Anarchy and Anarchists: A History of the Red Terror and the Social Revolution in America and Europe; Communism, Socialism, and Nihilism in Doctrine and in Deed; The Chicago Haymarket Conspiracy and the Detection and Trial of the ConspiratorsSchaack, Michael J.
History
Anarchy and Anarchists: A History of the Red Terror and the Social Revolution in America and Europe; Communism, Socialism, and Nihilism in Doctrine and in Deed; The Chicago Haymarket Conspiracy and the Detection and Trial of the Conspirators
MICHAEL SCHWAB, when confronted by the officers, looked like an
exclamation point, and had his long, bushy hairs been porcupine quills,
each would have stood straight on end. He was bewildered, dumbfounded,
and there was a distant, far-off expression in his eye. He realized
that he was in trouble, and to the many questions put to him by the
officers he stammered apologetic but non-committal answers. It was
clearly to be seen that he had been like clay in the potter’s hand, a
mere dupe of his associates. He was far less talented and less active
than the other leaders, but still in his own way he had played quite
a conspicuous part in the Anarchist drama. He had seen something of
the world as a peripatetic book-binder. Through his varied experience,
his nature had grown irritable and crusty, and Anarchy seemed the only
thing suited to right the wrongs of mankind. He fell in with the ideas
of the cranks in Chicago, and soon wormed himself into an assistant
editorial position of $18 a week on the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_. In
appearance Schwab was ungainly and ferocious, but when put to the test
he was calm and mild as a lamb. The only thing really vicious about
him was in his incendiary writings and speeches. He aimed with his
limited capacity to be a great leader, but the moment he got into the
clutches of the law and found himself in peril of his life he retracted
everything which he had so persistently and stubbornly advocated. His
new troubles brought out the fact that he had written and spoken simply
for the money that was in the business, and not because he sincerely
believed in the theories he preached. He was at all times a supple tool
in the hands of Spies and Parsons, and during the remainder of his days
in the penitentiary he will have ample opportunities to repent of his
past misdeeds.
Schwab was born in the village of Kibringen-on-the-Main, near Mannheim,
in Bavaria, in 1853, and emigrated to the United States in 1879,
reaching Chicago in the year following. He afterwards traveled from
point to point in the West, roughed it a little, and three or four
years later drifted back to Chicago. He is a brother of the notorious
Anarchist of New York, Justus Schwab, and has a wife and two children,
who are now being supported by friends.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account