Forgotten Reformer by Morn Frank;

Author:Morn, Frank; [Morn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of America, Incorporated
Published: 2010-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Crusades against Crime and Disorder

“ . . . to preserve the peace of the city.”

McClaughry and the Radicals

McClaughry had additional problems besides administrative ones. Policing has a mission: minimize crime and maximize public order. On his side or not, citizens presumed McClaughry’s police organization would make the city safe. Due to the anarchist movement, dramatically displayed at Haymarket square, Chicago was obsessed with radicals. Eight Anarchists were arrested and convicted in a sensational trial. Four—August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer and George Engel on the barest of evidence—were hanged in 1887. They became martyrs for the working men of Chicago and mass protestations and demonstrations followed for years. Feelings towards anarchism continued to run deep during the administration of McClaughry.

Anarchist meetings occurred with intensity after the executions. The martyrdom just proved the capitalist plot, felt most anarchists. Then, as more and more people advocated the pardoning of the remaining Haymarket radicals, meetings of support increased. Wisely, most of the gatherings occurred outside the city limits in places such as Waldheim. Still, there were calls to the police to suppress such meetings. Hesitant to do so, McClaughry, however, did have his police take down a red flag from Lucy Parson’s house, the symbol of the movement. She was the widow of one of the executed Haymarket Four.1

Then the Greif Raid occurred. On Thursday November 12th, one hundred police officers raided two anarchist gatherings at the meeting halls of Thomas Greif on the near Westside of Chicago. Twenty three people were arrested. People at the meeting claimed they were members of the Painter’s Union and the Socialistic Publishing Society, and yet the speeches told a quite different story, advocating the violent overthrow of the government, and the red flags decorating the hall were emblazoned with mottos such as “Anarchy Forever,” and “Onward is our motto.”2 Of course, radical groups were outraged by the raids. But McClaughry, caught between his beliefs in the Constitutional right to peaceful assembly and his fear of radical conspiracy, supported the actions of the police.

I have no objections to these people holding meetings. What I object to is their utterances. No man has the right to agitate measures contrary to good government as the peace of society. Inspector Lewis was entirely justified. The meeting was being conducted under a red flag, the men were armed, and the speeches were made with the view of inciting an uprising. It is not the intention of the law that we should wait for the throwing of a bomb. A man who is caught in the act of committing a burglary is as guilty as if he had committed it. The red flag is a symbol of revolution and defiance of the law the world over. There is no doubt that those who were participating in the meeting were in accord with the spirit indicated by such an emblem. The Anarchist want revenge on Chicago for the execution of their brethren, and they intend to do it if possible by

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.