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Show mm i; Marxian Club Socialists i : 1 T Any question concerning Social-It Social-It lim answered. Address all com-. com-. munlcatlom to K. S. HilllarJ, J 426 Hcrrlck Avenue. X Editorial Committee! KATE 8. HILLIARD. X E. A- B ATT ELL. I ROY E. SOUTHWICK. J. T HISTORY OF THE PARIS COMMUNE one night the suns -ro t'iroe;! on t..T docks .aJ -ilnj at rtoiom Into lh croud. V.'onitn prisoners were beat-H, beat-H, br their KJArdJ.- al even by the Governor, who had them tied down o diI beat them -wUb bis cane. The textures cndirej drovo many of th-j prisoners ruad even the' children were cot spared.' Balance Sheet. Here Is the balance sheet of tU on solitary stroke made lor freedom Vyfho worker at lran. as drawn up by I be hUtorlan Llssaparay: "Twenty-five thousand men. women and children killed" durlnc the battle or after; three thousand at least died In the prison, the pontoon, the forts, or In confluence of maladies contracted con-tracted d'irin their captivity; thirteen thir-teen thousand seven hundred condemned, con-demned, children and old men deprived de-prived of their natural supporters or thrown out of Franco; ONE Hl'N-PR Hl'N-PR ED AND ELEVEN THOUSAND VICTIMS at leant. That I the balance bal-ance i-heet of lxnrReoi vengeance for l he c Mtary Insurrection of the lS'h of March." ..Real Meaning of the Commune... As tbe education of tho worklnc does proceeds toward a more general Knowledge of the class Interest and divisions deeply poted In capitalistic society, the real nieanln of the Pari- Cvmiuune will bo interpreted and the bitter vengeance of Its capitalist de-structlonlat de-structlonlat understood. It was a do-tcrmlned do-tcrmlned attempt by a section of tho world's workers to emancipate themselves them-selves from the tyranny of capitalist w age-slavery. Doomed to final failure it Is true, owlnR to lis circumscribed activities and surrounded with hitter hostilities, but, yet, one of those failures fail-ures that makes success possible. Henc It Is as time rolls by, and tho working class mind quickens to Socialism, So-cialism, forcing " onward to action that Its Ideals may be materialized, that this glad and sad page of tho I Mory of the past eens out and becomes be-comes more and more apparent In Its significance. There are many lessens les-sens we may learn from tho successes and failures of our comrades of '71. With Intelligent solid Industrial organization, organ-ization, with half tho courage of the Commune revolutionists, with the thlr-ty-nlno more years of accumulated experience, ex-perience, the working class could carry the world before It and transform it from a veritable hell Into a beautiful heaven a place of Joy, where the bud of childhood would flourish In the glorious sunshine. Instead of withering wither-ing as now In factory and shop, where the flower of manhood will tloom In the freshness of education. Intelll-ge-nce and nobility. Remove the dirty mean, sordid system of gain and greed and the dirty, mean, sordid nature vanishes with It, for man's nature and attributes are the result of economic econ-omic environment whother transmitted transmit-ted or acquired. Comrades, you of our clar?, fnke n lesson from our French broihrs; If ou arc derlrous of better thine rlnht here, then help to get them. Organize for It, firm t for It. Look at tho picture of the Commune, gaze om the reality of working clasa to-lay How con you tarry, comrade? Why I dn you wall? J Karl Marx on the Commune. Lot us close I his brief pai:e of the i brightest and saddest event In the history of the workliiR-cIass struggles, strug-gles, with a quotation from that great and noble champion of the cause of working class emancipation Karl Marx: "It Ij a Strang fact In spite of nil the tall talk and all the Immense literature, for the last sixty years. !'l,iu:t emancipation of labor, no sooner soon-er do the working men anywhere take the subject Into their own hands, v. 1th a will, than up rise at once all j the rpologetlc phraseology of the mouthpiece of present society wltii i Its two poles of capital and wao sl.iv- ! cry (the landlord now is