The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1928-11-30
The Cherry
" Where with our
roo Little Hatchet
we tell the truth
about many things. sometimes pro-
foundly. sometimes fiippantly,
sometimes recklessly.

Zetti myth created for us and a good
many of us appear to be in danger
of swallowing the thing.
Vanzetti, along with Sacco, went to
an untimely grave, and there is a
growing number of believers in the
injustice of the way thereof.
All, or nearly an, of the officialdom
that sealed the doom of these two
men sticks to the guns in proclaiming
guilt, but the evidence of innocence
mounts like mountain in growth.
That, for the purposes of this dis
cussion, is neither here nor there. 1t
is besides the point.
Vanzetti viii continue to remain as
a memory of injustice done and in
that manner as lesson in the avoid
ance of injustice. But that is not a
good reason for building up a myth
about Vanzetti as a great philosopher
or very wise man. We are in dan
ger of having such myth.
Vanzetti was an anarchist, perhaps
a philosophical anarchist. There are
schools of anarchists, just as there
are different kinds of democrats and
republicans. Philosophically, anar-
chy is absence of government, alb
scence of restraint. AS philosophy
it is kindly-and childish in this day
and age.
There are great numbers of men
and women who like to make their
martyrs into paragons of wisdom.
That has been done by many of these
men and women about Parsons and
Spies, who were unlucky, but not par
ticularly wise; and it has been done
in like manner about many others
who have somehow fallen victims of
governments, or of movements, or of
mobs. Sometimes even historians
have fallen victims to these more OF
less popular delusions.
One need have no less profund con-
victions about the terrible injustice
of the execution of Vanzetti in order
| to rebel at the creation of Vanzetti
myth in which Vanzetti is made tc
appear as man of great wisdom, OF
unfailing perception and of qualities
combining nothing less than saitli
ness and all-knowing wisdom.
Upto Sinclair has contributed
something to the myth in his bool
called Boston," which is as good ant
as terrible as Sinclair usually is
Another book bringing to us the let
ters of VanZetti goes further to hell
create in the name of Vanzetti a mai
who was not at all Vanzetti an,
whom Vanzetti would not have recog
nized.
VanZetti was not profoundly wise
If we can concede that he was pro
foundly wise then we must conced
that anarchy is filled with profount
wisdom; and no person who believes
m the rightness of democracy, cal
find wisdom in the philosophy of an
archy, if indeed it can be conceded
that there is anything of philosoph,
about anarchy. A bad dream doe
tai of a philosophy just because it
adherents call it thus.
Vanzetti went to his execution witt
the manner of martyr, believin,
that his death would contribute t
the advancement of cause. He wen
heroically. But when that has beer
said it has all been said.
There are altogether too many VIII
cannot give the credit that is du
without giving credit that is not due
We do not have to be maudlin. w
do not have to forego belief in ou
own ideals in order to honor a maj
of differing ideals for the sacrifice h
has made for ideals that we believ
mistaken or worthless.
Let us not have Vanzetti myth
Let US know the truth, let US fix on
hearts and minds against injustice
but let US not give up our reason il
doing SO. 1t is possible to be fai
without being maudlin.