Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-02-22
FUTURE OF ANARCHlSM.
The Great Problem which Now Faces
France and the World.

anarchism in France: What part will anar-
chism play finally during the last years of
the 10Th century. and what influence is it
destined to exercise upon events?
will not undertake to forecast or to
| prophecy in regard to it, but we are far
| from the DAYS when the acts of RaVachOl
We're regarded as the crimes of n bandit and
| their author rs n common criminal only
| two years have gone by since then, and
what progress has been made during
| that short space bv the ideas and appre
citations of the public One would mag
inc that, multiplying with increasing bold
ness and more terrible effects. the anar-
chists crimes ought to have created a repro
baton more and more marked. and more
and more general But it is the reverse that
we are witnessing No doubt during the
first moments of excitement each bomb that
is exploded arouscs cries Of indignation and
demands for the summary punishment of the
| guilty. But these cries, at first unanimous
in appearance are followed by expressions
excrlsiug more or less tinlidly the act and
| pleading eXtenuatng circumstances in favor
of the accused Gradually other opinions
become emboldened up to the point of open
ly taking up his defence and even attempt
Ing his Justification: and by degrees the
| assassin is transformed into a victim of So
cietv After a little time the killed and the
wounded are forgotten, and the terror in
spircd by the act passes away. 1t is the
murderer who now becomes interesting, be
cause he is an anarchist.
What is still more grave is the fact that
the public also appear to have lost just APP
probation of the acts Of the anarchists and
of the consequence, of such acts. Whether
fear of the explosives warped their iudg
mcnt. or whether anarchsm has won n sort
of unhealthy prestige which gives to its en-
ormities the aspects of political acts, it re
mains certain that they are no longer
appreciated as they were two years
ago For few days after Naillant's
arrest he was regarded as something mora
than the enemy of society which he was
in reality Even in the papers and in circles
least suspected of sympathy with him or
with his ideas they began to say that, after
all, he acted through eXaltation more than
through perversitv, and that it would bc
nothing more than natural to trent him with
some clcncncy This sentiment had gained
such ground that there was moment of
surprise and almost of reprobation when the
Jury boldly rendered their verdict against
HIM.
Nevertheless anarchy has changed netheritS
nature nor its aim At its very commence
mcnt it breaches revolution and overthrow,
and not a reform or Transformation of any
kind. Its adopts have not altered theirlnan-
ner of seeing or their way of acting. They
practice murder for the sake of murder, and
destruction forthc sake of destruction, with
out saving and without knowing what
their ideal will be when they shall have
destroyed everything. The only clear
thing in their doctrine so far is
their attempt to Justify robbery and the
right OF appropriatins the goods of others by
the assertion that are only taking back their
share of the common property.
How is it possibl, that such sect, whose
watchword is the return to savage life, has
become a sort of recognized power How
is it that anarchi~u. invented by few out
casts in search of name to disguise their
aversion for work and their covetousness,
has gained prp,clytes. or. in other words,
recruited unconscious accompllceS, even
among the enlightened classes The thing
is ineXplcable. but 50 it is II must be adj
mittcd that there is some truth i'll the ac-
cusaton made against this decade, charging
it with having only confused notions of the
principle of good and evil and of having
reached through the discussion of subtletes,
Il point where it can no longer establish
a distinction between evidence and
sOphism. This seems to be the only way
TO comprehend the sort of hallucinatlOn
which transforms vulgar criminals into pub
lie personagc,. The illusion which gives to
the anarchists such singular appearance
of qunsi-grcatuass should al least have been
diSsipated by the crimes discovered in the
past lives of almost all of them. when they
came under the hands of the authorities,
There are very few among them who have
not served some previous sentence. Vail
liant long ago made the acquaintance of the
lDtk
But nothing in all this binders these men,
whose whole lives have been passed in de
finance of all law, who boldly admit the
fact from gaining a following. Behind
Rovachul there was only "A band conspirng
in the dark: behind Valiant there is the
nucleus of an army with flag which it
waves with impunity.
The trial of Valiant compared with that
of Ravachol enables one to measure the rap
idity with which the modification, or rather
the perturbation of the public mind has been
accomplished, When the verdict was rem
dered in the case of Ravachol, there was an
explosion of surprise and anger against the
jury that saved his head by giving him the
benefit of eXtenuating circumstances. The
Jurors were Openly charged with Cowardice,
withnot having had the courage t. do their
duty through the fear of the vengeance of the
; friends and accomplice> of the accused. But
the verdict against Valiant was received 10y
public opinion as something unexpected and
almost excessive His crime, nevertheless,
was even more inexplcabe and odious from
every point OF view. They forgot the
unworthness OF the man, the itty
victims that he made, and the 9th
erS that he intended to make by throwing
the explosive \ regular campaign was or
gained To wiring from the president a meas
urc OF Clemency and to force him to pardon
the condemned man But the execution
took place. An example was necessary to
cut away the dynamite epidemic; and elem
ency would have been interpreted by the an
archists as n weakness inspired by fear.
, The government understood very we'll that
it was high time to place barriers against
, what might he called the moral progress OF
t anarchsm. 1t made use of the first days OF
4 emotion which followed Nailant's crime to
obtain from the Chamber certain powers of
repression and some restrictions of unlimited