Anarchism Explained – The Plain Dealer, 5/24/1908

Anarchy Absence or insufficiency of government; a state in which there is no capable supreme power, and in which
the several functions of the state are performed badly or not at all; social and political confusion. —Century Dictionary.
This is not an espousal of the doctrine of anarchism. Nor is it written in condemnation of it. Anarchism exists. A
scattered group of interesting persons in this country have accepted it, and there is no reason why the rest of us
should not, without heat or bias, consider the doctrine and its believers. In the popular mind a wild-eyed, long-haired,
outlandishly dressed man with a sputtering bomb in his hand is an Anarchist. The word “Anarchism” carries with
it a picture of secret meeting places, horrid oaths and mysterious passwords, bearded plotters drawing lots, and
fanatical murderers going forth to assassinate kings and potentates. The picture is not true. There are in Cleveland
three Anarchists of note—Horace Carr, Fred Schulder, and Walter Behlen—who do not fit into the popular picture.
These men do not believe in war or violence of any kind. In their lives, they are consistent with this belief. They do
not believe in law and government. They say there is but one law—nature’s law; but one country—the earth; but one
race—the human race. This, they say, is anarchism. Carr is a printer in the Caxton building. He is known everywhere
for the artistic work he does. His wife, also an Anarchist, is the business head of the firm. Carr looks the part. He is
a short, round man and wears his hair and beard, of a reddish color, long. But he only looks it. He has many friends
of many beliefs. He never quarrels with them. A milder, gentler, more loveable man would be hard to find. He loves
animals, children, and nature. Every Sunday the Carrs go into the country with a camera to take snapshots of birds,
trees, and flowers. “The public doesn’t like us,” says Carr, “because it thinks we have bombs hidden under our coats
and daggers in our sleeves. The public does not know us. Unhappily, every once in a while someone does kill a
king. We get the blame. The assassin is called an Anarchist. “Poor devil, he is trying blindly to short-cut to the
condition we all want. There are two kinds of Anarchists—Anarchists of the heart and Anarchists of the brain.

The Anarchist of the heart acts on impulse; he rebels against a hard condition and is too impetuous for the condition
to be overcome by a peaceful method. He throws a bomb. He is generally a befuddled, half-crazed fellow. He does
not represent the Anarchists.” Carr became an Anarchist by reading Herbert Spencer. He met Fred Schulder in a
business way and talked anarchism to him. Schulder was converted. He proved a better logician than Carr. Schulder
doesn’t even look the part. He, too, is a small man, smooth-shaven, short-haired, and dresses quietly and well. He
is a traveling salesman, and in his travels advances at every opportunity the propaganda of anarchism. He is the
hardest man in the world to quarrel with. “I believe absolutely,” he says, “in the doctrine of nonresistance.” His home
life is ideal. He is universally liked. Carr and Schulder are individualists. Behlen is a communist. These terms explain
themselves. Behlen is a landowner and contracting carpenter. He owns a farm in East Cleveland in which is a grove
where numerous anarchistic meetings have been held. Behlen has written for the Sunday Plain Dealer and has views
on anarchism which are appended. Thomas B. Eyges represents a New York silk house and lives in Chelsea, Mass.
He comes to Cleveland frequently and is known to all the local “group.” He writes and lectures on anarchism wherever
he goes. He says he is neither individualist nor communist; that the difference is imaginary. His contribution to this
article is interesting in that it denies the truth of the popular picture of the Anarchist.

