The Labor enquirer., 1888-02-18
Carry on that Begun and ! n 4
Unfinished ~ Cur nur- U
dered Comrades.
THEY WE'RE PROVED GUILTY
or Educating Their Fellow Tsilsrs z q
Let Us Alss ~ q Guilty y
We Arc Ablst y b..
For the ENQUIRER.

kot tne EnQQireF. "a 4 ~
So persistently and thoroughly
did the capitalistic Press do its
work during the long anxious
months when the fate of eight
labor agitators was at stake, that
to this day there are thousands Of
well-meaning people whp hear the
word anarchist" spoken with
fear. and behold with awe any one
who expresses sympathy and an
inclination to investigate their
doctrines.
They are conscientious in their
ideas, and it is through pure ig-
norance of the facts, and the false
teachings imbibed from journals
directed by the class to whose in.
terest it is to deceive, that they
are seemingly so predjudiced.
Often person who at first shud-
ders, af the mention Of anarchists.
will, on hearing a simple recital
of the unjust prosecutions and
perjured evidence brought against
them, grow indignant and horri
fed at the manner of their death.
Even many liberal-minded and
radically inclined people who re-
gret that the penalty was SO se-
we're, still harbor a feeling of
repugnance and terror against the
men themselves, and their theories
especially, and think they de-
served at least several years in the
penitentiary. But no unprejudiced
person who learns the real facts,
car( believe this; for if he does he
no longer believes in the funda-cI
mental principles of this republic,
and would favor the establishment
of mild inquisition which would
be as likely to make an end of
some peace loving anti-poverty
man as the most extreme follow
ers of John Most.
There are several points l wish
to impress on the class of people
who believe that, short of actual
death the prisoners should all
have received some punishment.
First they must consider what
they were actually sentenced for.
1t was not proved that they killed
M. Degan-even the prosecuting
attorney allowed his failure, to
prove this, and sprung it upon
them at the last that they had been
tried for anarchy and should be
punished for anarchy! Now if
that was the reason of the sem
tence why should it fall upon
those eight alone1 Even if ac-
cording to law they were proven
accessories before the fact" why
should those eight alone suffer-
Were they any more accessories"
than the hundreds, yes thousands
of others who had believed and
taught, as thoroughly, lacking
only ability, as had these7
For several years open meet
ings were held two or three fines
a week, in halls, on the street and
on the lake front where the suffer-
lngs OF the masses through the
unjust systems that prevail were
portrayed; indeed the American
group, contrary TO the supposition
the capitalist papers carefully
nurtured, never held any secret
meetings; the detective who Joined
it could have learned all he did.
without the trouble of perjuring
himself since no one was ever
shut out. Parsons, Spies and
Fielden were by no means the
only speakers and were not the
most active workers; yet most of
those co-workers are respected
and admired by these half-hearted
radicals because their ability and
devotion have been recognized.
and they happen not to have come
into the awful clutches of the law.
A man is considered, by the or
dinary mind. as much worse, for
having been sentenced by one
court, confirmed by a higher. and
ignored by the most supreme,
than one who has not received
l. lcoaxnssd on fourth pass.l