St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-23
NOT VERY FIERY.
Anniversary of the Commune CeIc.
brated With Decorum.

The scandinavian section of the So
clallst-Labor party gave an elaborate
IeSuVal and entertainment at Labor
hall yesterday, commencing at o'clock
in the afternoon and continuing until 2
O'Clock this morning. The cause of this
manifestation Of jubilation was the
tWenty-fifth anniversary of the ''Paris
Commune" In honor of the occasion.
the hall was gaily decorated with bunt
ing and Scandinavian flags, with red
background, and the pure red flag Of
the socialist was much in evidence.
The programme was very lengthy
one. including speeches by Chairman
II: e. Beach. Ed Peterson and B. T.
ONeil, besides several musical num-
bers and recitations. The DeIsarte
movements by Miss Ethel Beckman
We're unusually good, and a solo, MAR
seillaise,' by J. Buesing, was heartily
applauded. After the entertainment
supper was served, and the balance of
the evening was spent in dancing. Mr..
Beach in his address explained what
the Paris Commune" was and WHY IT
it was named. He said
The popular idea in this country is that
the Parls commune was mob an exhibition
of the undirected power of the people to des-
troy property and life. That was not the
case. The Paris commune was body of men
elected by the votes Of the people of Paris
for the purpose Of forming a local self-govern-
votes cast, almost unanimously in favor of the
candidates of the commune. The demands of
the commune were that they might work out
the municipal reforms affecting themselves in
their own way, because they believed that
they knew what they wanted better than any
body else. The reason that the commune was
overthrown was because of the lack of under
standingq on the part of the people who lived
in the rural districts, brought about by the
false reports which were spread by the pro-
visonal government The reports went out
Franco IN he Of
the world that the Paris commune were COM
mitting all sorts of depredations DESTROYING
property and life, which was not the case. The
consequence was that the army Of the pro-
Visional government gathered together in such
great numbers that they overthrew the COM
mune. One of the leading generals of the
provisional government ordered the soldiers
to fire upon the people Of Paris because they
dared to assert their rights to local self-gov-
ernment. The national guard refused to- do
so, and the result was that in their anger
they turned and lynched the general against
the wishes of the people of Paris.''
The next speaker was Ed Peterson,
who occupied the attention of the au-
dience for over an hour and half with
spcialiStfc views, repeating each argu-
ment about half dozen times and
vividly portraying to his listeners the
terrible condition of affairs existing at
the present time, and that which will
take place in the future. Among 9TH
Ell things, he said:
ne scene oil the world appears very much
like shifting scene an operate stage and
the whole history of the human race appears
frcm those ages to be nothing more or less
than one long struggle for the enforcement of
aboIiShment of things II has cost great
deal of money. and a great sacrifice of human
life. This great struggle has often been drawn
in imaginary geographical lines, and two or
three different opposing factors might be in
the same class of peoDle fighting one another
After some of these struggles have been car
ried and settled, man has found himself
practically in the same condition he was in
before. Other struggles along certain class
lines have revolutonzed human conditions
Now this class of struggles which have Great
ed different conditions. under which men
lived. have been the cause of this evolution
and IN due time 1t so came about that labor
of he chief factors on the stage, and
of tle factors which have been brought
nv .he struggles of the world. The first
c-~"- c''"s struggle which history records was
- '-,'gg.e between the soldier and the