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diff --git a/old/66938-0.txt b/old/66938-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4f417af..0000000 --- a/old/66938-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1681 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of A fragment of the prison experiences of Emma -Goldman and Alexander Berkman, by Emma Goldman - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: A fragment of the prison experiences of Emma Goldman and - Alexander Berkman - In the State Prison at Jefferson City, Mo., and the U. S. - Penitentiary at Atlanta, Ga. February, 1918–October, 1919 - -Author: Emma Goldman - Alexander Berkman - -Release Date: December 13, 2021 [eBook #66938] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FRAGMENT OF THE PRISON -EXPERIENCES OF EMMA GOLDMAN AND ALEXANDER BERKMAN *** - - - - - A FRAGMENT - _of the_ - PRISON EXPERIENCES - _of_ - Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman - - - _In the State Prison at Jefferson City, Mo., and the U. - S. Penitentiary at Atlanta, Ga. February, 1918–October, - 1919_ - - _Order from_ - Stella Comyn - 36 GROVE ST. NEW YORK - - _Ten Cents_ - - - - - A FOREWORD - - -There was a time—and that not so very long ago—when popular ignorance -and superstition looked upon an insane person as one possessed of the -devil or of some other evil spirit. They sought to drive the “evil one” -out by beating and torturing the insane, and often even by drowning, -hanging, and burning. - -We have fortunately passed that stage of stupid brutality. Today even -the most ignorant man knows that insanity is a disease. But in regard to -crime and criminals we are still in the stage of dark-age superstition. -We look upon the criminal today as we did upon the insane fifty or -seventy-five years ago. Most men still believe that by beating and -punishing the criminal, by hanging and electrocution, we can drive the -“evil spirit” out of him. This process is called reforming the criminal. - -Yet common sense and all human experience prove that the criminal is no -more responsible for crime than the crazy man for his insanity. The -pseudo-scientific theories of the Lombrosos in regard to crime and -criminals have been thoroughly exploded and proven utterly fallacious. -Even if the Lombroso myth that the criminal is born were true, what good -would it do to punish him? There might be some social justification for -his isolation, but how could the criminal, if born such, be held -accountable for his criminality? - -But as a matter of fact—as modern criminology has proven beyond all -dispute—the criminal is made, not born. He is the product of his -environment, a child of poverty and desperation, of misery, greed, and -ambition. He is at the same time the symbol and the proof of a diseased -social condition, the miscarriage of perverted economic arrangements. -Fully 97 per cent. of all crime is due directly to our economic -institutions. The other 3 per cent. are traceable to the artificiality -and neurosis of modern life, to the anti-social tendencies cultivated -among the weeds in the neglected and mistreated garden of human life. - -I have been in close contact with so-called criminals for a great many -years. Yet nowhere have I found the alleged “criminal type,” nor have I -ever discovered the “real criminal.” He does not exist. Crime is simply -misdirected energy, effort applied wrongly. The average criminal is just -the average man, generally speaking. If in any sense he may be -considered a “variation,” it is only because of his frequently superior -initiative, daring and intelligence. His often anti-social activity is -conditioned by his unconventional vocation, not by any inherent criminal -or anti-social tendencies. I am not speaking of congenital criminal -degenerates whose number is infinitesimal, and who belong in the care of -the alienist. The vast majority of the so-called criminal class are -thoroughly normal human beings, if the term may be applied to the type -of man produced by modern civilization. I have had scores and hundreds -of professional criminals, young and old, tell me again and again, “The -only hope and ambition of my life is just to get a little pile, so that -I can feel secure from want. Then I’d take my family somewhere in the -country and live a quiet and honest life.” - -My present space is limited. I can merely shadow forth here a skeleton -outline of this big and very vital subject. In a forthcoming book I -shall analyze more thoroughly the sources and the psychology of crime, -and write of the unique and interesting prison types and characters I -have met. - -For the present it is sufficient to emphasize that our whole social -attitude toward the criminal is fundamentally wrong. It is the attitude -of barbaric stupidity that seeks to hide its own shame and its mistakes -behind prison bars. It has neither understanding of human motives nor -sympathy with human weaknesses. This social attitude toward the -criminal, representing the lowest human intelligence, is reflected in -the management and discipline of the prisons. It is apparent that modern -criminology has had a very negligible effect upon the popular mind -within the last twenty-five years, for I have found the prisons of today -in no essential way different from those of a quarter of a century back. -Brutality is rampant; discipline is synonymous with the absolute -suppression of individuality and the crushing of the prisoner’s spirit -and will. The atmosphere of our penal institutions of today is that of -violence and force, of force and violence. With very rare exceptions, -the spirit of humanity, of understanding, and justice, is a stranger in -prison. - - ALEXANDER BERKMAN - - - - - THE STATE PRISON AT JEFFERSON CITY, MO. - EMMA GOLDMAN - - -Twenty-six years ago, in 1893, I paid the first toll for my opinions in -the State of New York with a year’s free residence in the Blackwell’s -Island Penitentiary. I found the cells small, dark, and filthy, the -sanitary conditions appalling, and the general attitude toward the -convict on the part of prison officials hard and cruel. - -Terrible as these conditions were, they had some justification. In 1893 -there was barely a spark anywhere to discredit the antiquated and -inhuman theory of predestination—the Calvinistic idea that man is born a -sinner and that he must expiate his sins through suffering and pain. -This attitude toward the criminal and the methods of punishment rest on -this biblical conception to this very day. Much more did that idea -prevail twenty-six years ago. - -Since then criminology has undergone a revolution. Libraries are filled -with works on the origin and causes of crime, on the futility of -punishment as a corrective of crime. More and more frequently modern -writers have pointed out that crimes are related to social conditions, -and that brutal treatment of prisoners makes them become more hardened -and anti-social. - -With a vast literature on scientific criminology and the widespread -attempt to reform prisons, to humanize the treatment of the unfortunate -social offender, one might have expected some changes in the penal -institutions of this country. Yet in the year 1918 in the States of -Missouri and Georgia, and for aught we know in every State in the land, -prisons continue to be “built of bricks of shame” and - - The vilest deeds, like poison weeds, - Bloom well in prison air. - It is only what is good in Man - That wastes and withers there. - Pale anguish keeps the heavy gate, - And the Warder is Despair. - -To be sure, the cells in the Missouri State Penitentiary, at least in -the female wing, are larger and some of them lighter than the -vermin-infested cells on Blackwell’s Island twenty-six years ago. But -even there the cells are never light enough except on very sunny days, -while more than half the cells are in utter darkness and without -ventilation. In fact, air is the most tabooed article in the Missouri -prison. Except in extremely warm weather, the windows are rarely opened, -healthy women are forced to breathe the putrid air of consumptives and -syphilitics. During the influenza epidemic, when thirty-five prisoners -lay stricken, we