A HISTORY
OF THE
NATIONAL ARMY
OF
RESCUE.
By JAMES CULVERWELL.
Author of Political Economy and
Science in Government.
Liberty! the priceless boon for which nations
have struggled, peoples have bled, this earth of ours been made the scene
of countless conflicts, intense convulsions and terrible wars—liberty
is again imperiled through the illegal rule of faction, monopoly and
privilege under the machinery of our government.
It has long been the
opinion of the writer hereof that it is not a necessary condition that
"eternal vigi-lence"—continual jeopardy—must ever
remain the price of liberty, but that government may be so constituted that
it shall become safe and lasting as the earth—as long as man may
remain an inhabitant thereof, or until it shall become a cold -md dead
world.
To the friends of liberty evervwhere, to the toiling
masses—to the laborers of our nation—who instinctively feel
that something is wrong, that something ought, should and must be done,
this little work is presented fly the author.
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THE HISTORY.
Men and things in this world are not always
what they appear, but are often as they appear not. So general is this
truth that it has been said that language was invented to conceal the true
intents and purposes of the human heart. It will be one of the-objects of
the writer to unveil as far as may be the "intents and purposes"
of the chief actors and movers in our social, civil and political life, to
take the reader behind the scenes, as it were, and to enable him to see
things as they really are, not as they seem
to be.
The words
democracy, republicanism and anarchism have double
meanings. Pure democracy or the true etymologic meaning of the
word, is a state or so-' ciety in which the citizens or people thereof meet
at stated times, take counsel together, and administer their
government in person, not by proxy or represen-* tation.
Such a principle or form of government is applicable only to a
limited area or small extent of country. Such were some of the
ancient domocracies or small republics of Greece. Republicanism
is also a government of the people, but representative or by proxy in
character, consequently may be exercised over an unlimited extent or area
of country. Such is our form of government—a Republic or
representative
democracy. Anarchism is a state or condition of society
in which
there are no chiefs; or in other words, a state without
magistracy, all being a law unto themselves.
The
popular, the accepted meaning of those words, the
one
generally understood, is that democracy is a form
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of government, or, in our case, a party in our society with a set of
political principles; lepublicanism is a party with another set of
political principles, while the term anarchism is generally supposed to
mean lawlessness, chaos, or confusion, in any realm whatever.
It will
be my purpose in the present narrative, unless otherwise stated, to use
those words or terms in their popular or accepted meanings.
To me, in
common with many of my countrymen, the event of the 4th of May, 1886,
otherwise known as the Haymarket riot of Chicago, was vague and undefined.
A riot had occurred; a number of policemen had been killed; apparently a
conflict between labor and capital. Arrests were made, and somewhere there
appeared murderous intentiocs, and resistance to lawful and constituted
authority. In time, trials dragged their weary length along; facts in
regard to the circumstances became known, and the "true
inwardness" and merits of the case were made more fully apparent; but
not until the execution was accomplished did the enormity of the crime
against justice fully reveal itself to the public gaze.
I will not
reiterate the facts in the case but simplest ite in the language of Judge
Gary regarding it: uThe case is unprecedented; there is no example of any
such crime, no precedent of any case like this having ever been the subject
of judicial investigaton." The charge to the jury had not been to find
them guilty, if by the evidence it was shown that they had anything to do
with the throwing of the bomb, but if by their speech or advice others may
have thrown it. The judge even conceded that the thrower thereof was
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unknown. Thus was an infraction, a palpable violation
of the constitution committed—of that clause of the constitution
which declares that th* "freedom of speech or of the press shall not
he abridged." Do the privileged classes, the factions in control of
the machinery or! the government, think they can intimidate the people?
suppress talking, speech-making or writing in agitation of their rights,
even if some of those speeches were not advisory of proper means for the
rectifying of political and social evils? In what does the liberty of the
people consist, if not in a discussion of any or all means for such
rectification?
Even now political writers are talking about a
;<dying nation," the ''death of American liberty," etc., and
if this case is allowed to proceed to its full ending such a consummation
will be accomplished. The dead, cannot be helped, their blood has been
shed, as it were, for the regeneration of our political society, but the
living, incarcerated in an American Bastile, ere . they pine and die, can
be rescued, peaceably if it can, forcibly, it if must, and why? It may have
been wrong for those men, and I say it was wrong to advocate or use
forcible resistance to illegal Uws and regulations, because they, in common
with other citizens, had delegated to their agents or servants, the
law-makers and executives thereof, portions of their sovereignty, and given
them instructions how, when and where to use or administer it; if the
agents transcend those instructions and use means not authorized, then have
the citizens the right to use the same means in self-defense; for
self-defense has been said to be the first law of nature, consequently what
may not have been lawful or
[Page 5]
right in the first
instance becomes right in defense.
Such were' the reflections
unavoidably indulged in upon the consummation of that terrible
tragedy—such the circumstances which led to the series of event-* in
which the organization of the so-called "Army of Rescue" was but
a link.
Having long been convinced that the people were being bound
hand and foot under a most relentless despotism, unprecedented almost in
the history of any nation of which we have any record, the consummation of
that deed on the 11th of Nov. '87, was to me and to many, the occasion of
rejoicing, in vie-v of the fact that bv that act, the privileged classes
had "put their foot into it"—the capitalists, the
monopolists, etc , those being the classes principally for which that act
of intimidation wras committed. It brought to my mind the fable of the wolf
and the lamb who came to the same stream to quench their thirst; the wolf
viewing the lamb with a rapacious eye, and thinking he would make a nice
meal, but nevertheless must have a pretext in order to retain
respectability in Jiis wolfish society, got on the up side of the stream
and began muddying the water, then charged it to the lamb; whereupon the
innocent lamb replied, bow can that be, seeing that the current runs from
you to me? The wolf replied, you are an insolent little lamb and I will
devour you any -&ay and thereupon gobbled up the lamb without any more
ceremony.
But how, when or where could this event be made to operate
to the benefit of the rights of the people? That was tLe question. I was
convinced in my own mind that properly operated it might be made to con-
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duce to the opening of the "good time
coming," the "jubilee of jubilees,1' the "Golden Age"
of which poets have sung and for which the good and true of all ages have
sighed. That such may be possible to be attained certain conditions must
first be practicalized; with these conditions it may exist, without them it
cannot; and as they are intimately inter-woven in the events of this
narrative I will briefly state tliem, so that the reader can see in their
after delineation their applicability.
