The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-09-25
ENGLAND AND
ANARCHISTS

of anarchists England leads all other
countries. And yet there is never any
trouble here with these "enemies of
all mankind" as President Roosevelt
has called them The secret of this
reace and quietness, the absence of
bomb throwing riotous Indictment and
red flag rampaging lies with the meth,
cd in which the police Of this country
handle the anarchists. In London to.
! day there are two confidential agents
of the secret service from Washington,
who are engaged at Scotland Yard in
| gathering all the facts and information
possible regarding the special branch
which deals exclusively with anarchists
and the almost allied movements of the
rabid revolutionaries, foreign and Eng
fish, who make London their headquar.
tiers. When they report back to Wash
ington in the next few weeks it is pos
sible that the United States will adopt
the English idea.
The secret of the British method is
publicity and free speech. 1t was only
after many, many years of repression
that British discovered this fact. The
secret meetings, the midnight plots, the
pamphlets and newspapers surrepti-
tiously circulated, bred mystery and
dark doings and anarchism thrives on
such things. On such occasions when
the authorities, with soldiers, police
men and special constabulary, attempt.
ed to stop professions and prevent
meetings there were conflicts and riots.
But for nearly quarter of century
London has been quite at peace with
the turbulent element If any one
wants to have procession in great
numbers because of some public ques-
ton the police authorities tell them to
go ahead provided always that an ade-
quate police escort accompanies the
marchers to see that traffic is not de-
layed and that there is no ruffianism
by hooligans along the line of march.
If a few thousands or hundred thou
sand want to hold a public meeting
!. Hyde park or Trafalgar square is open
to them. The police always suggest,
however, that if the meeting is to be
a very large one it be held in Hyde
park, rather than in Trafalgar square.
For in the park there is more room
The police certainly heed what the
5 speakers say. They make note of
certain speeches and mark down the
speaker, and he may some day discover
q that his name is on the list of the
special branch at Scotland Yard. But
men and women can wave the red flag
all they want. They can yell "Down
q with the king and government" till
: they are black in the face. They can
advise march on buckingham palace
the looting of the fashionable West
} end, the reddest kinds of revolution
Q and, in fact spout and shout until they
are hoarse without interruption or ap,
parent heed from the police.
An official of Scotland Yard s special
branch in Whitehall explained the
secret to me the other day. cts just
this way" he said. "We find that
, specchmaking in the park is a safety
2 valve. If you are in balloon and
want to let the gas out by degrees you
: open the safety valve. If you hold
this valve open long enough all the gas
. comes out and your balloon is debated
5 and harmless. So it is with the turbu
: lent agitator. Let him and his comrade:
4 meet in public and let them spout
i for all they are worth. The gas j!
escaping fairly gently. BY the time
these men are talked dry they are
: harmless. They take few weeks t.
0 generate enough gas to get Dangerous
: again, but by giving them the right t.
> let it off the gas never explodes. j
t comes out through the safety valve
d The public meeting is good thing, too
y in another way. 1t gives the authori
n ties an idea of the strength of the
particular movement in the first place
:. and then supplies us also with the iden
) tifcation of the leading spirits, an(
2 when we once are on even terms witt
# the leaders, the whole movement, what
l. over it may be, is practically unde
! our thumb. If there are any dangerou
- men, anarchists if you will, that w
a have not spotted on their arrival il
s London, we get to know them at thes
n meetings.
= "The United States is a grand countr.
a but why it should be called the land o
l, the free, do not know. It may be ;
o bit more free than Russia and few
J continental countries, but if ever ther'
e was a land of the free it is England
% If my memory serves me right Their
v have been more assassinations of ruler