had to plead and fight for the opening of a window. To -this day I can not understand how any one of us survived, except that -the Lord “takes care of us poor sinners.” - -Yes, the cells are larger, the sanitation modern, but in every other -respect, in the attitude of the officials toward the prisoner, the cold -indifference to his needs, the methods of breaking his will, and, above -all, the mode of employment have not improved, but are even worse than -my experience on Blackwell’s Island in 1893. - -I cannot dwell here on the blood-freezing reception accorded each -hopeless victim when the prison doors close upon her. That alone is -enough to crush the bravest spirit and to turn one’s very soul to gall -and hate. I shall treat of this in my forthcoming book, dealing with my -twenty months’ experience in the Missouri State Prison. - -It is the task system that prevails in this prison—as truly slavery as -ever existed in this country before the Civil War—which chiefly needs to -be exposed. The contract system of prison labor has been abolished -“officially”—the State is now the employer. Yet no slave owner so drove, -coerced and exploited his slaves as Missouri bleeds and exploits its -helpless victims in the penitentiary at Jefferson City. - -Two months are allowed to learn the trade, which consists of sewing -jackets, overalls, auto coats and suspenders—tasks varying from 45 to -121 jackets a day, or from 9 to 18 dozen suspenders a day. Now, while -the actual machine work on these different tasks is the same, the number -of jackets in the 88 or 121 tasks is double to the 45, 55 and 66 tasks; -hence double physical exertion is required. Yet the different tasks must -be made in the same number of hours, without regard to age, physical -endurance, periods of menstruation, when machine work is sheer torture -to women. Even illness, unless it is of a very serious nature, is not -considered sufficient cause to be relieved from the terrible task. So, -unless one had previous experience in the needle trade, or a special -aptitude for it, one’s life is made a veritable hell, beginning a few -days after commitment and lasting till the final day of release. No -understanding for human variations, no consideration for mental or -physical limitations, except for a few favorites of the prison -officials, those who are usually the most worthless. The shop foreman in -charge is a boy of twenty-one, who took up the art of slave-driving at -the age of sixteen. He bullies and terrorizes the women, holding the -threat of the blind cell and the bread-and-water diet over them. - -The vilest language is used to the women, some of them old enough to be -the boy’s mother. Of course, he is paid to show results. The only way he -can get results is through slave-driving methods, as well as by actually -stealing part of the women’s output, especially from the more ignorant, -who are unable to do their own counting. - -On more than one occasion I have seen this miserable foreman -deliberately steal jackets and suspenders from colored girls who are -serving twenty-five year sentences and from illiterate white girls. If -they dare insist that they delivered their quota of work, they are -punished for “impudence,” in addition to being punished for “short” -work. In view of the fact that four punishment marks a month reduce the -prisoner one grade, and that a higher grade means speedier release from -the prison hell, the enormity of this petty official’s criminal thievery -can be appreciated. Yet this man is considered fit to be in charge of -sixty to seventy “criminals.” It does not take much wisdom to find the -greater criminal. - -It may be argued that this ignorant and vulgar young man is only a tool, -and therefore not to blame. Partly this is true. The State is the real -offender, the officials of the Prison Board, as well as the petty -subordinates who live by the sweat and blood of the social outcasts. The -very first year the State of Missouri became the exploiter of the -convicts’ labor, the St. Louis _Post-Dispatch_ reported that the -salaries of the prison officials had been increased $20,000 per annum. -No wonder the Acting Warden, Captain Gilvan—a bully and a brute who used -to administer flogging when it was still “officially” in vogue in -Missouri—once said to us in the shop, “I must have the task. You must -make it. No such thing as can’t. If you do not give me the task, I will -punish you. And I punish cheerfully.” Having the support and approval of -such a man and the sanction of the head matron, a woman entirely bereft -of feeling, it is natural for the foreman to squeeze and press and bully -the task out of the women. But can anyone suppose that the foreman could -lend himself to such brutal slave-driving, if he were not depraved -himself? - -It is utterly impossible to keep up the required speed day after day. -The working hours are nine a day, but in order to complete the task, the -women are driven to the old-time sweatshop methods of taking work -evenings to their cells. In view of the fact that the cells are vermin -infested, and the jackets and suspenders the prisoners make are sold -broadcast and have already been handled by consumptive and venereally -infected male prisoners, who prepare the work, the results can readily -be imagined. - -Personally I was well supplied by many friends with nourishing food. I -am an adept at the needle trade, having worked at it for many years, -when I first came to know the many economic opportunities in our -so-called democracy. Yet I never could keep up the mind- and -soul-destroying speed in the prison shop. Therefore I know what it means -to the underfed women prisoners. Not one but emerges with impaired -health. - -If the contract system were really abolished, why would the State of -Missouri drive its prison inmates? For a very simple reason: the State -of Missouri, like the private contractor, does business with private -concerns in every State of the Union. Proof of this is given by the -labels sewn on every garment that leaves the prison. I was able to -smuggle out a few, which are reproduced here. - - -Civilization claims to have advanced, and in no country do we hear so -much about prison reform as in our own. Yet what can we say for the -State of Missouri, when at the head of their female department is a -woman in charge of ninety women prisoners who has control over their -life and death? - -[Illustration] - -This woman, Lilah Smith, has been employed in penal institutions since -her fifteenth year, and has, therefore, little education or training. -She is a believer in rigid discipline and punishment. She is really a -neurotic, who has no control over her temper. She uses physical violence -on the slightest pretext, especially when a particular prisoner is not -in her good graces. Not once in twenty months did I hear her address one -single encouraging or kind word to a prisoner. Flogging in the State of -Missouri has been officially abolished, but Lilah Smith’s vigorous -slapping goes on. - -There are three methods of punishment: First, the women are deprived of -their recreation; second, they are locked up in their cells for -forty-eight hours, from Saturday to Monday, on a diet of bread and -water, and then expected to begin their task Monday in their weakened -condition; third, they are sent to a blind cell, a cell 52 inches by 104 -inches, with an aperture of 7 inches by 1½ inches, supplied with one -blanket, two pieces of bread and two cups of water a day. In this tomb -they are kept from three to twenty-two days. - -Added to this maddening torture are the bull rings, which, while never -used for white women during my stay, were used on colored girls. - -The worst tragedy which occurred during my stay in the prison was the -deliberate murder of Minnie Eddy. When I entered in February, Minnie had -already been there a number of months. She struggled valiantly with the -task, which she seemed unable to master. To avoid punishment, she used -every cent her sister sent her to hire the task. In November, 1918, she -began to complain of pain in her head and throat. She went to the -doctor, but he ordered her back to the shop. She went back, but seemed -unable