First, the abolition of metal
money. Second, the
abolition of paternalism in
government. Third, the abolition of the indissolubilitv of the marriage
reia-tion. Fourth, in the private or social relations of the people the
abolition of an arrogant, fraudulent and irresponsible priesthood.
In
the fall of 1887 many of the people in my neighborhood, Dentonia, Jewell
county, Kas., became disgusted with the two old parties, and some time in
the winter met to consider the situation. I had had sev-eraKxmversations
with the man who afterwards became President of the Dentonia Union Labor
Club. We agreed in our estimation of the ettorniitv of the crime against
justice in the execution of the Chicago Anarchists, but he thought that the
popular prejudice against them was such that he and I alone would be all
that would be willing to make an issue upon that judicial outrage. I
thought we c^uld at least try to make an issue, and when the meeting was
called the great majority was found to be in favor of uniting with some
labor party already organized instead of forming another party or
making an independent issue. At a
[Page
7]
subsequent meeting the Dentonia Union Labor Club was formed
consisting of some twenty or more members.
Meeting an acquaintance
from an adjoining township about this time he asked me what the people of
my township were trying to do. I answered that they had formed a Union
Labor Club to operate against the monopolists and money power. He thought
it would be of no use; the monopolists were so strongly intrenched, that
only by the power of the sword or bullet, could they be compelled to let go
their hold upon
the people.
Others also expressed themselves that
it was absolutely impossible to accomplish anything for the alleviation of
the condition of the people, so complete was the control of legislation by
the money power— so strong was their influence in the government as
to block the people at whatever point they might attempt a rectification of
their wrongs.
I will relate an incident which occurred to me
personally about this time. One evening after I had done my usual work and
was conterrplating the condition of things—the wretched condition of
society under the present regime, myself as well as the vast majority of
the producing classes, being in a box, as it were, and apparently
hopelessly so, I resolved to take advantage of this barbarous act of the
legal authorities of the land, and, using the right of self-defense, make a
show at least of resistance. It could do no harm; it might do good, in
arousing public sentiment to make men consider whither they are drifting,
when all at once, the inspiration siezed me, and under that beauti-
[Page 8]
ful star lit sky, when all around was calm, I
recorded a vow before high heaven that those men should be free or that I
would bite the dust; when lo! from the Great Eternal came the answering
echo, in a still small voice, "behold thou shalt succeed, and shalt
prevail, and the Potential Energy of the Universe shall be thy pretecting
arm, thy guide and thy defense."
"What wonder then that
afterwards, when all was confusion around, when a portion of my little
company, by treachery, was thrown into a complete panic, \shen fear of the
furv of the mob at Mankato, as also-a fear of arrest by the officers of the
law was upon them, with me all was peace and calmness; the greater the
storm without, the more quiet the peace within.
Shortly afterward I
wrote out a plan of an organization for a National Army of Rescue, but in
endeavoring to obtain signatures thereto, some difficulty was
experienced. None objected to the object, but some were fearful
lest it might be termed treasonable, and lest they might lay themselves
liable to the law. I explained to them what real treason was;
that it was the act of making war against, or giving of aid and comfort to
the enemies of the United States. This was only a feint, a
pretense; nothing actual was contemplated, but merely to arouse
public sentiment. One difficulty was to get some to sign first, as several
offered to sign after others had signed. At last some signed
with the understanding that their nanies were not to be published, which I
agreed not to do, unless with their consent. Others soon
followed to the number of eight, though one a few days after he signed
[Page 9]
requested his name erased, which I immediately did.
The last two signed also with the understanding that their names were not
to be published, also that with thoir signatures it would make sufficient
for the purpose.
I then ceased soliciting subscribers thereto, and it
being about time to commence spring work on my farm,, my time was occupied
in attending to that.
It was my intention to publish the Plan of
Organization, and,as I had time in the evenings or otherwise, I opened up a
correspondence with some papers for that purpose. It was my intention to
send the names for publication of those only who had given their consent.
For this purpose I soon opened up a correspondence with a paper called
Lucifer, published at Valley Falls, Kansas, by M. Harman—a paper
devoted to Liberalism, the agitation ot labor interests and to the
emancipation of woman from the domination of man in the sex relation, This
correspondence I here republish as being intimately connected with a
history of this matter. The editor of this journal, M. Harman, as will be
seen by the correspondence is an Anarchist, according to the true
etymologic meaning of the word. In the correspondence I take issue with him
as a governmentalist.
Me3sbs. H*bman & Walkeb: Dear Friends: Yoar3
of the 10th inst. received, notifying me that my time is up for Lucifer.
Sast now, from repeated failures in crops, and being one of the forced
-victims of the robber banks of this country, ducats are scarce; but send
on the Lucifer, it is ever welcome, and I will soon make it right for
it.
Mr. Editor, I have written eome on political subjects but never
before the 11th of last November did I advocate the use of anything but the
ballot for the rectification of political evils; but now it is a
[Page 10]
question above and beyond the use of that instrument. If
man were a reasonable animal the ballot would be all-sufficient uuder all
circumstances* but he is not. History teaches that physical force is the
final arbitrament of every important movement that concerns our well-being.
It is hardly a consoling thoaght. Bat the beauty of the higher law is, that
might does not make right, but that in any controversy those having the
right prevail, be their numbers few or many. Right makes might; yea, it is
Omnipotence itself.
You have been suffering from the persecution of
Oomstockism; suppose you turn the scent of your persecutors hitherward.
They may find some more prey not far off, to feed their voracious maws
• I have been directly informed that I may receive a visit from a U.
S. Marshal, and some ot ocr belligerent fellow citizens have expressed a
desire to shoulder their muskets and come to our neighborhood and clean us
out. But I say to you, as well as to all other workers, Take courage! It is
not long till the centennial anniversary of 1789, and in that year there
occurred, in a great nation on the other side of the big pond, such a
reversal of things as astonished the civilized world. It may be that there
will be such a reversal of things on this side—on this
continent—that the former will be but as a mere incident.
