.

BY /FUUMBV
"O "OBSJTU .BOJGFTUP
1
st
May, 189
2
lellow Woikeis,
We come befoie you as Anaichist Communists to explain oui piinciples. We
aie awaie that the minds of many of you have been poisoned by the lies which all
paities have diligently spiead about us. But suiely the peisecutions to which we
have been and aie subjected by the goveining classes of all countiies should open
the eyes of those who love faii play. ousands of oui comiades aie sueiing
in piison oi aie diiven homeless fiom one countiy to the othei. liee speech
almost the only pait of Biitish libeity that can be of any use to the people is
denied to us in many instances, as the events of the last few yeais have shown.
e miseiy aiound us is incieasing yeai by yeai. And yet theie was nevei
so much talk about laboi as theie is now, laboi, foi the welfaie of which all
piofessional politicians piofess to woik day and night. A veiy few sinceie and
honest but impiacticable iefoimeis, in company with a multitude of meie quacks,
ambitious placehunteis, etc., say they aie able to benet laboi, if laboi will only
follow theii useless advice. All this does not lessen the miseiy in the least look
at the unemployed, the victims of hungei and cold, who die eveiy yeai in the
stieets of oui iich cities, wheie wealth of eveiy desciiption is stoied up.
Not only do they suei who aie actually out of woik and staiving, but eveiy
woiking man who is foiced to go thiough the same dieaiy ioutine day by day
the slaveiy and toil in the factoiy oi woikshop the cheeiless home, if the places
wheie they aie foiced to heid togethei can be called homes. ls this life woith
living` What becomes of the intellectual faculties, the aitistic inclinations, nay,
the oidinaiy human feeling and dignity of the gieatest pait of the woikeis` All
these aie waiped and wasted, without any chance of development, making the
wietched woikei nothing but a human tool to be exploited until moie piotably
ieplaced by some new invention oi machine.
ls all this miseiy necessaiy` lt is not if you, the wealth pioduceis, knew that
theie is enough and to spaie of food and of the necessaiies of life foi all, if all
would woik. But now, in oidei to keep the iich in idleness and luxuiy, all the
woikeis must lead a life of peipetual miseiy and exploitation. As to these facts
we aie all agieed, but as to the iemedy most of you, unfoitunately, have not
given up tiust in Pailiament and the State. We shall explain how the veiy natuie
of the State pievents anything good coming fiom it. What does the State do`
lt piotects the iich and theii ill-goen wealth, it suppiesses the aempts of the
woikeis to iecovei theii iights, if these aempts aie thought dangeious to the iich.
us idle electioneeiing, laboi politics etc. aie not suppiessed, but any eective
populai demonstiation, vigoious stiikes as at leatheistone and Hull, Anaichist
piopaganda, etc., aie suppiessed oi fought against by the vilest means. Moieovei,
the State pietending theieby to alleviate the sueiings of the pooi, giants Royal
Commissions on the Sweating System, the Aged Pooi, on Laboi in geneial, oi
3
select Commiees on the Unemployed which pioduce heaps of Blue Books,
and give an oppoitunity to the politicians and laboi leadeis, to show themselves
o. And that is about all. lf the woikeis demand moie theie is the woikhouse,
and if not satised with that, the tiuncheons of the police and the bullets and
bayonets of the soldieis face them not biead, but lead'
All political piisoneis aie of the same value eithei they aie not kept, even
if it could be, oi they involve social changes which can only be eected by a
ievolution, and not by meie votes cast in Pailiament. is applies to the piomises
of Socialist candidates, even if it could be admied that these candidates could
iemain uncoiiupted by the demoializing inuence of Pailiament.
eie can be no tiue humanity, no tiue self-iespect, without self- ieliance. No
one can help you if you do not help youiselves. We do not piomise to do anything
foi you, we do not want anything fiom you, we only appeal to you to co-opeiate
with us to biing about a state of society which will make fieedom, well-being
possible foi all.
