The morning news., 1894-11-11

The First and Strangs st Expose Of An
archy in America Ever Presented TO
Our Country-Rich Anarchists Awed
Altgeld-Public School Teachers and
Office Holders Who Glory in Being
Anarchists.
CCopyright)
New York, Nov. IO.-There is some mys-
read of the doings and heard the say
ings Of those protesting faith in it can
have failed to get the impression that as
yet no adequate explanation OF its ex-
istence has been made, ana there is a dis
position to connect the lack of such ade-
quate explanation with the lack of ade-
quate means of dealing 18th the force it.
self We are strangely ignorant of an
archy in view of what the worlds govern
ments agree in pronouncing its tremen-
dous importance. The popular mental
attitude on the subject is one of dense
bewllderment, at least in the United
States.
No better evidence of this could be i'm
agined than the incredulity with which
the average American would receive the
assertion that anarchists in this country
are numbered by tens of thousands. and
that their ranks include men of wealth,
men of fashion, men of learning and men
of fame. These anarchists, be it further
noted, are not foreigners, but Americans
born and bred, educated and intelligent,
well known in their respective communi-
ties, and who are giving their best efforts
TO effect the downfall of what we call
and understand to be, under the censttu-
1ion of the United States, human govern
ment. To the average citizen such a
statement appears simply incredible, and
his skepticism would be further awakened
were he Informed that Johann Most and
the Goldman woman are not now anarch-
lists and have long since been expelled
from the movement Yet all these things
are facts and the evidence of them is
attempted to be set forth in what follows.
AT No. 120 Liberty street. in the city
of New York, there stands a shabby
sort of structure which holds the same
place in the estimation of American an
archists that the Bible house presumably
does in the opinion of benevolent and mis-
sion loving Christians. For at No. 10 Lih-
erty street is located the academy, so to
speak, of American anarchy. The cause
in this country has its headquarters there.
But there is nothing in the exterior aspect
of the edifice to denote that. No sign
guides you to the region of anarchy and
unless you are an anarchist or have
learned beforehand whom to ask for, 1t
would be a FOOLS errand 10 go there.
On the top floor of the building is the
office of Benjamin r. Tucker. Benja.
min r. Tucker is the Mahomet of anar-
chy in the United States and his name is
known all over the world but not by any
means in every part of it. He is, of
course, an anarchist of the most pro-
nounced type and his whole life has been
protest against government He will
undoubtedly rank with Prudhon, with Ba-
kounine and with Kropotkin in the history
of the movement to which his entire ex-
istence is singly devoted.
The most striking thing about this
anarchist is that he looks no more like
an anarchist than a detective in real life
resembles the detectives of the pages of
fiction His hair and beard are well
trimmed and he would be taken for
mild type of prosperous clergyman rather
than anything else. He edits Liberty"
the organ of American anarchy and his
top floor sanctum is a great apartment,
filled with books and papers, while al
most at his elbow are the composing
rooms and offices of the paper There are
some dozen men employed here in the
nered and genial Tucker is at the head
of it all, cheerfully doing his best to de-
stroy government. And he is an opto-
mistic person. Nothing pleases him more
than to do what he can for the cause
and it was in this spirit that he answered
all questions. Mr.. Tucker declares that
his demands and aspirations have never
been correctly presented to the American
people outside of anarchist channels and
IT may be worth while mentioning that
his exact words are given here as they
fell from his lips.
IAN anarchist" he began in answer to
the first question, lis a believer in the
greatest amount of liberty compatible
with equality of liberty. That excludes
government, according to our definition
of government, which is the subiection
of the non-evasive individual to a viii
not his own. We define the state as the
embodiment of government in an indi-
vidual or band of individuals assuming
to act as representatives or masters OF
te entire people within given ares. Inas-
much as the government and the state, in
accordance with this definition, are in
themselves violations of equality of lib
erty, anarchism, by this definition, in
wolves the abolition of government and of
the state
What will anarchy substitute for
them?"
NoInlnS. W e regard hOerty as the
solution of all social problems. and all
forms of government are obstacles to
liberty and progress. To ask what an
anarchist would substitute for govern
ment is like asking what a free-trAde
would substitute for the tariff But il
may be observed that anarchisn does not
exclude by this definition the right OF the
individual to defend himself against ag-
gression. or the right of individuals TO or
ganize an association on a purely Yolun-
tary basis for such defense. 1t nav be
further observed that no intelligent
statement of what anarchism Is las ever
been presented in the daily press in this
country and If you quote these words
as I say them this will be the first
such statement ever given"
1t is to be noted that BENJAMIN f. Tuck.
er, like all anarchists, carefully rctrains
from the use Of the word anarchy. TC
them their cause is anarchism. The neN'
thing he was questioned upon had refer
ence to the number Of his co-helievcrs il
the United States.
I'VE have no organization. he replied
land there is, therefore, no means o.
telling how many anarchists there ar,
here in the way a census might reveal IL
Those who except this definition l hav,
srivaf, won are known or1nur MS is,,1,,.,,1