I
don't care if you publish this. You can do as yoa choose, adding whatever
comments you may like.
Respectfully and sincerely yours,
James
Culvehwell,
On the principle that it is safer to allow an earnest man
to speak his honest thought, even though that thought should shock the
nerves of the timid, I give Mr. Culverweii the floor, knowing that many
thousands of earnest and honest workers entertain like thoughts, and want
to see them expressed. But will he and they be kind enough to answer a
question or two?
1. If the ballot fails because man is a non
reasoning animal, is it probable that bullets, bayonets and dynamite will
be wisely used by this same non-reasoning animal?
2. In the
battle of ballots the cunning non-producers make the workers fight each
other and pay nil the costs of the battle, while they themselves carry off
all the spoils, no matter which side is the victor; do our revolutionists
think it would
[Page 11]
be otherwise in a battle of
bullets?
3. Was the result of the Europaan revolution of 1789 such a
triumphant success for the workers that we should be anxious to see it
re-enacted next year in America?—Ed. Lucifer.
To the first I
answer yes, in a degree. Man, like any other species of the animal
creation, acquires knowledge of his environments ana circumstances from the
discipline of suffering and the hard knocks of experience.
To the
second I answer yes, b3cause under the operation of the principle of
equilibrium, the great law of the universe, bullets or physical force is
one of the means whereby an equalization or
redistribution of wealth or
rights isat-tained when such is disturbed abnormally, whether under the
organic laws of the societies of man, or by a wreaching of such laws for
the purpose of concentration in the hands of a few at the expense of the
many. To the ttiird I will cite a few facts and offer a few
remarks and leave to your readers to judge of their merit.
In other
ways than as to mere bloody details and destruction of human life, can the
coming reversal of things on this continent compare with that as a mountain
to a mole-hiil. Under the best political philosophy it is a conceded fact
that that state or nation is rnoet likely to enjoy peace which is best able
to command it. A half dozen centuries since our English
speaking sires accomplished a rectification of things in tijeir social
state without the shedding of a drop of blood or loss of a single
man. Have we, their offspring, degenerated so much that we
cannot do as well? I think we can; perhaps a little
better. King John had the regular army, the generals and
marshals of England behind him, but before him he saw the force of the
people of England; he signed the magna eharta without risking a battle,
which took from him many powers and privileges before enjoyed
undisputed. We are in a better position than the .trench
in 1789. Their organic laws conferred privileges and favors, ours do
not. It is not necessary for us to be Anarchists.
We can simply stand upon the Constitution of our country and maintain our
rights under it and the practical Anarchists in control of the machinery
thereof may cry treason and rebellion, but their saying so will not make it
so.
From the wild excesses and extremes of Anarchism in the years
succeeding 1789, Napoleon, a governmentahet, saved the French people, and
so long as he fought in the dev fense of the rights of France his success
and glory was such as had hardly ever fell to the lot of mortal man ; but
when like a fool he eoaght to build an empire for himself his
[Page 12]
downfall became more rapid than his rise. He missed
the greatest opportunity ever given to a man to give a perfect system of
government to bis race, guided by perfect wisdom and virtue politically.
Under our system the majority rule ; the minority having had a voice,
acquiesce. The acts then of' the executives of the law become the acts of
the whole peo« pie. The act of the 11th of last November established
a new policy, a new precedent. Four men were huug for Anarchy, an opinion,
a doctr.ne. The blood of those men is upon the skirts of every man, woman
and child of the political society of which they were members. When the
power which rules the nations of the earth makes requisition for the blood
of innocence, who shall stand? I, for my part, will make a protest. I will
clear my skirts; and be it known by the authorities and executives of these
Uuited States tbat I will not bow down, nor acknowledge or acquiesce in the
justice or righteousness of tbat act.
Mr. Editor, 1 appreciate your
kindness of heart in keeping me from, as yon think, unnecessarily putting
my neck into a halter, but surely you are not afraid to pubilsh mare items
of news, which might be of interest to many of our fellow citizens. The
rope may be made tbat may baDg me, or the bullet cast that may shoot me,
but I do not think so, and if I did not believe it avoidable I would say,
God spe?d the day when we could upon the tented field, amid the clash of
arms, contend for liberty, the rights of man, etc., what United States
judges and courts declare to be meankgless phrases and glittering
generalities.
Mr. Editor, you may call me a rectificationist, but
don't call me a revolutionist; please don't! It may put me in the company
of great and illustrious men ot our history to whose company I had not
dreamt to aspire.
"Of what avail is plow and sail Land or life,
if freedom tail."—Emeuson.
JAME8 CtTLVERWELL.
Dentonia, Jewell County, Kansas.
About this time the Hon. C. H.
Moody, of Otego, Kansas, gave an address before the Dentocia Union Labor
Club. Before doing so he took supper at my house. The subject of the
Chicago Anarchists came up. He deplored the event, spoke of it as an
injustice and an outrage, or words to that effect. 1 showed him the plan of
the organization, but he disapproved
[Page 13]
of that,
declaring that if a million of men would take arms to-day, the government
being so strong, to-morrow they would be crushed; advised me to burn the
document and have no more to do with it.
A week or two after this time
J. Dunton, editor of the then Salem Argns, but now the Kansas Labor
Clarion, at Mankato, Kansas, also gave an addreiS before the club. The same
night he stayed at mv house; he expressed nearly the same sentiments as Mr.
Moody concerning the Anarchists, but upon showing him the paper in the
morning, he too disapproved of it and declared that if five million of men
would take arms, the government could easily crush them; yet he used more
radical language before the club than I ever used or could approve. I said
then as I said to others about that time, it needed not a million or five
million of men to accomplish the work. I would not call for more than a
thousand, and of that thousand I would not want more than three hundred to
inaugurate it. If Leomdas with his three hundred men could ket-p at bay the
Persians, over two millions in number, until his countrymen could organize
themselves for resistance; if Gideon with three hundred could overthrow the
Midianites and deliver Israel, I think as much might be done to-day, or we
are degenerating as a race. War is a science; it is no hard matter for a
small army, rightly managed, to overthrow a large one. Large armies are
unwieldy and difficult to handle, and some of the greatest victories
recorded in history were ot small armies over great ones.
