New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-03-18
AMERICAN NIHILISTS.

The demOniac Outcres of the Nihlists
and Socialists in New York were disgraceful.
But to whomY Not to the free Republic,
which il strong enough to tolerate the utmost
freedom of speech even on the part Of such
people. To them, and to them only the per
formancc was disgracciu They manifested their
hidcuus delight at an infamous, cruel, and cow
nrdly crime. 1t was cOwardly, as cold looded
assassination always is, and proved that even
the horrors of Russian ~despotism are not too
severe for the enemies OF mankind with whom
that dcspotsm has to deal. 1t was cruel, for
innocent hysandrrS and faithful servants
and soldiers, were WantOnly manged and
niassarrcd in oder to reach the life of a
single ruler. Again and again these Nhilists
have murdered many innocent and worthy
people, and brought anguish to many happy
homes i'll their mad attempts 10 kill the Car ;
but for all the lives thus uselrssly and wan
tonly taken the savage cruelty of Nlhilsm
has no regrets. Finally, ii was an infamous
crime, even from the point of view of the
revolutionist, because it was plainly and
absolutely fruitess for good, The sacrifice
of human life can sometimes be justified,
when the welfare of race is promoted
only brought new dShonOr upon the cause of
popular freedom, and brought to the throne a
younger, stronger, and probably more rcso-
lutte ruler with bloody memories to tinge his
purposes.
"Theso creatures, who glOat over such n
crime here, i'll free country, ought to be
changed on the nearest tree say some. No,
that is not the American way. The more
they rave, the more their teachings will dis
gust all reasonable men. Doctrines that are
destructive of all law and all order are like
gunpowder hurtful only when confined, and
harmless when exploded in the open air.
Every man who has property, and a home,
and decent wages, and the lives of dear ones
depending on him, inSinctiyely becomes the
impacablc foe of doctrines which threaten TO
destroy the only protection for individual
rights. Give these fanatics all the freedom
of speech they want, and their wild
and brutal rawlings will only make
reasonable men more determined to up
hold law, and to crush down any and
every form of lawlesSncss Indeed, if the
Nihilsts and Socialists could only be induced
TO hold their meetings and to utter their sui
plurous speeches in the bloody counties of
South Carolina, Mississippi or Louisiana, it is
probable that even the Bourbon Democrats of
the South might be shamcd into some respect
for law.
We have Nihilsts in this country also. In
spirit if not in methods and phrases, they ac-
cord precisely with the murderers of the Car.
Because their private notions of government
are not satisfied, they want to destroy things,
no matter at what cost. Self-Government it
self they would destroy, in its very essence,
Just as Communism always destroys liberty, if
they could. The massacres at the South have
been even more brutal and cruel than the
murders perpetrated by king -haters in Europe,
and the Bourbon has at heart quite as savage
a hatred of all authority as that of the Mill
list. The meanest despotism ever known, and
the most cruel and brutal is that of the Mob |
But Southern mob has not one of the ex-
cuses which the aSsassns in Russia may make.
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Only one Democratic newspaper, so far as we
have seen, Ventures to commend the Hon. Ben Hill