The morning journal-courier., 1908-04-01
GOVERNMENT ny VIOLENCE.

GOVERNMENT By VIOLENCE.
 If Robert Hunter, the socologst," Is reading the more thoughtful newspa- pers of the country these days ne is { getting what the hoys call line on the general opinion held of his worth as a leader of the people. Tho estimate of his personal influence is not such as is calculated to make q man hold himself in higher esteem while it is exactly what a well poised man would moi like to have his neighbors sly Of him The best part of this popular attitude of mind is that it is formed by Mir Hunt CTS revelation of himself It ought to dispose of him effectuaIy as a student of social conditions worth listening 10. The Yale students in Professor Bailey's class ought in particular to be spared his presence in the future
 That MT. Hunter is touched by the criticism to which he has been and is being subjected is shown by the fact that he has undertaken to explain. He presents strong contrast to Berk- man, the anarchist. who offers neither an excuse nor an explanation of his conduct. He phiosophcally observes that the police know where he is to be found and that If they want him they know how to catch him. Berkman is lawless, but no more SO than Hunter, who has had the benefit of better ed- ucation and social intercourse Hunter explains that he did not know until he reached Union Square that the police had forbidden the proposed mass meet ins, representing the government of the city Of New York, fl was then that he evolved the brilliant but lawless idea that 1t would be a good thing for the cause of which he Is such an im- presslve exponent to test the right of free speech This he proceeded to do with the result well known to all news paper readers. He was promptly sup pressed by the police and told to go about his business, which he did. That Mir, Hunter should teach by his conduct to the crowd which surrounded him, and which was already in an innamed condition of mind, the phllosopny of 1awlessness proves eonclusvely the un- certainty of his mental machinery. More. than that. 1t discloses the fact that he Is dangerous citizen, one who holds government in contempt and places violent methods above peaceful ones It is impossible to discuss such n man with anything approaching pa tience. where it would be entirely pos- slble to discuss with patience the poor added devil who threw the bomb, not actually realizing the futilty of the undertaking nor the enormity of the crime
 Nor Is MT. Hunter on any more see cure ground when he "deploros" the bomb incident. The whole crew of an- archists socialists and revolutlonsts disavow comradeship with the bomb thrower Men do not admit association with murderers and are especially n- sistcnt after a murder has been com- mittcl. IL is nevertheless true that to definite degree the responsibility for the act of Selig Sllversteln. who threw the bomb, can be traced to the violent teachings of Robert Hunter The fact should be driven home until people learn that an upholder of violence is a vicious person per SC, whether he fuA inmates from a chair in one of the universities or from the tail end of q push-cart in the crowded tenement dis- tricts of q great city, Had Mir Hunter been n reasoning man he would have Known that such mass meeting as ht and his friends planned could not pos siby do the proposed benefcIaries of |, particle of good, while the mere as- somhly of such a vast crowd of dis. tressed people provided the spark necessary 10 start q contl1gration. The mere thoughtessness of tho man of it. self constitutes his certificate for reck. lessness It sets him apart from that not small school of trained socialists and anarchists who secure listeners anC supporters because of the peaceful manner in which they disseminate thell doctrines It locates him surely amonl those who bawl in the market place re gardless of the temper of the crowd who defame mon in responsible posi-. tions because they lack the intelligence to analyze and weigh motives, who sub stltute progress through clamor fol progress through reason, who preach the hatred of capital while seeking itt possession or already enjoying its phy tical comforts and personal lndepend