THE ANARCHIST SENSATION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 227, 7 January 1911, Page 5

THE ANARCHIST SENSATION

INQUEST ON HOUNDSDITCH VICTIMS. CHASING PETER THE PAINTER. By Association—Copyright. London, January 5. At the inquest on Morountzeff and the Houndßditcb police killed on the night of the burglary, Mrs. Katz, landlady of 69 Grove street, where Morountzeff died, identified the arrested woman Milstein as Fritz's mistress. Both lived in Grove street. Trassjonsky, the other arrested woman, visited the house two or three times daily. Morountzeff was also a visitor. In the course of a sharp examination, Katz, the landlady's husband, admitted that he heard rapping on the shutter, and let in Trassjonsky early on Saturday, December 17. Two hundred detectives in the East End continue the search for Peter the Painter. A VENGEFUL MURDER. ' London, January 5. At the inquest on Beron, .who was murdered on Clapham Common, Dr. Freyberger and the doctor who conducted the post-mortem gave evidence of a symmetrical letter S on each of Beron's cheeks, reaching from the eyes to the mouth. It was impossible for these to be accidental. They were undoubtedly signs of a murder deliberately planned. Moreover, there were many stabs after the man had been stunned. It was subsequently stated that the dagger, marks on Beron's cheeks stand in Polish for "szpion,"or spy. POST MORTEM PUZZLE. London, January 6. The post morten on the bodies of Fritz and the other man found revealed no bullets in either, and no trace of wounds.

BRITAIN AS AN ASYLUM. ( A HINDRANCE TO CONTINENTAL POLICE. St. Petersburg, January 5. The authorities are of opinion that j it is essential that the English authorities should establish a complete surveillance of foreigners. The Continental police, in dealing with anarchists, are , impeded by the immunity enjoyed in . England. r . ~ . . THE KING'S SYMPATHY. London, January 5. King George has sent a message of sympathy to Detective Leeson and others, earnestly inquiring as; to their progress. AN ALIEN DEPORTED. AUTHORITIES WAKING UP. Received 6, 10.50 p.m. London, January G. An alien was sentenced to four months' imprisonment at Southampton in July, and was then deported. At Southampton yesterday he was sentenced to a month and to be deported as an incorrigible rogue. Mr. Cooke, the Recorder, commented on the lax administration of the law, adding that it was monstrous to put the ratepayers to the expense of maintaining criminal and pauper aliens in prison or in the workhouse. DIFFICULTY AT THE INQUEST. THE TRUTH HARD TO FIND. London, January 6. The Coroner at the Houndsditch inquest strongly warned Katz for prevaricating and withholding facts that were within his knowledge, and commented on the difficulty of eliciting the truth, ow-

ing to local feeling. ANARCHISM IN LONDON. ] DOCTRINES.ON BURGLARY. Writing of the London anarchists last year, The Times said:— ' The anarchist body in London cosists chiefly of foreign artisans, employed for the most part as cabinetmakers, tailors, electricians, shoemakers, and waiters. These men, as a rule, are in receipt ot good wages, and contribute freely to "the cause." Their clubs meet in Soho, Hammersmith, Tottenham, in the East- ' End of London, and some other places. For the most part they prefer: to refer to themselves as Socialists, although the disguise is a very thin one. Their number in London mav be estimated at from 700 to 1000; but it is, of course, difficult to calculate the numbers of an organisation which is of such a nebulous and shifting character. Nor is it suggested that among this number can be found many to undertake the active and dangerous task of committing outrages on society. Nevertheless, at appropriate times, the money and men are always forthcoming in anarchist circles. As to the money, it must not be forgotten that the proceeds of burglaries and highway robberies have always been welcomed as supplies for the anarchist warchests. This doctrine has been frequently declared, and a notorious disciple of tins school was the anarchist burglar Pena, who successfully committed a long series of buHaries in Paris in the early nineties kefore being arrested and sentenced! to a long term of imprisonment. « was known to the whole anarchist body in Paris that Pena committed these burglaries, but the fact that he contributed; freely from the proceeds of his crimes to the funds of the movement caused his secret to be kept, and instead of being looked upon as a criminal outlaw, ne -was regarded as e hero. Furthermore, tii example was followed by others. It will also be remembered that one 01 the most cherished ideas of the Walsall anarchist was the use of chloroform in the robbing of capitalists; indeed, a bottle of chloroform for this purpose was actually found in possession of one of the prisoners. The proposal was tftat men known to possess money or valuable, should be followed into railway car riages or when going home at «gj and chloroformed and robbed. ItoMnaj ■seem strange in this country, bu|th< device is much employed in the robffltf e. an the Continent. The Lettish re»ln tionists in England chiefly reside in#ey tonstone, Tottenham, and the East|»a They arr well known for the methK 0

terrorism they employ. Within the past two years these revolutionaries have been carrying on a campaign of robbery in Russia similar to the recent outrage in Tottenham, the proceeds being devoted to their party. In spite of much discussion, and notwithstanding the numerous outrages which have been committed, practically nothing has been done by the police authorities of Europe in the direction of combined action for the prevention of anarchist crimes. The Police Conference in Rome contributed little to the solution of the problem of mutual assistance, which, indeed, seems little likely to be solved. In this country the police keep in touch with the movement by patient and long-continued surveillance., Those known or suspected to be dangerous anarchists are closely watched, and their movements are carefully notified. Newarrivals from the Continent thus come early under observation, and their haunts are discovered. The police in England, however, are under a serious disadvantage as compared with their foreign confreres, inasmuch as they may not legally interrogate the incomers, and, when once a foreigner has arrived in this country, he is at liberty to travel when and where he pleases. On the Continent, of course, a different system prevails. The traveller has immediately to fill up the hotel bulletin, giving his name, age, nationality, occupation, place of birth, etc., to the police. If tins is not considered satisfactory, the individual may be immediately haled before the police officials, by whom his etat civil is carefully noted, and he is subjected to a searching and thorough interrogation. The only way to protect our shores from the influx of the anarchist alien would be to deprive him of the right of entry into the country. , Probably this could be done only if the police of other countries furnished the home authorities with particulars of the offences committed by intending immigrants into this country; and the plea that an offence was political should be met by careful and searching inquiry. Any evildoer coming into this country is at liberty to say that he is a political refugee, and there is no means of ascertaining the truth of the statement. Further, the term ."political offences" should receive a narrower interpretation. In short, it is only by the combined efforts of the Governments of all countries that militant anarchism can be met and crushed, its adherents kept under surveillance, and the danger attendant on their presence in society averted.