The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1910-08-26
THE FERRER ANNIVERSARY
GOodwin's Weekly

Goodwin's Weekly
Francisco Ferrer was a teacher in
Spain. He wanted to establish mod
ern schools throughout the kingdom.
He had no political ambition; he had
no designs to interfere at all in the
government of Spain, but his appeal
was that the government should in
the interest of her young men and
women, scrape off the barnacles that
had gathered on Spain's ship of state
and which had become so great clog
that further progress was impossible,
until they should be removed. His
voice was so strong and clear that its
echoes began to be heard on every
hillside and began to stir the souls of
me nand women SO much that the
bigots and fanatics became afraid
He was denounced first as a disturber
and then as traitor, and was final
ly arrested, court martialed, condem-
ned and executed That was the most
Serious mistake that bigotry and in
Tolerance has made in fifty years. He
was executed on the 18th of last Octo-
Der, and now arrangements are being
made in half the states of both the
old and new world, to celebrate that
anniversary with most solemn and
imposing honors. Speeches will be
made, statues unveiled, a biography
of the martyr is being prepared, and
different countries are rivaling each
other in preparations for making the
anniversary punctuation point in
history. The movement started in
Franace; then Belgium took it up;
then Spain, then Italy; it has crossed
the sea and Rio Janerio and Buenos
Ayres are responding heartily, and be-
fore the day comes around, half the
world will be enlisted in the irresis-
tible movement The government of
Spain swiftly realized that mighty
mistake had been made and the
knowledge of that fact adds to the
anxiety which confronts it, now, for
one of the questions which keeps COM
| ing back from the people, is: why
| should one whose life had always
been blameless be executed, because
| he wanted to better fit the youth of
his country, to cope with the competi-
tions of merciless world?"
He was charged with helping to
| bring on the revolution in July, 1909,
| in Barcelona. But no evidence has
ever been produced confirming that
charge, and the whole character and
| life of the man were direct proofs
that such an act on his part would
have been impossible, for all his life
he had insisted that reason and not
violence must be appealed to. Just
before his arrest he wrote to friend
and one paragraph of the letter was
| this: "The attitude of the govern
ment proves that we are right in seek
ing human liberty through education,
and through education alone"
When Naquet used to argue with
him that in such countries as SPAN,
and Russia liberty can never be Sc
cured by peaceful means, the reply
OF Ferrer was: Time respects only
those institutions which time itself
has played it's part in blilding up.
That which violence wins for us to-
day, another act of violence may
wrest from us tomorrow"
The illiterates in Spain number
100000. Of the conscripts who
are assigned to military service every
year in Spain, $4,000 cannot read or
write 1t was to change this that
Ferrer establish schools and pleaded
for a better education for the people.
He was arrested and tried before a
civil tribunal and acquitted. He was
again arrested and tried by court
martial, convicted and shot. He was
not permitted to produce any evi-
ence in his own behalf Captain cal
ceron was appointed to defend him and
was only permitted to make speech
in his behalf, and for that was ar
rested and imprisoned. When he was
shot the schools he had established
were abolished and the teachers ex-
lied. William Heafort told the whole
story in the London Literary Guide,
in these words:
"Ferrer was light shining in the
darkness, and the darkness compre-
hended the necessity of extinguishing
the light"
He was an anxiety to those
wretches in life; in his grave he has
become their terror.
Have you something for sale? II
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get your money quick.