to pull herself together to do any work. The matron decided she -was shamming, and put her in punishment. At first she was kept in her -own cell on bread and water; then the matron, realizing that we were -feeding Minnie, transferred her to the so-called hospital, where a -mattress was refused her, and only a bare cot and blanket were supplied. -In that place the unfortunate woman was kept another week. - -I went to the matron shortly after Minnie was put in the hospital, -begging for her release. It was refused, the matron still insisting that -the woman was shamming. Then, Thanksgiving Day, Minnie was brought down -and allowed to eat her Thanksgiving dinner of putrid pork on an empty -stomach. Two days later I took Minnie a couple of soft-boiled eggs, and -seeing on her table a box sent by her relatives some weeks before, and -which had just been given her, I warned her against using the decayed -food in her present condition. But she was ravenous. - -That evening some of the prison trusties came to me and told me that -Minnie was in a heap on the floor, unconscious. I demanded that they -call Miss Smith, the matron. The matron screamed at and slapped the -unconscious woman. She was allowed to remain in her cell until Monday, -when I could endure the situation no longer, and insisted on seeing Mr. -Painter, President of the Prison Board, who came over at once. He had -been told that Minnie was refusing food. He gave orders to have her -moved back to her own cell, and put one of the girls in charge as her -nurse. From the latter I learned that an attempt was made to feed Minnie -forcibly, but it was too late. She never regained consciousness, dying -Wednesday evening, at seven o’clock. Her terrible death benefited the -other women, inasmuch as no one was afterwards placed in the death trap -for more than five days. So do the dead sometimes aid the living. - - -_There are two criterions on the part of the officials in dealing with -the prisoners. If they are sick, they are told that they are shamming; -if they cannot make the task, they are told they are lazy._ - - -Frequently sick prisoners are ordered back to the shop by the physician -when they are barely able to drag themselves along. This is the more -remarkable because he is not an unkindly man and was especially decent -to me. The reason for his indifference to the other women there I -discovered during my last days at the prison. He is at daggers’ points -with the Board; therefore he is unable to do what he would like. - -The Missouri State Penitentiary has the merit system, which is only -another method of pressing out more labor from its victims. Those who -can stand the nerve-tearing speed and get into Class A, the highest -class, have their time reduced almost in half. Therefore many of the -women work beyond their limit of physical capacity to get out of the -hell hole, even at the expense of their health. However, only State -prisoners benefit by this merit system. Not so the Federal prisoners. -They are forced to make the task every day, though their time is in no -way affected. Imagine the outrage in the case of a prisoner serving a -twenty-five-year sentence. Day after day, year in and year out, she is -browbeaten and harassed to make the task. If she fails, she is -repeatedly thrown into the “blind cell.” If she succeeds, she gains -nothing. The Federal Government pays the State for the upkeep of each -Federal prisoner. In addition, the State makes a huge profit from the -labor of these Federals. In return, it gives them not a single -privilege. The reduction of six days’ time a month is provided for by -the Federal Government. It is a most unspeakable injustice toward -helpless human beings. - -In disclosing conditions prevalent in the Female Department of the -Missouri State Penitentiary I am in no way prompted by personal -grievances. Thanks to the liberality of Mr. William K. Painter, -President of the Prison Board, and possibly also because of the fear of -publicity on the part of the management, I have no personal complaints -to make. In justice to Mr. Painter, I must say that he is a rather -unusual man for his position. Whenever his attention was called to some -grievance, he was always ready to remedy it. But prison abuses are -conditioned in the very character of prison life and in corrupt -politics, so that nothing short of the complete abolition of prisons -will ever eradicate the terrible wrongs committed in penal institutions. - - -Meanwhile it is necessary to continue to point out that criminals are -victims of our mad social arrangement, and to emphasize the utter -failure of punishment as a corrective, as well as to expose the average -brutal and ignorant type of prison official. The recognition of this may -help to change our better-than-thou attitude toward the criminal. - - -As for my own experience, in all my twenty months of the closest contact -with my fellow prisoners, I did not find one I could call depraved, -cruel or hard. On the contrary, I know a “lifer” there who came to the -penitentiary hardly more than a child. She has already served fifteen -years. She is a most tender and devoted creature. She has one hold on -life—a dog, whom she loves and tends with a mother’s devotion. Who is -the true criminal—this poor heart-broken little woman or the officials -who have the power to let her spend her remaining years in freedom, and -yet keep her? Another woman, who has a fifteen-year sentence, is -completely broken in health, and in constant physical misery. She is -passionately devoted to her only child, a little boy. Is she the -criminal or those who keep her there? Her offense was the result of a -moment’s aberration; theirs is a cold-blooded, methodical and daily -crime. Who is the greater criminal? Another woman, the mother of eight -children, worked and starved half to death on a farm. She is thrown into -prison for stealing a pig. Who is the greater criminal, this poor woman -or the State which sent her there? I found no criminals among my fellow -prisoners, only unfortunates—broken, helpless, hapless and hopeless -human beings. - - -How rich in comparison are we political prisoners! Kate Richards O’Hare, -who has the gift of going into the life of every prisoner, soothing and -comforting and sustaining her, and is herself sustained by the ideal and -the love of thousands. Rare little Ella Antolini, with her marvelous -stoicism, her splendid fortitude, and her great capacity for human -sympathy. We politicals are rich, indeed. Rich in the love of our dear -comrades, rich in our faith of the future, strong in our position. But -the others? It is for them we plead, against the wrongs, the -inhumanities committed against those in the prison we left behind. -Indeed, in every prison in the land. - - EMMA GOLDMAN - - - - - THE ATLANTA FEDERAL PENITENTIARY - STATEMENT BY ALEXANDER BERKMAN - - Published in the Atlanta _Constitution_, October 1, 1919, on the day of - his release from the Federal Penitentiary, Atlanta, Ga. - - -This country is at the present time going through the same throes of -social and industrial rebirth that are convulsing England, France and -other European countries. The steelworkers’ strike is merely one of the -symptoms of the social evolutionary process that may in the near future -culminate in revolution. The sources of labor discontent in this country -are identical with those in every other land of our so-called -civilization. The working masses are not satisfied any more with empty -political democracy; they demand a share in the products of their -industry, and the opportunity to live, to enjoy life. Industrial -slavery, perhaps more acute in the United States than anywhere else, is -on its death-bed. The next step in the social life of the world is the -taking over of all industry by the workers, both manual and mental, to -be managed and operated by themselves, for the benefit of the producers -instead of for the profit of our industrial and financial Kaisers. - -The present struggle of the steel workers vividly calls back to my -memory the great steel strike of Homestead, in 1892, when the Pinkertons -hired by Carnegie and Frick shot the strikers down wholesale for -demanding living