Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-24
Antidote to Socialism.

The fourth group is dead against the
third. Anarchism is natures antidote for
socialism, and the anarchist hates the So
cialist with hate that even the capitalist
Is not honored with. The reason is that
anarchism is against ''incursive force
all force that interferes with the liberty
Of the individual. ana the state is the
embodiment Of all such compulsion.
Hence the anarchists hate the state. They
say the kings. generals, aristocracies,
plutocracieseall the powers that be or
ever have been-have used the might Of
the state to seize privileges and establish
laws as rules of life to favor themselves
and to injure all other men. And they
fear that II socialist-labor should control
the state 1t also would become a tyrant
and interfere with natural laws and in
dividual liberty. leave 1t to die. They
want labor to keep out Of politics and,
neglecting the government, deal directly
with industry.
Direct action is the anarchist-labor
slogan all over the world. The cry has
come to have a sinister meaning here; II
brings up images of dynamite and MUIR
der. all sorts of violence and force. And
so does the word ''anarchism.'' Nature
seems to have humor of her own, and
the next to the best example know Of II
is the way she has made the very name
Of the only philosophy which makes a
speciality of opposition to force connote
Of aggressive force. Henri Bergson. the
great anarchist philosopher, should put
this into his book on Laughter.
Anarchism means anti-state force. and
direct action was invented to express
opposition to indirect or political action
to get at industrial conditions. The di-
rect-actionist wants the worker to work
out his salvation with the capitalist d.
rectly not through politics and the state,
but by collective bargaining. strikes and
more
self-government in the shop and in In
dustry, to the end that. as In politics.
the people may rule in business, too.
Natural Accident.
That the direct-actionist should go on
in his direct flghting from these accepted
methods to dynamiting bridges in this
country and in France and Scotland to
the spelling Of goods in the making is
only a natural accident, SO to speak.
But you can see how utterly opposed this
method is to the socialist method, and
therefore how exciting 1t is to have Will
liam Haywood, the direct-actionist, on
the executive committee of the socialist
party. It is as II Theodore Roosevelt.
the direct actionist republican. were on
the executive committee Of the conserva-
tive democratic party.
And as for Samuel Gompers. he is the
head and the type Of the second or
union labor group. The socialists want
his organization to go into politics, and
they are joining the A. F. of l.. to vote
it in. He must look for his support to
the largest group. the unorganized work.
ers, whom he must first get into his Or
ganization, and to the smallest group.
the natural enemies Of the socialists, the
direct-actionists, either philosophical or
unphilosophical. It's mix-up; it's more
of q mix-up than / have shown. But It
will clear all UP. We shall look at It
from other angles, and. besides the de.
velopments, the news of the labor move
msnt win tlfow light On 1t all