/
Soon
after this time while cultivating corn one day
[Page 14]
u|)on my farm a neighbor, S. C. Ozman, came to me-stating he had got
himself into some trouble. A man by the name of Totton, living near
Mankato, to whom he had made some statements regarding the document I had
circulated in the spring, was liable to be arrested or to be sued by the
Union Labor party at Mankato for slander, for certain statements Mr Totton
had made regarding the matter up there. Consequently Iig had come back for
his authority in the matter to him, and he (Ozman) would also be involved
with him. So he requested me to give him a copy of the paper to clear not
only Mr. Totton but himself likewise. I told him to come to my house and I
would give him a copy. He then went back to his house and bringing with him
A. K. Durand, a Justice of the Peace for Odessa township (also deputy
sheriff of the county) came to my house. Esq. Durand then took a copy of
the paper and with it they both left.
Esq. Durand stated that
Mr.Totton, whom he did not know and had never seen,had written to,and
requested him to procure a copy of it. He afterward stated that he had no
idea what disposition Mr. Totton intended to make of the paper beyond
clearing himself from the threatened suit.
Soon afterwards the whole
matter appeared in the Mankato Monitor, ffhich is herewith given. Also the
other county papers published articles concerning it which were re-copied
by papers published, even to the confines of the State. Also it was stated
that Chicago papers published articles concerning it, as a matter of news.
If so, then was it the means of accomplishing orie object, which I had in
the writing of
[Page 15]
it, viz: that some little bird
might whisper in the ea^s-of those convicts m the Illinois Penitentiary at
Joliet, information of the movement on the part ot some of their fellow
citizens, and that they would thereby know that some, at least, of those
fellow citizens were not stony-hearted in their feelings toward them. Do
not my fellow citizens know that popular clamor, popular prejudice, is
fickle? to-day one thing, to-morrow another, even as one poet has expressed
the sentiment in the lines
And the demons of our sires become, The
saints whom we adore. So round and round we turn And ever is justice
done.
JEWELL COUNTY ANARCHISTS. [Mankato
Monitor.!
Some days ago, Wm. Totten, a prominent citizen of thi&
township, stated that a movement was on foot among members of the Union
Labor party, looking to the liberation of the condemned Anarchists. The
statement was denied and Mr. Totten was strongly denounced, but he has
'-proved it on them" beyond question. He employed Mr. A. K. Durand, a
well known justice of the peace, to take affidavits of the facts in the
case, which we give below : *
AFFIDAVIT QY B. C. OZMAN.
Some time this spring James Culverwell, a
member of the Union Labor party of this township, called upon me with a
paper and requested me to enlist for the purpose of raising a company or
army of soldiers to go to the state prison at Joliet, Illinois, and releasa
the condemned Anarchists now confined there. I refused to do so. The names
of some of the signers to the document were j ames Culvtrwell, Eeece
Hassinger, John Bohrer, Wm. Smith, and many others. The full statements of
the document I do not remember, and I have been unable to obtain a copy,
but its object was for the purposes I have mentioned. All of the signers to
the document were members of the Union Labor
party. S.
C. OZMAN.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of July
1888.
A. K. DUBAND,
Justice of the Peace of
Odessa township, Jewell Co., Kan.
And here is a certified copy of the
enlistment roll with the-
[Page 16]
names attached :
PLAN OF OBGANIZATION OF A NATIONAL ARMY
OF BESCUK.
We, citizens of the United Sta'es and of Kansas
in particular, do hereby organize ourselves into an association to be known
as a §t National Army of Rescue " the object whereof we declare
to be the liberation and restoration to freedom of the three men now held
in cofinement at the Illinois State Penitentiary at Juliet, viz ; Neebe
sentenced for fifteen yearstand Fielden and Schwab for life.
We
declare that the imprisonment of these men i« unconstitutional,! d
just and tyrannical and an outrage upon the constitutional rights of every
citizen of the United States, in the abridgement of the rights of free
speech and expression of opinion.
We hereby organize ourselves into a
company to be known as " Co, A. First Regiment of the Kansas Army of
Re*cae«"
We hereby pledge ourselves to drill and inform
ourselves upon military discipline and tactics as far as we can
conveniently, and invite ail our fellow citizens who may be in sympathy
with oar object to unite with us.
When in case of such organization
numbering in membership from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand
it shall or may become the doty of the leader^ thereof in obedience to the
sen-timent of the organization, to call for a sufficient force of
volunteers to initiate a movement that by physical force if necessary, we
may accomplish the ireedom and restoration to liberty of these
men.
James
Culvebwell.
J* M. Bohbeb.
R.
Walkek.
M G. Maudslby.
S. B.
Gage.
H. W\ Gage.
I hereby certify that this is a true copy taken from the
original
document by me
July 7th, 1888, and now in the hands of
James
Culverweli.
A. K. DURAND,
Justice of the Peace of Odessa township, Jewell Co.f
Kan.
Thus it willfce seen that men who can't successfully man. age a
quarter section of land will dash off a decision on constitutional law, for
invasion of which constitutional rights he is ready to take up arms against
hie government, and at the same time, every one of those signers become
guilty of conspiracy and are liable to heavy line or imprisonment, and
should they make an attempt to carry out their purpose they would b6
condemned as traitors and hanged higher than Parsons.
There are an
hundred thousand veterans in Kansas who met and punished traitors in
1861-5, and it wont do to ^monkey" with them now, and when we see a
party espousing the cause of anarchy and treason, it is time for all
loyal men to abandon and condemn it.
[Page 17]
A few days after the publication of the matter in the Mankato
Monitor, the principal officers of the Club called upon
me. The public feeling throughout the county and
adjoining counties was at fever heat. These officers wished me to make a
statement exonerating the club from all connection with the
matter. I agreed to do so. It was not from
any action of the club, but an independent movement from it, though
some of the signers to the document were members of the club, while others
were not. They went from my house to Mr. Ozman's to see
him concerning the state-.ment he had made regarding it.
