Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1901-09-27

thought and enthusiasm all around me,
and something in me responded to 1t
all. There Is no other place in the
world where woman has what she has
in Russia. American women have
great freedom. The American men
bow down to them, but there is no such
equality between sexes here as there
is in Russia. There the women have
not only the same rights in law as the
men; they have the same liberties, the
same social and intellectual freedom.
"'There man respects woman; looks
upon her as his equal, is her good chum
yes, that is the word. Nowhere are
men and women chums as they are In
Russia. This isn't so true in the aris-
tocracy, where French influence has
corrupted conditions, though even in
that class the women have great free
dom, but it is absolutely true in the
middle class, in the student world, the
intellectual world of Russia. A wom-
an student in Russia may receive visit
Crs all day and most of the night, dis
euss all vital subjects with them, go
with men when and where she pleases,
and yet she will not be criticised, and
no landlady would dream Of insinuat-
ing that there was anything wrong
with her morals. What Is more, there
wouldn't be anything wrong with them.
The standard Of morals in that class Is
plenomenally high, and the average in
telligent Russian woman's mind is as
pure as it Is broad The relation be-
tween the sexes in Russia is the most
ideal of any I know about. That is
why young Russian women learn to
think, and because they think they be-
come anarchists.
"I was an anarchist when | left
Russia to come to America, out had
hardly formulated my belief. The finaA
influence that crystallized my views
was the hanging of the Chicago an
archists in 1887. l followed that case
carefully, and it made me an active an
archlst. | was living with my family in
Rochester then, and the nearest thing
to radical society the town had was
house cat. l came away to New York
and went to work in factory. That
showed me new side of life My fam
lily had been we'll to do, and hadn't
come in actual contact with the want
and suffering of the world until | join
ed the wage earnerS.
"'Of course the experience strength
ened my revolutionary ideas. When the
Waist and Shirtmaker Girls union
went out in 1883, led the strike. That
is. in a way led it. l have never been
an anarchist leader. l cannot afford it.
A leader must be diplomat. am not
a diplomat. A leader of party makes
concessions to his party for the sake of
holding his power. He must give way
to his followers in order to be sure they
will sustain him. l can't do all that. |
am an anarchist because l love indi-
vidual freedom. and l will not surren-
der that freedom.
81 soon saw that the safest and
wisest way to keep myself free was
not to be leader. That is why l am
connected with no party. l am men,
Der Of no group. l stand outside. l
take no pay. l accept no favors. What
l do I 90 individually for love of the
causr - is no party to back me,
but there l.. - party to say: You must
do this, and lou must do that. You
are paid. s.. owe it to us. You must
bow to the majority" l bow to moth.
ing except my idea Of right. am free,
and 1 will stay free. Individual free
dom and esponsibility-there is the
basis of true anarchy.
81 have never propagated violence.
don't know Of single truly great
anarchist leader who ever did advocate
violence. Where violence comes with
anarchy it is a result of the conditions.
not of anarchy. There is ignorance,
cruelty, starvation. poverty, suffering,
and some victim grows tired of wait"
ing. He believes decisive blow will
call public attention to the wrongs of
his country and may hasten the REM
edy. He and perhaps one or two in
innate friends or relatives make
plan. They do not have orders. They
do not consult other anarchists. If n
man came to me and told me he was
planning an assassination, l would
think him an utter fool and refuse to
pay any attention to him. The man
who has such plan, If he Is earnest
and honest, knows no secret is safe
when told. He does the deed himself,
runs the risk himself, pays the pen
atty himself. l honor him for the spirit
that prompts him 1t is no small thing