Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1901-09-11
The Red Hand of Anarchy.

The Red Hand of Anarchy.
Last Friday night when the news
came that another of our Presidents
had been shot by an assassin, feel
ing of rage and pain prevailed. The
dastardly advantage taken by the
assassin in using as his chance that
popular custom of shaking hands
with our chief magistrate, is one OF
the most exasperating features. Fur
Their, the President has ever been
noted for his liberation, leniency,
compassion and perfect trust in the
people, and right here it is to be noted
as strangely suggestive fact that all
three of our martyred Presidents
Lincoln, Garfield and Mckinley -
have been, par excellence, the Presi-
dents of the people; humble born,
self-made and transformations men.
The whole people have been filed
with wrath at the assassin. But there
is no use denying tive raised him.
He was born here, brought up, ed
ucated, developed, made what he is,
by our institutions. He is the express
sion of something in our national life.
1t is not enough that we let the law
take its course. What is to Finder
another assassination within five or
ten years? To surround our Presi-
dents with guards and the military
trappings of kings is utterly against
the spirit of our people and institu-
tions. The people want to meet their
chief magistrate on a footing of their
citizenship.
What is it in our national life that
is producing anarchists and assassins?
If we can find out what the cause is,
we can the better address ourselves to
the remedy.
First, there is too much lawlessness
in the land, the giving way to the
passions of the hour. The lynchings
and burnings of negroes in the South,
the breaking of marriage vows by
multitudes of divorces, the persistent
violation in our own State of a WELL
known law of our constitution-these
are some of the evidences of a ruth
less and lawless spirit, which occa-
sionally reaches an abnormal devel-
opment, and we have an assassin.
Second, the restraints of relie ion
are far less than they used to be. This
is seen in the universal falling away
in the church attendance and religious
observances of the people as whole
Many of the country churches are
shut up; most of those in towns are
half empty.
Third, dangerous foreign element
is getting into the landau element
that has as its ideal that each man
should be an absolute law unto him
self, and that therefore laws and
rulers as at present constituted are
wrong; that every man who assumes
or takes the powers of governor of
his fellows, deserves to die, and shall.
These men are dangerous because the
very temperament that leads them to
take up such an ideal will also lead
them on to dare all things for it.
These men are winning and instruct
ing followers from our native-born
young men, whose ancestry has some
thing of the old worlds ages of OPP
preston and bitterness in its blood.
The visionary rantings of these men
appeal to the peculiar temperament
of such men as John Wilkes Booth,
Charles j. Giteau and Leon Czolgosz.
Such doctrines and extreme measures
as logically follow will always be at
tractive to the minds of abnormal,
morbid imaginations and self-cen-
tered men.
Our laws are too tolerant of these
men and their teachings. We recog-
nize the poison of their doctrine, but
have fondly imagined ourselves inn
mune from it. We have looked upon
anarchy as something aimed at roy
atty, and shut our ears to any rumors
that the hand of anarchy might be
turned against the President of this
great democracy, chosen from among
the common people and by the COM
mon people. Lincoln was the victim
of frenzy born of the passions of