conditions. In connection with the Homestead strike I -served fourteen years in the Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania. We -have made some progress since then. The workers, especially, have -learned a good deal since the days of the Homestead strike. They have -learned the most important lesson of all, and that is that labor has an -invincible weapon in solidarity. That is also the lesson that is being -impressed on American labor today by the workers of England. Soon the -American Federation of Labor will realize that it is folly to call a -strike of steel workers, without at the same time securing the solidaric -support of all the other key industries—the railway men and the miners, -for instance. As long as the workers in those industries strike -separately, at different times, they run the risk of defeat. But a -simultaneous strike of all the three key industries would quickly bring -our Garys, Morgans and Fricks to their senses. - -But whatever the immediate outcome of the steel strike, it is but a -question of a short time before American labor will make solidaric cause -throughout all industries and assert the right of the toilers to the -ownership of the full product of their toil. The day of capitalistic -autocracy is gone. The future belongs to the proletariat of hand and -brain. - - -The present labor situation in the United States is full of promise for -the future. The war and its results have proven a great education for -the peoples of the world. They are sick of the high-sounding phrases -about political democracy and self-determination that are in practice -like so many scraps of paper. It is _industrial autocracy_ that the -workers of the world seek to destroy. This country, the alleged champion -of democracy, is being daily changed more and more into the régime of -Prussian militarism. The Government of the United States has taken -advantage of the alleged necessities of the war to crush the spirit of -liberty and to deprive the people of the last vestige of freedom. It has -now become dangerous, in this free country of ours, to express an -independent opinion upon any subject, except perhaps about the weather. -Free speech and press are a thing of the past. The American junkers and -plutocrats are swamping the country with propaganda for a strong -militarism. Our industrial autocrats see the handwriting on the wall and -hope to crush the gathering forces of labor by the bayonet and the -machine gun. The voice of liberty is being stifled in the prisons. Our -jails and penitentiaries are full of political and industrial prisoners -who have dared to hold an opinion of their own and to express it. Men -like Debs and others are immured behind iron bars because they love -liberty more than they do patrioteering. It is to the eternal disgrace -of this country that conscientious objectors, political and industrial -prisoners have not yet been given an amnesty, though even some of the -reactionary countries of Europe have long since restored their social -protestants to liberty. If there is any manhood left in the people of -America, they should immediately voice the most compelling demand for a -general amnesty for all political and industrial prisoners. - -Rebels against industrial autocracy, such as Debs, Kate Richards O’Hare, -and others, should be the pride of the United States instead of being -kept in dungeons. Woe to a country that has no Debs, Kate O’Hare or Emma -Goldman! They are the voices that cry out the best aspirations of -humanity, even in the face of the gravest danger to themselves. - - -Speaking of Debs, I was happy to have the opportunity this morning, -before leaving the Federal Prison at Atlanta, to shake hands with the -Grand Old Man of the New Day. If there ever was a martyr to liberty, -Debs is that man. How stupid it is of the Government to jail men of his -type! Prison cannot crush their spirit, nor iron bars and brutality -change their conscience. Their love of humanity transcends the fear of -punishment or death. There are times when the scaffold is the most -elevated position for an honest man. Ideals cannot be imprisoned, nor -can the eternal spirit of liberty be exterminated by shutting up its -champions in dungeons or deporting men and women out of the United -States. I feel, I am convinced, that the future belongs to us—to us who -strive to regenerate society, to abolish poverty, misery, war and crime, -by doing away with the causes of these evils. And even in prison, where -we cannot fight for liberty, we can always struggle for principle. - -It is this attitude of the political prisoners in all prisons that makes -their lot even harder than that of the average prisoner. It is time the -United States Government should take its head out of the bushes and -recognize the existence of political prisoners in this country. Even in -Czarist Russia the political prisoner was recognized as a man suffering -for his ideals. Benighted America still considers the political just the -same as the so-called common criminal. In the Atlanta Federal Prison the -politicals fare even worse than the average prisoner. A banker who got -away with the savings of poor widows and orphans receives the highest -consideration, while the man who loves humanity more than his own safety -is subjected to special persecution and discrimination. - - -I find that very few essential changes have taken place in the -administration of our prisons within the last 25 years. The same system -of brutalizing and degrading the prisoners still prevails. Only the -forms differ slightly. The dungeon (known as “the hole”), chaining up by -the wrists, clubbing and shooting, are the dominant methods of -reformation in Atlanta. Men are chained to the doors for eight and ten -hours consecutively, without even the opportunity of answering the most -pressing demands of nature. I have known men in the Federal Prison to be -kept 21 to 30 days at a stretch in “the hole,” which is a filthy, dark -kennel, not fit for a respectable dog, and fed on two small slices of -bread twice a day. Men are clubbed frequently, on the least provocation, -and recently a young colored boy, “Kid” Smith, was shot dead for not -walking fast enough while being taken to “the hole.” - -The average type of guard in the Federal Prison is far below that of the -average prisoner, both mentally and morally. Excepting a few decent -officers, of a humane spirit, the majority of the guards are vulgar, -brutal and dissipated men. Some are degenerates of the worst type. At -their head is Deputy Warden Girardeau, formerly in charge of a chain -gang. He is a man of very low mentality who believes in the old-time -methods of brutality and suppression. His tactics look towards the -breaking of the prisoner’s spirit and to the degradation of the inmates. -A prison is the last place in the world, even at its best, to improve a -man. But the Atlanta Prison tends chiefly to dehumanize the prisoners -and to crush the last vestige of their manhood and self-respect. It is -the Deputy Warden who is mainly responsible for the inhumanities and -outrages practiced in the Federal Prison. He encourages the most brutal -tendencies of the guards, and even frequently protests and nullifies the -Warden’s more humane attitude. The Deputy Warden is the most hated man -in the prison. The inmates regard him as a religious hypocrite, -insincere and mean-spirited. It is his custom, after reading Sunday -service, to go down to the dungeon and chain men up to the doors. He -tantalizes the hungry victims in “the hole” with the recital of the fine -breakfast he had enjoyed that morning, and in various ways seeks to -provoke them into some unguarded remark in order to increase their -punishment. In protest against the murderous clubbing and shooting of -defenseless prisoners, I circulated a petition in the tailor shop (where -I was employed at the time), to call the attention of the Warden to the -terrible situation. The Deputy, hearing about it, sent for me and asked -me what my purpose was. I explained to him the general indignation -regarding the abuse of the prisoners, whereupon he asked me my opinion -of his methods. I told him frankly that his actions did