Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-09-10

/ sure he does not shout III from
the housetops or bore everyone he
meets by talking about it, for that is
not his way; but if asked for sincere
! expression. he never hestates to tell
you that he believes the greatest i'm
I mediate benefit which could be con-
| ferred upon humanity would be the de-
struction of all its rulers. Paterson
does not contain all the lattel-dav an
/ archists cf America. There is a very
! large colony Of them in West Hoboken
! N. j.. many live in Macdougal and
Houston street tenements in New York
CITY, while others are scattered from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. but where.
the. group in Paterson, whom they rec
ognize as the center of anarchist acti-
vity in the Western hemisphere.
These people who propose to abolish
all government begin by placing them
selves under the control of a dictator.
When" says Mr. Nichols, "he advises
or suggests, any ambitious member of
an anarchist group throughout the
world for some act of assassination. the
man selected feels honored at the choice
and becomes the object of his com
| panions envy. For him to weaken or
show the slightest degree of hesitation
would make him coward to his OVID
conscience and bring upon himself the
death by secret assassination, by which
anarchists punish traitors.
Mr.. Nichols tells us tAat the theories
| of these anarchists differ in no respect
from those of Bakunin, the Russian
nihilist, their great patagonist, by
whom the movement was well launched
twenty years ago in Northern Italy
md Southern France.
Their aims are also clearly set forth
II their words I'VE wish'-this is
from an official document-"to destroy
Ill states and all churches, with ali
lheir institutions and laws. religion.
political, iuridicial, financial. magister-
AL academfcal, economical and social.
Everything must be swept away; not
me stone of the existing political or
,ocial order must be left upon another
The character Of ;he good anarchist
S thus described by Bakunin in the
5 thus described by Bakunja in the
Revolutionary Catechism" THE re
,Olutionist is a man under vow. He
ought to have no personal interests, no
business no feelings, no property. He
ought to be entirely absorbed in one
single interest, one single thought, one
jassion-the revolution. He has only
me aim. one science-destructiO FOR
hat. and for nothing else, lie studies
mechanics, physics, chemistry, ami
ometimes medicine. With the same
Jbject he observes men, characters, the
ituatiOns and all conditions of the So
ial order. He despises and detests ex-
sting morality. For him everything
moral that helps on the triumph of
he revolution; everything is immoral
md criminal that hinders it,
md criminal that nipders it, Between
aim and society there is wal-war to
fhe death, incessant. irreconcilab;e. lie
ought TO be ready to lie, to endure
-oltlre and with his own hands to kill
Ill who place obstacles in the way of
he revolution"
Such are the principles, aims and !
methods of the anarchists as expounded |
~ their greatest authority Mr.. Nica-
Jls tells us that the ideas and purposes |
If the bands that infest oui own coun-
ry are precisely those of Bakunin. |
halatesta is the natural successor of |
3akunin, quite as thorough h-going in |
lis theories, and a great deal more eR!-
ient in his operations. "TheIe can |
)e little doubt, says Mr. Nichols, that
le was the head and moving spirit of
al the conspiracies which have recent
iy startled the world by thcawful sue
cess which attended their execution.
Now | can partly understand, though
! can by no means justify, the existence
Jf such an organization in some EURO
2ean countries. 1t is well to note that
it is not native growth--it is an eX-
Jtic, But that it finds lodgment here
and ripens its plots of destruction on
our soil; that its emissaries and agents
abide here in haunts well known, and
go forth from our gates, unchalleneod,
On their errands of assassination, is a
fact shameful and astounding,
Perhaps the tragedy by which our
own chief ruler has been stricken down
may lead MS to question whether the
limits of liberty are not somewhat
strained by the permission of such con
spilacies
If the anarchists made any secret OF
heir purpose the case would be differ
mt. But is seems to me that uDon
heir own definition of their central
purpose they ought to be treated aa
We have kept to the idea