A day or two after this Esq. Durand came to me and before I had made
any statement of the matter, informed me that the
president of the club was working to my injury and had stated that he would
have me expelled from the -club. He cautioned me to
be on my guard, that he (the president) had made a statement
regaiding the matter, which would be published in the next issue of
the Clarion. That I had better wait before making mine
until I had seen his. I told him I would do so. He furthermore
informed me that although there was .considerable excitement, I and my
company could rest easy and not be alarmed, there would be no
prosecution whatever. He had seen the county
Attorney, who also gave him the same assurances.
t With the president
of the club my relations had been friendly, cordial and confidential,
though he had not approved my steps in this matter, but at the same time,
in the winter he had avowed himself to me to be an anarchist. This was the
first intimation that I had that anything was wrong. The next
morning I
[Page 18]
was going to see the Messrs. Gage, the
last two that joined the company, and I met them coming to ray house. They
were somewhat alarmed. In their imagination the whole country was aroused.
I quieted their fears as best I could, told them of the pledges of the
county officials, and they returned home easier in mind and more contented.
The same evening they again returned and came to my house; the President of
the Club came also. He had gone to their house during the day, shown them
the law of Kansas in re-gard to treason, and had thrown them into a
complete panic. The same evening Mr. Ozman came also to my house. The
officers ot the Club were threatening him with prosecution for the
statement he had made in the matter. I then saw that the statements Esq.
Durand had made in regard to the President, to me» were literally
true. Mr. Finch, the President of the Club, had been toMankato, bad
procured the law, and intended to use it and his official position as
President of the Club, to force me into acqmesence and compel me to drop
the matter. He was also especially hard against Esq. Durand and his
brother, 0. H. Durand, County Superintendent, charging them with many
things; but this much I must say in justice to all concerned, that Esq.
Durand, as far as I could see, in all his statements and actions regarding
the matter, acted the perfect gentleman.
In this matter, as the reader
will see, before I commenced, I counted the cost. Did the president of the
Dentonia Union Labor Club think he could intimidate me? I thought not.
For.human rights, for liberty, for defense of my family and home I would
dare do anything; 1 would dare leap from the highest heaven
[Page 19]
to the lowest pit in sheol.
The elder Mr. Gage had
informed me the same morning that the president of the club had urged him
to come up and take his name off the paper. Did the interests of the club
or of the Union Labor party, require him to act thus ? I thought not. I had
done nothing but what I had a perfect right to do, independently of my
connection with the club; but it seems that every important movement in
human affairs must have some sort of treachery connected with it. The
reader will see by the subjoii ed letter how 1 paid him in his own coin.
(From Jewell County Monitor.)
Ed. Monitor: "Truth is stranger
than fiction." Ere the end of this Anarchy business which has
transpired in our midst, the above quotation may be verified. It certainly
already has some quaint peculiarities and interesting features.
A
person making a statement of events so recently tran-pinng should, I think,
have a better memory tnan the president of the Dentonia Union Labor Club
sesins to have. Io a statement he has recently made, he claims that I
"introduced a resolution at the organization of the club, it was voted
down, and after the vote I joined the club." etc. Now, • Mr.
Editor, the facts are, at the temporary or preliminary meeting or
organization of the club, I was chairman myself, the meeting was called to
consider the advisability of forming or making an independent movement or
party, or of uniting with one or other of tbe different lalor organizations
already made. For this purpose I wrote and was read at tbe meeting a
constitution and declaration of principles, and whioh I have now at my
house, for an independent movement, which in my opinion seemed to be
necessary. This was voted down, and not a resolution, as he says; but voted
to unite with some labor organization already formed, and for this purpose
at the succeeding meeting the platforms of the Union Labor and another
organization were read and it was decided to unite with the Union Labor.
Having agreed with* my neighbors and fellow citizens that something should
ba done, I acquiesced in the will of the majority, for I am not an
Anarchist, but believe m government, law and order, and majority rule,
which most Anarchists do not. Instead of my joining the club after the
vote, my name is on the list of the
[Page 20]
original
members of the club and was elected an officer thereof, viz: Corresponding
Secretary. Jt is a fact the organization of the military company was an
after matter, was never mentioned m the club, and iu my soliciting
subscribers thereto I did it indiscriminately, whether they were members of
the club or not, though the most part that joined were members He
furthermore states at the organization of the company I was a Democrat;
Democrats look to your laurels! if I were a Democrat then is he now a
Republican? If I understood the movement, it was to be one without, respect
to former affiliations. I long since resigDed what office I held m my
former party. Can he say the same for his ? Parties, 1 think, are the
means, not the end, through which the individual citizens exercise the
duties and acquire the privileges of citizenship. I challenge any member of
the club to show I have not acted in good faitu towards the party and I
think the better minds and spirits of it will sustaiu me when they see that
it's a case like that in 1861 to 1865, wh°n the feeling of every true
patriot was to sustain the integrity and preservation of the government
first, party afterwards.
It is said " Consistency is a
jewel." I will relate an incident: Last winter, in a social
conversation with me Finch advocated and avowed himself an Anarchist; I was
surprised, I spoke against it, and in favor of governmentalism. A short
time ago an Anarchist in the State of Indiana, noticing an article in a
paper I bad written in sympathy with the Chicago Anarchists as American
citizens, supposed me in sympathy with Anarchism, wrote me a letter
inclosing a couple of copies of a circular or pamphlet of his own
publication. I banded one to a neighbor with the remark, that is red-hot
Anarchism, and when he read it he handed it to him, meaning the president
of our club; it seems it had the desired effect, in converting him back to
a true conception of political princplee, for now he denies ever being one.
Certainly a person may be mistaken at any time, but what weight or
confidence can we attach to a person who is thus tossed about with any
political wind of doctrine.
Mr. Editor, I hope 1 may never do anything
by word or act to cast a reproach upon the good people of Jewell county,
but let me be understood upon this matter; can it be possible that in the
land of Washington, Jefferson and Franklin, ere a century has elapsed since
they have fallen asleep, that there can be such a thing as unlawful
opinions? Judge Gary says there can be; moreover Judges of State Supreme
and TJ. S. Courts, declare that liberty, the rights of man, etc., in
relation to the Constitution are " meaningless phrases
[Page 21]
and glitteriDg generalities." If the tree of liberty
planted upon this continent by revolutionary blood and treasure, further
strengthened and consolidated by the blood aad treasure spent in the war of
the rebellion, needs yet still more to keep it green aud perennial, it can
freely have
mine.
