St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-07

Anarchist Leaders of Europe
and America-A Visit to Their
H0uatS in Paris, London and
New YORK; hat of the I'M
mediate Future?
Correspondence of the Globe. lCopyright.]
NEW YORK, Jan. 5.-Shutfle the cards
together, cut and deal again; 1t is an
Rrchy.
It's a ramShackle house we are living
in. the rain drops through the rotting
roof. diseases creep out of the rottlng
floor and deform us, and in this devil of
house we are all dying miserably.
Tear it down. burn it, destroy it utterly
Rnd-hach, die Anarchiel The organic
alton of society is mistake, property is
robbery, all authority is a crime, ciVili-
zatiOn--that is the enemy! As long as
society guarantees the right OF property
there exists the right of theft Ia cOun-
teract it; as long as the present conSti-
tuition makes puSSible the rich man,
there exists the individual right to muir
der him. And this again IS anarchy.
need hardly say that it varies greatly
IN its expression. With Prince krapot-
kin or Prof. Reclus. it COOS gently; it is
speculative; it apes constitutionality
With CitZeneSS Louise Mitchell it
screams Historically. 1t is suave. noisy,
learned or unlearned. but it is always
anarchy. 1t was not until the theory of
Bakunln spread into Southern Europe
That anarchy became ut once power
and menace. FOuricriSm, that gen.
lie protest against civilization, which
enSnared among others such staunch
Americans as Horace Greeley, Haw-
thorne, George William Curtis and
Charles \. Dana, was as innocuouS as
the fantasies of Rousseau. Even i'll the
cOllectivism of Karl Marx and the demo-
tyranny of Lasalle there was an element
Of conservative safety. There Is no
militant destruction in the theory that
the State-the organized peOple-should
own everything and rule every one.
But that is not anarchy, as it has
been fashioned by Bakunin and
corrected by Pouget, Michel, Tor
rida and the indlvdualists. No.
the right of no majority 10 rule,
demands that political power. even
though it be revolutionary, be destroyed,
gives every one the ownership of the
world and undivided authority over
himself. 1t is subtle theory, if you
think ii over, but it appeals frankly, en-
ticingly to the undeliberatiYe mind. No
law, no property, no right, no wrong
nothing save the individual stalking
abroad in an untrammelied world. So
clety is not to be tolerated. not even So
cieties of anarchists; organization even
to destroy is wrong. 1t spreads like
fire in mine.
This idea had taken root by 1885,
when the Spanish anarchists insisted on
holding convention in Paris during
the exposition; it was with difficulty
the more radical anarchists were per-
suaded to acquiesce. A convention,
they argued. predicated a certain
amount of authority, no matter how
slight. and was inconsistent with pure
anarchy. 1t was the beginning of the
new anarchy. Companions from Spain,
Italy, France, Germany, Russia, America
notably from South Ameriea-debate
for days. Was there an individual right
20 rob the rich man? An individual right
TO murder him? The convention decided
in the negative? There was a similar
experience at the socialistic congress at
Zurich, this year. The most vehement
individuals were expelled. They met
In an lmpromDtu congress, it may be
remembered, and gave emphatic utter
ance to the Bakunin doctrine-the doc
trine of Malatesta and Pouget.
There was little menace in the old
conspiracies. The new anarch is dan
gerou4. 1t attempts the life of the Ger
man emperor; in France, Leauthier.
debOnalr as Ravachol, assassinates
SerYlan minister; in Spain there is
series of outrageS, ending-for the
time, perhapS-iu the attrocity at the
Liceo theater in Barceonia; merely In
cidents. The mischief is afoot working
underground, bnndly, irresponsibly,
lneyita5ly-the red terror. You can.
not stretch out your hand and say, sit
Is here" 1t may be at your elbow or it
may be over sea. For the good of the
cause'it kills the rich man or massacres
a theatcr full of innocent people. 1t
has sworn destruction against the
world, I'm Which people eat" Europe
an thinkers and the most alert men in
this country recognize the greatness
OF the danger. These anarchists.
some of them honest fanatics, mat
toids, paranOiacs. others frank thieves
and murderers with personal lusts for
revenge, are at the same time as indi-
vidual as molecules, and are Joined by
sympathy stronger than any iron-bound.
oath-riveted conspiracy. Chicago is in
touch with Cape Lago; London and
vienna strike hands. 1t is an indefinite,
indeterminate conspiracy, in which
each Individual, according to his own
reason or insanity, selects his victim.
Before introducing you to some of the
anarchists lhave met, it would not be