not square with -his religious professions. I said that he was cruel to the men, that he -lacked all sense of justice and fair play, and that I thought—as well as -the majority of the prisoners—that he was a hypocrite. For this I was -put on bread and water in “the hole,” a dark and filthy cell hardly big -enough to stretch out in. After my time in “the hole” had expired, I was -sentenced to solitary confinement for the rest of my time. I spent the -last seven and a half months there. - -The Federal Prison at Atlanta would profit a great deal both in -discipline and morale by the immediate discharge of Deputy Warden -Girardeau. Warden Fred G. Zerbst is a man far above the Deputy in every -sense. He is a man of modern ideas and of much experience in handling -prison inmates. He believes in the more humane methods of prison -management as against the Deputy’s system of brutal repression. -Unfortunately, the Warden is almost entirely occupied with the outside -affairs of the prison, so that the inside management is practically all -in the hands of the Deputy. There is considerable friction between the -two, with deplorable results to the prisoners. Very frequently the best -intentions of the Warden are nullified by the manner of their -application at the hands of the Deputy. - -It is high time that the public get a look into the inside workings of -our penal institutions. The amount of brutality practiced in them as a -matter of daily routine is almost unbelievable. When will people realize -that the criminal is a man more sinned against than sinning, a victim of -our unjust social and economic arrangements? But after all, prisons and -their methods are a reflex of the conditions in the world outside. With -so much injustice, strife and brutality in the world at large, it is no -wonder that prison life mirrors the same spirit. When we become -civilized enough to abolish human slaughter in the larger prison called -society, when we reorganize life on the basis of human brotherhood and -co-operation, we will have no use for prisons. - - ATLANTA, GA. - October 1, 1919. - - ALEXANDER BERKMAN - - - - - REPLY OF FRED G. ZERBST - Warden of the U. S. Federal Penitentiary, Atlanta, Ga. - - - Editor _Constitution_: - -In yesterday’s issue of your paper you printed an article under the -heading, “Berkman Charges Brutal Methods in Atlanta Pen,” and which -article is devoted principally to a personal attack on Deputy Warden -Charles H. Girardeau. It is also charged that a majority of the guards -are vulgar, brutal and dissipated men. - -It is not my custom to reply to ridiculous statements or attacks upon -this institution made by irresponsible individuals, but in this case the -attack is somewhat along personal lines, and in justice to the men so -attacked I trust that you will see fit to accord this communication the -same privilege to space in your columns as that accorded to Mr. -Berkman’s foul and unwarranted personal attack. - -Deputy Warden Charles H. Girardeau is a Christian gentleman of high -character, clean habits and high ideals, who performs his duties -conscientiously with a view no less for the welfare of those confined -here than for the government under which we live. He has lived in -Atlanta for a great many years and is known intimately by many of -Atlanta’s best citizens. I wonder if any of these people can picture -Charlie Girardeau as a low-minded, brutal fiend who tortures his -unfortunate victims in the manner described by Mr. Berkman. On the one -hand we have here a man who has been in Atlanta business and public life -for a great many years, always working to build up its citizenship and -its institutions, always having in view the public welfare. On the other -hand we have Mr. Berkman, who came to this country an anarchist -disguised by the pretense of seeking the benefits of American -freedom.... Mr. Berkman served a sentence of 22 years in the -Pennsylvania State prison, after which he made the same kind of an -attack on that institution as he has on this one. - -Referring to the attack on the character of the guards on duty at this -institution, the guard force here as a whole is constituted of good -loyal Americans, who perform their duties with painstaking care, and it -requires much tact and patience to handle men of all different -mentalities and character assembled in a penal institution. The public -little realizes the work performed by these men at a compensation hardly -sufficient to live decently. These guards are appointed only after -passing a standard examination prescribed by the United States civil -service commission after careful investigation showing that they are -loyal Americans, that they are men of good moral character and standing -in the community in which they have lived and that they possess in a -high degree the qualifications necessary for the position. If any great -daily paper believes that these guards are of such character as Mr. -Berkman describes, it would be well to endeavor to rectify the methods -by which they are selected. - -This institution is open to the public each day except Sundays, and many -thousands of visitors take advantage of this and inspect every -department. Unlike most similar institutions our isolation building, in -which are confined men who can not be brought in any other way to -respect the rights of others and the rules of the institution, is open -to the public. Mr. Berkman claims that these “filthy dungeons” are -cleaned up purely for the public visitors; if that be so they must be -cleaned twice each day and it would not be possible for them to be very -filthy at any time. - -I do not ask to be exonerated on account of any improper conditions -existing at this institution, if such do exist, and I cheerfully accept -responsibility for its management as long as I am its Warden. This -management, however, will be in the interest of the government -constituted by the American people and not in the interest of a -revolutionary propaganda seeking for the destruction of that government -and the substitution therefor of the doctrines of Alexander Berkman and -his associates, the abolition of all laws. - - Very truly yours, - FRED G. ZERBST, Warden. - - - - - REPLY TO WARDEN FRED G. ZERBST - - - Editor _Constitution_: - -In your issue of October 4, 1919, Warden Fred G. Zerbst, of the Federal -Prison at Atlanta, makes an alleged reply to my charges of brutality, -corruption and incompetence on the part of the management of the Federal -Penitentiary. - -The outstanding feature of Warden Zerbst’s statement is its entire -failure to discredit my charges, much less to disprove them. I made -definite accusations, gave facts, cited specific instances. The Warden’s -only reply is, in essence, “All’s well, and there is nothing more to be -said about it.” That is the good old traditional policy of the -authorities of all penal and other similar institutions since time -immemorial. When facing charges of corruption and brutality, they resort -to the grand gesture of waving the terrible indictment flippantly aside, -with the too-easy declaration, “Nothing to it.” But an outraged public -sentiment, in numerous similar cases, has but too often exposed this -high-and-mighty attitude as the invariable camouflage of rotten -conditions within the prison walls. To cite but one recent instance, -still comparatively vivid in the public memory, will be sufficient. I -refer to the case of Mr. Moyer, former Warden of the Atlanta Federal -Prison, who consistently scoffed at and ridiculed the charges of Julian -Hawthorne (the son of his famous father) till the Hawthorne revelations -of prison abuse and outrage, corroborated by numerous other prisoners -and former inmates, were proven to the hilt, and Warden Moyer summarily -dismissed by the Federal Government. - -I appreciate the spirit of chivalry, of the _ésprit de corps_, that -prompts Warden Zerbst to rush to the rescue of Deputy Warden Girardeau -and his assistants, against whom my indictment is chiefly directed. I -have emphasized in my previous statement that Warden Zerbst is more -humane and intelligent than the Deputy Warden. I may now add that he is -also generous, all too generous, to his official subordinates. But -chivalry may be misplaced—it _is_ misplaced in the present case. It will -not do for Mr. Zerbst to barrage the outrages committed within the -prison walls with his loyalty to his official family. He owes a duty, a -prior duty, to the public, to the taxpayers that support the institution -over which he presides. Besides, he also owes a duty to the men in his -keeping, the inmates—about 1,500 helpless unfortunates—a duty he owes in -the interests of justice and humanity. - -To my specific charge that Deputy Warden Girardeau is brutal and of low -moral and mental calibre, the Warden replies that Mr. Girardeau is a -well-known citizen of Atlanta. ’Tis a rather lame and unconvincing -refutation of my charge. To my indictment of the majority of the guards -as vulgar, brutal and dissipated men, the Warden replies that they have -satisfactorily filled out certain civil service blanks, or passed some -other perfunctory examination. Yet in the very next breath he admits -that “the work is performed by these men at a compensation hardly -sufficient to live decently.” In other words, the guards are paid $76.00 -per month, and I leave it to the readers to judge what “high degree of -qualification” $76.00-dollar-a-month men possess, in these days of high -cost of living. - -I emphatically challenge the Warden’s statement that visitors are -admitted to the punishment cells I described as filthy. There are in the -Atlanta Federal Prison _two kinds_ of punishment cells, known -respectively as the “dark hole” and the “light hole.” The difference -between the two is extreme. The “light hole” is a comparatively large -cell with a window admitting some light and air. The “dark hole” is a -veritable kennel, wedge-shaped, about 2½ feet wide at the entrance, 4½ -feet at the back, and 6 feet long. The prisoner is forced to sleep in -this dark hole on the floor, on a filthy mattress, with a bit of rag for -covering even in the coldest winter. Its only toilet facilities is an -iron pail, sharp-edged, without any lid, the pail remaining in the cell -24 hours daily. It is emptied but once a day in the early morning. -That’s the filthy dungeon referred to in my first statement in the -“Constitution,” and I challenge the authorities of the prison to deny -its existence, to deny that men are kept there for thirty days -consecutively and sometimes longer, on an insufficient bread and water -diet. No visitors, except government officials, or personal friends of -the prison authorities, are ever permitted even a glance into this dark -dungeon. - -Can Warden Zerbst successfully deny the above facts? Even a most -superficial investigation would bear me out. Can the Warden contradict -my charges that prisoners are strung up by the wrists for 8 to 12 hours -at a stretch, for 5 to 10 consecutive days? In his statement in the -“Constitution” the Warden fails to deny that men are frequently clubbed, -nor does he even refer to the unprovoked murder of “Kid” Smith by -Officer Dean on February 21, 1919. What is the Warden’s reply to these -direct charges? His reply is that “Berkman came to this country as an -Anarchist, disguised by the pretence of seeking the benefits of American -freedom.” A rather peculiar justification for prison brutalities! As a -matter of fact, I came to this country about 32 years ago, a mere boy of -17, at which time I had never heard the word Anarchist, nor knew its -meaning. I became an Anarchist in this country, and it was just such -methods as used by Deputy Warden Girardeau—the methods of tyranny, -oppression and persecution, practiced not only in penitentiaries, but -also in the larger prison called the world—that made me an Anarchist who -seeks more humane forms of social life. - -Warden Zerbst pretends to believe my charges against the institution to -be but a “ridiculous attack somewhat along personal lines.” Why -ridiculous? Have such things never happened before in prison? Have penal -institutions never been known to resort to brutal methods, or are prison -guards generally acknowledged to be the cream of human kindness, -understanding, and good judgment? Or are “the high moral and -intellectual qualifications” of 76-dollar-a-month men beyond question or -dispute? - -The Warden states that I had made similar charges after my release from -the Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania. But he forgets to add that as -a result of my indictment of the brutalities practiced in that prison, -investigations took place, my charges sustained, and practically the -whole administration of the Western Penitentiary radically changed. - -As a matter of fact, I did not yet tell one-hundredth part of the -terrible things that happen in the daily routine of the Atlanta Federal -Prison. For lack of time and space I did not even mention the criminal -neglect of sick prisoners, the deliberate starvation of the consumptive -Nicholas Zogg, who is actually dying on his feet for lack of proper diet -(he being a vegetarian), the unwholesome food, the vile manner in which -it is served to the inmates, the favoritism of men with a “pull,” the -discrimination against political offenders, the corrupt system of “stool -pigeons,” the fake trials at which the word of one drunken guard -outweighs that of a dozen soldiers, political prisoners and other -inmates of character and integrity, whose sole crime consisted in the -expression of an unpopular opinion during the war. I have not yet -referred to the traffic, by guards and other officials, in cocaine, -morphine, and other “dope,” nor to the new 400-loom duck mill, the -product of which is about to come in competition with free labor. Nor -have I yet even hinted at the existence and the actual encouragement of -homosexual practices and other sex aberrations resulting from -suppression. I have not started yet, Mr. Zerbst, but I _will_, and that -very soon. - -Are these charges just “a personal attack?” Why try to mislead the -public? Most intelligent men _know_ that there are terrible abuses -practiced in penal institutions. There are several investigations of -penitentiaries and insane asylums going on at this very moment. The -Federal Prison at Atlanta is no exception, and my attack is not directed -against any particular individual, but against the system of tyranny, -injustice and brutality inside our prisons, as well as outside. I want -to do whatever lies in my power to ameliorate the conditions under which -my unfortunate fellow-men in prisons have to suffer. I think that Warden -Zerbst, as a matter of common humanity, should be the first to aid my -efforts. As the initial step toward this he should eliminate all -physical violence, abolish chaining up and the stool-pigeon system, and -try to secure a living wage for the prison guards. You can’t live these -days on $76.00 a month. Most of the guards are married men, with -families. Within the last two years a large number of new keepers have -been engaged by the penitentiary, displacing the old and outworn -men—engaged at $76.00 a month, with disastrous results to the inmates. -The struggle for existence makes the guards surly, cranky, and -quarrelsome, constantly conscious of their grievance because of their -low pay, with the tendency to vent their misery and ill-humor upon the -unfortunates in their power. The human element is of vital importance in -prison life. - -As a matter of common decency and fellow-feeling, in the interest of -both the prisoners and society, I shall be happy to contribute my little -share to bring a bit of sunshine into the dark night of the boys I left -behind. - - NEW YORK, - October 5, 1919. - - ALEXANDER BERKMAN - - - - - PERSECUTION OF POLITICALS - - -Practically every political and industrial prisoner in the Federal -Penitentiary at Atlanta, with the exception of Eugene V. Debs, has been -the victim of special discrimination and persecution. In the case of -Debs, the authorities considered it best, owing to his great popularity, -to assign him to the hospital, where he enjoys better food and -treatment, without any particular work to do. At the same time this -partial isolation of Eugene V. Debs from the rest of the prisoners -precludes opportunity on his part for spreading his ideas