The words "due process of law" as contained in the fourteenth

amendment, and as used to define one of these guaranteed rights, mean

"by the law of the land," not the law of a county, a province, or a

State, but the law of the country--the whole country. That is the law

of the land, and was so understood by our forefathers as due process of

law. Any other meaning given to "due process of law" as it is used in

the fourteenth amendment would make it simply ridiculous and frivolous,

because any State may enact a "due process of law" according to that

State, by which a man's life may be taken and from which not a single

right or immunity of citizenship can protect him. Any law a State may

make after the passage of this amendment for dealing with the rights of

a citizen of the United States becomes wholly inoperative, because the

"law of the land" must forever remain fixed as at that moment, not to

be changed in regard to its citizens without a change of organic law,

and for some purposes not to be even so changed.

THE CASES OF FIELDEN AND SPIES.

General Butler then proceeded to a consideration of the special and

peculiar questions raised by the cases of Fielden and Spies who are

foreigners. He contended that treaties were the supreme law of the

land, and that these prisoners were entitled, by virtue of treaties

with Germany and Great Britain, to all the rights and privileges of

American citizens at the time such treaties were made. A State had

no power to try these men by one of its own laws which was not the

law of the land at the time the treaties were ratified. He did not

mean, he said, that a foreigner could come into a State, and break its

laws with impunity and that the State could not touch him. But he did

mean that the State could only try him in accordance with the law of

the land--the whole land--at the time the treaty with his government

was made. This, he said, was an important question to every American

citizen, because in return for the concession made by this government

in the treaty with Great Britain the government of that country had

made similar concessions to us. Suppose that a citizen of the United

States should go to Ireland and should make some remarks about the

advantages of a republican form of government, and should be arrested

and tried by the crimes act in violation of the treaty. Would we not

stand up and say that this man must be tried by a fair and impartial

jury? He must be tried as an Englishman would have been tried at the

time the treaty was made, and he cannot be dealt with in a more summary

way under a later law.

GENERAL BUTLER'S ARGUMENT.

If this should happen, General Butler said, he hoped that the English

authorities would not be able to hold up to him a decision of the

United States Supreme Court sustaining the right to try an Englishman

by the local law of a State which was nothing but a swamp and a howling

wilderness at the time the treaty was ratified.

Returning to the rights of States, General Butler said that he was not

prepared to deny that a State might change its organic laws with the

consent of all its citizens, but such change would not bind a citizen

of another State who had not assented to them.

IMPARTIAL JURIES AND NEWSPAPER LIES.

After some desultory remarks about the record and the necessity of

laying it before the court, and another reference to breaking open

safes and desks, General Butler said: "There is no doubt that the

prisoners were entitled to a trial by an impartial jury--a stupid jury,

if you please--because I don't think a man who reads newspapers is any

more competent to try a case--rather worse if he pays any attention

to their lies." As enunciated by chief justices of the Supreme Court

an impartial juror, he said, is one who "stands in freedom of mind,

without bias or prejudice, and is indifferent." The petitioners were

not tried by such a jury and are entitled to protection under the

federal constitution.

"If" he said, "the court is to give me jurors as prejudiced as some of

those in this case I had better go to a land of Hottentots, for they

would not allow me to be stolen and taken back into Illinois." General

Butler's allusion is to the kidnapping of Ker, referred to by counsel on

the other side in defending their search and seizure.

In reply to Mr. Grinnell's statement that the records would show that

the defense were more ready to take the last juror (Sanford) than the

State was, General Butler said that they were compelled to accept

the last juror. Their peremptory challenges were exhausted and they

could do nothing else. Under these circumstances they talked to him

and coaxed him, and tried to get him into a state of mind as favorable

to their side as they could. That was what the parts of the record

referred to by Mr. Grinnell would show, and nothing more.

NO WAIVER OF RIGHTS IN CAPITAL CASES.

General Butler then referred to the assertion of counsel on the other

side that the petitioners had waived some of their rights through not

insisting upon them by exception or objection at the proper time, and

that therefore, they were estopped from asserting these rights now in

this court. He contended, however, that when a man was on trial for

his life there was no such thing as a waiver or estoppal. In capital

offences a prisoner cannot waive wittingly or unwittingly anything

that will affect the issue. In support of this contention he cited

the opinion of Chief Justice Shaw in the case of Dr. Webster. The

prisoners, he maintained, could not now be barred out because they had

not raised sufficiently formal objections.

General Butler then returned again to the "unreasonable searches and

seizures" complained of by the petitioners, and said his associate,

Mr. Tucker, had characterized the proceeding as a "subp[oe]næ duces

tecum." executed by a locksmith. "Why your honors," he exclaimed, "they

searched under a burglary, headed by the State's attorney on his own

admission--no miserable policeman or half-witted constable, but the

State's prosecuting attorney does the burglary, steals the papers, and

says you can't help that. He puts it with a sort of triumph, and yet

we are told that our immunities and privileges are not invaded, and

our remedy is to sue for trespass. What a beautiful remedy! Sue the

State's attorney and be tried by such a jury as the laws of Illinois

would give. Better be in a place not to be named for comfort."

PRISONERS ABSENT WHEN SENTENCED.

As a final reason why the writ should be granted, General Butler urged

that the prisoners had been sentenced to death in their absence, and

without being asked whether they had any reason to give why sentence

of death should not be pronounced upon them. The record, he said, did

not show that they were absent when sentenced, but they could prove it.

The record showed that they were present, but they could prove by half

Chicago that this was a mistake.

In conclusion, General Butler said: "May I, in closing, make one

observation? If men's lives can be taken in this way, as you have seen

exhibited here to-day, better anarchy, better be without law, than with

any such law." General Butler then thanked the court for its indulgence

and took his seat.

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT'S DECISION NOVEMBER 2, 1887

Is as follows:

The court holds in brief: First, that the first ten amendments to the

constitution are limitations upon federal and not upon State action:

second, that the jury law of Illinois is upon its face valid and

constitutional, and that it is similar in its provisions to the statute

of Utah, which was sustained in this court in the case of Hopt vs.

The Territory of Utah; third, that it does not appear in the record

that upon the evidence the trial court should have declared the juror

Sanford incompetent; fourth, that the objection to the admission of the

Johann Most letter and the cross-examination of Spies, which counsel

for the prisoners maintained virtually compelled them to testify

against themselves, were not objected to in the trial court, and that

therefore no foundation was laid for the exercise of this court's

jurisdiction, and fifth, that the questions raised by General Butler

in the cases of Spies and Fielden upon the basis of their foreign

nationality were neither raised nor decided in the State courts, and

therefore cannot be considered.

The writ of error prayed for was consequently denied.

There was no dissenting opinion.

The above decision of the Supreme Court was received by the condemned

anarchists with coolness amounting to indifference. A. R. Parsons then

handed the copy of a letter sent to Governor Oglesby to the _Daily

News_ for publication, as follows:

"_To His Excellency Richard J. Oglesby, Governor of the State

of Illinois_--DEAR SIR: I am aware that petitions are being

signed by hundreds of thousands of persons addressed to you,

beseeching you to interpose your prerogative and commute the

sentences of myself and comrades from death to imprisonment

in the penitentiary. You are, I am told a good constitutional

lawyer and a sincere man. I therefore beg of you to examine

the record of the trial, and then conscientiously decide

for yourself as to my guilt or innocence. I know that as a

just man you will decide in accordance with the facts, the

truth, and the justice of this case. But I write to reiterate

the declaration made in my published appeal to the people

of America September 21, 1887. I am guilty or I am innocent

of the charge for which I have been condemned to die. If

guilty, then I prefer death rather than to go 'like the

quarry slave at night scourged to his dungeon'. If innocent

then I am entitled to and will accept nothing less than

liberty. The records of the trial made in Judge Gary's court

prove my innocence of the crime of murder. But there exists

a conspiracy to judicially murder myself and imprisoned

companions in the name and by virtue of the authority of the

State. History records every despotic, arbitrary deed of the

people's rulers as having been done in the name of the people,

even to the destruction of the liberties of the people.

"I am a helpless prisoner, completely in the power of the

authorities, but I strongly protest against being taken

from my cell and carried to the penitentiary as a felon.

Therefore, in the name of the people, whose liberty is being

destroyed; in the name of peace and justice, I protest against

the consummation of this judicial murder, this proposed

strangulation of freedom on American soil. I speak for myself,

I know not what course others may pursue, but for myself

I reject the petition for my imprisonment. I am innocent,

and I say to you that under no circumstances will I accept

a commutation to imprisonment. In the name of the American

people I demand my right--my lawful, constitutional, natural,

inalienable right to liberty. Respectfully yours,

"A. R. PARSONS, Prison Cell 29."

On receipt of the decision of the Federal Court not to interfere in

the anarchists case, the doomed men were sullen. Louis Lingg, the

bomb-maker, was blatant and defiant, and said to his attendants, "I

will never die on the scaffold," he continued, "I hate and defy you

all." A week before the execution Lingg said: "I approach my last

moment cheerfully, but I will not go alone." This was significant

language, and no doubt was an allusion to the fact that he intended

to use the bombs, afterwards found in his cell for the purpose of

producing an explosion in the jail that might have resulted in the

death of scores of victims. Lingg, Engel, Fischer and Parsons refused

absolutely and persistently to sign any petition to His Excellency,

Governor Oglesby, for executive clemency in the commutation of their

sentence to imprisonment. The following is a copy of letters from

Lingg, Engel and Fischer to Governor Oglesby. They demand liberty or

death:

COOK COUNTY JAIL, November 1.--An open letter to Mr. R. J.

Oglesby, Governor of the State of Illinois.

Dear Sir: I am aware that petitions are being circulated

and signed by the general public, asking you to commute the

sentence of death which was inflicted upon me by a criminal

court of this State. Anent the action of a sympathizing

and well-meaning portion of the people, I solemnly declare

that it has not my sanction. As a man of honor, as a man

of conscience, and as a man of principle, I cannot accept

mercy. I am _not guilty_ of the charge in the

indictment----of murder. _I am no murderer_, and cannot

apologize for an action of _which I know I am innocent_.

And should I ask "mercy" on account of my principles, which

I honorably believe to be true and noble! _No!_ I am no

hypocrite, and have, therefore, no excuses to offer with

regard to being an anarchist, because the experiences of the

past eighteen months have only strengthened my convictions.

