THE ANARCHIST TERROR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2430, 10 October 1900, Page 16

THE ANARCHIST TERROR.

BRUSSELS, October 7.

A number of Anarchists have bean arrested for plotting against, P.rinco Albert of Belgium, who brought his newly wedded wife, the Duchess Elizabatli of Bavaria, to BiTf-seis ye&terday. The affair caused a. great sensation. The men include one of Spido's acquitted accomplices.

October 7.

For several days the Socialists of Belgram h.ivs displayed a feeling of restlessness, and have threatened to make dttrionstracion against the numerous religions and military official celebrations on Wednesday next in honour of the homecoming of Prince .Albert and his bride.

October 3.

Sipido's accomplice, arrested in connection with the attack on the Prince of Wales, t>nd vho was arrested in connection with the plot in Bius^els, has been released. The police are- endeavouring to minimise the plot. A search amongst the Socialists was fruitless.

The recent murder of the lamented King of Italy, together with the attempts made upon tho lives of the Prince of Wale's and "the Shah, and widi the statements attributed to members of the so-called " Anarohisfc " societies in various parts of the world, appear to show that the crime of political assassination has entered upon a new phase, of such, a kind as to call for the serious attention o£ all civilised nations, not only as to overt acts whichvmay bo prevented, but also as to the mental condition in which such acts ltava their origin. Statesmen cannot rightly remain indifferent to, or unobservant of, tha currents of prevailing popular delusional which, sooner or later, will be translated into action ; and it is far better to anticipate crime than to punish it- after it has been committed. The prearhing of Anarchist doctrines, and the advocacy of assassination as a means of promoting their spread, should be regarded as sufficient "round for the permanent incarceration of tho preacher in art asylum for the incurable insane. Such a fata would not be likely to call forth imitators, and would strike at the root of the delusion. The actual assassins should, of course, bo hanged whenever and wherever they could be captured; but this is a comparatively unimportant detail. The root of the whole matter is in insanity; and, pendirg the time when this becomes amenable to science, it should unquestionably be made amenable to discipline. — " The Hospital."