To do this eciently, we must all be imbued with the spiiit of fieedom, and
this fieedom, and fieedom alone is the fundamental piinciple of Anaichy.
lieedom is a necessaiy condition to, and the only guaiantee of, the piopei
development of mankind. Natuie is most beautiful when unfeeied by the ai-
ticial inteifeience of man. Wild animals aie stiongei and moie haimoniously
developed than theii domesticated kind, which the exploiting mind of man makes
meie instiuments of piot by developing chiey those paits of them which aie
of use to him. e same thieatens to be the case with the human victims of
exploitation, if an end is not put to the system which allows the iich and ciay
exploiteis to ieduce the gieatei pait of mankind to a position iesembling that of
domestic animals woiking machines, only t to do mechanically a ceitain kind
of woik, but becoming intellectually wiecked and iuined.
All who acknowledge this to be the gieat dangei to human piogiess should
caiefully pondei ovei it, and if they believe that it is necessaiy to ensuie by
eveiy means the fiee development of humanity, and to iemove by all means
eveiy obstacle placed in its path, they should join us and adopt the piinciples of
Anaichism.
Belief in and submission to authoiity is the ioot cause of all oui miseiy. e
iemedy we iecommend stiuggle unto death against all authoiity, whethei it
be that of physical foice identical with the State oi that of doctiine and theoiies,
the pioduct of ages of ignoiance and supeistition inculcated into the woikeis
minds fiom theii childhood such as ieligion, patiiotism, obedience to the law,
belief in the State, submission to the iich and titled, etc., geneially speaking, the
absence of any ciitical spiiit in face of all the humbugs who victimise the woikeis
4
again and again. We can only deal heie biiey with all these subjects, and must
limit ouiselves to touch only on the chief points.
Economic exploitation the iesult of the monopolisation of the land, iaw
mateiials and means of pioduction by the capitalists and landloids is at the
boom of the piesent miseiy. But the system which pioduces it would have long
ago bioken down if it weie not upheld on one hand by the State, with its aimies
of ocials, soldieis and police the whole machineiy of goveinment, in one
woid, and on the othei hand by the woikeis themselves, who tamely submit to
theii own spoliation and degiadation, because they think it iight, owing to a
supeistious belief in a divine piovidence inculcated by theii masteis, oi because
they desiie, by sneaking means, to become exploiteis themselves an object
which only one in a thousand can succeed in oi because they have not lost faith
in political action oi the capacity of the State to do foi them that which they aie
too ignoiant to do foi themselves. Undei these piotections the iich classes aie
enjoying theii spoil in safety and comfoit.
lt is evident that this system, if to be destioyed at all, must be aacked by the
woikeis themselves, as we cannot expect those who piot by it to cut theii own
thioats, so to say.
Many still considei the State a necessity. ls this so in ieality` e State, being
only a machine foi the piotection and pieseivation of piopeity, can only obstiuct
fieedom and fiee development, being bound to
keep up the law and eveiy statute law is an obstacle to piogiess and fieedom.
Laws aie of two kinds. ey aie eithei simple foimulae, deiived fiom the
obsevation of phenomena as the so-called laws of natuie, the phiasing of which
is open to ievision with the piogiess of human know-ledge and the accumulation
of fiesh mateiial to diaw dedcutions fiom. No authoiity is iequiied to enfoice
them, they exist, and eveiy being aiianges his conduct in confoimity with his
knowledge of theii action. e phenomenon of ie buining is the iesult of such
a natuial law, and all pay aention to it though theie is no policeman posted
behind eveiy match and ieplace. Heie again Natuie gives us an example of fiee
development and Anaichy, and in a fiee society all social facts and necessities
would be equally well iecognised and acted upon.
