The age-herald., 1901-12-04
PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT.


 apologies for crime or excites aimless discomfort.
 The blow was aimed not at this Presi- dent, but at all Presidents-at every sym bol 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 in 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 town meet ing could be accepted as a protest against that social inequality which puts a male factor in jail. Anarchy is no more an ex- pression of social discontent'' than pick ing pockets or wife beating
 The anarchist, and especially the an- archist in the United States, is merely one type of criminal, more dangerous than any ot her because he represents the same depravity in a greater degree. The man who advocates anarchy, directly or indi- rectly, in any shape or fashion, or the man who apologizes for anarchists and their deeds, makes himself morally acces- sorry to murder before the fact. The an archist is a criminal whose perverted in- stincts lead him to prefer confusion and chaos to the most beneficent form of so- cial order. His protest Of concern for workingmen Is outrageous in its impu- dent falsity; for if the political institu- tions of this country do not afford op- portunity to every honest and intelligent son of toll then the door of hope is for ever 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 tri- tto tvttr rxril 1a lNstf 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- l 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 6 malefactor and nothing else. He | Is in no sense, in no shape or way, a | product of social conditions" save as a highwayman Is produced" by the fact that an unarmed man happens to have a purse. It Is a 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 doctrines should be allowed at large any more than if preaching the | murder of some specified private indi- vidual. Anarchistic speeches. writings | and meetings are essentially seditious | and reasonable.
 | I earnestly recommend to Congress that | in the exercise of its wise discretion it should take into consideration the com ing to this country of anarchists or per- sons protesting principles hostile to all
 
 those placed in authority. Such indi- viduals as those who not long ago gath cred in open meeting to glorify the mur- der of King Humbert of Italy perpetrate a 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 deported to the country whence they came; and far-reaching pro vision should be made for the punish | ment of those who stay. No matter calls more urgently for the wisest thought of the Congress | The Federal courts should be given ju- risdiction 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 unsuccess- full attempt should be proportioned to the | enormity of the offense against our instl- | tutions.
 | Anarchy is a 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 nations, like piracy and that form
 of man-stealing known as the slave trade;
 for it is of far blacker infamy than either.
 It 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. 1 A grim commentary upon the folly of | the anarchist position was afforded by
 the attitude of the law toward this very criminal 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 l deed being committed on behalf of the
 people against the government. the gov