EMMA GOLDMAN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7239, 28 October 1901, Page 2

EMMA GOLDMAN.

THE PRIESTESS OF ANARCHY. HOW. SUE RECEIVED THE NEWS. A sneering smile appeared on Emma Goldman's face when she looked out of i the window of an American police station and saw the flag over the Custom-house raised to half-mast, announcing, prematurely, the death of the President. The " policemen uncovered their heads, tears , came to the matron's eyes, and even the prisoners in cells showed their sorrow when told the supposed news, Emma Goldman, however, after her short look of triumph, was perfectly impassive (reports a Chicago journal), except that her face assumed a hard look and she compressed her lips as she talked to the group about her. " Father in heaven, Miss Goldman," said Matron Keegan, "the President is dead. Look at the flag and weep." "Suppose he is dead," replied the high , priestess of anarchy. " Thousands die daily and are unwept. Why should I mourn? You officials mourn as a matter of course," she said with scorn. "If I were in your position I might do the same. The Presi--1 dent is an ordinary man, however, and I lament his loss no more than that of an ordinary labourer. Would you weep if a common toiler were dead? No. Why should I weep because the President is goner " The head of the Government has gone, which is in keeping with our doctrines. I am sorry for Mr M'Kinley as a man and deplore his death as a human being, but that is as far as my sympathy extends." " Will you send a message of condolence to the family?" " Thousands of men die every day. I send no messages to their families. Why should I send one to Mrs M'Kinley? I feel for her because her husband is dead, but he is no more than the remainder of the hosts that pass away. That is why she is not entitled to a message of condolence." "Do you not feel that the nation has sustained a severe loss?" " No ; I do not. We do not believe in governmental heads, and the mere removal of the chief executive as such should not elicit sorrow. "I do not think that the death of the President will result in making more stringent the persecution of anarchy. The anarchists had nothing to dp with the deed, as I have said repeatedly. It was done by an irresponsible individual. If the case against anarchy was to have been tried fairly if the President survived his wounds, it ought to receive the same consideration in the event of his death. If we were entitled to fairness while M'Kinley lived, we are entitled to fairness after his death. "If I died no one would mourn. lam alone, and no one would care. Why, then, should they make more demonstrations simply because a politician has paused away? If Mr Isaaks were to die I would feel sorry for his family because of their bereavement, and that is the way I feel toward the M'Kinley family. Whafc you call the ' nations loss ' is nothing to me. " M'Kinley was a lucky man. That is about as much as I can say regarding his administration. He. managed to pull the right wires in politics, but he was not the man of the people. Of all the Presidents he took unto himself the most power. That is a fact that is not denied even by men of his own party. He was not brilliant. Not brilliant as_ some men who ought to have had the position if the people had a voice. I can think of no good thing that he has : done during the time that he has been in • office. As an official he was a politician. '• We do not need a governmental head, that is why I am not weeping as are these ' women. Because Mr M'Kinley was a man ! I am sorry he is dead. The fact that he '> was anything else Ido not consider." i The ilag was then taken down, news of 1 the President's rally having been received, but the group in the room did not notice the fact. SAYS SHE HAS NO HEART. With a sob, Mrs Mary Keegan, matron '. of the annex, went into the adjoining room. ". To a visitor she said : \ "In all my years of experience in police i work I have never seen a woman who haa 5 been so utterly devoid of a woman's heart. . She has no heart. It is stone. When she n first saw the flag she smiled. I was looking ;. at her closely to see how she took it, and as she saw the flag a smile spread over her i face. She saw me cry, and she sneered. She « saw the officers with uncovered heads, and I then she said she was not sorry. It was [ awful. " Fate seems to have decreed that I I should be vexed with theyanarchists. My > husband was killed in the Haymarket riots. That was the first experience I had with • them. Now lam in charge of the head of i the order. I have been as considerate of • her as I could be. I have treated her with : every kindness, but she certainly did rasp • my nerves when she smiled at the flag."'