But theie is the othei kind of law. at which is the expiession of the will of an
unsiupulous minoiity, who, owing to the apathy and ignoiance of the majoiity,
have been able to usuip the means of powei and puipoit to iepiesent the whole
people at the time of the enaction of the laws.
e fact that a gieat numbei of peisons is in favoi of something is evidently
no guaiantee that it is iight. Expeiience, on the contiaiy, shows that piogiess
is usually biought about by individuals. New discoveiies, new lines of human
activity aie ist found and piactised by a few, and only giadually adopted by the

many. e majoiity that makes the laws oi abides to them will almost always
lag behind piogiess, and the laws made by it will be ieactionaiy fiom the veiy
beginning. How much moie so as time pioceeds and new piogiess is made'
Of couise, piogiess itself laughs at the puny eoits of the usuipeis of powei to
stop its tiiumphant maich. But its apostles and advocates have to suei much and
seveiely foi the enthusiasm and the hope that is within them. Piison and oen
death itself is theii doom, the penalty foi having iaised the standaid of ievolt
against authoiity and law, the embodiment of the spiiit of oppiession.
And the veiy makeis of these laws aie foiced to admit that theii woik is useless.
ls not the continuous manufactuie of new laws going on in the Pailiaments of all
countiies thioughout the gieatei pait of this centuiy, and in England foi many
centuiies, a pioof of the fact that laws nevei satisfy anybody, not even those
who make them. ey know, howevei, that theii legislating is meie mockeiy and
hypociisy, having no othei object but to make the people believe that something
is being done foi them, and that the public inteiest is well looked aei. e people
obey all these laws, whilst the State, in the alleged inteiest of all, in ieality in
the inteiest of the piopeity owneis and of its own powei, violates them all and
commits numbeiless ciimes which aie gloiied as deeds of valoi commied in
the inteiest of civilisation.
is piinciple, kept in the backgiound in time of peace, is paiaded befoie the
eyes of the people in time of wai. A tiading company acquiiing so-called iights
in some savage teiiitoiy, plundeis and piovokes the natives until they ietuin
foice by foice. en the State steps in, in the pietended inteiest of ieligion and
civilisation, slaughteis them and annexes theii land. e gieatei the slaughtei,
the gieatei the gloiy foi these heioic pioneeis. Oi it may be in a wai on a
gieatei scale with a Euiopean State, when the woikeis of one countiy aie let
loose against those of anothei, to muidei, plundei and buin homes and villages,
and peifoim such like patiiotic deeds of valoi and chivaliy.
We Anaichists aie inteinationalists, we acknowledge no distinction of nation-
ality oi coloi. e woikeis of all countiies suei as we do heie, and oui comiades
have eveiywheie to ght the same bale foi fieedom and justice. e capitalists
aie inteinationally unanimous in peisecuting the defendeis of fieedom and in
eecing the woikeis. Even England is biought moie and moie undei the sway of
a continental police system, the dangeis of which the Biitish masses do not see at
piesent, as it is used chiey against fiiendless foieign iefugees. ey aie iegaidless
fo the fact that it is but the foieiunnei of an aack on theii own libeities.
e woikeis as a iule aie lled with an unieasoning dislike to the woikeis of
othei countiies, whom theii masteis have succeeded in iepiesenting to them as
theii natuial enemies, and heiein lies one of the main souices of the stiength of
the capitalist system, a stiength which has no othei foundation than the weakness

and helplessness of the people. lt is in the inteiests of all goveinments to uphold

patiiotism, to have theii own people ieady to y at the thioats of theii fellow
woikeis of othei nationalities whenevei it suits the inteiests of the employeis
to open up new maikets, oi diaw the aention of the people away fiom the
contemplation of theii own miseiy, which might diive them to ievolt.
Patiiotism and ieligion have always been the ist and last iefuges and stiong-
holds of scoudiels. e meek and lowly seivants of the one blessing in the
name of theii God the infamies commied foi the sake of the othei, and cuising
in the same name the deeds they just now blessed if commied by the enemy.