The question is: _Am I responsible for the death of the

policemen at the Haymarket?_ and I say no, unless you assent

that every abolitionist could have been responsible for the

deeds of John Brown. Therefore I could not ask or accept

"mercy" without lowering myself in my self-estimation. If I

cannot obtain _justice_ from the authorities and be restored

to my family, then I prefer that the verdict should be

carried out as it stands. Every informed person must, I

should think, admit that this verdict is solely due to class

hatred, prejudice, the inflaming of public opinion by the

malicious newspaper fraternity, and a desire on the part

of the privileged classes to check the progressive labor

movement. The interested parties, of course, deny this, but

it is nevertheless true, and I am sure that coming ages will

look upon our trial, conviction, and execution as the people

of the nineteenth century regard the barbarities of past

generations--as the outcome of intolerance and prejudice

against advanced ideas. History repeats itself. As the powers

that be have at all times thought that they could stem the

progressive tide by exterminating a few "kickers," so do the

ruling classes of to-day imagine that they can put a stop

to the movement of labor emancipation by hanging a few of

its advocates. Progress in its victorious march has had to

overcome many obstacles which seemed invincible, and many of

its apostles have died the death of martyrs. The obstacles

which bar the road to progress to-day seem to be invincible,

too; but they will be overcome, nevertheless. At all times

when the condition of society had become such, that a large

portion of the people complained of the existing injustice,

the ruling classes have denied the truth of these complaints,

and have said that the discontent of the portion of the

people in question was due only to the "pernicious influence"

of "malicious agitators." To-day, again, some people assert

that the "d----d agitators" are the cause of the immense

dissatisfaction among the working people! Oh, you people who

speak thus, _can_ you not, or _will_ you not, read the signs

of the time? Do you not see that the clouds on the social

firmament are thickening? Are you not, for instance, aware

that the control of industry and the means of transportation,

etc., is constantly concentrating in fewer hands; that the

monopolists, i. e., the sharks among the capitalists, swallow

the little ones among them; that "trusts," "pools," and other

combinations are being formed in order to more thoroughly

and systematically fleece the people; that under the present

system the development of technic and machinery is from year

to year throwing more working men on the wayside; that in some

parts of this great and fertile land a majority of the farmers

are obliged to mortgage their homes in order to satisfy the

greed of monstrous corporations; that, in short, the rich are

constantly growing richer, and the poor poorer? Yes? And do

you not comprehend that all these evils find their origin in

the present institution of society which allows one portion

of the human race to build fortunes upon the misfortunes of

others; to enslave their fellow men? Instead of trying to

remedy these evils, and instead of ascertaining just what the

cause of the widening dissatisfaction is, the ruling classes,

through their mouth-pieces, press, pulpit, etc.--defame and

misrepresent the character, teachings, and motives of the

advocates of social reconstruction, and use the rifle and the

club on them, and, if opportunity is favorable, send them to

the gallows and prisons. Will this do any good? As an answer

I may as well quote the following words with which Benjamin

Franklin closed his satirical essay, "Rules for Reducing

a Great Empire to a Small One," which he dedicated to the

English government in 1776: "Suppose all their (the 'kickers')

complaints to be inverted, and promoted by a few factious

demagogues, whom if you could catch and hang, all would be

quiet. Catch and hang a few accordingly; and the blood of the

martyrs shall work miracles in favor of your purpose" (i. e.,

your own ruin).

So, I say, society may hang a number of disciples of progress

who have disinterestedly served the cause of the sons of toil

which is the cause of humanity, but their blood will work

miracles in bringing about the downfall of modern society, and

in hastening the birth of a new era of civilization. Magna est

veritas et prevalebet!

ADOLPH FISCHER.

A LETTER TO GOVERNOR OGLESBY

Dear Sir--I, George Engel, citizen of the United States and

of Chicago, and condemned to death, learn that thousands of

citizens petition you as the highest executive officer of

the State of Illinois, to commute my sentence from death to

imprisonment. I protest emphatically against this on the

following grounds: I am not aware of having violated any

laws of this country. In my firm belief in the constitution

which the founders of this republic bequeathed to this people

and which remains unaltered, I have exercised the right of

free speech, free press, free thought and free assemblage,

as guaranteed by the constitution, and have criticised the

existing condition of society, and succored my fellow-citizens

with my advice, which I regard as the right of every honest

citizen. The experience which I have had in this country,

during the fifteen years that I have lived here, concerning

the ballot and the administration of our public functionaries

who have become totally corrupt, have eradicated my belief in

the existence of equal rights of poor and rich, and the action

of the public officers, police and militia have produced the

firm belief in me that these conditions cannot last long. In

accordance with this belief I have taught and advised. This I

have done in good faith of the rights which are guaranteed by

the constitution, and, not being conscious of my guilt, the

"powers that be" may _murder_ me, but they cannot _legally

punish_ me. I protest against a commutation of my sentence and

demand either liberty or death. I renounce any kind of mercy.

Respectfully,

GEORGE ENGEL.

AN OPEN LETTER.

To Mr. R. J. Oglesby, Governor of Illinois: Anent the fact

that the progressive and liberty-loving portion of the

American people are endeavoring to prevail upon you to

interpose prerogative in my case, I feel impelled to declare,

with my friend and comrade Parsons, that I demand either

liberty or death. If you are really a servant of the people

according to the constitution of the country, then you will,

by virtue of your office unconditionally release me.

Referring to the general and inalienable rights of men. I

have called upon the disinherited and oppressed masses to

oppose the force of their oppressors--exercised by armed

enforcement of infamous laws, enacted in the interest of

capital--with force, in order to attain a dignified and

manly existence by securing the full returns of their labor.

This--and only this--is the "crime" which was proved against

me, notwithstanding the employment of perjured testimony on

the part of the State. And this crime is guaranteed not only

as a right, but as a duty, by the American constitution, the

representative of which you are supposed to be in the State

of Illinois. But if you are not the representative of the

constitution, like the great majority of officeholders, a

mere tool of the monopolists or a specific political clique,

you will not encroach upon the thirst for blood displayed

by the executioner, because a mere mitigation of the verdict

would be cowardice, and a proof that the ruling classes which

you represent are themselves abashed at the monstrosity of my

condemnation, and consequently, of their own violation of the

most sacred rights of the people.

Your decision in that event will not only judge me, but also

yourself and those whom you represent. Judge then!

Cook County Jail, 30, 10, '87.

LOUIS LINNG.

P. S.--In order to be sure that this letter will come to your

official notice, I will send you the original manuscript as a

registered letter.

L. L.

CHAPTER XII.

FIELDEN PENITENT. HIS LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR. SPIES' LAST

LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY. WILLING TO DIE FOR HIS COMRADES.

FIELDEN SUES FOR MERCY.

Fielden's letter is as follows:

CHICAGO, Ill., Nov. 5, 1887.--_The Hon. Richard J. Oglesby,

Governor State of Illinois_--SIR: I Samuel Fielden, a prisoner

under sentence of death, and charged with complicity in the

conspiracy to bring about the Haymarket massacre, pray your

excellency for relief from the death sentence and respectfully

beg your consideration of the following statement of facts:

"I was born in England in humble circumstances, and had little

early education. For some years I devoted my life to religious

work, being an authorized lay preacher in the Methodist

denomination. I came to this country and settled in Chicago.

At all times I was obedient to the law and conducted myself as

a good citizen. I was a teamster and worked hard for my daily

bread. My personal conduct and my domestic life were beyond

reproach.

"Some three years or more ago I was deeply stirred by the

condition of the working classes, and sought to do what I

could for their betterment. I did this honestly, and with no

sinister motive. I never sought any personal advantage out of

the agitation in which I was engaged. I was gifted, as I was

flattered and led to believe, with the faculty of stirring an

audience with my words, and it was said that I was eloquent.

I began delivering addresses to assemblages of the working

classes, and spoke of their wrongs as I saw them. None of my

speeches were prepared nor in any sense studied, and often

they were born in an hour of intense excitement. It is true

that I have said things in such heat that in calmer moments I

should not have said. I made violent speeches. I suggested the

use of force as a means for righting the wrongs which seemed

to me to be apparent.

"I cannot admit that I used all of the words imputed to me by

the State, nor can I pretend to remember the actual phrases I

did utter. I am conscious, however, as I have said, that I was

frequently aroused to a pitch of excitement which made me in a

sense irresponsible. I was intoxicated with the applause of my

hearers, and the more violent my language the more applause I

received. My audience and myself mutually excited each other.

I think, however, it is true that, for sensational or other

purposes, words were put into my mouth and charged to me which

I never uttered; but, whether this be true or not, I say now

that I no longer believe it proper that any class of society

should attempt to right its own wrongs by violence. I can

now see that much that I said under excitement was unwise,

and all this I regret. It is not true, however, that I ever

consciously attempted to incite any man to the commission of

crime. Although I do admit that I belonged to an organization

which was engaged at one time in preparing for a social

revolution, I was not engaged in any conspiracy to manufacture

or throw bombs. I never owned or carried a revolver in my life

and did not fire one at the Haymarket. I had not the slightest

idea that the meeting at the Haymarket would be other than a

peaceable and orderly one, such as I had often addressed in

this city, and was utterly astounded at its bloody outcome,

and have always felt keenly the loss of life and suffering

there occasioned.

"In view of these facts I respectfully submit that, while I

confess with regret the use of extravagant and unjustifiable

words, I am not a murderer. I never had any murderous intent,

and I humbly pray relief from the murderer's doom. That these

statements are true I do again solemnly affirm by every tie

that I hold sacred, and I hope that your excellency will give

a considerate hearing to the merits of my case, and also to

those of my imprisoned companions who have been sentenced with

me.

"I remain, very respectfully,

S. FIELDEN."

The above letter to the Governor by Samuel Fielden was endorsed by

Judge Gary and States Attorney Grinnell.

SPIES' LAST LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR.

"CHICAGO, Ill., Nov. 6.--_Gov. Oglesby, Springfield,

Ill._--SIR: The fact that some of us have appealed to you for

justice--under the pardoning prerogative--while others have

not, should not enter into consideration in the decision of

our case. Some of my friends have asked you for an absolute

pardon. They feel the injustice done them so intensely that

they cannot conciliate the idea of a commutation of sentence

with the consciousness of innocence. The others (among them

myself), while possessed of the same feeling of indignation,

can perhaps more calmly and dispassionately look upon the

matter as it stands. They do not disregard the fact that

through a systematic course of lying, perverting, distorting,

inventing, slandering, the press has succeeded in creating

a sentiment of bitterness and hatred among a great portion

of the populace that one man, no matter how powerful, how

courageous, and just he be, cannot possibly overcome. They

hold that to overcome that sentiment or the influence

thereof would almost be a physiological impossibility. Not

wishing, therefore, to place your excellency in a still more

embarrassing position between the blind fanaticism or a

misinformed public on one hand and justice on the other they

concluded to submit their case to you unconditionally.

WILLING TO DIE FOR HIS COMRADES.

I implore you not to let this difference of action have any

weight with you in determining our fate. During our trial

the desire of the prosecutor to slaughter me, and to let my

co-defendants off with milder punishment was quite apparent

and manifest. It seemed to me then, and a great many of

others, that the persecutors would be satisfied with one

life--namely, mine. Grinnell, in his argument, intimated this

very plainly. I care not to protest my innocence of any crime,

and of the one I am accused of in particular. I have done that

and leave the rest to the judgment of history. But to you I

wish to address myself now as the alleged arch-conspirator

(leaving the fact that I never have belonged to any kind of

a conspiracy out of the question altogether). If a sacrifice

of life there must be, will not my life suffice? The State's

attorney of Cook county asked for no more. Take this, then!

Take my life! I offer it to you so that you may satisfy the

fury of a semi-barbaric mob, and save that of my comrades. I

know that every one of my comrades is as willing to die, and

perhaps more so than I am. It is not for their sake that I

make this offer, but in the name of humanity and progress,

in the interest of a peaceable--if possible--development of

the social forces that are destined to lift our race upon a

higher and better plane of civilization. In the name of the

traditions of our country I beg you to prevent a seven-fold

murder upon men whose only crime is that they are idealists,

that they long for a better future for all. If legal murder

there must be, let one, let mine, suffice.

"A. SPIES."

CHAPTER XIII.

LINGG SUICIDES. DR. BOLTON WITH THE PRISONERS. THEY DECLINE

SPIRITUAL COMFORT. THE LAST NIGHT OF THE DOOMED MEN. PARSONS

SINGS IN HIS CELL. TELEGRAMS FOR PARSONS. HIS LAST LETTER.

LINGG COMMITS SUICIDE.