but the sleeping partner of the capitalist), as If capitalist society were still In Its purest state of virgin Innoconce. with Its antagonisms still undeveloped. They know that In order to work out their own emancipation, and along with It that higher form to which present pres-ent society Is Irresistibly tending, by its own economic agencies, they will have to pass through long struggles, through n series of historic processes, transforming circumstances and men. In the full consciousness of their historic his-toric mission, and with the heroic resolve re-solve to act up to It. tho working class can afford to smile at the coarse Invccthe of the gentlman's gentleman wlih the pen and Inkhorn, and at the dldatlc patronage of well wishing Itourgeols doctrinaires, pouring forth their ignorant platitudes and sectarian sectari-an crochets In the oracular tone of Eclentfic infallibility. "Worklngmen's Paris with Its Commune, Com-mune, will be forever celebrated as the glorious harbinger of a new society. so-ciety. Us martyrs are enshrined nl the great heart of the working class. Its exterminators, history has already untied to the eternal pillory from which all the prayers of their priests will not avail to redeem them." Sydney, Syd-ney, Australia. People. A BLOOD-STAINED PACE. Today the Tarl Commune of 171 appear more slcnifiean perhaps than vor, in spite of the thirty-nine year. that ha been pa-ed out by lime. U is a picture at unv beatitlfi 1 and hideous; hide-ous; beautiful In tlie ennobllug ldt-jU of the working clnim, hldeoin In tho coldbboded airoclili-R of the capita'- 1 1st Has. It I an Incident In work- j !ng- 1,1-m hiMury that affords n mag-i nlhrcnt object lesson of the superior naiur.' and courage of the. French proletariat pro-letariat of that day as compared wPh tbe treachery, the rowardlc", and the brtiiality of the bourgeois. Wh-n one reviews the iulj'is venft preceding the Commune, nothing noth-ing hut iidtiilr.ii Ion can be felt f"r the pluck and fleti-rmlnatlon' of the PaiUiun vorklng cla.-is. War had been dec'nred n?ain?t Frame by Germany, which broke out In lSTn. and Paris wa In a ytnte of slepe. The Empir.' had rilp-il heron- the i-ihhlle cla". re,.I '(Pin of Sojit nib r I, and the Republic Re-public proclaimed. Working Men Member of Notional Guard. Th armies of tho Kniplro were cither cith-er "hut up at Met or prisoners In Grii))ny. All Pnrlsi.in citizens capable cap-able of larlnx arms were enrolled In the Nat'on.-il Guard, of which 1ho wnrkt-rs loriii-d the treat riiaj'irity. and thus Paris Kim d-fenled by Its worki-r v l"i throtiphout the slope had demanded the energetic continuance of I In- Mingle. The Republican tin--crnmcrt consisted of the deputies of tho former government, but being composed almost c xcliiHlvely of the capltillst class, the antagonism between be-tween th government and the armed arm-ed proletariat broke out. On the 31st of Otc'her the working-class battalions battal-ions stormed the city hall, and took several members of the government prisoners, but thse were afterwards freed, and In order to avoid a civil war Inside, the government wos permitted per-mitted to remain In office. Capitulation. Then came the capitulation. On the ISth January. 1?71. after a 131 days' biege., Paris, starved out, capitulated. While the worts were surrendered, the fortifications disarmed, the w.-np-ons of the line taken by the Germans, and th soldiers, themselves regarded as prisoners, the National Guard (the workers) retained Its weapons and cannon. Peace having ben declared after the capitulation, Thiers, the new head of lh-i government, aw In an armed proletariat a menace to the rule of 1he propertied class, and took steps to disarm tho workers. Then enmc the hour of the Commune! The Hour of th Commune. Thiers lved orders to tho troops of tho Hn to Pbeal the artillery of tbe National Guard, which had been manufactured and paid for by public subscription during the sler of Paris Early on the morning of the ISth of March, while Paris was still la slumber. slum-ber. Oneral Susblelll. with C.000 s.. dlers, pMparad th assault, and marched on Montraartre; Iyt-comtes