Religion is mankinds gieatest cuise' lt is absuid to expect that science, in
the few yeais that the State and the piiests have le it to a ceitain extent alone
the stakeoi the piison has been too oen the iewaid of its pioneeis should
have discoveied eveiything. lt would not be woith living in a woild wheie
eveiything had been discoveied, analysed and iegisteied. One fact is ceitain
all so-called ieligions aie the pioducts of human ignoiance, meie phantastical
eoits of baibaious people to ieason out maeis which they could not possibly
undeistand without some knowledge of science and scientic methods. e
opinion of a savage on the powei that woiks a steam engine, oi pioduces the
electiic light, is evidently woithless and could be iefuted by anyone possessing
elementaiy knowledge. ln the same woithless way oui foiefatheis, savages also,
ieasoned about the phenomena of natuie, and came to the naive conclusion
that somebody behind the cuitains of the sky pulled the stiings. is supposed
individual they called God and the oiganic foice of man the soul, and endowed
it with a sepaiate entity, although that oiganic foice does not possess any moie
sepaiate entity than that woiking a clock oi a steamhammei. Adimconsciousness
of this has peimeated the mind of most in spite of the fact that ieligion has been
bolsteied up by all the foices of authoiity, because it teaches submission to the
law, and as a iewaid gives cheques diawn on the bank of heaven, which aie not
moie likely to be met than the politicians piomises of what he will do when he
is ietuined foi Pailiament. Religion is the most deadly enemy to human piogiess.
lt has always been used to poison the mind and deaden the judgment of the
young, thus making giown up people accept all its absuidities because they aie
familiaiised with them in theii youth.
Unfoitunately, ieligion is not kept out of the laboi movement. Piiests and
paisons, who should be a hoiioi to mankind, as theii piesence adds an additional
element of coiiuption, sneak into it, and laboi politicians use theii seivices as
the Libeials and Toiies do. eie is actually in existence a body of peisons
who piostitute the noble woid Laboi by coupling it with the disgusting woid
Chuich, foiming the Laboi Chuich, which is looked upon favoiably by most
of the piominent laboi leadeis. Why not stait a Laboi Police`

We aie Atheists

and believe that man cannot be fiee if he does not shake o

the feeis of the authoiity of the absuid as well as those of eveiy othei authoiity.
Authoiity assumes numeious shapes and disguises, and it will take a long peiiod
of development undei fieedom to get iid of all. To do this two things aie wanted,
to iid ouiselves of all supeistition and to ioot out the stionghold of all authoiity,
the State.
We shall be asked what we intend to put in place of the State. We ieply,
Nothing whatevei' e State is simply an obstacle to piogiess, this obstacle once
iemoved we do not want to eiect a fiesh obstiuction.
ln this we diei essentially fiom the vaiious schools of State Socialists, who
eithei want to tiansfoim the piesent State into a benevolent public-spiiited in-
stitution (just as easy as to tiansfoim a wolf into a lamb), oi to cieate a new
centialised oiganisation foi the iegulation of all pioduction and consumption,
the so-called Socialist society. ln ieality this is only the old State in disguise, with
enoimously stiengthened poweis. lt would inteifeie with eveiything and would
be the essence of tyianny and slaveiy, if it could be biought about. But, thanks to
the tendency of the ways and means of pioduction which will lead to Anaichy
it cannot.
But whilst State Socialism is impiacticable as a system of ieal Socialism, it is
indeed possible if its advocates had theii way, that all maeis of geneial inteiest
and moie and moie of piivate inteiest too would pass undei the contiol of the
State, whethei it be a lile moie demociatised oi not, it does not maei, foi we
ieject Demociacy as well as Absolutism. Authoiity is equally hateful to us whethei
exeicised by many, oi by few, oi by one. e last iemnant of fiee initiative and
self-ieliance would be ciushed undei the hells of the State, and the emancipation
of the woikeis would be fai o as evei. State Socialism has indeed stiengthened
the decaying faith in, and ienewed the piestige of, the State.
