Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-29
WANDERS DARKLY
THROUGH SPACE
EMMA GOLDMAN'S MLECTURE"
Is CLEAR AS MUD
MORBID MOB CROWDS INTO HALL
TO HEAR HER
Talks In NebuIous Circle, Sells PAM
phlets and Announces Her Future
Spiels-Is llliterate and
Crude


Ennma. Goldman. who adyertises her.
self as "the noted anarchist" and who
is the recognized leader OF that DOC
trine" in America, addressed crowd
of several hundred persons at Metro
polltan hall, 327h South Spring street,
last night Her subject was "Anarch-
ism: What 1t Really Stands for"
AS usual, Emma failed to adhere to
her subject and those who heard her
went away still ignorant of what an
archism stands for, although they lei!
for it gracefully and seemed satisfied
in having seen and heard real an
archist.
True to her well known custom she
began at nothing and after vaguely
wandering around through nothing for
over an hour, came back to the same
nothing at which she started. Occa-
sionally through her chaotic verbosity
loomed a few stale jokes, principally
aimed at the police, with here and
there an attempt to bolster up free
love, prove the superfluity of law and
order and defend the so-called "prin-
ciples" of anarchism.
Government as an institution and
marriage came in for something of a
roast. The Capitalization of produc-
ton and of wealth and government
also bothered her. Centralized govern
ment brought about her principal
agony, but anything centralized con-
tributed to Emma's anguish.
Several sad things characterized the
meeting. One of them was Emma's
bad grammar. She appeared to have
as little love for good English as she
has for policemen or law and order.
Another amusing feature of her
speech was her redundancy. When she
came to a real gallery" joke which
happened to create ripple Emma
went over it in a way that would make
Hon
ashamed of himself.
Emma has most impressive way of
pronouncing big words. too. Aside
from using several in the wrong place
and otherwise appearing exceptionally
pedantic she has q habit of coming
words mo mortal ever dreamed of"
and of pronouncing many others in a
quieting to the ghost of Noah Webster
IL he hapueined to butt in at one of
Emma's pow-wows.
Emma explained her failure to ex-
plain anarchism by saying it would
require more time than one night to
do 1t Enthusiastically. For that
reason she advised everybody present
to try again; to get in early on the
ticket sale for the next explanation,
which will be pulled off Saturday at 8
n. m. at Howell hail. and to give her
another chance at that time. If she
doesn't get around to the explanation
then she is going to give them five
other chances at various meeting
places.
In fact, Emma's chief occupation,
when not lodging her explanation of
the ideal principles" of anarchism, Is
in selling tickets or boosting their sale
for the next lecture. When not CROP
ing around among meaningless words
and ungrammatical labyrinths. ambig-
uously trying to find something to
fasten upon of platitudinously roasting
the police she is saying few good
things for free love, condemning the
ministry, denouncing the Christian
religion or trying to induce her NOR
bidly curious listeners to buy her mag
azine or some other anarchistic liter
ature. Then she tells them about her
next lecture, when she promises to
make clear all the muddy spots in her
logic and to expound the futile process
of evolving millennium from chaos.
Then more literature for sale; a repe-
tition of the announcement for her
next lecture, and so on ad infinitum.
Accompanying Emma is DIR. Ben
Reitman. notorious king of tramps,"
so-called, whose pallid complexion
gives him anything but the appearance
of a knight of the brake-beam. Ben
says he's real anarchist also, and
puts in most of his time announcing
Emma's next lecture and in peddling
literature through the audience.