His Excellency, the Governor of Illinois, took action in the

anarchists' case on November 10, commuting to imprisonment for life

the sentence of Samuel Fielden and Michael Schwab, sending the

death warrant of the remaining four to Sheriff Matson by his son,

Robert Oglesby, who arrived early on the morning of the 11th of

November. Prior to the Governor making known his decision, Louis Lingg

anticipating what his fate would be, and in keeping with his threat,

had by some process unknown to the keepers, secured a fulminating

cap such as is used in exploding dynamite, which he coolly placed in

his mouth, and igniting the fuse which protruded from his mouth a

short distance, calmly awaited the end. A terrific report sounded in

the jail about 9 o'clock on the morning of the day previous to the

day set for the execution. The deputies hastened in the direction of

the sound of the explosion and beheld clouds of bluish-white smoke

curling out from between the bars of the door of Lingg's cell. On

entering the cell Lingg was lying upon his face. On turning him over

he presented a ghastly sight, the entire lower jaw was blown away, and

the features mutilated beyond recognition, only the stump of his tongue

was remaining, which fell back into the larynx and made respiration

difficult. He died in great agony at 2:45 of the same day. He had

eluded the disgrace of the hangman's noose and the ignominy of a public

execution.

During the ensuing night the gallows was erected in the north corridor

of the jail, and tested by heavy bags of sand to make sure that

everything was in working order.

THE CONDEMNED MEN'S LAST NIGHT.

SPIES AND DR. BOLTON.

THE EX-EDITOR OF THE "ARBEITER ZEITUNG" REFUSES THE MINISTER'S SYMPATHY.

[Illustration]

Not long after the death watch had been set the Rev. Dr. Bolton, pastor

of the First Methodist Episcopal church, called upon the prisoners.

The reverend gentleman visited the whole four unfortunates, and his

reception was almost the same in every case.

Spies received him quietly and with a smile. "I have called on you, Mr.

Spies," said the clergyman, "to help you to prepare for the awful end

which is now but a few short hours away."

Spies smiled again, but shook his head slowly. "There is no use praying

for me," he said in a melancholy tone; "I need them not; you should

reserve your prayers for those who need them."

The two men then discussed matters of religion and social economy, and

Spies waxed warm in his defense of the doctrines of socialism as it

looked to him. The conversation was a long and somewhat rambling one,

and finally Mr. Bolton arose, bade Spies adieu, and left him.

When he had gone the latter turned to the two deputies (Quirk and

Josephson) who kept watch over him, and with a short laugh exclaimed:

"Now, what can you do with men like that? One doesn't like to

insult them, and yet one finds it hard to endure their unlooked-for

attentions."

Spies then waxed talkative and aired his opinion freely to his death

watch, Deputy John B. Hartke. Speaking of the anarchists' trial, he

said that its conduct and the finding were without precedence in the

history of this country.

"Why, don't you know," said he, "that when the jury brought in the

verdict they were all so badly frightened that they trembled, and the

judge himself, when he pronounced the sentence, shook like a leaf."

This, he said, looked bad.

"The anarchists had no reason to be afraid, but the judge and the jury

had good reason to be afraid."

"I told him," said Deputy Hartke, "that I had heard that Fischer had

signed a petition to the Governor asking for mercy, and added that I

had heard he had done the same thing."

"That is not true," he responded. "I said in my letter to the Governor

that if one was to be murdered, I was the one. That is the kind of a

document I signed."

"I'll tell you," he continued, "in five or six years from now the

people will see the error of hanging us, if they do not see it sooner."

With this Spies, who had been lying on his back with his hands above

his head, removed them and turned on his side with his face to the wall.

The anarchist editor then lay down on the bed, and with his white

face upturned, talked continuously with Deputy Hartke about mutual

acquaintances and things and events of days gone by. He never referred

to to-morrow, and seemed desirous of keeping the thoughts of his

approaching execution as far as possible from his mind.

Engel grew a little more serious as the night wore on, and when he

came to be more familiar with the death watch (Deputies Bombgarten and

Hastige) he talked with them about the cause for which he was about to

die. He protested his innocence over and over again, and told the story

of the Haymarket riot, and all he knew of it.

The Rev. Mr. Bolton called on Engel as he did on the others, but with

the same unsatisfactory result. The wretched Engel dwelt with bitter

emphasis upon the fact that it was the informer Waller, who afterward

swore his life away, that first informed him of the massacre. "I was

drinking beer and playing cards with my neighbors when Waller called

and taunted me with not being down in the Haymarket fight," said

Engel, as a big lump seemed to rise in his throat, "and he afterward

swore my life away, but I die for a just cause." Engel slept none until

about 1 o'clock, but at that hour, just as the death watch was being

removed, he turned round in his couch and dropped into a light slumber.

FISCHER AND PARSONS.

BOTH REFUSE SPIRITUAL COMFORT AND PARSONS SINGS "ANNIE LAURIE."

Fischer's last night was quietly spent. He talked but little, but was

restless. His death watch, Deputies Healy and Shomberg, said though he

did not sleep much, he appeared to take the terrible ordeal put upon

him with great composure--almost indifference. He, too, coldly repulsed

Dr. Bolton's proffered spiritual aid. Though his sleepless eyes stared

vacantly at the wall of his cell, he talked but little. No sign of

nervousness or fear could be traced on the hard, clear-cut features.

He was evidently prepared to meet his fate unflinchingly and to die

boldly. "Annie Laurie," sung in a fairly good tenor voice, broke the

the silence. It was approaching 12 o'clock. A dread silence overhung

all. All along the anarchists' corridor not a sound was to be heard.

The absence of any noise might be likened to the stillness of the

grave. Criminals were asleep. The indications were that the anarchists

were asleep too.

But hardly so. Parsons was awake, and the spirit of his wakeful hours

urged him to sing "Annie Laurie." Soldiers in a foreign clime have shed

tears at the strains of this song. It is a passport to the emotions

the world wide. And almost within the shadow of the gallows tree,

when life was to be registered by hours, Parsons' striking up this

song seemed certainly suggestive of the fate he felt to be close at

hand. There was in his tone a lonesome melancholy as he sung the first

stanza, then on the second one his voice wavered and finally broke.

He was cast down. The memory of his wife and little ones seemed to

rise before him, a sob, full of pathetic despair served as a period to

his further recitation. Once stopped singing, Parsons was in tears.

He cried within the quietness of his cell, not through fear of his

approaching death, so far as his demeanor indicated. Rather it was due

to recollection busy with scenes of the man's early life. His boyhood

came back to him as he sung that old song. He could not do else than

break down.

When Dr. Bolton called upon Parsons he was received with the same

courtesy which has always distinguished that erudite anarchist. The

condemned man, however, did not seem to take kindly to the proffered

ministrations of the clergyman.

"You are welcome, Dr. Bolton," he said; "pray, what can I do for you?"

The reverend visitor explained his mission, and the old cynical

expression stole over Parsons' face. "Preachers are all Pharisees," he

sneered, "and you know what Jesus Christ's opinion of the Pharisees

was. He called them a generation of vipers, and likened them to whited

sepulchers. I don't desire to have anything to do with either."

Dr. Bolton remonstrated a little, and finally Parsons appeared to be

relenting somewhat.

"Well, well," he said, "I will say that while I do not absolutely

refuse your kind attentions, I will impress on you the fact that I did

not want you."

A desultory conversation ensued, and the missionary, on leaving, told

Parsons that he would pray earnestly for him during the night.

The anarchist's hard gray eye grew moist, and he murmured hoarsely:

"Thank you," but added: "Don't forget, though, I didn't send for you."

SINGING THE MARSEILLAISE.

PARSONS TALKS FREELY TO THE DEATH WATCH AND SINGS FOR THEM.

Parsons slept little but kept heart marvelously well. He chatted

with the guards on the death watch and furnished them each with his

autograph in this form:

"Cook County Jail,

Cell No. 4.

_A. R. Parsons._

Nov. 11, 1887."

With Bailiffs Rooney and Jones he calmly discussed the outlook, touched

without emotion upon his pending death, and dwelt with satisfaction

upon his assurance of his wife's ability to maintain herself. When told

by the guards that Spies was deeply affected by the parting with his

wife and complained that of all the incidents of the unnerving time,

it most deeply moved him; that Fischer, though reckless of himself,

bemoaned the destitution of his young and feeble wife, Parsons feebly

expressed his sympathy for his companions and rejoiced that he left

behind a lion-hearted wife, and children too young to keenly feel

bereavement. Then he commented upon social conditions both here and

abroad.

"I will sing you a song," he said about 1 o'clock, "a song born as a

battle-cry in France, and now accepted as the hymn of revolution the

world over."

In a low voice he then sang a paraphrased translation of "La

Marseillaise," which the guards commended as both inspiring and well

performed.

TELEGRAMS TO PARSONS.

A COUPLE OF CHEERING MISSIVES RECEIVED THIS MORNING.

Following are copies of the two dispatches received by A. R. Parsons a

short time before his execution this morning:

"BOSTON, Nov. 11.--_Albert R. Parsons, Cook County Jail_: Not

good-by, but hail brothers. From the gallows-trap the march

will be taken up. I will listen for the beating of the drum.

JOSEPHINE TILTON."

"ST. LOUIS, Mo., Nov. 11.--_Albert R. Parsons, Prisoner_:

Glorious martyr, in the name of social progress bravely meet

your fate.

C. R. DAVIS."

To the sender of the first telegram Parsons desired that his red-silk

handkerchief be sent.

PARSONS LAST LETTER.

A COPY OF THE DOCUMENT SENT TO A NEW YORK PAPER.

NEW YORK, Nov. 12.--The letter which Parsons wrote yesterday morning

was addressed to a resident of this city, and appears in the _Herald_

to-day, as follows:

"COUNTY JAIL, Nov. 11, 8 o'clock a. m.--_My Dear Comrades_:

The guard has just awakened me. I have washed my face and drank

a cup of coffee. The doctor asked me if I wanted stimulants. I

said no. The dear boys, Engel, Fischer, and Spies, saluted me

with firm voices. Please see Sheriff Matson and take charge of

my papers and letters. Please have my book on "Anarchism: Its

Philosophy and Scientific Basis", put into good shape. There

are millions of Americans who will want to read it. Well, my

dear old comrade, the hour draws near. Cæsar kept me awake

till late last night with the noise, music of hammer and saw

erecting his throne, my scaffold--refinement, civilization.

Matson, the sheriff, tells me he refused to let Cæsar--the

State--secrete my body, and he has just got my wife's address

from me to send her my remains. Magnanimous Cæsar! Good-by.

Hail the social revolution! Salutations to all."

A. R. PARSONS.

CHAPTER XIV.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXECUTION. THREATENING LETTERS. PITYING

JUSTICE. OUTRAGED LAW VINDICATED. MERCY TO THE GUILTY IS

CRUELTY TO THE INNOCENT. THE UNCHANGED EVERLASTING WILL

GIVE TO EACH MAN HIS RIGHT. ABUSE OF FREE SPEECH. THE MILLS

OF GOD GRIND SLOW BUT EXCEEDING FINE. CAPTAIN BLACK AT THE

ANARCHISTS' FUNERAL.

The following description of the execution is copied from the _Daily

News_:

August Spies, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, and A. R. Parsons, the four

anarchists who were tried a year ago, and found guilty of the murder of

Mathias A. Degan in the Haymarket square on May 4, 1886, were to-day

hanged in the Cook county jail and paid the penalty of their crime with

their lives. The drop fell at 11:53 and the four men died with words of

defiance and scorn upon their lips. Parsons' last word was actually

strangled in his throat by the hangman's noose. Seldom, if ever,

have four men died more gamely and defiantly than the four who were

strangled to-day.

When the word passed around, about 11 o'clock, that the final hour had

indeed arrived, men's faces grew pale and the hum of excitement passed

through the crowd. They were quickly marshaled and marched down in a

line to the gallows corridor.