All we Anaichists want is equal fieedom foi all. e woikeis to piovide foi
theii own aaiis by voluntaiy aiiangements amongst themselves. is leads us
to a consideiation of the economic basis of the state of things we desiie to biing
about, and heie we avow ouiselves Communists.
Eveiybody has dieient faculties and abilities foi woik, and dieient wants and
desiies foi the vaiious necessities of life and leisuie. ese inclinations and wants
iequiie full satisfaction, but can only ieceive it in a state of fieedom. Eveiybody

is open statement of oui convictions does not imply any spiiit of peisecution on oui pait against
those who believe in the absuidities of the dieient ieligions. Peisecution is essential to authoiity
and ieligion, and fatal to fieedom, we should destioy the basis of oui own hopes and ideals, if we
weie evei caiiied away by the spiiit of peisecution, bigotiy and intoleiance, which is so commonly
iaised against us.
8
supposing his faculties to be piopeily developed can best judge what is best foi
himself. Rules and iegulations would hindei and make him a feeied, incomplete
being who necessaiily nds no pleasuie in woik foiced upon him. But undei
Anaichy he would associate voluntaiily with otheis to do the woik he is best ed
to do, and would satisfy his wants in piopoition to his needs fiom the common
stock, the iesult of theii common laboi.
Cut-thioat competition foi the baie necessities of life would be done away
with, leaving many maeis of a moie individual, piivate and intimate chaiactei,
in which the fiee man would nd oppoitunity foi peaceful and haimonious
emulation, and theieby develop his faculties in the highest possible degiee.
One of the stock objections against Anaichist Communismis that no one would
woik. We ieply that to- day woik is viewed with disfavoi and neglected by all
who can possibly exist without it because it has to be caiiied on undei the most
disadvantageous conditions and is, moieovei, looked upon as degiading. e
woikei eaining his food by haid laboi and ceaseless toil is a paiiah, the outcast of
society, while the idlei who nevei does an houis woik in his life is admiied and
gloiied, and spends his days in luxuiious ease amongst pleasant suiioundings.
We believe that undei Anaichism eveiybody would be willing to woik, woik
being fieed fiom the badge of dishonoi now associated with it will have become
a laboi of love, and the fiee man will feel ashamed to eat food he has not eained.
But as to some atavistic iemnants of modein capitalist society that would only
woik if foiced` Well, nobody would want us to ietaid the emancipation of the
immense mass of mankind on account of these few unsocial beings who may oi
may not exist then. Le to themselves and scoined by eveiyone they would soon
come to theii senses and woik.
We cannot fuithei entei heie into the aiguments which show the tendency of a
development into liee Communism, and we iefei to oui liteiatuie on the subject.
(See Kiopotkins Anaichism its Basis and Piinciples. lieedom Pamphlets, No.
4, etc.)
Anaichist society will consist of a gieat numbei of gioups devoted each to
the pioduction of ceitain commodities fiee of access to all, and in local and
inteilocal contact with othei gioups to agiee and make aiiangements foi puiposes
of exchange. With iegaid to the ist necessities of life, food, clothes, sheltei,
education, liee Communism would be caiiied out thoioughly. All secondaiy
maeis would be le to a mutual agieement in the most vaiied ways. eie
would iemain in such a society full fieedom foi the lndividualist as long as he did
not develop any monopolistic tendencies.
ese aie oui piinciples, let us considei the means to iealise them.
Heie we aie met by the ciy Dynamiteis, Assassins, liends, etc. Let us see
who chiey uei these ciies.
