The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-11-06
Ferrer's Crime and Punishment.

Chicago Daily Inter Oceon, Oct 20)
The execution of a Spanish editor and
school teacher named Ferrer has ex-
cited many persons in this country and
practically all the socialists and an
archists in Europe. The tumult grows
from day to day, as many persons are
in danger of being fascinated by the
mere noise, it seems worth while to in
quire little into some of the palmer
circumstances of the case.
Ferrer was what is known as r
philosophical anarchist" For years
he had been teaching in his paper and
through the schools he established
that all government is oppression, that
there ought to be no government as
the term is commonly understood, and
that all existing governments ought to
be swept away, and in time would be.
What was the influence of the teach
ings of Ferrer upon those most sub
ject to them is revealed by the fact
that his confidential assistant or sec
rotary was caught in the act of trying
to blow up King Alfonso on the lat
ter's wedding day.
The assassin had, of course, no per
sonal grief or wrong to avenge. He
could have none against a mere boy.
But in the circle of Ferrer he was
filed with fanatic fervor for killing a
king just because he was a king.
Ferrer was easily recognized as enc
of the creators of the state of lie
public mind that resulted in the re-
cent Barcelona insurrection. He mad
been preaching destruction for years.
and when destruction was attempted
it was plain that his advice had teen
taken.
Doubtless Ferrer did not mean that
the destruction should take the exact
form it did. 1t is the stock in trade of
the intellectual anarchist always to
deprecate violence, anti even 70 be
genuinely Mortified by bloodshed, while
necessarily advancing arguments and
spreading ideas that make for vio-
lence and bloodshed.
Ferrer's case seems to have been
quite closely parallel with that of GER
tain men who were hanged in the
Cook county jail some years ago. 1t
was not proved that any of these men
threw the Haymarket bomb. It was
doubtful if more than one or two of
them, If any of them, had any direct
knowledge of the bomb thrower. But
the conditions that brought about the
bomb throwing led some man
less careful of his own skin to throw
the bomb-were precisely the condi-
llOIlS Iley EaQ DSen ldDOrlIlg TO create.
They had said repeatedly that all
government was wrong, and that any
man who put on a police uniform was
a foe of humanity, ought to be killed,
and If killed would be getting Just
what he deserved.
Peaceable and law-abiding men
grey tired Of being thus warred upon
with the weapons of war, and de-
cided that the time had come to make
a deterrent example. They rightly
held that those who advise and incite
murder must be held responsible when
murder is done on the victims whom
they point out in the way which
they advise.
There are personally respectable
and personally benevolent persons
who cannot understand, apparently,
that under certain circumstances
words are weapons that would and
kill. Hence, when an anarchist does
the deeds of his kind and there is
inquiry for those that inspired his
these persons always protest
against interference with those who
preach murder though they may do
none.
We had these protests in behalf of
the associates and inspirers of Will
liam McKinley's assassin. We have
them now because an inspirer of muir
der has paid the penalty of his words
Ferrer paid a severe penalty for
his crime, but it is still to be proved
that he paid an unjust one.