The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-04
TIE TWO SIDES OF THE SHIELD


The New York Sun publishes the full
text of a speech delivered in the Temple
OF Music, Buffalo, by Chauncey Depew.
and letter from Goodwin Smith on an
archism. Although the speech OF Mr..
Depew was supposed to be on the rail-
read situation in this country. he took
occasion to discuss the subject of anarchy
in connection with the assassination OF
President Mckinley. The two utterances
are fit illustrations of the attitude of
the thinking philosopher and the unthink-
ing politician toward anarchy as it is
manifested in this country.
Mr.. Depew with the delightful tiuency
of speech and the no less delightful
paucity of ideas, which characterizes
most of his-p public declamations, said:
I'VE must safeguard our citizenship
We must raise the barriers and increase
the requirements for immigration. While
thus protecting our country from the adj
mission of its avowed enemies, We must
place somewhere the power to expel
them"
How our citizenship can be safeguarded
by restricting immigration or by expel-
ling the enemies of the country the learn
ed doctor (by courtesy) does not attempt
to say. The test oath which should be
administered to the insistent immigrant
before he is allowed to land the doctor
has not formulated On the important
question of who are the enemies of our
country the doctor is ominously silent
One year ago the doctor and his ilk were
party were the enemies of the country.
They were not only enemies but they
were secret enemies, traitors who were
plotting 20 haul down the American flag
and plunge the whole country up to the
neck in disgrace. Are all those who did
not agree with the elect of New York,
the we of whom the garrulous doctor
is the headmost. to be banisheo? Or does
the doctor wish to Danish only the
avowcd anarchists" who threaten the
heads of all nations with death?
We must place somewhere the power
to oxpel them-the enemies. But where
will We place that power and what I'VE"
will do the placing. Poor doctor, when he
tackled the subject of the relations of the
nation to ANA chy, to use very homely
expression, he b. off more than he could
chew.
Let Us look 4 the other side of the
shield. The side that is exhibited by a
thinkeF-a balanced mind. The relation
Of cnarchism to other social isms, Mr..
Smith expounds as follows:
''Anarchism is only one of a number of
movements at the present day the object
OF which is not merely the reform of par
tlcular abuses, but the fundamental re-
construction of society OF these, social
ISM In its various forms and with its
various degrees of violence from the
mild Fabian to the by no means mild
socialist OF Italy, is one. Communism
as another, and, as France knows to her
cost, an extremely energetic species. A
third IS anarchism, which, deeming the
whole of our organization, political and
social, desperately and irredeemably evil,
seeks totally destroy it, and madly in
No6es chaof Nihilism is Russian an
archism prov zed by the corruption of
that governnA-s and fed, it seems from
a multitude of students, sons, many of
them of an ill-endowed clergy for whom
There is no opening in life. Anarchism.
however, is not merely a paroXySTn. 1t
has theory. There are gentle and philo-
sophie as well as desperate anarchists.
hropotkin is gentle as a lamb. He sin
cerely believes that human nature is
radically good, and to show its goodness
only needs release from the unnatural
restraints of laws and government In
his own case his theory NAV be true
His anarchism is closely akin to the
vision of Shelley embodied in 1.-THE Re
volt of Islam."
The American press and many of the
clergy have for the last three weeks been
out fighting windmills. They have as
sumed that the United States is hot
bed CT anarchism, fostered by our laws,
or, rather, by our lack of laws Assum-
ing that the death of President McKin-
ley was the result of a conspiracy, in
stead of the act of a hair Drained crank.
in whose mind the teachings of vio-
lent anarchist took root and bore fruit
that bears very close resemblance to
the fruit of insanity, they proceeded to
denounce everything and everybody who
seemed not to be strictly orthodox This
sentimental crusade against anarchy re-
sembles in its violence the Puritanic cru
sade against witchcraft.
It would be an well enough if the prem
ises from which either crusade started
Were correct.
In reply to the oft-repeated assertion
that the opposition press is indirectly
ctargeable with the death of Mckinley
Mr.. Smith remarks:
What had any section of the American
press to do with the cosmopolitan con-
Spilacy of which an anarchist is a limb !?
How much had any press to do with
Booths revenge, or with the disappoint-
nent and acrimony of Guiteau?
This is good reason, and yet a local
preacher who had the temerity to assume
the position taken by Goodwin Smith and
preach it to his congregation met with a
severe rebuke from one of our con-
temporary daily papers.
The unrest of society will always give
birth to minds unbalanced Men will al
ways be found who to right what they
regard as wrongs, will do deeds of des-
peration. We have had three presidents
Shot by men of this type. Sane they all