brigade attacked the Rue des Rosters, Ros-ters, killed a enr1nol, and threm the fruard Into the Tower of Solferlno. Dy six o'clock: the surprise was complete; com-plete; but the general In his anxiety anxie-ty had forgotten to bring horses to remove the heavy cannon and was kept waiting two hours for their arrival; ar-rival; Montmartro awoke; the news spread like wildfire; tho National Guards beat tho alarm, and were Joined by soldiers of the S8U regiment. regi-ment. These marched on to Butte-Wontmartro. Butte-Wontmartro. followed by an unarmed crowd of men, women, and children. On the way they mot Lecomte'-J troops tho soldiers shouted greetings to their comrades of the 88th, whereupon where-upon Lecomte ordered th arrest of thoe mo.t conspicuous In this demonstration dem-onstration of comrodobhip. The order or-der passed unheeded. Onward pressed press-ed the National Guard Lecomte commanded com-manded his troops to fire, but not a musket was raised, not a shot rang out. Soldier Refuse to Shoot Their Comrade. Com-rade. Three times the command was given; giv-en; ibre tiroes the soldiers refused to stain their honor by shooting thc;r comrades, or besmirch their manhood by murdering in cold blood helpless nu n, women and children. Tho tables wire turned; l.ecomto was arrested by the National Guards and Imprisoned. Imprison-ed. Paris ro-c to arms as one man. Tiie troops making little resistance, wire repulsed trum the points of an-lu. an-lu. and ihe cannon saver. Thiers, j wlt.i other members of the government. govern-ment. ecrfpei( to VcrsallW two da i liiter. and war was declared between j Paris aiid the French Government j sitting i here. The Red Rag. : On the 19ih Paris was Joyful; the i nd fins floated In the breeze above th city hall; placards convoked the i lectors to commune, the central committee prepared to occupy the s.at of government until the people had elected the commune. The work-it work-it s were victorious and Paris turned out full of hepo and glad at heart. On the 'jnth the elections took place, snd th commune wjs proclaimed on the 2Mb. Enthusiav.tlc crowds surged the Mrtets. The sun shone bright; Prls was glad and Joyful --for this . a a da of freedom. Kvery where red rings tloated gaily In the hreezo; banners, surmounted with the cap of liberty, were raUe.1 on high; cannon can-non were fln-d, and bands played iho Iio-pirlng .MaroPalno" and the "Chant du Iepnrt." the great throng singing the words with one mighty oice. it was the "magnificent spectacle spec-tacle of a people recovering their :overelgut) ." perhaps never before nor since has a pcop'e manifested so much universal enthusiasm, or experienced ex-perienced such general Joy, as dl 1 the paris-lan peoplo on the day thai liny declared the commune. Indeed, tit this very moment, we can fancy that we t.ee the happy, smiling faces, find hear the glad shouts of that enthusiastic en-thusiastic multitude. And, oh! that such happiness, joy, and enthusiasm should have been so shortlived! The work of the ootnnr.ine, when installed was to give materialized ei-fr-ct to its concepts. On Ihe 20th. conscription and the standing army wore abolished; It remitted all rents of dwellings from October, lSTn n April, 1S71, such rent as had already been paid to be deducted from future payments; and stopped all sales of pledge. In the city's pawnshops. The separation of church and state was decreed, and "all thlnrs rtpoei'- i Inlnlng to the sphere of the indlvidiibl conscience" were on the fclh of April ordered to bo banished from the schools. The guillotine was publicly burned on the Oth amidst general on-planse. on-planse. All this and more, was achieved by the commune, and It i a noteworthy fact ihat during the two months of worltlng-class rclun crime wax minimized almost to the point of entire absence. Prisoner of War Released to Crush Commnue, Thiers, and his cowardly gang of parasites, however, were conspirlnv; a terrible vengeance at Versatile?. The Prussian government was appealed appeal-ed to for the release of the soldiers taken prisoners at Sedan and Mt-tz. A6 detachments of soldiers arrived they were immediately consigned