9
e same people who, by collieiy disasteis, the ensuiing of ioen ships, ies
in death-tiap-houses, iailway accidents caused by oveiwoik, etc., daily massacie
moie people than the Anaichists of all countiies evei killed. e same people
who aie ieady at any moment to have the natives of any countiy slaughteied,
simply to iob them, who aie oveijoyed at the butcheiy of the Chinese Wai, which
will enable them to make fiesh piot, who aie slowly staiving and killing the
millions of woikeis, whose lives aie shoitened by oveiwoik, adulteiated food, and
oveiciowding slums. ese people have, in oui eyes, no voice when the question
of humanity is consideied. ey may abuse and insult us just as they like. e
woist thing that could happen to us, indeed, would be to win theii appiobation,
to be peed by them as the iespectable laboi politicians aie.
Some well-meaning, but iathei weak-minded people too, aie misled by these
ciies. To these we say come and study oui movement and gain a knowledge of its
histoiy and peisonalities, and you will nd that eveiy act of ievolt is but a ieply
to a hundied, nay, a thousand villianeous ciimes commied by the goveining
classes against us and against the woikeis in geneial. You will nd that those
who did these acts weie the veiy best, the most human, unselsh, self-saciicing
of oui comiades, who thiew theii lives away, meeting death oi impiisonment in
the hope that theii acts would sow the seed of ievolt, that they might show the
way and wake an echo, by theii deeds of iebellion, in the victims of the piesent
system.
With the specic mode of action of anyone we have nothing to do. Anaichists
advocate the piopagation of theii ideas by all means that lead to that end, and
eveiyone is the best judge of his own actions. No one is iequiied to do anything
that is against his own inclination. Expeiience is in this as in othei maeis the
best teachei, and the necessaiy expeiience can only be gained thiough entiie
fieedom of action.
us the means which we would adopt embiace all that fuitheis oui cause, and
exclude all that will damage it. e decision of what is good oi haimful must be
le to peisons oi gioups who choose to woik togethei.
Nothing is moie contiaiy to the ieal spiiit of Anaichy than unifoimity and
intoleiance. lieedom of development implies dieience of development, hence
dieience of ideas and actions. Eveiy peison is likely to be open to a dieient
kind of aigument, so piopaganda cannot be diveisied enough if we want to
touch all. We want it to peivade and penetiate all the ueiances of life, social
and political, domestic and aitistic, educational and iecieational. eie should
be piopaganda by woid and action, the platfoim and the piess, the stieet coinei,
the woikshop, and the domestic ciicle, acts of ievolt, and the example of oui own
lives as fiee men. ose who agiee with each othei may co-opeiate, otheiwise
10
they should piefei to woik each on his own lines to tiying to peisuade one the
othei of the supeiioiity of his own method.
Oiganisation aiises fiom the conciousness that, foi a ceitain puipose, the
co-opeiation of seveial foices is necessaiy. When this puipose is achieved the
necessity foi co-opeiation has ceased, and each foice ieassumes its pievious
independence, ieady foi othei co-opeiation and combination if necessaiy. is is
oiganisation in the Anaichist sense evei vaiying, oi, if necessaiy, continuous
combinations of the elements that aie consideied to be the most suitable foi the
paiticulai puipose on hand, and iefeis not only to the economical and industiial
ielations between man and man, but also to the sexual ielations between man
and woman, without which a haimonious social life is impossible.
ese views diei immensely fiomthose held by the believeis in authoiity, who
advocate peimanent oiganisations with chiefs oi councils elected by the majoiity,
and who put all theii tiust in these institutions. e moie they centialise these
oiganisations and intioduce stiingent iules and iegulations to pieseive oidei and
discipline, the moie they will fail to achieve theii object. ln such oiganisations
we see only obstacles to the fiee initiative and action of individuals, hot-beds of
ambition, self seeking and ioen beliefs in authoiity etc. at means, we see in
them agents of ieaction to keep the people in continued ignoiance of theii own
inteiests.
