Arbeter Fraint, October 12 1888, page 2
(NB A serialised Yiddish translation of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables has been omitted.)
[Column 1]
[Our Notebook - continued from page 1]
his papers. Naturally if a German, Italian or Belgian didn’t have any papers, the French government would certainly not turn to the Germans or to the others who are antagonistic to it, and will tell them unceremoniously to go back where they came from. In this way, it can rid itself of spies.
______________
Those whom this stranger’s decree affects the most are the foreign socialists. It is quite possible that the latter will suffer under this new decree. The French bourgeoisie now have the best opportunity to be free of these opponents of socialism, because these foreign socialists, for the most part, have no papers, and the French government is not likely to grant them papers from their government. As of now, we cannot yet say anything with certainty. Time will tell.
______________
In the “Continental Gallery,” 157 New Bond St., London, there is now a very interesting picture of the Russian artist, Gorky. This picture has a noteworthy history. It has the title: “A Test of Subjugation” and presents a certain terrible, cruel fact that is well known in tragic Russian history under the name Ivan Grozni (Ivan the Terrible), this mad murderer, who had a horrible distrust of the Bavarians. [He thought] that they wanted to kill him, so he gave his chief commander, Kudeyar, permission to visit his wife under the condition that Kudeyar should give him proof of his loyalty to him. Kudeyar accepted this suggestion. Ivan the Terrible then invited him to his home for supper, and the first thing that Kudeyar saw when he entered the room was his wife hanging near the dining room table. The artist, Gorsky, captured this moment in a painting—when Kudeyar, half mad with anguish, wants to throw himself at the terrible Tsar. The present government, however, has confiscated this fine picture, and one of its founders said that at the same time that this painting was finished practically the same thing happened to the heroic Sofia Perovskaya, and, of course, she didn’t think it seemly to let the people see a picture in which the Tsar hanged a woman. After much pleading and difficulties, Gorsky finally succeeded in getting his painting back, but now he was forced to remain in exile. Wild Man number three only needs Kosacks, spies and hangmen in Russia.
______________
All Socialist Revolutionary Unions of London invited Mrs. Parsons, the widow of our murdered comrade from Chicago, to come to London on the eleventh of November. This brave woman responded that she would come. All necessary travel expenses
[Column 2]
were sent by this union. Revolutionaries in all countries are making preparations for the commemoration of this day. Special flyers in various languages will appear here will be distributed free of charge to all workers. All of these preparations are made so that every worker will know what happened on this day: how five of the best and most honest workers of our people were murdered only because they explained to the suffering people where their suffering was coming from. This bloody day should be etched in the memories of the working people until the day of revenge will come.
________________
There are many questions about what happened at Comrade Yohan Most’s trial. As is well known, Most was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment for a speech he held at a meeting in New York. The trial was postponed and it was thought that nothing would come of it. Those, however, who know American justice, knew that the postponement meant that something underhanded was going on. And as we see that was correct. The prosecutor now wants the Supreme Court (the highest court in America) to confirm the first sentence. The meaning of this treatment is easy to explain. Soon it will be the eleventh of November, and they want at this time to silence a devoted and true fighter for the people. We do not know for certain if the Supreme Court will accede to the wishes of this disgraceful prosecutor, but we should not expect anything good to come from the first one either, since neither one is better than the other in all aspects.
_______________
The young German monarch is traveling to Italy this week. With his trip he wants to achieve a double goal. Firstly, he wants to strengthen his ties with the Italian monarch Volf against France, and secondly, he wants to smile at the old frog, the Pope, who is more and more losing his infallibility with the Catholics. Things must really be very bad with that religion, when a Lutheran “Kaiser” has to turn to a Catholic Pope, [to ask him] to pour salt on the tails of the religion, which is flying away from the people. Religions were always the best way to stupefy the people in order to be able to enslave them. At the same time as the hold of religion disappears, the tendency toward independence and the revolutionary spirit always increases in people. In addition, the rulers seek war. They believe that the spilling of blood drives away the spirit of freedom. These crowned evil animals forget in their despairing situation what world opinion is. We, however, do not forget that all of these shameful means are like beating a dead horse.
___________
As it appears, the nihilists in Russia are not sleeping. Recently making repairs in a palace of a so-called grand duke a bomb was found under a column, which a
[Column 3]
which a soldier [?] dropped. It exploded and caused quite a large disturbance. The Russian press was strictly prohibited from mentioning it. This episode only became known outside of Russia through private letters. The freiheit [Freedom] says that when the “aristocratic” palaces are being used as camps the time cannot be far away when such shootings will not fail to hit their targets. The reign of the Czars must come to an end.
___________
The Socialist Club, in the Clarendon Buildings, Victoria Road, in Lyons, is presenting a series of readings. Last Sunday, Comrade McQuire gave a reading of the “Workers’ Party: Its goal and Its Methods.” On the 14th of October Comrade Feylad will read from “The Land for the People.” On the 21st of October Comrade Hillel will speak about “Socialism; the Only Hope of the Worker.” And on the 28th of October Comrade Solitt [will speak on] “Past and Future Politics.” After the talks there will be discussions in which everyone can participate.
__________________________________________
Future Society
__________
(Fourth article, continued from number 39 [i.e. 28 September issue])
The two main socialist parties are now the Collectivists and the Anarchists; the Social-Democrats and the State Communists have now been created from the first two unimportant ones. The difference between these four parties is between Collectivism and Communism in economic relationship and between Anarchism and Social Democracy in political relationship.
There is also an important difference between centralization and federation, and because these two very often call for discussions among thinking workers, we will shortly explain their meaning.
Even if our goal here were not to discuss the differences of opinion of the parties, we would, however, find it necessary for our readers to make clear the goals of all the Socialist parties, so that they know what it means when they hear or read about this or that Socialist section, and secondly it will be easier to explain what we want to accomplish with these articles.
Centralization comes from the word “center.” The center is the midpoint of every thing. One could say the center of the city (the midpoint of the city) and the government’s center or the central government.
Centralization, according to the Socialist position, means a country that has a central managing committee or government—every city votes for one or several representatives and sends them to the capitol of the country, where a special building is built for these representatives. These representatives must manage the country, as, for example, the ministers do now in Parliament; with the difference, of course, being that now the central government consists only of the Capitalist class, and in a Socialist society it would consist completely of workers.
Other than the fact that a central government has the
[End of page 2.]
