Luigi Galleani THE END OF ?

Translated from the Italian by Max Sartin and Robert D'Attilio .with an introduction by M. S.

Cienfuegos Press, Orkney Galleani, Luigi The end of anarchism? 1. Anarchism and anarchists I. Title II. Sartin, Max III. D' Attilio, Robert IV. La fine dell'anarchismo? English 335'.83 HX833.

ISBN 0 904564 55 2

The End of Anarchism?, Luigi Galleani Translated from the Italian by Max Sartin and Robert D'At tilio

Jacket Illustration by Flavia Costantini

First English language edition published by Cienfuegos Press, Sanday, Orkney, U.K., 1982

La Fine Dell'Anarchismo, Luigi Galleani Edizione Curata da Vecchi Lettori Di Cronaca Sovversiva

First Italian edition published Newark, New Jersey, 1925. Contents Page Introduction I The Interview with Merlino

II The Anarchism of Merlino 6

III The Characteristics of Anarchism 10

IV Socialist-Collectivism and Anarchist 17

V Anarchist-Communism and 34

VI Workers' Organisation 47

VII Propaganda of the Deed 51

VIII Will Be! 65 Footnotes 73

Introduction

The first decade of the twentieth century seemed to be quite promising. We were being told at school and on the streets that a new era of democratic freedomand social justice had opened. Criticism of the old institutions was encouraged by politicians, and the hopes of working people were raised by the labour unions' promises of protection. The vanguards of political and social thought were spreading the seeds of new ideas among the workers of the world about ways and means to bring about a thorough emancipation from the oppression of political power and from the exploitation of land and capital by private ownership. Rulers and employers had not changed, of course, and used violence and terror from time to time. But their brutality was beginning to provoke tentative efforts at resistance. In the industrial centres, the mining fields, and agrarian communities, sporadic explosions of rebel­ lion were registered. In Russia a serious revolutionary movement shook the old order of things during the years 1905-1906. The movement was finally defeated, but it had badly destroyed the myth of the Czar's absolute authority, and, even more important, it had deeply hurt the old regime at its roots, the countryside. In Western Europe working people were in motion. The class struggle was in fulldevelopment, and no police or military bloodshed seemed able to stop it. Governments use jails and guns against dissent, but there are not enough jails and guns to silence all dissenters when they are determined to speak out and fight for their rights. Everywhere dissent had found ways to express itself. In Italy alone, more than eighty anarchist periodicals were published - with varying success - during the first seven years of the century. And many, many more were, of course, being published elsewhere, in Europe and the Americas. At the beginning of the year, 1907, some Belgian and Dutch comrades proposed an International Anarchist Congress to be held some time in the following Summer. It was considered the first truly international Anarchist Congress, and it took place in Amsterdam fromthe 23rd to the 31st day of October 1907. During this period, one of the most absorbing debates among the anarchists was about the attitude they would take on the subject of . 1 Born in France, syndicalism was substantially a rebellion against the submissive character the trade unions and similar labour organizations had assumed under the leadership of the legalist socialists. Regional and national conventions were promoted in all countries. In Italy, one such congress was held in Rome from the 16th to the 20th day of June 1907, with the participation of more than one hundred militants f