among the -inmates. - - -With the sole exception of Eugene V. Debs, all the other political -prisoners in the Atlanta penitentiary have suffered special persecution: - - -A. Hennecy, a young Socialist from Ohio, was kept in complete solitude -and isolation for eight consecutive months. He was allowed neither to -receive or send mail, no books or papers of any kind, nor was he -permitted work or exercise, or any other privileges usually accorded the -average prisoner. The “crime” for which he was being thus inhumanly -punished was, according to the official report of officer Demoss -(formerly whipping master in the Atlanta prison), “Conversing in a -suspicious manner with another prisoner in the yard, the other prisoner -being Louis Kramer.” Both Hennecy and Kramer were at that time employed -in the prison shops and permitted, like the other inmates, to be out in -the yard every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, privileged to speak to -anyone. - -A. Hennecy is now finishing a one-year sentence in the Delaware County -Jail, Ohio, having been released from the Atlanta prison in February, -1919. He served in Atlanta two years on the charge of obstructing the -draft. His present sentence is the result of his failure to register on -June 4th, 1917. - -Walter Hershberger, a conscientious objector, serving 20 years for -refusing to don a military uniform. (His sentence has since been reduced -to four years.) Herschberger has been kept in solitary confinement and -isolation almost continuously since the early part of December, 1918. -His solitary is “broken” by frequent visits to the dungeon, a dark hole -2½×4½×6 feet, where he is kept on an insufficient bread-and-water diet -for periods ranging from 3 to 15 days. He was in isolation when I left -the prison on October 1st, 1919. - -Nicholas Zenn Zogg (spelled on the prison records Zough) serving ten -years on the charge of aiding a young man to evade the draft. He was -transferred to the Atlanta penitentiary from the Federal prison at -McNeill’s Island, State of Washington. Zogg is in the last stages of -tuberculosis, and is being practically starved to death by the refusal -of the authorities to permit him to buy or to receive suitable food from -friends. He has been a strict vegetarian all his life, as were his -father and grandfather before him, and he is neither physically nor -conscientiously able to partake of the regular prison diet. He is forced -to live mostly on oatmeal, badly prepared and served in the most -unpalatable manner. Notwithstanding the fact that Zogg is barely able to -walk about, he has been repeatedly thrown into the dungeon for alleged -breaches of discipline. - -Jack Randolph, an I. W. W., serving 10 years for opposition to the war, -is in very delicate health and unable to perform the amount of work -demanded of him in the tailor shop, was repeatedly punished in the -dungeon and in solitary. - -“Red” Massey, an I. W. W., from New Orleans, sent to the Atlanta prison -on a frame-up charge under the Mann Act. This man has been kept in -solitary and in isolation almost continuously for a year, and punished -in the dungeon on the slightest pretext. - -Morris Becker, sentenced to 20 months on the charge of conspiracy -against the draft. This young man, of very slight physique, weighing -about 100 pounds, and for over a year unable to eat anything except -bread and oatmeal because of his poor physical condition and also -because he was a vegetarian, was ordered to do yard work. His job -consisted in wheeling a large wheelbarrow full of bricks and cement up a -very steep incline. Becker was unable to perform the work. For his -“refusal to work” he was sent to the dungeon and there kept for 21 days -on two slices of bread and water a day. He was released from the dungeon -almost half dead, whereupon the authorities admitted that he was unable -to perform the hard toil allotted to him. He was then assigned to the -tailor shop. - -Louis Kramer, serving 2 years for conspiracy to obstruct the draft, -assigned, like Becker, to the same yard work, and equally unable to -perform the task. Kept in the dungeon 21 days on bread and water. -Subsequently repeatedly punished in the dark cell on the slightest or no -provocation, chained up by the wrists to the door, and kept in isolation -for 5 months till his discharge in June, 1919. - -Louis Kramer is now serving one year in the Essex County Penitentiary, -N. J., for refusing to register. - -Alexander Berkman, sentenced to 2 years on the charge of conspiracy to -obstruct the draft. Kept in the dungeon for five days on bread and water -for circulating a petition in the tailor shop, protesting to the Warden -against the brutal clubbings of defenceless prisoners; also in protest -against the unprovoked murder of “Kid” Smith by Officer Dean. Sentenced -to solitary and isolation for 7½ months, for calling the attention of -Deputy Warden Girardeau to the brutalities practiced by the keepers in -his charge, and for calling the Deputy a hypocrite. Kept thirty -consecutive hours in the “dark hole” with the blind door on, which -almost absolutely excludes all light and air, with the result that the -man thus punished is put through the torture of gradual suffocation,—one -of the worst forms of punishment known in prison life. During three -months forbidden to receive or send mail, read papers or books, or to -have any exercise whatever. Held in solitary and in isolation -continuously from February 21st, to the day of discharge, October 1st, -1919. - - -As an instance of wilful brutality practiced upon the ordinary prisoner, -I may cite the case of A. Popoff. In the latter part of 1917, while in a -state of temporary mental aberration, Popoff killed a former Deputy -Warden of the prison. He was taken out for trial and sentenced to life -imprisonment. Upon his return from the court, the Atlanta penitentiary -authorities confined him in a dark dungeon and kept him there -continuously for two years, most of the time on a bread-and-water diet. -Almost every week Popoff was subjected to a terrific beating by several -guards, after which he would be carried to the hospital unconscious, and -later again returned to the dungeon. This treatment was kept up from -1917 till August, 1919. Popoff became a raving maniac, and still his -punishment in the dungeon continued. Finally, in the latter part of -1919, he was transferred to an insane asylum. - -This is one of the instances of a prisoner of infantile mentality being -deliberately driven into insanity by torture and by barbaric treatment. - - -This is but a small fragment of the numerous brutalities practiced daily -in the U. S. Penitentiary at Atlanta, Ga. The lot of the average -prisoner is hard enough, but the politicals are particularly -discriminated against in the matter of work, of general treatment, and -specifically in relation to their mail privileges. A young keeper, whose -education does not exceed the three R’s, is the chief prison censor, -with the result that most of the mail sent to the politicals never -reaches its destination. - -In the daily routine of prison life, there are many and various -opportunities to make the existence of the inmates unbearable. In -Atlanta there are quite a number of petty officials, from the Deputy -down, who make the best of these opportunities, especially in regard to -the politicals. To the average prison keeper, the political offender is -a non-understandable thing. He knows that the convict is either a -murderer, robber or a thief, but that a man should be willing to go to -prison for no material benefit to himself, is beyond his ken. That one -should risk his liberty merely for the sake of ideas or ideals, is -almost beyond belief and is positive proof—in the eyes of the average -prison keeper—that the man is either crazy or hopelessly depraved. Such -a man need expect neither understanding, sympathy, nor mercy. The -average man is inclined to distrust and hate the thing he does not -understand, and we always try to suppress the thing we hate. Hence, the -more than usually inhumane and brutal treatment of the political -prisoners in the penal institutions of America. - - ALEXANDER BERKMAN - - - - - IN CONCLUSION - - -The results attained by penal institutions are the very opposite of the -ends sought. The modern form of “civilized” revenge kills, figuratively -speaking, the enemy of the individual citizen, but it breeds in his -place the enemy of society. The prisoner of the State does not regard -the person he injured as his particular enemy—as did the member of the -primitive tribe, for instance, feeling the wrath and revenge of the -wronged one. Instead, he looks upon the State as his direct punisher; in -the representatives of the law he sees his personal enemies. He nurtures -his wrath, and wild thoughts of revenge fill his mind. His hate toward -the persons directly responsible, in his estimation, for his -misfortune—the arresting officer, the jailer, the prosecuting attorney, -judge and jury—gradually widens in scope, and the poor unfortunate -becomes an enemy of society as a whole. Thus, while our penal -institutions are supposed to protect society from the prisoner so long -as he remains one, they cultivate in him the germs of social hatred and -enmity. - - -Deprived of his liberty, his rights, and the enjoyment of life; all his -natural impulses, good and bad alike, suppressed; subjected to -indignities and disciplined by harsh and often most inhumane methods, -generally maltreated and abused by official brutes whom he despises and -hates, the prisoner comes to curse the fact of his birth, the woman that -bore him, and all those responsible, in his eyes, for his misery. He is -brutalized by the treatment he receives, and by the revolting sights he -is forced to witness in prison. What manhood he may have possessed is -soon eradicated by the “discipline.” His impotent rage and bitterness -are turned into hatred toward everything and everybody, the feeling -growing in intensity as the years of misery come and go. He broods over -his troubles, and the desire to revenge himself grows on him. Soon it -becomes a fixed determination. Society had made him an outcast: it is -his natural enemy. Nobody had shown him either kindness or mercy; he -will be merciless to the world. - - -Then he is released. His former friends spurn him; he is no more -recognized by his acquaintances. Society points its finger at the -ex-convict. He is looked upon with scorn, derision, and disgust. He is -distrusted and abused. He has no money, and there is little charity for -the “moral leper.” He finds himself a social Ishmael, with everybody’s -hand turned against him—and he turns his hand against everybody else. - - -The penal and the alleged “protective” functions of prisons thus defeat -their own ends. Their work is not merely unprofitable; it is worse than -useless. It is positively and absolutely detrimental to the best -interests of society. - - -There exists no other institution among the diversified “achievements” -of modern society which, while assuming a most important role in the -destinies of mankind, has proven a more reprehensible failure. Millions -of dollars are annually expended for the maintenance of prisons—a great -deal more than is spent on educational institutions in this country. -That money could be invested with as much profit and less harm in -government bonds of the planet Mars, or sunk in the Atlantic. No amount -of punishment can obviate or “cure” crime so long as prevailing -conditions, in and out of prison, drive men to it. - - ALEXANDER BERKMAN - - - - - SHOULD THOUGHT BE SUPPRESSED? - - -or do you approve of the sentiments expressed by =ALEXANDER BERKMAN= in -his statement, in re deportation, made to the officials of the U. S. -Immigration Service: - - I deny the right of any one—individually or - collectively—to set up an inquisition of thought. - Thought is, or should be, free. My social views and - political opinions are my personal concern. I owe no one - responsibility for them. Responsibility begins only with - the effects of thought expressed in action. Not before. - Free thought, necessarily involving freedom of speech - and press, I may tersely define thus: no opinion a - law—no opinion a crime. For the government to attempt to - control thought, to prescribe certain opinions or - proscribe others, is the height of despotism. - -Do you realize the menace of the Anti-Anarchist Law, under cover of -which scores of men and women—not only Anarchists, but Socialists, I. W. -W.’s, and ordinary workers—are arrested daily and held for deportation? - -As =EMMA GOLDMAN= pointed out at her deportation hearing: - - Under the mask of the same Anti-Anarchist law every - criticism of a corrupt administration, every attack on - Governmental abuse, every manifestation of sympathy with - the struggling of another country in the pangs of a new - birth—in short, every free expression of untrammeled - thought may be suppressed utterly, without even the - semblance of an unprejudiced hearing or a fair trial. - - HELP US FIGHT THIS MENACE - - =EMMA GOLDMAN= { - { =Committee= - =ALEXANDER BERKMAN= { - - =Send Contributions to:= - - =STELLA COMYN - 36 Grove Street - New York= - - - - - _LEAGUE for the AMNESTY of POLITICAL PRISONERS_ - - -solicits your interest and financial support for its important work of -securing an Amnesty for all political and industrial prisoners. - - * * * * * - -This =AMNESTY LEAGUE= also looks after the interests of political and -industrial prisoners in various institutions, and supplies them with -finances and with what little personal comforts prison rules permit. We -ask you to contribute generously to our Prisoners’ Relief Fund. - -The =LEAGUE= also asks your co-operation to enable it to take care of -the immediate needs of the women and children left without support -because of the many and sudden arrests of radicals subject to -deportation. Their need is very urgent. - - * * * * * - - =LEAGUE FOR THE AMNESTY OF POLITICAL PRISONERS= - -=Make checks payable to:= - - =M. E. FITZGERALD - 857 Broadway - New York= - - =Send for Literature on Amnesty= - - - - -SENTENCED TO - - TWENTY - - YEARS - - PRISON - - - The story of the trial and sentence of Mollie Stimer, - Jacob Abrams, Hyman Lachowsky, and Samuel Lipman. Their - “crime” consisted in printing and circulating a leaflet - opposing American intervention in Russia. - -Justices of the U. S. Supreme Court Holmes and Brandeis said in their -minority opinion on this case: “These defendants had as much right to -circulate these leaflets as the U. S. Government has to circulate the -Constitution.” - -And yet the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court has just doomed these -defendants to long terms in prison. - -The proceeds of this pamphlet are devoted to fight this important case. - - 15 CENTS - - =Address= - =M. E. FITZGERALD - 857 Broadway - New York= - - - TRIAL and SPEECHES - - OF - - ALEXANDER BERKMAN and EMMA GOLDMAN - - $1.00 CLOTH; 50c. PAPER - - * * * * * - - - GOD and the STATE - - by - - Michael Bakunin - - 75c. CLOTH; 50c. PAPER - - Order from - STELLA COMYN - 36 Grove Street - New York - - - - - The Social Significance - - _of the_ - - MODERN DRAMA - - BY - - EMMA GOLDMAN - - - ONE DOLLAR - - Order from - STELLA COMYN - 36 Grove Street - New York - - - - - THE ONLY PUBLICATION OF ITS KIND IN THE U. S. - - FREEDOM - - A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTIVE ANARCHISM - - - Edited by Harry Kelly and Leonard D. Abbott - -In the present universal chaos of thought and aims, a clear -voice—conscious of its social purpose and true to its ideals—ought to be -appreciated by all intelligent men, even by those that are not -Anarchists. - - * * * * * - -=FREEDOM= advocates that Society be organized upon the principle of -voluntary association. It sees in Communism the most rational and -practical form of social economic life. - - $1.00 THE YEAR - - FREEDOM, R. F. D. No. 1, Box 130 - New Brunswick, N. J. - - A NEW LIMITED EDITION - - - - - PRISON MEMOIRS OF AN ANARCHIST - - BY - - ALEXANDER BERKMAN - - With Portraits and a Special New Introduction by the Author - - - NOW ON THE PRESS - - Two Dollars - -[Illustration] - - Order from - M. E. FITZGERALD - 857 Broadway - New York - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in - spelling. - 2. 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