Respectfully,
James Culvebwekl.
Dentonia, Jewell Co., Kansas.
Thus it seems
that Finch has found himself m deep water, and instead of shifting the
charge of Anarchism from the club has had it fastened upon himself,
(President of the club) in a manner which makes it all the more odious from
the fact that it comes from one of those upon whoiii he sought to cast the
odium. If we are correctly informed, this man Finch is somewhat noted for
his political antics. We are informed that less than a year ago, in the
absence of the Republican nominee for Trustee of his township, he,
purporting to act by authority, took the regular nominee's name from the
ticket and caused his own to be placed thereon and was elected by the
Republicans, whom he now further betrays by resorting to his present
methods. Neither the Union Labor party nor Anarchists can long protect a
man from the effects of such acts.—[Ed. Monitor.]
There was
still a comical. side to the whole affair. As I sat in my house that
evening, the hour approaching midnight, Mr. Finch before me haranguing upon
the matter, telling of the excitement in Mankato, that the principal men
there would not believe that I wrote the document, it was impossible for a
common farmer to do it; they said that it was the work of some lawyer in
Chicago who had written it, and then sent it into the country to start a
movement in favor of the Anarchists. The elder Mr. Gage on my right,
pleading for me to write out a paper saying that we did not intend
anything, and claiming that I had betrayed him in giving the paper to be
copied, and fearful lest the fury of the mob, or the officers of the law
might break in upon them any moment. I meantime endeavoring to quiet his
fears and assuring him that all would be
well. Mrs. Gage by his side, nod-
[Page 22]
ding every little whi'e from sleepiness, the younger
Mr. Gage erasing their names from the document, and earnestly scanning it,
to discover if there were any traces left. The whole thing appeared to be a
good subject for an art st to make a picture, and entitle it " locking
the stable door after the horse is stolen." I had desired them to go
to bed and sleep over it and I would write a paper for them in the morning.
But no, I must do it that night; so I wrote it. In the morning the Messrs.
Gage took it to Esq. Durand's. I accompanied them tnd acknowledged it
before him. he assuring them also there would be no danger. They departed
for home feeling much better. This paper was never published. I believe,
and as I left it in their hands, I do not give it here.
I will here
relate an incident illustrative of the excitement throughout the county at
the time. It was said the mob at Mankato was on the point of coming down to
clean us out. as they expressed it, when somebody told them they could
never get within four or five miles of my house that in the hills around
were located dvnamite bombs that would blow
them to sheol should
they attempt to approach. That was enough; they would not attempt it. That
imaginary line of bombs around us was a protection as effectual as
though they were there in fact.
It is a good thing the printer's art
is in vogue today so the story can be preserved in cold facts, else it
mjght become so exaggerated, that in future ages, it might rival some of
the stories of old, such as when a prophet and his servant suddenly found
themselves surrounded by armed bands of their enemies, the servant cried
out, they were undone, but the prophet
[Page 23]
prayed to
the Lord to open the eyes of his servant, and the Lord opened his eyes, and
he beheld on the hills around about great multitudes of angels. And they
were saved.
On the evening of the 11th of August, succeeding the
publication of my letter in the Mankato Monitor the Club held a meeting.
The President had fluttered as "a hit bird always flutters," and
as he had influence in in the Club, I found he was about to use it, and as
the members of the Club.generally were of the opinion that my action was
injuring it, so for its benefit I resigned my membership in it.' I could at
least be a party to myself for the time being, and felt that he was welcome
to all the glory that in such a victory would accrue to him.
Soon
after this time, Mr. Streeter, candidate of the
Union Labor
party for President^ spoke at Downs,
Kas. I did not
hear him, but some members of the club
went to hear
him. From their report and from seeing
his letter of
acceptance, I concluded he was not a
fit man for the
presidency, and told some members of
the Club I was glad I had
been forced to resign my
membership in
it. In his lettei of acceptance
Mr.
Streeter says in effect, the strong and the rich need not
the
favor or fostering care of the government, but the
weak and the poor
do. In another place he says he
would
favor protection where protection was needed.
Such language
shows that he is unacquainted with the
organism or structure of the
government. Protection
for any class is not possible under
it; favor or fostering care for none, the strong or the weak, all should
fare alike. The provision of the constitution, to ''promote the general
welfare" is not a legitimate, a true
[Page
24]
function of civil government. It would be better were it
eliminated entirely. The step is so easily made from the general to the
special welfare.
The true function of civil government is merely
to-"secure liberty" and execute justice;" to keep the
individual citizens from hurting or encroaching upon,
each other, so that each and all can work out their
own welfare. Liberty will never be secure, it will
be in continual jeopardy, until the
citizens learn to ask for nothing but justice, nothing
but right, nothing for favor or privilege of any kind. If this
should be done paternalism would be overthrown in our government.
To show the vague rumors and wild
imaginings
of the people in regard to this matter I will
give an extract from a letter published in the Monitor of Aug.
22d, 1888:
"We are informed by an old acquaintance and intimate
friend of James Oulverwell, tne Odessa Anarchist leader,, that he ie, and
always was, a very strong Democrat. He said that Oulverwell tried hard to
get him to join the Anarchist Army of Rescue, but he refused to join it. He
saye he never heard of this matter until after James Culverwoll returned
from St. Louis last spring, where he claimed he must go at once. I believe,
he added with a chill, he does not know how he came by that declaration of
principles as copied by Esq. Durand, but thinks it possible that he
pro-curred it at headquarters, in St. Louis, as an appointee to start the
ball to rolling m Kansas. He does not know the extent of the Anarchist army
in other states, but this was Co. A. First Regiment in Kansas, showiDg it
to be the starting point in this state, and ninped in the bud.
From
the expression used in Culverwell's recent letter to-the Jewell County
Monitor, and hearing the various members of the Union Labor Clubs talk
concerning Anarchy, the mugwump element of the old greenback party, with
the old defunct Democrats who are monopolizing it and their management of
affairs has thoroughly convinced us that Anarchy is one of the hidden
principles of that organization."