Behlen’s Contribution – Walter Behlen

Everything in existence is governed by the law of evolution. This law applies to society aswell as to material things.
Nature furnishes us Mother Earth as a habitation. Nature’s law is universal in scope, and shows no favoritism.
Observance of nature’s law means the freedom of man. This law is anarchistic throughout. Every child is born
an Anarchist; government afterward makes it a crippled individual. Law and order emanate from nature, not from
man; this is a vital truth. Law is unchangeable. Nature’s law is the magna carta of man’s liberty; man-made law
is only intended for exploitation. Let us get a clear conception of law. Law existed before man. Man is but a product
of law. Law is not enacted; it never saw a parliament; it needs no wise guys to execute it; it acts of its own volition.
Laws cannot be made or changed by casting ballots. Principles do not come that way. Government-made society
is a virtual madhouse. The highest ideal seems to be the accumulation of wealth and self-aggrandizement. Nature
issues no licenses to speculate in her opportunities, and issues no deeds of ownership; for all that she has is free
and necessary for our existence. All government rests upon the ruins of natural law. Man-made law has robbed
man of his birthright, and it is the office of anarchism to restore it. The social evils of today are enough to condemn
all government. Government cannot be otherwise than anti-social. It is based upon property interests, which make
people hard-hearted. Anarchy defined is the science of society; freedom its base; liberty its goal. Monarchical
government without a constitution is logical when it combats anarchism, but our government with its constitution
(which is in a measure anarchistic) is illogical when it persecutes people when they insist upon exercising their
constitutional rights of free speech, free press, and free assemblage. Religious and political liberty are guaranteed
us in the constitution. The former we get; the latter we do not. So far as the government is concerned we have
religious anarchism. We may believe or disbelieve in a deity, and we cannot be forced into or to the support of any
church or religion through governmental tax.

Political liberty, however, is denied us. The question arises: If we do not have to recognize a fictitious religious
god, then why must we recognize a political god and do him reverence by tax and military service? The anarchistic
features of the constitution are being violated by the authorities themselves. The Declaration of Independence
is more anarchistic still. It says: “All men are born free and equal and endowed with right to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness,” and history lauds the men who framed it in song and story. The constitution and the declaration
were revolutionary documents in their time, but they have outlived their usefulness and are practically dead letters
today. A constitutional government is as bad as an orthodox religion. Both hamper progress. There should be a
lesson to us in the experiences of the past. Will the pending revolution be settled in peace? Only the future can
tell. We know what happened during the American revolution. We know the history of our rebellion. The abolition
of all capitalistic government may require the same drastic measures. Anarchism seeks the freedom of man.
Government cannot grant freedom; it must be asserted in opposition to government. A free government is a
misnomer. It is as impossible as a white blackbird or an honest liar. Governmental injunction alone bars man from
nature’s opportunities. The further we get away from nature the deeper we sink into slavery. Social organization
is better than legislative enactment. Nature is purely anarchistic, and Anarchists are purely natural.Government
is anti-social and invasive, while anarchism is strictly social and noninvasive. Economic dependence dehumanizes
man. Anarchism bases on natural law and combats all human legislation. All government is bad; all freedom good.
Nature is the magna charta of human liberty. She recognizes no country, flag or constitution; no kings or queens; no
government; no churches. We need society, not government. Society can exist without government; but government
cannot exist without society. Freedom does not mean government.

Voluntary surrender to authority does not imply government. The Anarchist is really the only person governed, because
it is done without his consent. Anarchism and government are the two extremes of human society; we are compelled
to choose between freedom and slavery. Government thrives upon ignorance; anarchism upon intelligence. Anarchism
is the deepest science, the least understood, and the most abused by those who least understand it. An ignorant mind
cannot grasp the philosophy of anarchism. Ignorance is deplorable, but educated rascality is more destructive to human
welfare. Social reconstruction is the only remedy, and communism the solution; for it gives and asks no quarter, never
surrenders, and is radically revolutionary to the core. Communism is the introduction of the golden rule by making life
worth living. There would be no wasted energy in its system of protection and distribution, and its individualism is softened
with the spirit of altruism. Anarchism has no particular method of procedure except that it bases upon intelligent action;
it sees no virtue in a ballot, nor any efficacy in a prayer. It sweeps away the red tape of society. No one can build arbitrarily
for the future. Posterity will be able to take care of itself. Will peace, then, usher in the new society? We hope so, but the
answer lies with the future. We may cry “Peace! Peace!” but there is no peace. We must not deceive ourselves by imagining
that the interests of capital and labor are identical. He who says they are is either an ignoramus or a traitor to man. We
have been governmentalists (fighting the other fellow’s battles) too long; let us become cosmopolites and do something
for ourselves; let us realize that there is but one country—the earth; but one race—the human race; and that we are all
citizens of the world, having common interests. Roosevelt’s threats will have about the same effect upon the spread of
anarchistic ideas as the iron policy of Bismarck had upon the Socialists of Germany.