to tho Versailles: army, P.y tbe be?ln-ning be?ln-ning of April Thiers' "plans were matured. ma-tured. About the 2nd of April Versailles opened fire on Parl without warning, and from that day comiucneej th-.' assassinations for which the enemies oi the working class were so nco--lous Five federal prisoners were dragged by gendarmes to Versailles, insulted and cruelly beaten on th? way. and there shot without inquiry. Treachery on the part of some of the gereral-s of the National Guard caused Duval's column at Cha;-tallon Cha;-tallon to be surrounded by tho enemy. Duval and his officers were taken and shot there and then, together to-gether with the soldiers who fought in the ranks of the Federalists. Tho rest were taken prisoners to Versailles Versail-les and as they were marched Into the town they were met by a frantic crowd of the bourgeois fashionable men and women who cried ' lo the guillotine with them." struck them with their canes and parasols, at tho same time subjecting them to the most degrading Insults. Galifet the Bloody now issued a proclamation declaring de-claring "a merciless war against those ussajslns." In spite of this reverse Paris was not hopeless, nor were the workers dlshearteued. They had fought behind be-hind the barricades before, and w-ould do it again to throw off ttr yoke of th propertied tyrmts. Tbe Central'1 committee, on Af rll 5, tasccd the following fol-lowing proclamation ; '. Proclamation of Commune. "Workicymen, do not deceive yoiir-selve yoiir-selve about th Import of the combat. It Is the engagement between parasitism para-sitism and labor. xpoitat!on and production. pro-duction. If you are tired of vegetating in Ignorance and wallowing In misery, If yoi want your children to 1-c men and enjoying the b'-ncflt of their labor, la-bor, and not mere animals trained for ih? workshop and the battlefield; If you do not want your daughters, whom you are unable to fduca'o and overlook as ye yearn to do, to become instruments of jilaure in the arms of the aristocracy of money, if you t last want the reign of Justice, workmen, work-men, bo intelligent. arle!" The meaning of the revolution wa. conveyed in that proclamation; It wjs an attempt on the part of the working work-ing clais of Paris to free itself from capitalism, perhaps premature and III-timed, III-timed, but revvrthel ?fb an inspiring, cailant. a noble attempt. Premature or lll-tlmid. the blow of freedom was struck and whatever may have been the mistakes and fallings of 'ho Com-mane, Com-mane, we have probably mt;ch to bo thankful for that the blow na struck w l.en it was Treachery or Lack of Vigilance. To me call to arms men, women and children reoponded. Barricades were thrown up, and the endurance and bravery of the women, who acted as nurses, and in many cases themselves took up arms, deserves to be Immortal Immor-tal zed. Roys of 10 and 12 carried arms and marched to "liberty or death" with the men. Unfortunately, It w death! Owing to many blunders and not a little treachery, the Versailles army enmcnaded Its way to the gates of Pails. Tillers hail threatened to enter en-ter Paris on the 20th, but he did not succeed. The people were btll) hopeful. hope-ful. On Sunday, the 21 st of May, crowds thronged to th- gardens of tbe Tulllerie3 in the afternoon, where an open air concert was being held In aid of the widows a::d orphans of tho Commune. On that same afternoon the Vcrsalll-s army entered the City by the gate of St. C'.ouJ, left unguarded unguard-ed either carelessly or purposely. The nlarm was quickly raised, but the surprise sur-prise was so sudden that the Central J : committee was thrown into a state of confuclou and became helpless, while tho Guards wero equally surprl3ed. All night long the call to arms sounded, end wiling hands and stout hearts came to the defense. Barricades were thrown up, and an heroic stand made eop'.clallj In the quarters occupied Ly the working clas. It was a fight for liberty, for home, for life It was heroic. For a weei; the battle raged with titanic ficrcenecs. From behind Improvised battlements, hastily constructed con-structed bairicados of paving