ANARCHISM FROM WITHIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13307, 13 October 1906, Page 2 (Supplement)

ANARCHISM FROM WITHIN.

STRIKING CONFESSIONS OF AN EX;yx.ar,. v, - ANARCHIST. •- \-; f Messrs. Grant Richards have just'issued a striking account, by W. C. Hart, of ten years' intimate association with anarchist movements in England and other countries. Mr. Hart, who was for some time secretary to two anarchist "" groups," and an occasional contributor to many revolutionary journals, has, without doubt, some claim to be heard; and be sums up his.position by- a paraphrase, of Lamartinn's famous boii-niot, " The more I see of my fellowanarchists the more I respect— dog." , THE ANARCHIST CREF-D. ' \v : . Anarchism, being a doctrine which affirms I the right-, so-called. "sacred, sovereign, ! and absolute," of the : individual to do .-is | lie likes under nil circumstance!?, is obviously incompatible with all principles,'all government, ail organisation, system, society, j order, or even restraint.-of the evilly dis- 1 posed—in short, of everything which differentiates civilisation from barbarism. " There- is 110 justice," writes 0110, anar- j chist*; "no right or wrong; ,110 truth, no good, no evil. - You 'have 110 'rights' ox- ; cept the rights you win by might. Take what you can, and-all you can, arid take it while you may. Talk to the average anarchist of morality, and he will laugh in your face." • , Anarch;-, in a word, is a negation of both morals aud principles.' The late Her T/eibknecht, the well-known German socialist leader, divided the anarchist body into three, parts • (1) Criminals and semi-crimi-nals who throw an -anarchist cloak over then crime; (2) police agents; and (3) defenders of'" propaganda by deed." j - ROGUES OF EVERT ASS. . Class one comprises rogues of every depickpockets, burglars a lid thieves, professional swindlers, members of ."long firms," dealers in bogus businesses, : medical quacks, makers and, utterers of counterfeit coin, forgers, incendiaries-, and murderers. A favourite dedge is to hire a shop, with-out-the slightest.intention of paying rent, stock it well with empty boxes, and then sell the bogus business for £520 or £530 to some thrifty workingman. , - . / Times without number premises have • been insured, then burned down, and the policies have been duly'honoured. " Consummate hypocrites and accomplished liars, these men uuite in their persons all the roguery and dishonesty-, of East End sweaters,- mingled with the unprincipled characteristics of Seven Dials rascaldom." PILLAGE AND MCRDER. Class two may bo passed by for. the pre- \ sent, while as to class three, Propagandists by deed," this is merely anarchist jargon for murder, robbery, and crimes against morality. ? Pillage and murder the rich," was the favourite theme, says Mr. Hart, of Lc v Per© Peinard, the French anarchist, slang journal. Some even go further and declare themselves a.t war not- merely with ' the rich, but with everyone else. Tho infamous Ravachol French thief, murderer, , forger, counterfeiter,' and -. plunderer of graves—in the patron saint and : hero of this section > n Their " liteaturo" 1 abounds with passages advocating 1 and ap-' plauding the most barbarous outrages conceivable, and recommending inhumanities and immoralities which would put a savage ! to the blush. ' , , Mr. Hart quotes passages approving the firing of opera houses, burning policemen olive, the assassination of judges, jurymen, politicians", kings, presidents, etc.,.-as well as from writings inculcating burglary, incendiarism, forgery, holding • un trains, brigandage, prostitution. The ranks of anarchy are simply honeycombed with spies. . The author tells of'a case he knew personally where a spy wan giving information at the same time to both tlso English . and French police. During his connection with the movement several spies were discovered and denounced. -t ;, AXAJR.CH.tST "OROtrrs." ' — " Anarchists associate in groups, which, for obvious reasons, seldom enrol more than a dozen members, or " companion*." Organisation, however, is utterly lacking. " So far," says the author, " from being fit- • for a ''society without government,' they have shown themselves incapable of managing a decent-sjzed apple stall." Violent altercations take place at the meetings, the utmost* disorder prevails, and the meetings, so far as organisation is conc; ned. have been reduced" to a farce. : ' ' Euglish anarchists, by the way, and we are glad of it, are looked upon by their foreign brethren with more contempt than fraternity. To-day they are a mere handful, and arc becoming fewer even* day owing " to 1 British disgust - with "the lack of system, want' of order. and contempt! for the moral conduct which pervades the practical section of the -party." ( . The author doubts if there are fifty Englishmen in London of the anarchist persuasion. ROMBMAKERS. ... ' . • But the foreigners are of a more dangerous type. Among the French anarchists . in London Le An arch isle Indicatouf is the Bible of 'the bombmakers and bombthrowers. This and similar publications give instructions for the making of every kind of bomb known. They explain the use and manufacture of finch" explosives as guacotton, dynamite, roburite, woodite, fulminate of mercury, picrato of potash, and the more commonly usied mixture of sugar and chlorate of potash. Many of the anarchist schemes betray a fiendish malice which can only be put down to insanity. One has designs upon the ' King or Prime Minister; another proposes to blow up the Bank of England or they Stock Exchange. A third proposes to destroy Parliament- or assemblies of the working classes wholesale, for we must not forget that the genuine anarchist hates the • working classes as much or more than their ruler. One cra.zy scheme was for sprinkling bags [ of lice from the galleries of theatres ; another to fulminate the carriages waiting at the opera with sulphuretted hydrogen'. Yet a- third was to fire small bombs through the windows of the West End by means' of catapults. AX ANARCHIST COXFEREN'CK, The anarchist if nothing if not- unconventional. At his "conferences" chairmen, voting ou resolutions, and the other necessary conditions for. the preservation of order, are altogether dispensed with,, as savouring of the "authority" lie so much detests, with, of course, the consequence that order is conspicuous by its absence, and more often thau not, the, conference" ends up in a free fight between the. various factions present. , At anarchist conferences, we learn, it is amusing to observe the shifts to which the. "companions" arc put to obviate the inconvenience arising from this lack of sys- . tem. At, these so-called conferences and congresses there is no chairman (he being a. relic of authority"), and it is always left to "individual initiative" to start the- discussion on matters concerning the "propaganda." The consequence is that order is conspicuous by its absence. . THE RIGHT TO THIEVE. The author further says: — My first experience at an anarchist conference was as follows: An announcement had appeared in i the Commonweal to the effect that a. coni ference of London and provincial anarchists would be held on a certain date at a notori- " our rendezvous, of the cult off Tottenham ' Court Road,, to which 'all comrades were - invited.' I decider! to accept the invita--1 tion and Ims present at their -deliberations: - The subject down for the 'comrades" djst cussion was 'The . Right of Individual Ex- - propriation.' or, in plain English, . 'The i Right to Thieve.' Presenting mypelf in > time at the place of meeting, and finding 5 the door ajar, T, walked in, and found my1. self in a narrow passage which led into- - small hall, where I took a seat among the - other. ' companions' assembled; * - LACK OF ORGANISATION. ' 1 "Right here lot me explain that, contrary 1 to general belief, among anarchists the 1 various paraphernalia of Freemasonry— 5 signs, passwords--; etc.—are altogether "dif.-. - penscd with, being contrary to anarchisti 'principles,' which allow of■ no form of - authority: or organisation whatsoever. No r credentials are required, for the anarchist i does not admit the possibility of one person representing anyone but himself.. See-

