New-York tribune., 1910-02-20

- "' ihilS places of crowded towns Be
Se 'l ms failures in Switzerland he went
! - "here he became known to Proud
aLtsr fruitless efforts to unite
P''ie'aflat IN general uprising. he
/ ~1 80 -'e-he IN 1876. leaving. however. a
ana tradition which have ever
si'lSe "eeH traceabIe in the writings ard
4 speeches of social rebels.
! Associated with Bakunin was his ener-
eeuc aid Serge Netschaiefr. who. like his
NhieI' was man OF superior education.
/ ne rad once been an instructor in a col
ltse at st Petersburg but because OF his
po'i'lceI opinions and schemes ne was driv
/ en- % The Russian authorities into exile.
ne Was CHOSEN by Bakunin as hts chief
eiiiiSSarF- They wrote and had printed at
/ geneva r-any anarchistic pamphlets which
/ 'hey contrived 10 distribute IN other Euro
/ pean countries They wished Ito leave no
/ stone upon another in the structure Of
society The conclusion OF one of their
HhaIlfestos was as follows: 'Inasmuch
We pursue no activity other than destruc-
ton we are persuaded that the form in
which this activity is to be exercised must
be infinitely manifold. The revolution with
out discrimination sancrifes every means
poison. dagger, etc"
WORKED FROM SWITZERLAND.
Both Bakunin AID Netschajef directed
their attacks on foreign institutions from
SWISS territory. They organized anarchistic
groups in all the northern cantons. The
conventions which they held in the early
/ 1os were not explicitly in violation of the
Swiss code. Consequently, with red flags
and great disorder they made demonstra-
tons in populous towns ike Berne St.
inner, Zurich and Chaux de FondS, which
at length led TO collisions with the police,
10 riot and bloedshed. An association Of
anarchists settled in the whole Jura region
was formed, but il was prosecuted only
when its members were engaged in open
disorder.
Another of these theoretical anarchists,
abler than Netschajef. but without the
originality and education of Bakunin, was
the famous krapotkin, who about the year
1870 came from Russia into Switzerland TO
take part in a general conspiracy which
threatened to enlist supporters even from
the more moderate socialists in the fac
tory towns He began his career as a page
al the imperial court, then after short
term Of service in the Siberian army he
took courses in the University of ST Feters-
burg. At length he came to Zurich, but not
for 4 long stay. His persistent plotting
made him subject to rigid surveillance; and
he lived the life OF a political nomad, for
years avoiding now the Russian. now the
Swiss. now The English police He assumed
( false names. carried false passports. al
ways carrying on an inflammatory cam
paign in association with the anarchists
and communists who in the early 70s were
active in every country OF Europe.
Krapotkin-s avovod aim was the violent
appropriation Of property and the disorgan-
ization Of the state In spite of the sus-
p.cions which he excited. he continued his
aeitatiens. passing rapidly from one canton
10 another, indefatigable as an orator and
prolific as an editor. In Geneva he had the
audacity TO pronounce a eulogy on the
assassin Of Alexander II; in London he ad-
vocated the free use Of all physical and
chemical means Of producing terror, dis
order and destruction. Although expelled
from Switzerland. he addressed letters.
some Of them rather eloquent, TO meetings
Of his supporters in that country well
as in France, Austria and Germany.
FOUND THERE WERE LIMITS.
These men whom / have named were the
! earliest missionaries of anarchism. and. as
viii have been seen, the centre Of their &C
tivitv was French Switzerland. Anarchists
Of this type are Of course prominent in all
revolutionary gatherings and conventions
But Krapotkin and others ike him have
often found that they could not abuse the
so-caned right Of asylum" in Switzerland,
especially since the passage of the famous
Article % OF the federal constitution, which
declares. strangers who imperiI the in
ner or outer safety Of the confederation
are to he expelled from Swiss territory
Finding that declarations in public meet
ing were dangerous these agitators resort
e6 more and more 10 newspapers and
pamphlets, secretly printed and usually
secretly distributed. II was easier and
safer to carry on campaign through the
press than TO risk forcible interruption of
their public meetings by the police. But
the chief difficulty OF such a literary war
Is the amount Of money required to carry
IL
Almost every anarchistic sheet has come
TO grief. not through police Interference,
but through bankruptcy. Even the disaf-
fected and revolutionary workinGmen. who
feel aggrieved at the existence Of govern
1nent and at any accumulation Of capital,
are not too ready TO spend their kopecks,
pfennigs and centimes for papers and
pamphIets which they have not time 70
read And there never yet has been An
anarchistic editor who did not at fre-
Guent intervals utter frantic appeals to the
prOietarIaC 10 be UetlNtfeu from poverty
and oblivion
lie Bulletin Of the Jura anarchists,
one of the earliest revolutionary organs Of
French Switzerland, died of inanition. Its
successor. the -+Avsnt-Garde,' came 70
grief through the conviction and impris-
onn7enr Of its editor, the notorious
Rrousse. but it then transpired that 1t had
only four hundred subscribers hrapot-
l-7,,,s own organ, lie RevolJe." after being
driven from pillar to post in Switzerland
co-7fessed 70 its subscribers that its treas
ny, was empty. and soon afterward it
Was issued in Paris, where 1t died llnger-
irp death. The anarchistic journal lie
Rexei!.'s edited by Bertoni, which printed
= HYMN cIorifying the assassination of
Mckinley. was kept alive for while by
nrfvate subscriptions and by selling sen
sa+ional supplements: but il, too, soon dis
appeared
SOME AGITATORS IMMCRbD.
In 1904 Bertoni and certain of his fellow
spita+ors were arrested, convicted and i'm
r,risoned in spite Of loud protests in
Switzerland from those who feared that
the liberty OF the press would be enoan-
eered If the promoters and defenders oil
murder were punished Indeed, so far as
anarrhisfi,. papers or pamphlets in the
French language are concerned. / DOUBT
whether IL would be possible TO find them