The Complete Works of Malatesta Vol. III. Errico MalatestaЧитать онлайн книгу.
persists in talking about the propaganda activity that might be pursued by means of elections; but fails to consider what might happen if, repudiating electioneering, such activity was to be pursued in another theater more congruent with our principles and our purposes.
Merlino does not believe in capturing public office; but we cannot see any such capture being made, neither by ourselves nor by anyone else, not even if we were to believe it feasible. We are opposed to the principle of government and do not believe that anyone coming to government would then be in any hurry to surrender the power captured. The peoples who want freedom tear down the Bastilles; tyrants, on the other hand, wish to garrison and strengthen them, on the pretext of defending the people from their enemies. Hence it is not our wish that the people should get used to hoisting their friends, or alleged friends, into power and look to their rise to power for emancipation.
To us, abstentionism is a matter of tactics; but one of such importance that, when one foreswears it, one finishes up foreswearing one’s principles as well. Because of the natural connection between means and ends.
Merlino is sorry that he cannot see eye to eye completely, neither with us nor with the democratic socialists; but he says that he cannot renege upon what he has said.
We are certainly not asking him to renege upon it and go against his beliefs and his conscience. But permit us to make this observation to him.
No matter how good it may be, a tactic only has value to the extent that it is embraced by those tasked with implementing it. Now, rightly or wrongly, we and every other anarchist want no truck with the tactic being put forward by Merlino. Would he not be better sticking with us, with whom he shares his ideals and his chief methods of struggle, instead of squandering his efforts on a venture that we are sure will get nowhere, unless he turns his back on anarchy and looks to the ranks of his and our opponents for his supporters?
145 “From London. For the Record,” see p. 19.
Filth
Translated from “Cose sporche,”
L’Agitazione (Ancona) 1, no. 3 (March 28, 1897).
From Marsala we have received a newsletter signed by Antonino Azzaretti, inviting socialists and anarchists to cast their votes for Crispi’s well-known henchman Abele Damiani, and proclaiming him “a proud man of integrity, a long-time revolutionary, his soul tempered by struggles in which he has never bent the knee.”
For several years now Antonino Azzaretti has been describing himself as an anarchist and he has been the editor of the Marsala newspapers Il Proletario and Il Proletariato, which have much helped sow the bad seed of confusion and corruption in anarchist ranks.
He is the one who argued that the true anarchist should think only of himself; who said that the feature of the true anarchist should be incoherence; who preached individualism and disorganization; who opposed the workers’ Fasci in Sicily, and who, when Giolitti threatened to disband them, was elated and exclaimed: “That will teach peasants the damage that organization can do!”146
And at the same time, when a friend of ours remonstrated with him, he wrote: “I stand ready to steer this paper in whatever direction you choose, if you will commit to furnish the copy and the cash.”
And now—in a fitting end to such a career—behold him acting as agent for Crispi’s party, and all still in the name of socialism and anarchy and in the supposed “interests of the cause.”
We dislike personality issues and our purpose is to keep at all times to the level-headed terrain of discussion and propagation of ideas, but in certain circumstances, the personal attack becomes a duty.
At all costs, we must rid ourselves of these knaves who have infiltrated our ranks. No longer is it a matter here of tactics or principles; it is a matter of sincerity and personal integrity. There should be no one among us who has sold out or who is on the market for sale.
A party, any body of men, that fails to spew out such rottenness, in a simple reflex of revulsion, can have no claim to the respect and regard of the public, much less advocate for a new era of nobler social living.
146 The workers’ Fasci was a movement of peasants, miners, and industrial workers that arose in Sicily in 1893. It started with economic demands but escalated into a revolt, with strikes, attacks on city halls, destruction of custom-houses, and a refusal to pay taxes. The word “fasci” is the plural for “fascio” (bundle), a term that symbolized the strength of union and bore no relation but etymological with the later Fascist movement.
Endorsements for the
Abstentionist Manifesto
Translated from “Adesioni al manifesto astensionista,”
L’Agitazione (Ancona) 1, no. 3 (March 28, 1897).
We would urge those who approve of the manifesto and who have yet to give notice of their support to do so as soon as possible.
Some comrades, writing to us about the issue of signatures, tell us that there are people in their groups who, for family or employment reasons, cannot give their names openly without compromising themselves. We would not like to be misunderstood. We have argued for the benefits of and need for speaking out publicly, but that does not mean that we should give up the precautions commended by sheer common sense. Exposing oneself to the blows of the enemy to no useful purpose would amount to naivety and foolishness!
It is natural for those who cannot or who simply do not wish to commit themselves to be on their guard. But if, as happens in every group, there are some comrades not bothered about hiding their identity and who may already be known as anarchists on account of their propaganda among the public, why should we miss out on the prestige earned by a party that bravely asserts its ideas? And why play into the hands of the police who, from time to time, take it into their heads to uncover that which it never occurred to anybody to conceal?
[Followed by a list of fresh endorsements for the manifesto]
Point of Honor: To the Comrades
Translated from “Obbligo d’onore: Ai compagni,”
L’Agitazione (Ancona) 1, no. 4 (April 4, 1897).
The elections are over.
We—by which we mean all the comrades—have done all we could to alert the people to the deceitfulness and harm implicit in the electoral contest—and we did well. But now another more important duty is incumbent on us: demonstrating—with facts and with results—that our tactics are better than those of the parliamentarists, that we mean to be and are already, not merely a negative force, but an active, functioning, effective force in the fight for the emancipation of the proletariat.
We oppose the parliamentary socialists, and are right to do so, since in their program and in their tactics lurk the seeds of a fresh oppression; and, should they succeed, the government principle that they cling to and bolster would destroy the principle of social equality and usher in a fresh age of class struggles. However, in order to be entitled to oppose them, we must do better than them.
Being right in theory, cherishing loftier ideals, criticizing others, foreseeing the harmful consequences from incomplete and contradictory programs, is not enough. In fact, if everything is confined to theory and criticism and does not offer a jumping-off point for an activity that seeks out and creates the conditions for the implementation of a better program, then our action turns out to be harmful, in practice, because it hobbles the efforts of others, to the benefit of our common foes.
Preventing, through our propaganda, the people from sending socialists and republicans into parliament (since those who are the most accessible to our propaganda are the very people who, but for us, would cast their votes for anti-monarchy candidates) is an excellent outcome as long we manage to turn whomever we lure away from the fetishism