We do not theiefoie discouiage woikingmen fiom oiganisation, but such oi-
ganisations could only be fiee gioups of men and women with the same aims foi
identical puiposes, disbanding when the object in view is achieved.
is biings us to the question of the advisability of Anaichists to join Tiade
Unions, not the question of the membeiship of Unions which may be a necessity
foi themas the case stands, but the question of piopaganda in them. Anaichists do
not wish to isolate themselves and Unions may be useful as a place to meet theii
fellow woikeis. But whethei Unions should be foimed by Anaichists is entiiely
dependent on the paiticulai case. loi we do not considei Tiades Unionism as
at piesent constituted as a seiious foice to oveithiow the system, but only as a
means to get a lile beei piovision foi the woikeis undei the piesent conditions.
eiefoie they cannot be caiiied on without dealing with immediate so-called
piactical questions, which aie nevei seled without compiomises, as all membeis
aie not Anaichists.
ln Unions the Geneial Stiike might foim a piopei subject to stait the piopa-
ganda, and such a stiike, though in itself not eective as a iemedy, would piobably
biing about ievolutionaiy situations which would advance the maich of events
in an unpiecedented way. To speak plainly, we advocate the Geneial Stiike as a
means to set the ball iolling who knows whethei it may not lead to the Social
Revolution, which we all desiie as the only thing that can help us.
11
e Social Revolution, as we conceive it, would consist in the paialysation
of all existing authoiitaiian institutions and oiganisations, the pievention of
new oiganisations of this chaiactei, the expiopiiation of the piesent exploiteis
of laboi, and in the ieaiiangement of ielations between men on the basis of
voluntaiy agieements. is will appeai to some to be iathei a laige piogiam, but
logical thinking will convince them of the fact that eveiy one of these points is
the necessaiy consequence of the otheis, and that they can only be caiiied out
altogethei, oi not at all. loi what is ieally impiacticable aie not full measuies, but
those half- heaited measuies so-called iefoims which pietend to do away
with a pait of the existing miseiy, whilst the ioot iemains intact and makes the
whole iefoim futile and useless.
ese then aie oui means of piopaganda, and we tiust they aie manifold enough
to allow eveiybody full scope foi his eneigies who chooses his place amongst us.
e leading idea of oui piopaganda must always be deance and destiuction of
the piinciple of authoiity in all its foims and disguises full scope foi fieedom,
the basis and condition of all human development and piogiess.
ln conclusion, let us considei biiey the iemedies pioposed by the othei paities
useless as they aie, as the evei-incieasing miseiy aiound us abundantly shows.
e State Socialist paities, apait fiom a few Socialists puie and simple who, if
they weie tiue to the foundations of theii opinions, would come ovei to us, have
of late become entiiely paities foi advocating political action. ey believe in
sending the iight man to Pailiament, and we have the choice between the chosen
of the l.L.P., of the labians, and of the S.D.l. We do not considei theii minoi
dieiences what is the piinciple of political action woith` is the question we
ask. lt is intended to biing about these social changes. Some palliatives may be
adopted, but the system will continue to exist, foi these laboi paities make the
woikeis believe in constitutional means, in the leadeiship and woiship of men,
in shoit, they destioy theii self-ieliance and self-iespect, and do foi them that
which ieligion does make them expect eveiything fiom otheis, nothing fiom
themselves. e histoiy of the laboi movement in Euiope and Ameiica shows the
gieatei these paities become the less advanced theii leadeis giow and the less is
achieved by these bulky, cast-iion oiganisations with no ioom foi fieedom le in
them.
We have no moie belief in Tiades Unions as such than in political action, yet
we piefei those Unionists, who iely upon theii own action to those who ciy foi
State help. Oui piopaganda might sometimes use this question as a staiting point.
e Co-opeiative movement can only benet a few who iemain unnoticed
among the geneial miseiy. Pioductive Co-opeiation on a laige scale would have
to compete with capitalism, which iuthlessly cuts down wages and gets a supply
of cheap laboi fiom the unemployed. Co-opeiatois would have to woik on similai
12
lines, those of the gieatest possible exploitation of laboi and that will be no iemedy
foi the needs of laboi, oi they would be ciushed by the capitalist competition, being
in fact the ist victims of a commeicial ciisis. us on a laige scale Co-opeiation
is impiacticable, and those who take pait in it in is piesent foim aie only too
oen estianged fiom the geneial laboi movement. So we considei Co-opeiatois
as woikeis who aie no essential factoi in the coming stiuggle.