stones, the workers hdd 1,"i'0 soldiers at bay eery Inch that the Versailles gained gain-ed haj to be fOLfn trr, no determined were the Coromunnds in their defense. de-fense. Heroic! Verily, the Parl-i Commune Com-mune of 1S71 Is an historical evnt worthy of contmertn ration by tho woiklni; class the world over. On Tuesday Montmartro, the stronghold strong-hold of the people, fell; then commenced com-menced the butchery. The Fall of the Commune. "In the Rue de Kohtors a holocaust was offered to tho traitors C'nenl-Thornas C'nenl-Thornas and Lecouite. Forty-two men, three men and four children the first pi honors, chosen at random were ciraced Into the gnrdn and lorced to Lutel before the wall and then shot One woman, with her child In her arms, refused to kneel, calling out to the others, 'Show the.s..-v the.s..-v retches th.it yon kn . v bow to die forlght." AH a.'ierii on iho tortures before the wall continued; prisoner.? were forced to l-nctl there for hours until anoiher b.nch was brought up. and then drarg ! off and massacred." An 1 thuj it wvs thai Ihe Commune Icil; the lat frtand vus mado at tac eemetoiy of" Per? l.i b use; It wa3 a !ei.cinte '.ast btmd that was ovei-come ovei-come by numbers. By Sunday the th. all was ever; the Commune lovt; the hope:-, of tho brave prolet-arlht prolet-arlht ruthlessly crushed out And yet the ciicces'-. and defeat of the Commune Com-mune were no: In vain. The Butchery of Blood Week. Now came the hour of bourgeois vengeance. So..n the streets were seas of bioo rtrcam'r.g from the bod ies i f the thousands of victims of the Ic-rrlble venr.cnnce wreaked by the human vulture c!a.-.s. The atrocities perpetrated during "Bloody Week" which followed the fall of the Commune Com-mune was almost beyond description. descrip-tion. Here Is a recorJ of some of the diabolical inhuman deeds committed com-mitted In the names of the victorious victori-ous ruling class of France: "On that day (2Sth 1900 prisoners were massacred. They were led In batches past the command offlcera who slriH'ly glanced at them and salJ To the right; to the left!" All those ordered to the left were led off and shot those taken to tho right, were taken to Versailles to endure terrible tortures in the prisons. Anyone de-munccd. de-munccd. no matter by w hom, was shot without Inquiry, and there were many canes of mistaken identity of supposed sup-posed leaders. Vive la Commune. The brave Varlln was dragged for an hour through the btreets, horribly mangled and ill-trested. and then shot. The massacres continued until the middle of June, the prisoners nun, women an dchlldren, dying like heroes for their cause, looktng their murderers In the face and crying with their last breath 'Vive la Commune!' The prisoners taken before GaUlfe. at Versailles, were forced to kneel before the churches on the way, and surrounded by a crowd of deputies, K-e keys, priests and fashionable men and women, who struck at them, spat upon them, threw dirt at them, shout-lug shout-lug 'Death; shoot them here!" Galll-fet, Galll-fet, looking like a famished wolf, walked past the ranks and chose his victims at random because they looked Intelligent, becnuse one had a watch, because they had pray hair, and had therefore seei the '4S. On the 2tJth. out of one single column he chose 83 men and three women. At last the fear of pestilence, the smell of the carnage, forced the murderers and the JournaMsts who had applauded them to cry 'Enough.' Brutality to Prisoner. The bodies were thrown Into ditches ditch-es In the cemeteries and buried In lime many were mutilated by the half-road soldier, and many who had not died of their wound must have teen burled alive. Fit.a.l!y. the corpa-es corpa-es were burned. Numbers of the surviving sur-viving rrleoners were confine fn the filthy airless collars at Versailles, there without wa'er and proper fovd many grew dcllrtous and died of their untt-nded wounds. At the docks of Satory. turnd Into a rrlson. tho prisoners were penned like cattle, and horribly tortured aid degraded They were forced to lie dovn In the mud at nljht and tbos who complained or Bttt op werw bot by:tb gendarme |