the government
is founded in securing power for their extinction. For myself, I
say abolish the public schools; maintain the people’s voice in the
press, and apply such laws as we already have, and these, accompanied
with the propaganda of the philosophical Anarchists, will be all-sufficient
to preserve us from the red Anarchists.
F B. L.
Sykesville, Md.
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