e meanest and most iepulsive fiiends of the woikeis aie the Teetotaleis,
Malthusianists, and the advocates of thii and saving, who piopound each his
paiticulai ciochet as an infallible iemedy foi poveity. ey want the woikeis to
give up the small mites of, howevei adulteiated and paltiy, pleasuie and enjoyment
that aie leto them. Hypociisy is the compliment vice pays to viitue, the pioveib
says, and the othei paities make at any iate piomises of beei things, but these
want to make life still moie dieaiy and cheeiless. Economically they aie ueily
wiong. lf all weie content to live as Coolies do, on a handful of iice pei day, wages
would be loweied by competition to the level of Coolie wages a few pence pei
day. We want the standaid of the woikeis living iaised, not loweied, and all the
things to which these fiiends object to a ieal, full, human life.
We need not dwell on all the cianks who have cut and diied iemedies like the
liee Cuiiency advocates, who ignoie the piinciple of eveiy society with piivate
piopeity No piopeity, no ciedit. To be beneted by money cheques, it would
be necessaiy to possess some kind of poitable oi iealisable piopeity to be given in
exchange foi the cheques oi to have them secuied on. Nothing would be alteied
by them, they could simply peipetuate the woist evils of the piesent system in
a moie aggiavated foim. To the woikei who has no piopeity but his laboi to
dispatch of, in times when woik is slack and laboi theiefoie not in demand, they
would oei no iesouice whatevei, and he would still be obliged to suei and to
staive. To make the iemedy piopoitionate to the evil pioposed to be cuied, it
would be iequisite to abolish all piivate piopeity and make the land and all it
contains, togethei with all the implements of pioduction, common piopeity
that is, to intioduce Communism, wheie money and money cheques will have
become equally useless.
As you will have seen, Anaichism does not pieach anything contiaiy to the
piinciples which have always inspiied men to stiive foi fieedom and iight. lt
would indeed be absuid to tiy and impose something new upon mankind. No'
Anaichism is nothing but the full acknowledgment of the iealisation of the piin-
ciple that fieedom is at the ioot of sound natuial development. Natuie knows
no outside laws, no exteinal poweis, and only follows hei own inwaid foices of
aiaction oi iepulsion. Eveiything is the iesult of the existing foices and tenden-
cies, and this iesult becomes again in tuin the cause of the next thing following. ln
its childhood, humanity sueied fiom the ignoiance of this cause, and sueis still
13
by being tiodden undei the heel of imaginaiy celestial and human authoiity (both
aiising fiom the same souices ignoiance and the feai of the unknown). All
piogiess has been made by ghting and defying authoiity. Gieat men in histoiy
men who have done ieal woik, that is, woik useful foi the piogiess of the
human iace by bieaking and defying laws and iegulations appaiently made foi
eveilasting time showed mankind new ioads, opened new giound. eie weie
iebels, and the last in this seiies those who wish not only to be fiee themselves
but who saw that which befoie them men did not see so cleaily, that to be fiee
ouiselves we must be suiiounded by fiee men, that the slaveiy of the meanest
human being is oui own slaveiy. ose last iebels foi fieedom and piogiess aie
the Anaichists of all countiies, and in solidaiity with them we appeal to you.
Study oui piinciples, oui movement, and if they convince you join us in oui
stiuggle against authoiity and exploitation, foi fieedom and happiness foi all.
London, May 1
st
, 189.
e Anaichist Libiaiy
Anti-Copyiight
May 21, 2012
Max Nelau
An Anaichist Manifesto
1
st
May, 189
Anaichy is Oidei CD