The Irish standard., 1901-09-28

The assassin of President Mckinley
is an avowed anarchist. He was
known as such-wherever he was
known at all-long before his infamous
crime made his name notorious. But
he is disclaimed by the leaders of the
organization in this country. He is
declared to be fanatic, who acted
wholly in response to his own mur-
derous notions and without direction
from anarchists. But is this true?
'Conspirators could not be expected to
admit the existence Of conspiracy
at time when such an admission
would threaten the security Of their
own necks; and there are many who
believe that President McKinley's as
sassin was acting ''under orders"
{ framed by secret band Of murderers
and acting for and by authority of
anarchism when he fired the shot
which claimed anarchy's first victim
among American presidents, says a
writer in the st. Louis Republic.
Anarchy, by that name, is not an
old institution. Until 1872, anarchy,
as an organization, had not been
heard of to considerable extent. The
general idea of anarchy, however, Is
as old as the world. 1t antedates all
law and all authority, the overthrow
,F xrl,;oh Is 3te orocon+ oonfroi rrin.
ciple. Perhaps the real founders of
the sect of anarchists were Proudhon
in France and Karl Marx in Germany,
and, above all, Michael Bakunin, a
Russian-all ardent and fanatical so.
cial reformers. Bakunin was born in
Russia, in 1914, and died in Berne, in
1876. He took part in German revolu-
tionary movements Of 1848, and was
the founder of nihlism in his own
country. He was exiled to Siberia in
1851, but escaped to Japan, got back
to England by 1861 and in 1865 he
was one of the organizers of the
international Association Of Work
ingmen," pet project Of Karl Marx.
Bakunin, Marx and all other reform
ers of all grades, from philosophic
idealists to downright cutthroats, car
ried on the propaganda Of the Inter
national Association until 1872, when
there was split, and at The Hague
conference the Socialists proper, who
believed in orderly reform and govern,
mental methods, drew apart from the
extremists, who met in what was
really the first anarchist congress in
the world, held the same year at Saint
Imier, Switzerland.
z By this time, 1872, the extremists
were well organized in most of the
leading states Of Europe, particularly
in Russia and the Latin countries. In
Italy Counts Caffiero and Malatesta
were followers Of Bakunin and lead
ers' in the movement. They had a
large following, and the name by
which they were known was Interna-
tionalists, and they constituted the
International Federation Of Workers,
with the motto, "Atheism, anarchy
and collectivism."
It was at the Berne convention that
Count Malatesta, one Of the geniuses
of anarchy and representative Of the
italian extremists, who, at that time
were one of the most powerful groups
in Europe, took the step that has
made anarchism the ''red terror" ever
since. In the name Of the Italian
Federation, he declared the necessity
of joining the "insurrectional act" to
the other means of propaganda. In
1878 the congress of Fribourg dn
switzerland) definitely adopted the pro-
positions of Reclus explaining why
its members were revolutionists, anar-
chists and collectivists; and it pro
nounced unanimously for the "collec-
tive appropriation of social riches, the
abolition of the state under all It's
forms, for insurrectional and revolu-
tionary action, and against the use OF
the ballot, as a mischievous instru-
ment incapable of realizing the sover-
eighty Of the people"
Ever since the early sixties LONDON
had been the rendezvous OF all Euro