At 10:55 fully two hundred and fifty newspaper men, local politicians,

and others, among them the twelve jurors to view the bodies after

execution, had passed through the dark passage under the gallows

and began seating themselves. The bailiff said a few words to the

journalists, begging them to make no rush when the drop fell, but to

wait decently and in order.

Parsons was given a cup of coffee a few minutes before the march to the

scaffold was begun.

The rattling of chairs, tables and benches continued for several

minutes, but by 10:05 there began to fall a hush, and conversation

among the crowd sank almost to a whisper. The bare, whitewashed walls

formed a painful contrast with the dark-brown gallows, with its four

noosed ropes hanging ominously near the floor.

[Illustration]

It was exactly 11:50 o'clock when Chief Bailiff Cahill entered the

corridor and stood beneath the gallows. He requested in solemn tones

that the gentlemen present would remove their hats. Instantly every

head was bared. Then the tramp, tramp of many footsteps was heard

resounding from the central corridor, and the crowd in front of the

gallows knew that the condemned men had begun the march of death. The

slow, steady march sounded nearer and nearer. The anarchists were

within a few feet of the scaffold. There was a pause. The condemned

men were about to mount the stairway leading to the last platform from

which they would ever speak. Step by step, steadily they mounted the

stairway, and again there was another slight pause. Every eye was bent

upon the metallic angle around which the four wretched victims were

expected to make their appearance. A moment later their curiosity was

rewarded. With steady, unfaltering step a white-robed figure stepped

out from behind the protecting metallic screen and stood upon the drop.

It was August Spies. It was evident that his hands were firmly bound

behind him underneath his snowy shroud.

He walked with a firm, almost stately tread across the platform and

took his stand under the left-hand noose at the corner of the scaffold

farthest from the side at which he had entered. Very pale was the

expressive face, and a solemn, far-away light shone in his blue eyes.

His tawny hair was brushed back in the usual crisp waves from the big

white forehead. Nothing could be imagined more melancholy, and at

the same time dignified, than the expression which sat upon the face

of August Spies at that moment. The chin was covered with a freshly

budding beard and partially concealed the expression of the firmly-cut

mouth. The lines were a little hardly drawn around the corners,

however, and bespoke great internal tension. He stood directly behind

the still noose, which reached down almost to his breast, and, having

first cast a momentary glance upward at the rope, let his eyes fall

upon the 200 faces that were upturned toward him. Never a muscle did he

move, however; no sign of flinching or fear could be discerned in the

white face--white almost as the shroud which it surmounted.

Spies had scarcely taken his place when he was followed by Fischer.

He, too, was clad in a long white shroud that was gathered in at the

ankles. His tall figure towered several inches over that of Spies, and

as he stationed himself behind his particular noose his face was very

pale, but a faint smile rested upon his lips. Like Spies, the white

robe set off to advantage the rather pleasing features of Fischer,

and as the man stood there waiting for his last moment his pale face

was as calm as if he were asleep. Next came George Engel. There was

a ruddy glow upon the rugged countenance of the old anarchist, and

when he ranged himself alongside Fischer he raised himself to his full

height, while his burly form seemed to expand with the feelings that

were within him. Last came Parsons. His face looked actually handsome,

though it was very pale. When he stepped upon the gallows he turned

partially sideways to the dangling noose and regarded it with a fixed,

stony gaze--one of mingled surprise and curiosity. Then he straightened

himself under the fourth noose, and, as he did so, he turned his big

gray eyes upon the crowd below with such a look of awful reproach

and sadness as could not fail to strike the innermost chord of the

hardest heart there. It was a look never to be forgotten. There was

an expression almost of inspiration on the white, calm face, and the

great, stony eyes seemed to burn into men's hearts and ask: "What have

I done?"

There they stood upon the scaffold, four white-robed figures, with set,

stoical faces, to which it would seem no influence could bring a tremor

of fear.

And now a bailiff approaches, and, seizing Parsons' robe, passed

a leathern strap around his ankles. In a moment they were closely

pinioned together. Engel's legs were next strapped together, and when

the official approached Fischer, the latter straightened up his tall

figure to its full height and placed his ankles close together to

facilitate the operation. Spies was the last, but he was the first

around whose neck the fatal cord was placed. One of the attendant

bailiffs seized the noose in front of Spies and passed it deftly over

the doomed man's head. It caught over his right ear, but Spies, with a

shake of his head, cast it down around his neck, and then the bailiff

tightened it till it touched the warm flesh, and carefully placed the

noose beneath the left ear.

When the officer approached Fischer threw back his head and bared his

long, muscular throat by the movement.

Fischer's neck was very long and the noose nestled snugly around it.

When it was tightened around his windpipe Fischer turned around to

Spies and laughingly whispered something in Spies' ear. But the latter

either did not hear him or else was too much occupied with other

thoughts to pay attention. Engel smiled down at the crowd, and then

turning to Deputy Peters, who guarded him, he smiled gratefully toward

him and whispered something to the officer that seemed to affect him.

It looked at first as if Engel were about to salute his guard with

a kiss, but he evidently satisfied himself with some word of peace.

Parson's face never moved as the noose dropped over his head, but the

same terrible, fixed look was on his face.

And now people were expecting that the speeches for which the four

doomed ones craved twenty minutes each this morning would be delivered,

but to every one's surprise the officer who had adjusted the noose

proceeded to fit on the white cap without delay. It was first placed on

Spies' head, completely hiding his head and face. Just before the cap

was pulled over Fischer's head Deputy Spears turned his eyes up to meet

those of the tall young anarchist. Fischer smiled down on his guard

just as pleasantly as Engel did on his, and he seemed to be whispering

some words of forgiveness, but it may have been otherwise, as not even

the faintest echo reached the men in the corridor below. Engel and

Parsons soon donned their white caps after this, and now the four men

stood upon the scaffold clad from top to toe in pure white.

All was ready now for the signal to let the drop fall. In the little

box at the back of the stage and fastened to the wall the invisible

executioner stood with axe poised, ready to cut the cord that held them

between earth and heaven. The men had not noticed this but they knew

the end was near.

For an instant there was a dead silence, and then a mournful solemn

voice sounded from behind the first right-hand mask, and cut the air

like a wail of sorrow and warning. Spies was speaking from behind his

shroud.

The words seemed to drop into the cold, silent air like pellets of

fire. Here is what he said: "It is not meet that I should speak here,

where my silence is more terrible than my utterances."

Then a deeper, stronger voice came out with a muffled, mysterious

cadence from behind the white pall that hid the face of Fischer. He

only spoke eight words: "This is the happiest moment of my life."

But the next voice that catches up the refrain is a different one. It

is firm, but the melancholy wail was not in it. It was harsh, loud,

exultant. Engel was cheering for anarchy. "Hurrah for anarchy! Hurrah!"

were the last words and the last cheer of George Engel.

But now the weird and ghastly scene was brought to a climax. Parsons

alone remained to speak. Out from behind his mask his voice sounded

more sad, and there was a more dreary, reproachful tone in it than even

in Spies. "May I be allowed to speak? Oh, men of America!" he cried,

"may I be allowed the privilege of speech even at the last moment?

HARKEN TO THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE----"

There was a sudden pause. Parsons never spoke a word more. A sharp,

creaking noise, a crash, a sickening, cracking sound, and Spies,

Parsons, Fischer, and Engel were no more.

When the pulse-beats of all became imperceptible, which was about 12:10

o'clock, the physicians sat down and the bodies swung back and forth,

while the deputies stood above them. There was a continual shifting of

seats after the physicians left the bodies, and nearly all who could

get away wanted to be allowed to do so. The sheriff opened a door at

the west side of the building and a great many of the spectators left.

At 12:20 Spies' body was let down and placed in a coffin, while the

doctor examined him and found that the neck was not broken. He wore a

dark-gray flannel shirt and dark pantaloons, but no coat. His arms were

confined by a strap, as were those of all the others.

Fischer was next cut down. His neck was not broken. He wore a blue

flannel shirt and gray trousers.

Engel came next. He had a blue flannel shirt and wore a collar. His

neck was broken, but the spinal cord was not severed.

Parsons was the last to be taken down. He was clad in a neat black

suit, but had only an undershirt on.

When all the bodies had been arranged in the coffins the physicians

made another examination, and then the lids were placed on the coffins,

and the work was done.

The condemned men directed that their bodies be turned over to their

wives, except Spies, who wanted his body given to his mother. Their

wishes were respected, and Coroner Hertz has directed that the body of

Lingg be given to Mrs. Engel and the Carpenters' Union, in accordance

with Lingg's request, so that they may all be buried together.

Since the conviction and condemnation of the anarchists of Haymarket

notoriety in 1886, the whole world has stood with breathless anxiety

watching for the ultimate, and no other avenue was left open but to

inflict the penalty commensurate with their crime. Officers of the law

frequently received letters threatening to wreak a summary vengeance

upon them providing the sentence was carried out. The condemned

maintained a bold and belligerent attitude, while every means to

intimidate and thwart justice which the machinations of the nefarious

Herr Most could devise, and his minions could hurl life flaming

brands broadcast amid a peace-loving and contented people have been

resorted to. But pitying justice wept with drooping head o'er the stern

necessity which called for the interposition of her iron hand having

discarded the scepter for the rod. When the hand of outraged law and

justice is raised the blow must fall in order to vindicate the majesty

of the law. America has set the foot of the Goddess of Liberty upon the

neck of anarchy and crushed the serpent brood.

AFTER THE EXECUTION.

Two hours after the terrible and disagreeable duty of Sheriff Matson

had been performed, in the name, and for the peace of the State of

Illinois, in the execution of the four condemned anarchists, their

bodies had been delivered to their friends, the gallows had been taken

down and stowed in its accustomed place, and not one vestige of the

awful punishment which had just been inflicted remained to tell that

anything out of the ordinary had transpired.

Every good citizen and right-thinking American will join with me in

extending to their afflicted widows and orphan children sincere and

heart-felt commiseration for the calamity which has befallen them.

While the law inflicts punishment for its violation, it does it for

the public good. Mercy was not to be considered longer in their case.

"Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent." The great book of law

is prefaced with these words. Justice is the unchanged everlasting will

to give each man his right. The right to free speech had been accorded

to these men, and it had been abused. Under the diabolical teachings

of Herr Most, anarchy promised soon to become the ruling power. But

they have, we trust, ascertained that America is a poor and barren soil

in which to cause anarchy to grow and flourish. They have found that

though the mills of God grind slow, yet they grind exceeding fine.

We shall forever be surprised beyond expression at the words made use

of at the funeral of the anarchists on Sunday, November 13, by Captain

Black, in his oration over the bodies of these outlaws. He was said to

have used the following words:

"For the love of truth they died," said the orator. "They fought for a

cause, believing themselves in the right, and in the years to come they

will be loved and revered."

Captain Black was followed by other speakers who made use of language

very expressive and forcible.

T. J. Morgan followed with a speech in which he dwelt on the last words

of the men before the drop fell. The immense throng at the grave

became excited and frequently interrupted him.

"Let the voice of the people be heard," he cried, in Parson's last

words. When he spoke of the majesty of the law a voice cried: "Throttle

the law!" When he asked: "Shall we be revenged on Bonfield, Grinnell,

Gary, and Oglesby?" voices cried: "Yes, yes! Hang them!" Albert

Currlin, formerly of the _Arbeiter Zeitung_, spoke in German and called

the laboring men cowards for permitting the "five-fold murder."

CHAPTER XV.

A DESCRIPTION OF HERR MOST'S SANCTUM. A DEN WHERE ANARCHY WAS

BEGOTTEN. THE ANARCHIST CHIEF'S MUSEUM OF WEAPONS AND INFERNAL

MACHINES. EASY LESSONS IN THE ART OF ASSASSINATION.

NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 1887.

Since Johann Most's release I had often resolved to visit his

editorial sanctum and see some of his surroundings, but I never had

the opportunity until a few days ago, when I sought William street and

paused a moment before 167. This is the place where undiluted anarchy

presents itself through the medium of the Freiheit, which has succeeded

so well that it has been enlarged to double its former size. On the

ground floor a lager-beer saloon is doing a thriving business, and the

old saying that Teutonic journalism always manifests an inclination to

take up its abode in proximity to a place where honors are paid to King

Gambrinus is borne out in this instance, even when the journalists wage

war on all other monarchs.

Entering the hallway you will notice, as soon as your eyes are able

to penetrate the darkness, a large red banner on the wall bearing the

inscription, "Vive la Commune." A cast-iron letter-box, marked "John

Most," attracts one's attention for a moment, and then we ascend two

flights of narrow, creaky stairs, and step into a large, dilapidated

room, extending over the entire top floor of the building. Here

the _Freiheit_ is written, put into type, and, after being printed

elsewhere, mailed to subscribers. There is hardly a country on the

globe which has not the honor of giving shelter to some anarchist

subscriber. A perfect deluge of revolutionary pamphlets issues from

this forlorn-looking loft.

About a dozen men were engaged in folding and wrapping the latest

number of the _Freiheit_. In order to keep up their spirits at this

hard work a goodly quantity of the favorite German beverage is

consumed, cigars and short pipes emit big clouds of smoke, and a noisy

debate is carried on all the time. Every one of these savage-looking

specimens of humanity strives to assume an air that suggests his merely

waiting for a favorable opportunity to slaughter all monarchs and

capitalists on the face of the earth. There are Germans, Frenchmen,

Russians, Bohemians, and a Dane in the group. Regular employment is a

notion too conservative and utterly foreign to their minds. They are

here folding papers to serve the revolutionary cause, and receive no

other recompense than the consciousness of having performed their duty.

OVERAWING THE VISITORS.

One of the heroes, who evidently desires to overawe us, takes a small

quantity of gun cotton out of his pocket, another produces a sample of

dynamite, and each asserts that the stuff he carries is an excellent

agent to further the grand idea of universal anarchy. All join in a

dispute concerning the most effective methods for blowing up public

institutions, and the folding business is meanwhile neglected. The

anarchist chief, Herr Most, has been conversing with a good-looking

young female anarchist, who came over for the purpose of paying her

respects to the great dynamiter; but now his attention is directed to

his hot-headed disciples.

"Get through your work," he shouts; "you may babble all you want

afterward."

The admonition is heeded only for a few moments. The folders have a

theme demanding urgent action. The sentence of the Chicago anarchists

has excited the wrath and of every anarchist and frenzied cries of

threatened vengeance burst forth from all sides. Herr Most again

commands silence, and his announcement that a mass-meeting would be

held on Sunday, at which both English and German speakers would be

present, is hailed with tumultuous applause. The presence of strangers

seems to be totally ignored for the moment. The anarchists fully

understand that they are at liberty here to run the revolutionary

machine at their own sweet pleasure, so long as the struggle is

confined to the tongue. I conclude to invest 5 cents, and a copy of the

_Freiheit_ is handed to me. The editor reflects upon the propriety of a

national thanksgiving. His language is not choice, but rather painfully

harsh. Here is a goodly specimen:

"Our army of the unemployed, probably, will give thanks that the

capitalists are so very prosperous. Poor, haggard women will give

thanks over their weak tea and dry baker's bread that they have been

allowed to lay up wealth for their employers. Factory children, who

never see anything but the grim shop walls by daylight, will give

thanks that they have been brought into this beautiful world, and

hard-working day laborers lucky enough to have any kind of a job will

give thanks that the cormorants of society have not taken the last

mouthful away from them."

Another article deals with the anti-Chinese movement on the Pacific

coast, and urges the white working men to expel every greedy monopolist

instead of persecuting the poor celestial.

ANARCHISTIC LITERATURE AND WEAPONS.

Before I proceed to inspect the curiously decorated walls my attention

is called to an assortment of anarchistic literature spread on a

large table. The most extraordinary productions of fever-brained

revolutionists from all countries are here exposed for sale. The

works of Herr Most occupy the most conspicuous place, and titles like

"Gottespect und Religrionsenche," "Eigenthumsbestie," and "Elements of

Revolutionary Warfare" embellish the title pages. I open the last book

at haphazard and read:

"The best of all preparations to be used for poisoning is curare.

"By heating a dagger and then tempering it in oil of oleander,

the infliction of a light wound would be sufficient to produce

blood-poisoning and death.

"The cheapest and least expensive way is to apply a mixture of red

phosphorus and gum arabicum to the dagger, cartridge, etc.

"This precious stuff (dynamite), which is able to blast a mass of

solid rock, might also do good service at an assembly of royal

or aristocratic personages, or at an entertainment patronized by

monopolists."

Herr Most, who had eyed me sharply, asked at last: "Would you like to

join our circle, or perhaps it is only a few of your private enemies

you contemplate doing up? All necessary information can be had by

studying my 'Kriegswissencraft.'" The hint was a broad one, and I

thought it the safest plan to spend a dime on the "murder pamphlet,"

thus propitiating the tiger in his den.

The room might be considered at first glance an armory. There are

revolvers of all constructions, daggers, rifles, infernal machines, and

a big saber with a rusty scabbard. I could scarcely repress a laugh

at this relic of the great French revolution, or some equally remote

historic event.

"You make a mistake by laughing," said Most, unsheathing the sword.

"You will observe the blade is as sharp as a razor, and," he added with

a certain pride, "the point is, by way of experiment, coated with a

solution of cyanide of potassium."

The majority of the rifles are breech-loaders, formerly used in the

United States army, and bought by Most in large lots at auction for

retailing among his followers. On a shelf above the editor's desk a

variety of the most dangerous poisons, liquid and solid, are openly

exposed. The anarchist chief remarked, with a grim smile, that he

seriously contemplated breeding cholera and yellow-fever germs for

the purpose of exterminating mankind, rather than suffer the present

condition of society to perpetuate itself.

WALL DECORATIONS.

The walls of the room are almost totally covered with pictures,

portraits, newspaper headings, etc. In crazy-quilt fashion is arranged

Lieske, Shakspere, Hoedel, Rousseau, Karl Marx, Feurbach, Stuart Mill,

Thomas Paine, Richard Wagner, Marat, Hans Sachs, St. Simon, Lassalle,

Proudhon, Anton Kammerer, Stallmacher, the Irish patriots, Brady,

Kelly, Curley, Tynan, Wilson, Gallagher, and Normann, a life-size

picture of Louise Michel, an excellent photograph of prince Krapotkine,

pictures from Puck, Punch, Fleigende Blatter, sketches from George

Eber's "Egypt"--a queer collection indeed.

Herr Most takes especial pride in a gibbet traced in red lines on the

whitewashed wall and bearing portraits of the following persons: The

emperors of Germany, Russia, and Austria, Queen Victoria, President

Grevey, King Humbert, King Christian of Denmark and his premier,

Estrup; the Shah of Persha; the Sultan, the Emperors of China, Japan,

and Brazil, and President Cleveland. As an illustration of the

bitter feeling prevailing between the anarchists and socialists was

a caricature of Alexander Jonas, the socialist politician, playing a

flute to the inspiring tune, "Wait Till the Clouds Roll By."

The German Chancellor, Prince Bismarck, is caricatured a dozen

different ways, and blood-thirsty sentiments are written beneath the

pictures. A large picture presents the famous Rus-conspirators against

Alexander II.; another recalls the trial of Reinsdorf and comrades,

charged with high treason; then follow some scenes from the Paris

commune in 1871, and next to these sanguinary sketches an elegant fan

is suspended, unconscious of its strange surroundings. Anarchistic

papers from every quarter of the world are pasted from ceiling to

floor, and we learn the existence of obscure journals like Ni Dieu, Ni

Maitre, Fackel, Le Cri du Peuple, Alarm, Lucifer, Revolte, La Question

Sociale, the Roumelian periodical Revista Sociale, Il Fascio Operairo,

Der Arme Teufel, and Proletaren. Italians who stray into this nest

have an opportunity of studying a "Programma Socialista, Anarchico,

Revoluzionario del Giuppo Italiano."

Perhaps the master of this queer den will soon view the world once more

through prison bars.

COMYNS RAY.

CHAPTER XVI.

BIOGRAPHY OF HERR MOST. HIS PAST CAREER AND EARLY TRAINING.

HIS IMPRISONMENT IN THE BASTILLE AND RED TOWER FOR PREACHING

HIS GOSPEL OF BLOOD. EXTRACTS FROM HIS INFLAMMATORY

UTTERANCES. WHET YOUR DAGGERS. LET EVERY PRINCE FIND A BRUTUS

BY HIS THRONE.

THE PAST CAREER OF HERR MOST.

That practice has now become obsolete of predicting the future of a

child by consulting the aspect of the planet under which it was born at

the day and hour of birth. At the advent of Herr Most upon this mundane

sphere, who, looking through the horroscope of his future, but could in

the interests of humanity, have wished that the feeble spark of life in

the frail tenement might have become extinguished, or that it had never

existed.

In the city of Augsburg on the River Lech, which is a tributary of the

blue rolling Danube in Bavaria in Germany, in the year 1846, and on the

5th day of February Herr Most first saw the light of day. A long period

of sickness while yet an infant served to render his features hideous

by some malignant disease eating away a portion of his cheek, but his

record goes to prove conclusively that he still retained enough to

render himself obnoxious to every lover of law and order.

Endowed by nature with proclivities to resist all rule and law,

gained from an unloving stepmother much harsh treatment. He became

apprenticed to a book-binder when a mere lad, and the cruel treatment

received at the hands of his employer failed to change the bent of his

inclinations. He had a passion for the stage which he gratified by

striking an attitude and reciting in tragic style with dramatic effect

any occurrence which attracted his attention to the infinite amusement

of boys, and pedestrians on the street would stop to listen to his

native eloquence and behold his crude dramatic gestures. We find him

in Switzerland in 1867, endeavoring to establish anarchy with a zeal

worthy of a better cause. We next find him in Vienna where in one of

his scathing speeches he characterized Liberalism as a swindle; the

priests as deceivers. For this speech he received a jail sentence of

four weeks. Shortly after his release, he was again sentenced to five

years' imprisonment for high treason. However, after having served six

months of the term, through some ministerial change, he was released.

A half an hour later he was again on the platform firing hot shot

and shell into the ranks of the government with all the force of his

burning invective. His ability to sway the masses alarmed the new

government, and they took measures to have him banished. He went to

Chemnitz where he became popular as an agitator, and successful in

establishing his doctrine of anarchy as the gospel of blood, for which

he was incarcerated temporarily in the red tower, a very unpopular

jail. September 3, 1872, while returning from Mayence, where he had

attended a socialistic congress, he was again arrested, and a few

days later was sentenced to eight months in prison. In 1874, for some

expressions used in favor of the commune of Paris, although a member of

Parliament, he was given eighteen months in the German Bastille. At the

expiration of his sentence he became identified with the Berlin _Free

Press_, and for his freedom of speech he was again sentenced to six

months in jail, having served his sentence he crossed out of his native

land to London where he took charge of the new journal, the _Freiheit_,

and while occupying this position he received a pressing invitation

to come to Chicago and take charge of the _Arbeiter Zeitung_, which

he declined, believing as he did that the era of the mad misrule of

anarchy was on the eve of being inaugurated. He visited Paris, and

during his stay directed a speech full of burning hatred against the

German Emperor, for which he was accorded two years in jail. On his

release he hastened to put the channel between him and that hated

country. In 1880 he was again in Switzerland, scattering the seeds of

anarchy, and forging thunderbolts for his enemies, and many of his

publications found their way throughout the length and breadth of

Europe.

