Gloucester County Democrat., 1901-12-05

] breath went from the lips that even in
/ mortal agony uttered no words save of
[ forgiveness to his murderer, of love for
| his friends and of unfaltering trust in the
| will of the Most High. Such death
crowning the glory of such a life leaves
US with infinite sorrow, but with such
| pride in what he had accomplished and in
| his own personal character that we feel
| the blow not as struck at him, but as
struck at the nation We mourn good
| and great president who Is dead, but
while we mourn we are lifted up by the
| splendid achievements of his life and the
| grand heroism with which he met his
| death.
| When we turn from the man to the ma
| tion, the harm done is so great as to ex-
| cite our gravest apprehensions and to de-
| mand our wisest and most resolute action.
| This criminal was professed anarchist.
| inf1amed by the teachings of professed an
archists and probably also by the reckless
| utterances of those who on the stump and
| in the public press appeal to the dark and
| evil spirits of malice and greed, envy and
| sullen hatred The wind is sowed by the
men who preach such doctrines and they
cannot escape their share of responsible
| ity for the whirlwind that is reaped. This
applies alike to the deliberate demagogue,
to the exploiter of Sensationalism and to
the crude and foolish visionary who for
excites ainless discomfort.
The blow was aimed not at this preSi-
dent, but at all presidents. at every SYM
Dol of government. President Mckinley
was as emphatically the embodiment of
the popular will of the nation expressed
through the forms of law as a New Eng
land town meeting is ir similar fashion
the embodiment of the law abiding pur-
pose and practice Of the people of the
town. On no conceivable theory could the
murder of the president be accepted as
due to protest against inequalities in the
social order save as the murder of all the
freemen engaged in a town meeting could
be accepted as protest against that So
cial inequality which puts a malefactor in
Jail Anarchy is no more an expression of
social discomfort than picking pockets
or wife beating.
Anarchy and Anarchists.
The anarchist, and especially the anarch-
list in the United States, is merely one type
Of criminal more dangerous than any
other because he represents the same de-
pravity in a greater degree. The man who
advocates anarchy directly or indirectly
in any shape or fashion or the man who
apologies for anarchists and their deeds
makes himself morally accessory to mur-
der before the fact. The anarchist is a
criminal whose perverted instincts lead
him to prefer confusion and chaos to the
most benefcent form of social order. His
protest of concern for workingmen is out
rageous in it's impudent falsity, for if the
political institutions Of this country do
not afford opportunity to every honest
and intelligent son of toll then the door of
hope is forever closed against him. The
anarchist is everywhere not merely the
enemy of system and of progress. but the
deadly foe of liberty. If ever anarchy is
triumphant, it's triumph will last for but |
one red moment, to be succeeded for ages
by the gloomy night of despotism.
For the anarchist himself, whether he |
breaches or practices his doctrines, we
need not have one particle more concern |
than for any ordinary murderer. He is
not the victim of social or political injuS- |
tice There are no wrongs to remedy in |
his case The cause of his criminality is
to be found in his own evil passions and |
in the evil conduct of those who urge him |
on, not in any failure by others or by the
state to do justice to him or his. He is
malefactor and nothing else. He is in no |
sense, in no shape or way product of |
social conditions save as a highwayman |
is produced" by the fact that an unarm-
ed man happens to have a purse 1t is
traveSty upon the great and holy names |
of liberty and freedom to permit them to
be invoked in such cause. No man or
body of men preaching anarchistic doc
trines should be allowed at large any |
more than if preaching the murder OF |
some specified private individual. Anarch- |
istic speeches, writings and meetings are
essentially seditious and reasonable.
Should Keep Anarchists Out.
I earnestly recommend to the congress
that in the exercise of it's wise discretion
it should take into consideration the COM
ing to this country of anarchists or per-
sons protesting principles hostile to all |
government and justifying the murder OF |
those placed in authority. Such individ- I
uals as those who not long ago gathered |
In open meeting to glorlfy the murder OF
King Humbert of Italy perpetrate crime. |
and the law should insure their rigorous
punishment. They and those like them |
should be kept out of this country, and If |
found here they should be promptly de- |
ported to the country whence they came |
and farreaching provision should be made |
for the punishment of those who stay. No |
matter calls more urgently for the wisest |
thought of the congress.
The federal courts should be given juris-
diction over any man who kills or at |
tempts to kill the president or any man |
who by the constitution or by law IS IN |
line of succession for the presidency. |
while the punishment for an unsuccessful |
attempt should be proportioned to the |
enormity of the offense against our insti-
tutions.
Anarchy is crime against the whole |
human race and all mankind should band |
against the anarchist. His crime should
be made an offense against the law of ma /
tions, like piracy and that form of man |
stealing known as the slave trade, for it is
of far blaclzer infamy than either 1t |
should be so declared by treaties among |
all civilized powers. Such treaties would |
give to the federal government the power
of dealing with the crime.
A grim commentary upon the folly OF |
the anarchist position was afforded by the |
do IF Iay tnv pl
inal who had just taken the life of the |
president. The people would have torn |
him limb from limb if it had not been that |
the law he defied was at once invoked in |
his behalf. So far from his deed being |
committed on behalf of the people against |
the government, the government was /
Obliged at once to exert its full police |
mower to save him from instant death at |
the hands of the people. Moreover, his |
deed worked not the slightest dislocation
in our governmental system, and the dam
ger of a recurrence of such deeds, no mat
ter how great it might grow. would work
only in the direction of strengthening and |
giving harshness to the forces of order.
No man will ever be restrained from be-
coming president by any fear as to his
personal safety. If the risk to the presi-
dents life became great, it would mean
that the office would more and more come |
to be filled by men of a spirit which would
make them resolute and merciless in deal
ing with every friend of disorder. This
great country will not fall into anarchy,
and If anarchists should ever become
serious menace to its institutions they
would not merely be stamped out, but
would involve in their own ruin every
active or passive sympathizer with their
doctrines. The American people are slow |
to wrath but when their wrath is once |
kindled it burns like consuming flame.
Business Conditions.
During the last five years business con-
fidence has been restored and the nation /
is to be congratulated because of its pres
ent abounding prosperity. Such prosper
ity can never be created by law alone, al
though it is easy enough to destroy it by |
mischievous laws. If the hand of the |
lord is heavy upon any country if flood |
or drought comes, human wisdom is pow
erless to avert the calamity. Moreover. no
law can guard us against the consequent
ces of our own folly. The men who are |
idle or credulous, the men who seek gains
not by genuine work with head or hand, |
but by gambling in any form. are always |
source of menace not only to them
selves but to others If the business
world loses its head, it loses what 1egisla- /
tion cannot supply. Fundamentally the |
welfare of each citizen and therefore the |
welfare of the aggregate of citizens which |
makes the nation must rest upon individ- |
ual thrift and energy, resolution and in |
telligence. Nothing can take the place Of |
ipdi oift 1a1f x1-fco ocIo