[Page 25]
It will be
seen that it mentions a trip I made to St. Louis. I did make such a trip,
but it was in September, 1887, before the Chicago Anarchists were hung. It
was during the Exposition and the National Grand Army Re-Union there. Among
the many sights seen there the one that interested me most, even more than
the great parade under umbrellas, the Veiled Prophets, or the sight of the
President, was one which occurred at the Sisters Hospital, at which my wife
and I were staying for the treatment of a deformed child. To the hospital
was attached a chapel for the religious services of the Sisters, and one
day there was an initiation by two priests, of five or six nuns, into full
fellowship of the sisterhood. The priests were large, powerful men, full of
animal force and vitality. I could not help seeing how the natural and most
sacred instincts of humanity yere outraged in such a performance. Young,
innocent girls surrendering themselves up to become the celestial wives of
Christ, and come under the dominating influence of his priesthood or
vice-gerents on the earth. No wonder a few years ago when Bismark made a
raid upon the Catholic institutions of Germany, there was found at one
place an old unused well full of the remains of infants, the fruit of the
illegitimate intercourse between the monks and nuns there. Christ must
surely be a great Polygarrist. Under this celestial wifejy system, perhaps
he is making up for his abstinence here, for his harem munt be packed with
millions of them there. When will humanity have sense to know that a
priesthood founded upon such extraordinary or supernatural authority is all
a fraud and a delusion and the Protestant portion of such
[Page 26]
priesthood is only in a degree less so.
In the Kansas
Labor Clarion of Aug. 30th, was ^published Mr. Finch's reply to mine of
Aug. 8th. I herewith give itf
FINCH BEPLIES.
[From the Kansas
Labor Clarion.]
Mr. Editor:—It aeems proper for me to make a
statement in order to refute accusations made against me which appeared in
lest week's issue of the Monitor. I have been warned for several days that
the wheels of a political God had been put in motion to demolish me.
"But lo! the ^mountain has labored and brought forth a mouse."
In regard to the letter written by the grand old commander of Company A,
it is a small production when one takes into consideration the amount of
labor expended upon it by the old General and his Lieutenant, an officer in
this township, who has done a great amount of riding and deserves great
credit for his action?. I will be satisfied with a few criticisms, on that
remarkable letter. Commander A. says: "Instead of my joining the club
after the vote, my name is on the list of original members of the
club." *Ifc occurs to one's mind how tsould he have been an origiral
member be* fore there was an action taken to join any particular
organization. His next departure from the truth, was in the following
statement : "He furthermore states at the organization of the company
I was a Democrat/' Anyone reading my affidavit knows nothing of the nature
appears in it. I am not responsible for editorial comments.
His
effusion in regard to times between 1801 to 1865 sounds like mockery,
emanating from such a source, from a man who has stated that the killing of
Abraham Lincoln, was the just culmination of a grand drama.
And in
reply to bis accusation of anarchy, will just state, that is one more lie
added to the number he has been telling lately to carry his point, if he
wishes me to verify this statement by other evidence I will freely furnish
it.
I can feel as though I had not lost much, when I have lost the
friendship of a man who says: "That the Declaration of Independence is
one of the most absurd documents ever written. That Jesus Christ as a man
was inferior to Parsons." A man who is willing to spill bis blood so
readily for such a doubtful cause. And a man whose inclination leads him
towards the setting sun, away towards Salt Lake City. Mr. Culverwell
withdrew from our club with the understanding that his membership injured
the club. A resolution to accept his withdrawal was unanimously voted by
the club
[Page 27]
The Editor of the Monitor
states that less than a year ago, if be was correotlyly informed, I took
the regular nominee's name from the Republican ticket and put mine on. His
informant is a dirty, cowardly, malicious liar. I was nominated and my name
placed upon the ticket by the representative Republicans of this township
and can prove the same. Vaughan tell the name of your informant, and see if
I don't prove him to be a
liar.
John H. Finch.
There are a few things in it that deserve mention. He
says I had stated uthat the killing of A. Lincoln was the just culmination
of a grand drama." I do not think I used that precise language, though
I do not think I could better it now were I to try. I <lo not believe in
martyrs. In the great school of humanity we all are in, each gets what he
deserves and deserves what he gets. Martyrdoms only occur where wrong
struggles against wrong. In the wrongs of that mighty struggle of which he
was the last vie-tim, as it wtre, are to be found the causes of the present
suffering. He, more than any other man in our history, probably, outraged
the rights of the people. It was just as much of a crime politically for
him to take the presidency of states and parts of states, • without
the voice of the people, for or against, and which he exempted them from
having by proclamation himself, as it was for the Southern States to kick
against him and secede from the Union in 1860 and 1861, when he was fairly
and constitutionally elected President over all of the states froa) the 4th
of March 1861 to the 4th of March 1865. The rights of the people are of too
sacred a character to be trifled with and had he acknowledged those rights
in 1861, it would have given him the power to have emancipated every slave
in the Confederacy then, instead of waiting tiil it was absolutely
necassary, thus prolong-
[Page 28]
ing the struggle. War is
a science; either party-knowing its conditions ciuld have overthrown the
other within sixty or ninety days of the time of actual hostilities.
Mr. Finch mis-quotes me when he states that I said "the Declaration
of Independence is one of the most absurd documents ever written/' It is an
able document enough, as far as that goes, and contains great political
truths, such as "all men are created free and equal and entitled to
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," that "all
governments derive their just powers from the consent of the
governed," etc., but what I have said is, that its main central idea,
as a document of secession, division and separation, was a political
heresy, an ignis fatuus, a political viper that has stung the nation nearly
to its vitals, and unless dethroned from its position as apolitical Baal
will assuredly yet lead the nation into the quagmires of political
disintegration, ruin and death. What gave the seceding states in 1861 the
hope of success in their scheme of dissolution of the Union? That document
was the star of promise to them. Can a state or states, which are merely
aggregations of the individual citizens, be entirely independent of each
other and yet live? Let the individual citizens of the world, or any state,
try and see how well they could live alone. No, verily, no; dependence, not
independence, is our natural condition, then how can states or nations
outrage the first law of their being and yet live? Was it necessary in
1776? No, our fathers could have obtained their rights in the political
society of which they were members, without it, and with-
[Page
29]
out a seven years war. The}' could have overthrown even the
imperial government of England, or the factions that had control of it,
because they were right; they could have stamped their ideas upon the whole
society, and made the whole Empire a Republic. England and the British
Islands would then have been compelled to become merely states of ihe new
democratic republic, and the schism in the English speaking race would not
have occurred. The seat of government following population might have been
upon this continent, and the power of that government would have been
wielded for the security, not for the overthrow, of the individual rights
of the citizens.