In one of his effusions he said:

"Science has put in our possession instruments with which

beasts of society may be removed. Princes, ministers,

statesmen, bishops, prelates and other officials, civil and

clerical, journalists and lawyers, representatives of the

aristocracy and middle classes, must have their heads broken."

When Alexander II. of Russia was murdered, "Triumph! triumph!" he

wrote; "the monster has been executed," etc., and yet this "monster"

(?) was the man who had struck the manacles from the feet of Russia's

serfs; had lifted millions of a degraded people to citizenship. His

outburst on this occasion gained him sixteen months in an English

prison. In December of 1882 he was en route for New York, where he met

with a most enthusiastic reception.

The anarchists have now eleven regular organs in circulation. Five

of these appear in English, five in German, and one in the French

language. A few extracts we herein embody will serve to demonstrate the

savage nature of these agitators. He says:

"If each member of the anarchist party some fine morning would seek

out some hated tyrant and pick a quarrel; if only each man would carry

a private supply of some destructive agency in his pocket and would

either stab, poison, or with powder, lead, or dynamite do to death our

enemies, wherever found, in house, office, bureau, shop, or factory; if

that could only be done in fifty places at the same moment; if fires

could only be started in fifty different places at the same time; if

only special parties detailed for the purpose would cut the telephone

and telegraph wires--must not a general panic result? Would not society

be wild with fright? And would not the rabble as if by magic be

inflamed with revolutionary passion?"

Can anything be more diabolical? But Most's paper, from which I have

quoted, is mild compared with the _Rebell_. This sheet is the organ of

Peukert. At present both papers vie with each other in disseminating

anarchism among the farming population. In 1884 Most said: "To find a

way for getting $100,000,000 would do the cause more good than to dash

the brains out of ten kings. Gold--money--is wanted.

"Lay hold where and when you can," he continues. "The less noise you

make in laying and carrying out your plans the less danger and the

better success. The revolver is good in extreme cases, dynamite in

great movements, but, generally speaking, the dagger and poison are the

best means of propagation. Yes, tremble, ye canaille, ye bloodsuckers,

ye ravishers of maidens, murderers, and hangmen, the day of reckoning

and revenge is near. The fight has begun along the picket line. A

girdle of dynamite encircles the world, not only the _old_ but the

_new_. The bloody band of tyrants are dancing on the surface of a

volcano. There is dynamite in England, France, Germany, Russia, Italy,

Spain, New York, and Canada. It will be hot on the day of action, and

yet the brood will shudder in the sight of death and gnash their teeth.

Set fire to the houses, put poison in all kinds of food, put poisoned

nails on the chairs occupied by our enemies, dig mines and fill them

with explosives, whet your daggers, load your revolvers, cap them, fill

bombs and have them ready. Hurl the priest from the altar; shoot him

down! Let each prince find a Brutus by his throne."

The foregoing language is calculated to tend toward subversion of

law and justice, and is revolutionary and treasonable in its nature,

teachings of this nature from Reinsdorf and Most, are the direct cause

of our Haymarket massacre. The authorities are responsible largely for

the commission of crime which they may prevent even by resorting to

extreme measures in enforcing the law. While we desire peace in all our

borders, yet we believe that transgressors of the law should be made to

feel that "God reigns, and the government at Washington still lives."

CHAPTER XVII.

BIOGRAPHIES OF SPIES AND THE OTHER SEVEN CONDEMNED MEN. THEIR

BIRTHPLACE, EDUCATION AND PRIVATE LIFE. PARSONS' LETTER TO

THE "DAILY NEWS" AFTER THE EXPLOSION, WHILE A FUGITIVE FROM

JUSTICE.

AUGUST SPIES.

August Vincent Theodore Spies was born in Landeck, Hesse in 1855. His

father was a ranger. Spies came to America in 1872, and to Chicago in

1873, where for a number of years he worked as an upholsterer. He first

became interested in socialistic theories in 1875, and two years later

joined the socialistic labor party, and the Lehr und Wehr Verein. He

became connected with the _Arbeiter Zeitung_ in 1880. He succeeded

Paul Grottkau as editor-in-chief in 1884. From that time onward he

was looked up to as one of the ablest and most influential anarchist

leaders. He was educated by a private tutor during his early boyhood

days. He afterward studied at a Polytechnic institute.

ALBERT PARSONS.

Albert R. Parsons was born in Montgomery, Ala., in 1848. His parents

died when he was young, and his rearing fell to the lot of his elder

brother, W. R. Parsons, who was a general in the Confederate army.

In 1855 he removed to Johnson county, Texas, taking Albert with him.

The latter received some schooling at Waco, and subsequently became

a printer on the Galveston _News_. When the war broke out he ran away

from home and became a "powder monkey" in a company of confederate

artillery. Subsequently he served successively under the command of

his brothers, Richard and William H. Parsons. After the war he edited

the _Spectator_, a weekly paper, at Waco. Much to the disgust of his

brothers, he became a Republican, and something of a politician. As

such he held one or two subordinate federal offices at Austin, and at

one time was secretary of the State Senate. Coming to Chicago he worked

for a time in various printing offices, and then became a professional

labor agitator. He was at one time Master Workman of District Assembly

24, Knights of Labor, and president of the Trades Assembly for three

years. In 1879 he was nominated by the Socialistic Labor party as a

candidate for their President of the United States, but declined, as he

was not then thirty-five years old. In 1883, at Pittsburgh, he helped to

frame the platform of the International Working People's Association.

He was put forward by the socialists as a candidate for city clerk

in 1883. He became editor of the _Alarm_, the organ of the "American

group" of anarchists in Chicago in 1884, which position he held up

to the time of the Haymarket riot in May 1886, but on the morning

following the explosion, A. R. Parsons was not found in his accustomed

place as editor of the _Alarm_. He had decamped, but many believed he

was hiding in Chicago, as on the evening of the 7th of May a letter

posted in Chicago at 7:30 was received by the editor of the _Daily

News_, which ran thus:

"_Mr. M. E. Stone, Editor Daily News_:

"DEAR SIR--I want to speak a word through you to my

fellow-workers, just to let them know that I am still in the

land of the living and looking out for their interests.

"And further, give a few hints to some of the fellows who

desire to live on anarchists, that may be for their welfare.

In the first place, I am watching the papers and also the

knowing chaps who give the pointers as to my whereabouts, some

of whom will make good subjects for the coroner's inquest one

of these days should they persist in their present course. To

the public I desire to say that the devil is never so black

as you can paint him. I will in due time turn up and answer

for myself for anything I may have said or done. I have no

regrets for past conduct and no pledges for the future if

there is to be nothing but blood and death for the toilers

of America. Whenever the public decide to use reason and

justice in dealing with the producing class, just at that

time will you see me. But, should the decision be to continue

the present course of death and slavery just so long will I

wage relentless war on all organized force, and all endeavor

to find me will be fruitless. Watching my wife and her kind

friends is of no use. I am dead to them already. I count my

life already sacrificed for daring to stand between tyrants

and slaves.

"To show you how well I am kept posted, I know who was sent

to La Grange for me to-day. I was not there. I know who put

you on the track of Glasgow, and just where to find him. Just

say to that man for me that his day of reckoning will come

soon. I read all the papers to-day, and will see the _Times_,

_Inter-Ocean_, and Hesing later.

"Now, as to what must be done to satisfy the anarchists is to

stop all these demands for blood and show a spirit of reason

and a disposition to put down the oppressors of the people,

and enforce laws against rich thieves as readily as you do

against the poor. Grant every fair demand of labor. Give

those poor creatures enough to satisfy their hunger, and I

will guarantee a quiet period in which all the great questions

of land and wages, and rights can be put in operation without

further bloodshed. But if not, I am already sacrificed as a

martyr for the cause. I have thousands of brethren who will

sell their lives just as dearly as I will mine, and at just as

great cost to our enemies.

"I shall wait as long as I think necessary for the public to

take warning, and then you decide your own fate.

"It must be LIBERTY for the people or DEATH for CAPITALISTS. I

am not choosing more. It is your choice and your last. I love

humanity, and therefore die for it. No one can do more. Every

drop of my blood shall count an avenger, and woe to America

when these are in arms.

"I have not slept, nor shall I sleep until I sleep the sleep

of death, or my fellow men are on the road to LIBERTY."

"A. R. PARSONS."

SAMUEL FIELDEN.

Samuel Fielden was born in Todmorden, Lancashire, England, in 1847, and

spent thirteen years of his boyhood working in a cotton mill. In early

manhood he became a Methodist minister and Sunday-school superintendent

in his native place. In 1868 he came to New York, worked for a few

months in a cotton mill, and in the following year came to Chicago.

For the greater portion of the time since he has worked as a laborer.

He joined the liberal league in 1880, where he met Spies and Parsons.

He became a socialist in 1883, and has spent much time as a traveling

agitator of the International Working People's association.

We feel sure that Samuel Fielden is to-day serving out a life sentence

as the result of forming associations through which he was led to

mingle with agitators anarchistic, whose teachings were treasonable.

Though not endowed by nature with proclivities whose tendencies

were toward violence and bloodshed, yet being full of vanity and of

a vacillating nature was led to make speeches of an incendiary and

revolutionary character which identified him with those responsible for

the result of the fatal bomb, and doomed him to a life of unrequited

toil and of penal servitude.

ADOLPH FISCHER.

Adolph Fischer, who was about thirty years old, came to this country

from Germany when a boy, and learned the printer's trade with his

brother, who was editor of a German weekly at Nashville, Tenn. For

several years Fischer was editor and proprietor of the Little Rock

(Ark.) _Staats Zeitung_. This he sold in 1881, after which he worked

at his trade in St. Louis and Chicago. After coming to Chicago he

became a most rabid anarchist, and often accused Spies and Schwab of

being half-hearted, and of not having the courage to express their

convictions. He, like Engel, believed they were not radical enough.

At one time he, with Engel and Fehling, started _De Anarchist_, a

fire-eating weekly, designed to supplant the _Arbeiter Zeitung_.

He entered with all his possible energy into the spirit of socialism

and anarchy, so much so, that it became his only theme and the source

of happiness to him which he fully expressed in his last words upon

the gallows, viz: "This is the happiest moment of my life." If that

were the case, what an unendurable life were his, and the prospect

of dissolution offered a rest from the self-inflicted torment of

continuing to live.

GEORGE ENGEL.

George Engel was born in Cassel, Germany, in 1836. He received a

common school education and learned the printer's trade. He came to

America in 1873, and a year later to Chicago, where he became a convert

to socialism, and later a rabid anarchist. He founded the famous

"Northwest group" in 1883.

He spoke English very imperfectly, and with great difficulty, he

manifested no desire to make progress in anything except in anarchy.

The sinister expression of his countenance indicated a dogged stubborn

and cruel nature, full of malice and hatred which led him to use this

latest breath in a "hurrah for anarchy" upon the gallows. Such men

behold nothing beautiful in nature, nor anything to admire in well

organized society, under the mad misrule of anarchy controlled by such

an element, society would soon lapse back to the days of primitive

barbarism and superstition.

MICHAEL SCHWAB.

Michael Schwab was born near Mannheim, Germany, in 1853, and was

educated in a convent. For several years he worked at the book-binding

trade in various cities. He came to America in 1879.

