Haymarket Affair Digital Collection

Illinois vs. August Spies et al. trial evidence book. People's Exhibit 34.
The Alarm (Newspaper) article, "Force!," 1885 Jan. 13

3 p.
Introduced into evidence during testimony of Eugene Seeger (Vol. K p. 627-634), 1886 July 29.
Transcript of article.


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[Image, People's Exhibit 34, Page 1]

People's Ex. 34

THE ALARM, January 13, 1885.

FORCE!

The only defense against in justice and oppression.

Because the socialists advocate resistance they are accused of brutality and want of wisdom. It is said that by accomplishing a thing by force you accumulate a power that will endanger all that is accomplished, therefore, force is unwise.

It must be remembered that all men can agree that they themselves should not be trampled upon by others. Grant them this and they have no cause for complaint or war. If by force of arms you compel a man to agree to allow others to exercise control over him, you will soon see that the soldier learned your art of war and by it soon claim all you have ever acquired for yourself. This only teaches that it is dangerous for the wicked to teach the art of war. It is not so with justice. One justice wins then no man can find a cause of war, there can be no war. Justice can never create opposition to itself. The moment justice begins to be agitated its opposition begins to weaken. The reverse is true of injustice. The moment injustice begins to be agitated that moment its oposition begins to grow. For these reasons justice is always safe in accumulating force, while injustice can only accumulate force at its peril.


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We are told that force is cruel. But this is only true when opposition is less cruel. If the opposition is a relentless power, that is starving, freezing, exposing, and depriving tens of thousands, and the application of force will require less suffering while removing the old cause, then the force is humane. Seeing the amount of needless suffering all about us, we say a vigorous use of dynamite is both humane and economical. It will at the expense of less suffering prevent more. It is not humane to compel ten persons to starve to death when the execution of five persons would prevent it.

It is upon this theory that we advocate the use of dynamite.

It is clearly more humane to blow ten men into eternity than to make ten men starve to death.

When ten men unite to starve one man to death, then it is humane and just to blow up the whole ten men.

This is our doctrine and our justification of the application of force.

The fact that the ten are a cultured set of refined and wealthy gentlemen, and that the one they are turning out is poor ragged and ignorant, and never ate a good meal of victuals in his life, does not in any manner remove the guilt of the ten. When a reasonable minority discover that it is


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just as wicked to torture a poor man as a rich man, then the wrong will be righted.

A system that is starving and freezing tens of thousands of little children, right in the midst of a world of plenty, cannot be defended against dynamiters on the ground of humanity.

If every child that starved to death in the United States was retaliated for by the execution of a rich man in his own parlor, the brutal system of wage property would not last six weeks.

It is better for mankind to kill an innocent capitalist, if there are any, at the death of every child of exposure, than to quietly bury the child without a protest. It is a wonder that a father, after his vain search for bread, can see his little ones starve or freeze, without striking that vengeful, just and bloody blow at the cause, that would prevent other little ones suffering a similar fate. It is not probable that men will always endure this cruel, relentless, grinding process of monopoly and competition.

It is cruel mockery to say, "peace, be still," while perpetual war is waged upon the life, liberty and happiness of the workers. The instinct of self-preservation revolts at the offer of such advice. The privileged class use force to perpetuate their power, and the despoiled workers must use force to prevent it.

Chicago, Ill. C.S.G.


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