P. S. As I correct these proofs I learn that Brandenburg the Blessed is
again under arrest; this time for forging Grover Cleveland's signature
to a campaign article and selling it to the New York Times for $200.
[48] For an impartial discussion of the various anarchial schools,
including of course Peter Kropotkin's, see "Anarchism" by Dr. Paul
Eltzbacher.
[49] Without venturing my own opinion, I must say that in this work
Kropotkin enunciates a theory which few radicals accept--the
Decentralisation of Industries. Briefly stated, the doctrine is this: It
is untrue that certain nations are specialised either for industry or
for agriculture. Countries which economists have declared to be merely
agricultural lands, have recently advanced so rapidly in industries that
the supremacy of the champions is seriously threatened. No one or two
nations can again secure a monopoly of industry, for the tendency of
modern civilization is towards a spreading and scattering of industries
all over the earth. Not a mere shifting of the center of gravity from
one country to another, as formerly happened in Europe when the
commercial hegemony migrated from Italy to Spain, then to Holland, and
finally to Britain, but an actual and permanent decentralisation of
industry, by its very nature making it impossible for any nation to gain
industrial ascendancy. Even the most backward nations will soon
manufacture almost everything they need. There is much advantage in this
combination of industrial with agricultural pursuits. It is well to have
production for home use--each region producing and consuming its own
manufactured goods and its own agricultural product.----Of course the
Socialists are diametrically opposed to this contention, and they answer
it with one word--the trusts.--When I spoke with Leonard D. Abbott about
Kropotkin, he told me his high opinion of him, but soon referred to this
hypothesis, and laughed. It was the same when I mentioned the point to
Dr. Antoinette Konikov, etc. See Abbott's "A Visit to Prince Kropotkin,"
(Twentieth Century, October 2, 1897).
[50] My friend Elmer Littlefield has demonstrated the same thing on his
acre on Fellowship Farm, Westwood, Mass. His magazine, Ariel, is an
enthusiastic advocate of intensive agriculture.
[51] Bolton Hall's "Three Acres and Liberty" is based to a great extent
on this work of Kropotkin's.
[52] After finishing the "Memoirs," my friend, Miss Margaret Scott wrote
me: "As a system of ethical training it might be advisable to have our
police lieutenants read one chapter a day of Kropotkin, while lawyers,
mayors and such, should have to get thru three. Think of the mental
upheaval!"
[53] Spargo the Socialist--always a vehement foe of the
Anarchists--calls this "a wonderful book." See his "The Socialists."
[54] This book is not permitted in Russia--when Kellogg Durland traveled
there, he had to rip off the cover and wrap the pages around his body.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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