The Rise and Fall of Anarchy in America: From its Incipient Stage to the First Bomb Thrown in ChicagoMcLean, George N.
History
The Rise and Fall of Anarchy in America: From its Incipient Stage to the First Bomb Thrown in Chicago
McLean, George N.
Anarchists -- United States; Haymarket Square Riot, Chicago, Ill., 1886
"As I said, it is a fact, and I do not deny that I was one
of the parties who called at the Haymarket meeting, but that
meeting--(At this point Mr. Salomon stepped up and spoke to
Fischer in a low tone, but Fischer waved him off and said:
Mr. Salomon, be so kind. I know what I am talking about.)
Now, that Haymarket meeting was not called for the purpose of
committing violence and crime. No; but the meeting was called
for the purpose of protesting against the outrages and against
the crimes of the police committed on the day previous out
at McCormick's. The next day I went to Wehrer & Klein and
had twenty-five thousand copies of the handbills printed,
and I invited Spies to speak at Haymarket meeting. It is the
fact, and I don't deny it, in the original of the 'copy' I
had the line 'Working men, arm!' and I had my reasons, too,
for putting those lines in, because I didn't want the working
men to be shot down in that meeting as on other occasions.
But as those circulars were printed and brought over to the
_Arbeiter Zeitung_ office, my comrade, Spies, saw one of those
circulars. I had invited him to speak before that. He showed
the circular and said: 'Well, Fischer, if those circulars are
distributed I won't speak.' And I admitted it would be better
to take those lines out; and Mr. Spies spoke. And that is all
I had to do with that meeting. I feel that I am sentenced, or
will be sentenced to death because I am an Anarchist, and
not because I am a murderer. I have never been a murderer.
I have never committed any crime in my life yet; but I know
a certain man who is on the way to becoming a murderer, an
assassin, and that man is Grinnell--the State's Attorney
Grinnell--because he brought men on the witness stand whom he
knew would swear falsely; and I publicly denounce Mr. Grinnell
as being a murderer and an assassin if I should be executed.
But, if the ruling classes think that by hanging us, hanging a
few Anarchists, they can crush out Anarchy, they will be badly
mistaken, because the Anarchist loves his principles more
than his life. An Anarchist is always ready to die for his
principles."
MICHAEL SCHWAB.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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