l": •• - -r ; : •/: '■ 'W >- _ retarial v work, according to the anarchist theory, is done by • anyone who feels that, way inclined? and if volunteers are not forthcoming the work remains undone.' v '- v " But to resume my story. Once inside the hall' a spectacle greeted my- sight I shall not soon forget. - Seated about'in confusion were a number of evil-looking men and women of almost every nationality— shouting, stamping, and gesticulating. "On the walls, in gorgeous ; red, were painted" a, number of anarchistic mottoes in German, and at the end of the hall a small stage was erected, on the facia of which, in bold English, appeared the legend 'Anarchy is Order." Among, the distinguished personages .present..l noticed, Louise. Michel, E. Malatesta, and several Continental anarchists who later ended their careers on the gallows or under the guillotine. INCITEMENTS TO KILL. " ,"' . * " An hour beyond the advertised time bad passed and there. were no signs of the seanco commencing. Suddenly, one of the 'comrades'- was heard shrieking for order, which, after great trouble, was obtained. A 'comrade' of unmistakablv Jewish countenance rose and addressed the meeting. ; His sentiments were nothing more. or less than incitements to all kinds of crime. ' Pillage and murder the rich,' he shrieked. That was the sentiment of the whole meeting." „ ' " WEAK-MINDED AND CRIMINAL. Again, the writer save the- belief that murder and theft are actions not only innocent but virtuous when perpetrated withthe professed design of benefiting humanity sounds marvellously comforting to those of a. weak-minded or criminal nature, and who lufvc a natural propensity to commit hem. Accordingly, euch persons flock to tho anarchist standard. Cranks -and. criminals abound in tho party. Tho anarchist assassin is invariably a young person of illbalanced mind who has imbibed too freely the poison of anarchist oratory arid the " literature" of "'murder- which pours forth from the printing. presses which the Governments of the world are foolish enough to allow these reckless madmen to possess. To stop the supply of anarchist murderers the civilised notions must unitedly atlaeV the evil at its eource—the murder-inciting " lecturer" and his equally murderous pain-,, phlet and manifesto. .Of rent, tbe: Commonweal says:" Let 'No Rent' bo the Avar cry. Let- people universally refuse to pay. "The landlords may send their brokerswell, hot water, brickbats. and 'pokers are excellent medicine for these gentlemen. But thro is another excellent way, and that is by helping ourselves to the wealth they have stolen from , us.'' And so on ad libitum.