He was a co-adjutor with August Spies in connection with the _Arbeiter

Zeitung_. He was a pronounced socialist, though of a milder type than

Spies, Parsons or Fischer. He was vacillating in his nature, and not

calculated for a leader, but capable of being led. Had he chosen for

his companions loyal and patriotic associates, he doubtless would have

become a trusted citizen and a champion of American institutions

instead of a propagator of anarchy which cost him the price of his

liberty.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

Oscar W. Neebe was born in New York city on the 12th day of July in the

year 1850. His parents were German, and in order to give their children

an education in German they removed from New York to Germany when

Oscar was but a child. His boyhood and school days were spent in Hesse

Cassel. But at the age of fourteen years he returned to New York and as

he expresses himself, was glad to set foot once more upon the land of

the free, where all men were equal regardless of color or nationality,

for the war had just closed which had stricken the chains and festering

fetters from the limbs of the African slave, which meant the unbarring

of the dungeon of the mind, giving them the right to acquire an

education which before was denied them, and making them heir to the

inalienable rights of citizenship. He says "I saw the sun-browned

soldiers of the federal army returning from the South where they had

fought for liberty and freedom, and learned to love them as brothers

when I heard them say: 'There is now no more slavery.'"

Catching the inspiration of these words of Horace Greely: "Go West

young man," he accordingly came to Chicago at the age of sixteen years,

but returned to New York again where he learned the trade of tinsmith

and cornice-maker. But New York, with all its fascinations, failed to

constitute him contented and happy, and in February, 1877, we find him

again in Chicago where he commenced work for the Adams and Westlake

Manufacturing Company. He states that he was discharged July 1, for

daring to champion the working man, and at times was reduced to poverty

and almost starvation because of his avowed proclivities as an agitator.

He had become identified with the socialistic agitators in 1877, and

the active part and interest manifested by him in the socialists was

largely responsible for his lack of success in obtaining and holding

a situation. In 1878 he obtained a situation as salesman for the

Riversdale Distillery Company, selling their compressed yeast.

His financial embarrassment threw him largely among the agitators of

the Labor party, and in 1886, after the Haymarket riot, he was arrested

and tried for murder or for complicity in the conspiracy which led to

the massacre for which he received a sentence of fifteen years in the

penitentiary.

LOUIS LINGG,

was only twenty-one years old, and was the youngest of the doomed

anarchists. He was born in Baden, Germany, in 1864. He secured a

common school education in Germany. He left his native country when

very young and went to Switzerland where he remained several years. He

came to America in 1885, working at the carpenter trade, at the same

time availing himself of every opportunity for the development of his

anarchistic proclivities, which seemed to be height of his ambition. He

wrote his autobiography after having received the death sentence, which

we decline to publish in consequence of its rabid and treasonable type

of anarchy, sufficient in itself to prove his complicity in the foul

conspiracy. He was one of the most arch plotters of dark and tragic

history.

[Illustration: JNO. BONFIELD.]

CHAPTER XVIII.

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF JOHN BONFIELD, INSPECTOR AND SECRETARY

OF POLICE DEPARTMENT. BIOGRAPHIES OF SHERIFF MATSON, JUDGE

GARY, JUDGE GRINELL. TRIBUTE TO CAPTAIN SCHAACK.

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD

of John Bonfield, Esq., inspector and secretary of Police Department.

He was born in the year 1836, at Bathurst, New Brunswick. His father

was a thriving farmer, but in order to give his children the advantages

of superior facilities for education, removed to Buffalo, N. Y., in

1842, and in 1844 he came with his family to Chicago.

John Bonfield, after finishing his education, and by his natural

talent and shrewdness having obtained a large stock of general

knowledge from the ordinary pursuits of life in which he had engaged,

became identified with the police force of Chicago in the year 1878

as patrolman. But he was destined to occupy a subordinate position

for only a brief period, as in 1879 he was placed upon the staff of

detectives.

His true nobility of character, noble bearing, and faithful discharge

of his duties won for him the confidence of all, and in 1880 he gained

one more step in the golden ladder of fame, being raised to the rank of

lieutenant. He was next appointed captain of the Third precinct, and in

1885 was made inspector of the entire police force.

Owing to the brave and gallant bearing of Inspector Bonfield in

relation to the faithful discharge of his every duty during his past

career, (thereby winning the confidence of superior officers relative

to his ability,) he was entrusted with the entire command of the

detachment who so bravely on the night of May 4, 1886, turned back the

tide of anarchy which threatened to sweep like a tidal wave over the

fairest heritage upon God's green earth, scattering death and debris

all along its terrible track. Truly if brave deeds and noble acts, and

honesty of purpose, coupled with patriotism are worthy of note, the

name of John Bonfield and the brave officers under his command on that

terrible night of the Haymarket massacre, shall live forever upon the

brightest page of the historian.

[Illustration: C. R. MATSON.]

CANUTE R. MATSON,

was born in Norway in the year 1843. He emigrated with his parents to

America in 1848, and settled in Walworth county, Wisconsin, but removed

in a short time to Dane county, Wisconsin, where in 1858 he entered

Albion Academy, and as a natural sequence of his insatiate thirst for

knowledge he made rapid progress maintaining ever a prominent place

at the head of his class. He was a student in Milton College at the

opening of the war. The inherent patriotism of a noble nature had been

fanned into a flame by the institutions of American freedom, and he

at once offered himself as a sacrifice, if need be, in the defense

of his adopted country, by enlisting in 1861 in the Union army as a

private soldier in Company K, Thirteenth Wisconsin Infantry. In 1862 he

was made commissary sergeant. He was raised to lieutenant of Company

G., in 1864, and was acting regimental quartermaster at the close of

the war in 1865, and received his honorable discharge bearing the

untarnished reputation of a brave soldier and a noble officer.

He afterward obtained a position in the post office where he published

the _Postal Record_, an official paper of the department.

In 1868 he was elected clerk of the Police Court. In 1871 he was

accorded the power to appoint, and also the supervision of the

deputies. In 1875 he was appointed justice of the peace. In 1878 he was

admitted to the bar. He ran for sheriff in 1879 and was only defeated

by a very small majority in favor of his opponent. He served two years

as coroner, being nominated by acclamation when he satisfied all

parties of his intent, and ability to perform the duties of his office

with credit to himself and honor to those by whose effort he had been

placed in so responsible a position.

In 1882 he was again a candidate for the office of sheriff through

the importunities of his friends, and was barely defeated by S. F.

Hanchett, who in selecting a chief deputy made the wise choice of C.

R. Matson, which position he filled to the close of the term, giving

entire satisfaction to all parties with whom he came in contact in

connection with the discharge of his official duties.

He has obtained all the honorable and responsible positions which he

has filled solely upon his merits, and has retained them with the

confidence of the public, by the efficient and impartial manner in

which he has served the people of Cook county.

He was installed in the office of sheriff of Cook county Dec. 6, 1886,

enjoying still the confidence of the people. He is a man of great

heart, broad and deep sympathies, yet unswerving in the administration

of the law as a sacred obligation he owes to the public, and in the

years to come history replete with the sayings and doings of the

great men of to-day will shed a halo of glory forever upon the name of

Canute R. Matson as a brave, true and noble man, and the most prominent

Scandinavian leader of the era in which he lived, having left an

example worthy of emulation by those who shall come after him.

JOSEPH E. GARY,

the presiding judge at the trial of the anarchists, was born at

Potsdam, New York, July 9, 1821, at which place he received a common

school education where he also spent his early boyhood days until

1843, when he went to St. Louis, Mo., and read law, opening his first

law office at Springfield, Mo. But in 1849 he removed to Las Vegas,

N. M., where he learned to write well and speak fluently the Spanish

language. He removed to San Francisco, Cal., where he practiced his

chosen profession until 1856, when he returned to Chicago and formed a

co-partnership with Murray F. Tuley, now Judge Tuley of the bench. He

finally became a law partner with E. and A. Van Buren, which continued

until 1863, when he was elected to the bench. His judicial mind and

clear comprehensive sense of right places him high among his compeers

as a celebrity upon the technicalities of law. He is esteemed by all

who know him.

JULIUS S. GRINNELL,

was born at Massena, St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1842. He is of

French-Welsh extraction, but it is not of his illustrious ancestors

we wish to speak in this sketch. Suffice it to say that the Grinnell

family are among the oldest and best families of the Eastern and New

England States. Julius S. Grinnell graduated in the office of the Hon.

William C. Brown in Ogdensburg, N. Y., in 1868. He came to Chicago in

1870 where he commenced to struggle manfully toward the summit of fame.

His eloquence and oratory, along with the comprehensive grasp of a most

extraordinary mind has made his ascent rapid and sure. His high aims

and lofty aspirations have in early life been rewarded. He can exclaim

"Eureka," as at the age of forty-six years he has been elected to the

bench.

CAPTAIN SCHAACK,

of the Fifth precinct is deserving of great credit, not merely for the

assiduity with which he applied himself to the fatiguing duties of

unraveling the mysteries of anarchy in secret organization, but also

for the tact and shrewdness coupled with the fearless manner in which

he discharged the dangerous duties incident to his office during the

reign of terror which succeeded the Haymarket tragedy. It is a well

known fact that Captain Schaack was one of the most energetic workers,

as well as one of the principal factors in ferreting out and dragging

to justice the dangerous element of socialism and anarchy in the great

conspiracy. Chicago is indebted to Captain Schaack for a large majority

of the evidence which resulted in the conviction, condemnation, and

execution of these lawless men whose object and aim was to sow the

seeds of discord and confusion in the refined and well organized

circles of society. The low-browed class of ignorant men who stood

around their leaders and in discordant voices howled their praise,

were, under this leadership capable of the wildest onset, or the dark

and patient vigil, of him who treasures up in heart of hatred an

imaginary wrong. Every step taken by Captain Schaack and his faithful

band of tried men was full of dangers. Over fifty bombs had been made

and distributed throughout the city. One had fallen with deadly effect,

and any moment another might be expected to scatter death and debris

among the ranks of faithful officers, who when detailed for service

knew not but they were being led as sheep to the slaughter.

In the ages to come when as a record of history this anarchistic

conspiracy of 1886 is referred to, the bold acts of noble daring, the

skill, bravery and self-sacrificing spirit of Captain Schaack in the

suppression of anarchy will be remembered by a grateful people as a

monument to immortalize his name.

CHAPTER XIX.

EULOGY TO THE POLICE. BOLDLY THEY FOUGHT AND WELL. CONTRAST

BETWEEN CAPITAL AND LABOR. THE ANARCHISTS' FATAL DELUSION. THE

UNITED STATES NATIONAL ANTHEM.

EULOGIZING THE POLICE.

What peace-loving citizen of Chicago desiring her commercial prosperity

and the perpetuity of American institutions, with all it means of home

and protection for free-born American citizens to behold our starry

banner still proudly floating from the citadel of the most free country

upon God's green earth, but will with me thank God for the blessings

of peace secured to us by the prompt and steady action of our brave

and noble police on the night of May 4, 1886. When forgetful of their

own personal safety in their devotion to the cause of liberty, over

the prostrate forms of mangled and dying comrades they charged this

treacherous band of alien outlaws, beating down the red hand of anarchy

which was reaching out its tentacles to usurp the birthright of this

nation bequeathed to it by our ancestors and made sacred to every loyal

heart by a baptism of the blood of our sires and grandsires in 1776.

Not one ray of light from one single star upon our grand old flag shall

ever tarnish its glory or dim its radiance in the shadow of the crimson

flag of anarchy.

With reference to that terrible night who will not with me adopt the

following language:

"When can their glory fade?"