"That Jesus Christ as a man was inferior to
Parsons." Again he misquotes me. I had given him my opinion of Christ
and I will give it here. Christ was a man of great knowledge, great virtue
and of great vice, but the great predominating feature of his character was
his viciousness. He used his knowledge and his virtue to build for himself
a mighty spiritual empiie of fraud, delusion and monstrosity. I had not
supposed that religion would have been brought into this matter, but as it
is, it must form a part of the narrative of its events. I will relate an
incident that perhaps had some influence in bringing me where I am upon
this subject. Between the years ]861 and ]866 I was a member of a prominent
Christian church in the city of Davenport, Iowa. At the latter date I found
I could no longer worship at the shrine of their unnatural god, and I asked
them for a favor, which was in itself nothing but right and
proper. Did they
grant it? No, but
rather filled the city with the report that I was crazy.
That was enough. The world
[Page 30]
was wide ;
they could go their way, I would go mine.
"And a man whose
inclination leads him towards the setting sun; away towards Salt Lake
City." Yes, Mr. Finch knows that public sentiment is against that
people out there in the mountains and he would fain use it against me. What
care I for public sentiment unless right? in that case I might court it,
but if not,
than for the fleeting bubble which is in the air but for a
moment.
Do the American people know where they are drifting in this
matter? Do they think they can crush a people and deprive them of well nigh
every vestige of liberty simply because they are strong and powerful enough
to do it? Nay, verily, nay; a less powerful people could turn upon their
oppressors and crush them as easily as a lion would crush a mouse. Let that
people come to a condition to enjoy and preserve liberty; but at present
they are not, and they might make some interesting history for a future
historian of these American states to record.
The Mormon question is
but one phase of the struggle now going on in our land for human rights.
Their side may be, in one sense, like president Cleveland's so-called free
trade message, a step in the right direction, a small one though it be, yet
nevertheless valuable. Here in our own state is going on a struggle for
another step. Two editors, Messrs. M. Harman and E. C. Walker, editing
JJucifer and Fair IHay at Valley Falls, Kansas, are under bonds to appear
in the U. S. court at Topeka, for what? For violation of the so-called
obscenity laws of congress; or in other words for allowing their columns to
be used by women to discuss their grievances in regard to the so-called
rights of husbands in the marriage relation. By
what
*
[Page 31]
authority is this done? By the
constitution giving to-Congress the right to establish post roads and
routs through the states. Ah! post roads and routs mean in
congressional eyes the rights and liberties of the
people. Verily here is wisdom.
On the 25th of
September last, J. D. Robertson, president of the First National Bank of
Jewell City, Kansas, came to my house. In May 1887 I had made a loan from
the bank. In October of the same year I wished to adjust it, to get a
little more and put in other property. Shortly before I had sold some of
the stock included in the security. It was a technical violation of the
law. I had obtained permission in getting loans from other banks to do so,
but not in this case. I told him what 1 had done. At once he demanded the
money of the loan or I should go behind the bars, or words to that effect.
At the same time,, as all banks do, at least in this state, he was
violating the law every day he did business. I had supposed it would be all
right; demand for money makes it higher than the legal rate of interest,
and when no fraud is intended it would be all right, either side. It was
not so however. The violation of the law by the banks might be winked at,
but not in my case. However the matter was adjusted. The loan extended and
additional security given. Afterwards I kept my eyes open and ere a month
had elapsed the execution of the Chicago Anarchists was an accomplished
fact. That act done in obedience to a false public sentiment, and under the
influence of the banking, monopolistic or money power of the country, I saw
I might catch them. And here let me inform my fellow citizens that since
that time I have been merely fishing, find think I have got quite a big
fish on my hook, a regular leviathan, even the banking system of these
United States.
Moses, when he got Pharaoh and the Egyptians on his
hook, made quite a number of pulls before he landed his "catch,"
and flien merely left them at the
[Page 32]
bottom of the
Red Sea, whi'e I think this system of oppression can be landed high and
dry, and perhaps faction and privilege can be so cornered as not to trouble
the people again for a little while.
I do not want to boast, but think
I can show *{my faith by my works." I have said Mr. Robertson the
president of the bank, came to my house; he came at my solicitation. I
wanted to get him there. I had a talk with him. He did not want to talk
politics; 0! no, they hnve so s -ft a thins: they are not interested in
politics. I told him the people must concern themselves about politics or
politics tMB concern them, Our very living, our existence depended on it. I
did not say very much, but if ever there was a panic-stricken man, he was
one. He was even the sport and the butt of laughter for my children for the
day after he left in their telling how he trembled and was excited when
their pa was talking to him.
My fallow citizens, these men, the
so-called upholders of "law and order,11 are the real Anarchists in
our society. What law have they got to stand upon? statutes and acts of
Congress. ..But where does the Constitution give to Congress the power to
issue a bill of credit? It give3 to Congress the power to coin money and
regulate the value thereof, but coin is not a bill of credit. The
Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation, had power to emit
bills of credit, but where is it in our present Constitution? If not there
it is not a delegated power of Congress, consequently it is yet one of the
reserved rights of the people, and the whole system is one of lawlessness,
illegality; in short, Anarchism. Let not a class of men, perhaps the most
rascally and tricky of all the professions, throw dust in your eyes, and in
relation to the law, make white black, and black white, but in a matter of
so much importance, read for yourselves, think for yourselves, know for
yourselves.
Published and for sale by the author at Dentonia, Kansas,
October, 1888.
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/200106/text