The more you try to suppress the truth the stronger it will grow. You may kill men who have ideas, but the ideas live on.
Science will usher in the new order, for the time is soon coming when one man will possess a destructive power equal
to an entire army. In spite of all the tyrannies, man is forging to the front. The power of majorities will soon be broken.
Standing armies and ponderous navies will be a thing of the past. Aerial navigation and electricity will be great factors
in this—the revolution of the world’s greatest history. Out of the darkness of the present, a brighter day is dawning.

Eyges Contribution – Thomas B. Eyges

Anarchism is the highest conception of an ideal life without government. It is most absurd, therefore, to link in the name
of anarchism with outrage. This is done only by those who do not know our theory and our doctrines. We are Anarchists
because we are opposed to every form of violence, outrage and authority. It is the aim of anarchism to so educate the
people that they will understand that society can be called free and normal only when every individual leads a free and
normal life. Every individual is a little world for himself. He has in him all the elements of nature, and there are no two
individuals alike. Therefore, to make laws for the government of all individuals means to cripple within the individual all
the fine, individual tendencies which could otherwise be developed. Rather, we believe in obeying the natural law of self
-maintenance. This law makes every living being strive to exist. This law inspires us to make our surroundings pleasant
and comfortable. It brings individuals together for mutual help, and it parts them when mutual help is not needed. If man
could know he would not be deprived of the necessities of life, and of those things which contribute to reasonable comfort,
he would want but little on this earth. It is private property and the right to monopolize commodities which create greed
and envy. These make a few men very rich and millions very poor. These make paupers, drunkards, criminals. Some
men preach temperance to overcome drunkenness, but anarchism says drunkenness is a disease and a symptom of
the times. It is a common belief that punishment by imprisonment is the only method of reducing crime. But the more
jails we build the more we need. Anarchism says: Change the present unsocial system and there will be no need of jails.
Criminals are insane and should be treated for insanity. Anarchists are opposed to war, which is wholesale murder.
Intelligent people unite and part intelligently; scoundrels do not fear the law. Anarchists do not believe in assassination.
They never did. It lies within the nature of every man who is an idealist to extend and manifest his thoughts to his fellow
men. The writer pens his protest that the world may read. The orator shouts his protest that the world may hear.
A third can neither write nor speak. He voices his protest with bomb or pistol.

He alone is responsible for what he has done. Anarchists do not claim or disclaim him. He is a product of the system,
an expression of the revolt against oppression and persecution. Anarchistic meetings are public. Even group meetings
are held with open doors. We assemble at our business meetings to discuss ways and means of propaganda. We
attend or we do not attend, as we choose. There are no membership cards, no dues. Funds are raised by voluntary
donations. Anarchists do not draw lots for an appointed task. This is a hoary fiction. Should any comrade suggest a
deed of violence he would be made to understand that Anarchists are unalterably opposed to violence. If he should
persist, he would be positively refused further comradeship. The progress of time brings new circumstances and
creates a demand for new conditions. The conservative power of the time would bar out progress, and there are
always conflicts between the old and the new. The revolution must make its way through art, drama, music, literature,
moral conceptions, and above all through the economic issues of life. And here is where the conflict between progress
and conservatism is inevitable. And it is just as inevitable that conservatism must go down before progress. The time
will come when men will realize what individual independence means. Man will rule the kingdom within himself. He
will not be ruled, nor will he rule others. Society will consist of free, independent individuals, without governed or
governors, without outrage, violence or oppression. This is anarchism.