It was to us a blood fought victory, and every officer who poured

out his life on that eventful night is deserving of a monument in

the hearts of a grateful people and a prominent place among the

wreath-crowned martyrs in the cause of liberty. Chicago's entire

force who respond so promptly to a call, discharging their duty so

faithfully, are worthy the name of heroes as justly as those who have

spilled rivers of blood upon the ensanguined field of Marathon or

Waterloo.

What matters it now to Officer Degan and his slaughtered comrades that

"boldly they fought and well." Their widowed wives and orphan children

tell the price they paid for the blessings of peace we to-day enjoy.

The maimed and suffering officers we daily behold as the result of that

direful night speak plainly of what it cost them in the protection of

our blood-bought privileges of 1776.

Verily, a monument of marble should be erected to their memory upon the

spot where they fell, bearing the names of that gallant band who so

bravely turned back the incoming tide, whose black and seething waters

threatened to wreck the foundations of our social, civil and national

institutions.

CAPITAL AND LABOR.

Two young men from the same flourishing little town, and bosom friends

graduate from the same school, each with aspirations lofty as the

pinnacle of fame. Each one chooses an art or craft, or profession.

Each man has the same chance to succeed. The avenues of trade and

commerce are open alike to all. One of these young men well knowing

that there is no royal road to wealth and fame, and that his success

depends solely upon his economy and industry, wisely adopts a code of

laws by which his life is to be regulated and governed, and his future

of success or failure determined. He remembers that his preceptor once

remarked to him thus: "Raymond, remember this: If you ever expect

to become wealthy, spend each day less than you earn," and he had

adopted it. He husbanded each week, and month, and year a portion of

his earnings; years pass on and his coffers are filling with that

yellow god which sways the destinies of men and empires. He engages in

manufacturing enterprises or mercantile pursuits, and his happiness is

complete in his palatial home, with a lovely wife and children as a

keystone crowning the arch which spans the dark and turbid stream of

life.

Let us follow the other young man who started in the race at the

same time and under the same auspicious circumstances. He has taken

a different course. He has not been idle but a spendthrift, working

during the week earning money to spend among his boon companions during

Sunday, and is always in debt and trouble as he is spending more than

he earns. He has availed himself of the privilege of rejoicing in the

days of his youth, walking in the ways of his heart and the sight of

his eyes, forgetting that for all these things he will be brought

into judgment, as no law of our physical nature or social standing can

be violated with impunity, there is no appeal from the self-inflicted

punishment of an accusing conscience for extreme prodigality and

reckless expenditure in riotous living. To-night he is standing upon

the corner of the street shivering under the biting blast which is

sifting the early snow of winter amid his prematurely grizzled hair.

He is not at peace with himself or the world. He hates himself for

being poor and others for being rich. At this juncture the elegantly

equipped carriage of his former classmate rolls past. Its owner is

now a millionaire by earnest, honest and persevering endeavor. He

is a homeless pauper and the self-constituted architect of his own

misfortunes, yet he is willing to offer himself as a representative of

the terrible contrast between capital and labor.

THE ANARCHIST'S FATAL DELUSION.

Under the fascination of rose-tinted delusion whose fatal mists

obscure the mental and moral realm of thought, many become criminals,

goaded on by blind infatuation which persevered in becomes a passion

all-absorbing in its nature. In the blindness of their infatuation

they seek to immortalize their names by a bold and base attempt at the

subversion of law and order.

Having by the mad misrule of anarchy rendered themselves amenable to

law, and by crime forfeited not only their liberty but their lives,

they stubbornly refuse to ask for executive clemency, choosing death in

the error of their ways, and in the language of Patrick Henry demanding

unconditional "liberty or death." These anarchists under the delusion

that they were becoming martyrs, courted death, and from the gallows

raised a defiant shout for the perpetuity and progress of anarchy

which they fondly hoped would go ringing down the corridors of time,

increased by tributaries until anarchy as a mighty torrent should

bear away law, order and civilization by the fury of its resistless

force, until bombs, dynamite and treason should triumph. Under the

sophistry and insidious teachings of the nefarious Herr Most, anarchy

developed rapidly in Chicago, and his minions were willing to offer up

wives and children, liberty, even life if necessary, in the interest

of the cause they had espoused. They raised their voice publicly in

denouncing imaginary wrongs and the plaudits of the admiring ignorant

lower classes amounted to an inspiration to them which urged them on

to openly advocate deeds of violence and blood. Herr Most has stated

that the gibbet upon which these anarchist murderers paid the penalty

for their crimes will in the ages to come be looked upon with the same

veneration that the cross is by the Christian.

Now, that the majesty of the law has been maintained in their

execution, their sympathizing followers seek to erect a monument to

perpetuate their memory, the most fitting tablet over their grave

should be, "Here lies anarchy in her shameful tomb." "Oh! Torquemada,

from thy fiery jail," and thou "George Jeffries, from underneath the

altar which seeks with Christian charity to hide thy hated bones," with

the long line of hideous cruel monsters from the dead, come and compare

thy deeds in contrast with thy lesser light and knowledge.

"Come seek thy equals here."

UNITED STATES NATIONAL ANTHEM.

BY W. R. WALLACE.

God of the Free! upon Thy breath

Our Flag is for the Right unrolled,

As broad and brave as when its stars,

First lit the hallowed time of old.

For Duty still its folds shall fly;

For Honor still its glories burn,

Where Truth, Religion, Valor, guard

The patriot's sword and martyr's urn.

No tyrant's impious step is ours;

No lust of power on nations rolled;

Our Flag--for _friends_, a starry sky,

For _traitors_, storm in every fold.

O thus we'll keep our Nation's life,

Nor fear the bolt by despots hurled;

The blood of all the world is here,

And they who strike us, strike the world.

God of the Free! our Nation bless

In its strong manhood as its birth;

And make its life a star of hope

For all the struggling of the Earth.

Then shout beside thine Oak, O North!

O South! wave answer with thy palm;

And in our Union's heritage

Together sing the Nation's Psalm!

THE END.

Transcriber's Notes:

Punctuation was corrected in several places (without notation).

The oe ligature is rendered [oe].

Italics are rendered between underscores e.g. _italics_.

Small Caps are rendered with ALL CAPS.

Inconsistent spellings and hyphenations have been changed to match,

however some other unusual (and possibly erroneous) spellings have been

left as printed.

+-----------------------------------------+

| Changes made by the transcriber |

+-------+----------------+----------------+

| Page | As Printed | Changed to |

+-------+----------------+----------------+

| 3 | Wont | Won't |

| 3 | Snow-Balls | Snowballs |

| 6 | Bastile | Bastille |

| 13 | 18.9 | 1879 |

| 14 | baddits | bandits |

| 15 | eight hour | eight-hour |

| 16 | assaiiants | assailants |

| 17 | blood-hounds | bloodhounds |

| 17 | difiered | differed |

| 17 | working-men | working men |

| 17 | Haymarkst | Haymarket |

| 18 | motly | motley |

| 20 | inflamatory | inflammatory |

| 21 | LING | LINGG |

| 21 | Engle | Engel |

| 22 | anarchist's | anarchists |

| 22 | Grief's | Greif's |

| 24 | Balthasar | Balthazar |

| 25 | court room | courtroom |

| 26 | Zietung | Zeitung |

| 26 | Balthauser | Balthazar |

| 27 | blood-hounds | bloodhounds |

| 30 | Griefs | Greif's |

| 31 | Grief's | Greif's |

| 33 | snow-balls | snowballs |

| 34 | occured | occurred |

| 35 | occured | occurred |

| 37 | sabstance | substance |

| 47 | D d | Did |

| 48 | snow-balls | snowballs |

| 53 | Louis | Louise |

| 54 | court-room | courtroom |

| 59 | buisness | business |

| 64 | forseen | foreseen |

| 65 | connot | cannot |

| 68 | frrom | from |

| 72 | yon | you |

| 74 | Socialiastic | Socialistic |

| 82 | Wou | You |

| 83 | steet | street |

| 84 | seee | see |

| 85 | penality | penalty |

| 88 | to | to be |

| 89 | did | did you |

| 92 | Fidlden | Fielden |

| 93 | restaurent | restaurant |

| 97 | hoping | hopping |

| 97 | rotton | rotten |

| 101 | responsable | responsible |

| 103 | is | is a |

| 106 | mercilesss | merciless |

| 111 | fhe | the |

| 116 | nphold | uphold |

| 117 | occured | occurred |

| 120 | caime | crime |

| 123 | haggared | haggard |

| 123 | stocial | stoical |

| 126 | Schoool | School |

| 128 | kneee | knee |

| 130 | six six | six |

| 131 | primef-actors | prime-actors |

| 131 | survilance | surveillance |

| 131 | Yipsilon | Ypsilon |

| 131 | in in | in |

| 131 | consumation | consummation |

| 132 | Verin | Verein |

| 134 | is | as |

| 135 | machinest | machinist |

| 136 | utterences | utterances |

| 137 | Schuaubelt | Schnaubelt |

| 140 | gread | great |

| 143 | argueing | arguing |

| 145 | occured | occurred |

| 147 | occurance | occurrence |

| 150 | of | or |

| 151 | prætorian | Prætorian |

| 153 | cannibles | cannibals |

| 154 | literateur | litterateur |

| 154 | sevility | servility |

| 155 | There | Their |

| 156 | waived | waved |

| 163 | acklowledge | acknowledge |

| 164 | LaSalle | Lassalle |

| 165 | emmigrants | immigrants |

| 166 | man-mankind | mankind |

| 168 | reciteing | reciting |

| 171 | nor | not |

| 173 | immerced | immersed |

| 174 | persecuters | persecutors |

| 175 | priviledged | privileged |

| 182 | Adolf | Adolph |

| 182 | NINA | NIÑA |

| 182 | Nina | Niña |

| 182 | superintendant | superintendent |

| 183 | emmoluments | emoluments |

| 184 | GOVENOR | GOVERNOR |

| 191 | preverted | perverted |

| 191 | gatling | Gatling |

| 195 | Challenge | challenge |

| 196 | gilt | guilt |

| 199 | appropos | apropos |

| 200 | jurisdidtion | jurisdiction |

| 202 | priviledge | privilege |

| 202 | deirsous | desirous |

| 204 | the the | the |

| 204 | kidnaping | kidnapping |

| 206 | Uuited | United |

| 206 | magna charta | Magna Charta |

| 207 | magna charta | Magna Charta |

| 207 | priviliges | privileges |

| 209 | kidnaping | kidnapping |

| 210 | waved | waived |

| 212 | perogative | prerogative |

| 214 | Engle | Engel |

| 215 | ninteenth | nineteenth |

| 219 | thrist | thirst |

| 221 | which which | which |

| 221 | slighest | slightest |

| 225 | meloncholy | melancholy |

| 226 | desirious | desirous |

| 229 | MARSELLAISE | MARSEILLAISE |

| 229 | murmered | murmured |

| 230 | Marsellaise | Marseillaise |

| 231 | DISCRIPTION | DESCRIPTION |

| 231 | THREATNING | THREATENING |

| 231 | PITTYING | PITYING |

| 231 | Engle | Engel |

| 238 | threatning | threatening |

| 243 | embelish | embellish |

| 243 | curari | curare |

| 246 | BASTILE | BASTILLE |

| 246 | teniment | tenement |

| 247 | procivities | proclivities |

| 248 | bastile | Bastille |

| 250 | ravishers | ravishers of |

| 251 | verein | Verein |

| 252 | Pittsburg | Pittsburgh |

| 255 | indentified | identified |

| 258 | heighth | height |

| 259 | precint | precinct |

| 261 | acclammation | acclamation |

+-------+----------------+----------------+