THE ANARCHISTS AGAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 40, 15 February 1894, Page 4

THE ANARCHISTS AGAIN.

Vaillant has been executed, but the wretched cause— if reckless wholesale murder can be called a cause—for which he suffered,. seems to be as rampant as ever. .From a telegram which arrived in the early part of the week, we learned -that another Anarchist, Breton by name, has been following the example of hia deceased confsderate, and in honour to his manes has killed one and mutilated fifteen persons, who in all likelihood had not the slightest connection either with Vaillant.or himself. The. act of course is atrocious from whatever point of view we regard it, and if we could realise the feelings of the relatives of the killed and the sufferings of the wounded and remember besides that .i.heee outrages are proclaimed to be but e&rnests on a small scale ot what is to be cioi'6 on a large one, we can only wonder fcha-fc European Governments have not already taken altogether exceptional measures to crush this sect of blood-thirsty miscreants whose very existence is at once a menace,and r disgrace^ to humanity. , It is some consolation to know that the iiafumons- confederacy is as-yet comparatively small in point of numbers ; but it is armed with' the tremendous ptfcwerejwhich recent science ha* placed at our disposal, and it can effect with comparative impunity results of the most disastrous character.

Then we must 'remember Ush'ai tfcoujjifi the sect—or whatever you may call it—is small there is an immense number of people especially in European cities who hang on the outskirts of crime and are only too ready to attach themselves to a cause which is criminal in the name of humanity and justice. We may be assured that the murderous mania unless checked by the swiftest and most vigorous expedients will spread. Ib needs little prophetic insighb to discern thab the world is entering oh a cycle of change which is likely to be more fruitful in social revolution than perhaps any former period. We trust the change will be guided by wisdom and justice bub we cannot forget thab changes of this sorb have never been effected without much travail and social convulsion. "AH the past of time reveals, A bridal dawn of thunder peals, Wherever thought has wedded fact. The world has had its reigns of terror already, and ib may have them again, bub of this we are assured thab ib will not tolerate the terrorism of scoundrels whose chief aim is plunder, and whose profession is wholesale indiscriminate murder.. The Anarphuts, indeed, tell us thab though it is their first purpose and duty to destroy root and branch the presenb social arrangements, it is their intention to reconstruct them. We cannot thank them for the hope they hold out to us. A society re-con-Structed according bo the ideaa df-a Ravoe-;; hal or a VaiUa.nl; would be one of the most awful portent wnieh, thjßjtlfl?!P|d/hii».tyefc| seen, and would indicate very clearly that the reign of humanity was over, and %ho reign of ,the,beast;,retHrned» r-.-.v/-;;--,.::•■>■;■ We herein New ]Zealand4iV;P.urv;happy isolation 4 'eel Jbat- we cap \ contemplate.'wjjth judicial equan.imity;the terrible spectacle of Anarchy rampant in the old kingdoms of the world. We are so far away from " roaring London, raving Paris,", from the want and the misery s the despair and the crime thab.abound there. We feel almost as secure as if we were the denizens of another planet. Bub are we so far away? Every day science is. shortening; the distance, and every hour of the day the telegraphic tentacles of the old world touch us, and we feel the great heart) of Europe beating. Ib is idle to think then thab the diabolical ideas which prevail there will never reach us, and find minds in which they will , become productive. We are told that in Sydney there are several hundred Anarchists. Although their presence does nob Beem to cause much uneasiness in New South Wales, tor they are evidently Anarchists in name only, still ib is a sign of the times, and when we consider how many." cranks " and discontents must- in the future find their way to these sbQres, we begin to see that our isolation is more fancied than real.