The Portland daily press., 1883-02-06

The trial of the Anarchists conspirators
at Lyons has had one good result. 1t has
educed a definition of Anarchism. At the
trial Tressaud read declaration of prinei.
pies signed by Prince Krapotkine and up
wards of forty of the leading Anarchists.
The document sets forth 1--WE quote from the
American Rigister) 'fthat Anarchists are
citizens who demand the right Of unlm-
tied liberty, and desire that every human
being shall do whatever he pleases, and
shall satisfy all his wants without any other
limit, than that arising from natural impos-
sibilities. This unlimited liberty is incon-
patible with the existence of any kind of
government. All governments are equally
bad and the best are the worst. The evil
does not reside in one form of government
more than another, but it arises from the
principle of authority itself" In place of
this principle of authority the Anarchists
would substitute the principle of free con-
tract between citizens, perpetualy renewal
BILE at will, and their aim is to teach man
kind "to dispense with government in the
same way as they have already begun TO
dispense with God.n 'sIn time,'' continues
the manifesto, ''people will even be taught
to do without prOprietaires. There is no
liberty without equality, and there is no lib
erty in a society where capital is monopc-
lized by the minority Copita is the COM
mon patrimony of humanity from which no
one should be excluded, and which, on the
other hand, no one should be allowed to
monopolize TO the detriment of the rest of
the community This extraordinary docu-
ment thus ends; "We claim bread for all,
science for all, work for all, independence
for all, and justice for ALL
The essence of the Anarchists, scheme,
according to this manifesto, is the substitu-
ton of the regime Of free contract for that of
government. But contract, however free
it may be in its origin, requires some author
ity to enforce it. This authority, the An
archists admit, must exist because they say
it is to be renewed perpetually. Therefore,
after destroying all government, and turn
ing society inside out, the Anarchists arrive
at despotism which has not even the merit
OF stability, seeing that it is changed perpet-
ually. Again, when individual properties
of all kinds are abolished, some one must
be trustee or custodian of such properties
for the benefit of the community. Whoever
this person might be, he would thus be vir-
tually the possessor of monopoly SO vast,
that beside it existing monopolies would be
contemplate and Insignificant. 1t is, there
fore, clear that, divesteu OF the words Gun
limited liberty and other sonorous phrases.
the true aim of the Anarchists is to estab-
lish despotism of the worst description for
thesbenefit of few individuals, who have as
yet given the world no guarantee that they
would use wisely the power and the wealth
they covet. The childish tone of thought,
exhibited in this Anarchist manifesto, is
made curiously apparent by the sudden
transition from clarifying a new society
which has abolished God and Government
to the somewhat common place proposition
about proprietaires. OF course, where there
is no individual property there can be no
owners of houses, and nobody will pay rent;
but IT is somewhat etovtlipg first to insist
that God and Government must be abols
ished, and then suddenly to recollect that
there is an infamous form of property re-
curing special mention, and an Infamous
category of property-holders who ought es-
pecially to be held up to popular execration.
1t may be doubted whether the Anarchists
have gained much by the publication of this
manifesto of their principles, or if this doc
ument will be instrumental in converting
any person possessed OF ANYTHING to An
archist ideas.