as noble as human nature is noble; for the ideal of protest against the arbitrary law which put him, the defendant of the eternal laws of truth, in jail for ten years.

"The hearts of the sincere and the bold will think with gratitude of him who fulfilled his holy duty. Among them there are hearts no less sincere, although not agreeing in part with his teachings.

"Emile Cottin, realizes this, while behind the grating, in the damp, foul, health-draining, stone bag. He does not need sympathy. He is freer than those who remained at liberty.' He is calmer than they. He did all that one man could do.

"While meditating, you are astounded by the inability of people to understand the lesson, which truth has taught them since the beginning of time.

"For what is Cottin sitting in jail? Because he dared to bring to life the word preached by him.

"But neither court nor jail will compel Cottin to alter his opinion, alter his action, or alter even a particle his convictions. These thoughts and convictions are more close to the truth than the laws of the judges who tried Cottin, and tomorrow they will throw off, sweep away, the judges and the hypocritical arbitrary laws of people.

"At least it is not by law that the judges will stop the spread of the idea of Cottin, more likely the judicial law will bring the hour of the 'end' nearer. And this law, the law of condemning and punishing people who have violated the laws arbitrarily created by people for personal purposes, this law will now be put to its utmost use, for the hour of revolution approaches: They who have ruled and rule people have lost their heads under the fear of the approaching end.

"A man condemned for a bold and brave protest against war and dissension in human society cannot but become dear to millions of honest hearts.

"According to the laws of truth this savagry and arbitrariness and law of people interpreted only by wilful book-learned men, law of personal gain, could sentence Cottin to such a punishment!

"The law of truth, the law of nature, crying to man about lawlessness, and the necessity of full freedom of the person and society of mankind—this law is violated.

The law is violated, and the realization of its violation penetrates into the minds of the broad masses, oppressed by covetous people, who create by their brute strength their own laws!

"The law of nature will no longer be violated without retaliation. The law of arbitrariness will have to give way to the law of nature-human society without laws.

"We are living through days of much promise, days of destruction of everything old, days bringing nearer the liberation of mankind from the arbitrariness of people's laws. "We believe in that great day.

"We await its arrival."

One of the pamphlets published by this organization, written by one Novymirsky, contains a chapter entitled "Our Tactics," which illustrates clearly the nature and purpose of the organization, a translation of which is as follows:

"What should be our means of fight?

----

"The tactics of the working class can as little as its ideal the overthrowing of capital and state-be devised, composed, introduced from the outside. No! It must be discovered in the bosom of contemporary society. It is necessary to study carefully, where those elements are, the development of which destroys the contemporary society and creates After having discovered these elements we must with our tactics consciously hasten their development.

a new one.

"As the contemporary professional labor organizationsthe embryo of the future free organizations, thus the natural weapon of the working class, the strike, is the seed of our tactics.

"We saw that the proletariat, together with the development of capitalism, is more and more widening and deepening its fight: partial strikes lose their meaning, even mass strikes become general.

"What must we do the vanguard of the proletariat? We must consciously hasten the elementary course of battle of the working class; we must turn the small strikes into general, and turn the latter into an armed revolt of the laboring masses against capital and the state.

'During this revolt we must, at the first convenient chance, begin the immediate seizure of all means of production and

all products of consumption and make the working class in fact the master of the public wealth. Simultaneously, we mercilessly destroy all remnants of state authority and class rules, destroy the jails and police stations, after having liberated those imprisoned, destroy all judicial acts regarding private property, all field fences and boundary lines, burn the certificate of debt-in short, we must take care to wipe off the face of the earth everything that reminds of the right to private property, to blow up the barracks, the gendarme and police administrations, to shoot to death the most eminent military and police chiefs, must be an important concern of the revolted working people."

It was upon the evidence of the publication of this and similar documents, gathered by this Committee, that the Extraordinary Grand Jury of New York County brought in indictments against Peter Bianki, Naum Stepanuk and Peter Kravchuk.

The case was never brought to trial, owing to the fact that these offenders were turned over to the Federal authorities and were deported on the S. S. "Buford."

All lists of names and other data obtained by the Committee have been turned over to the District Attorney of New York County and to the Federal authorities.

Closely identified with the Union of Russian Workers and occupying the same premises is the Soviet of Workmen's Deputies of the United States and Canada, which publishes an anarchistic paper in Russian, entitled "Rabochey-i-Krestyanin," the editorial staff of which consisted of Ivan Okountzoff, M. Korneev and Zioubovich. The treasurer of this organization is Mr. Juschnob.

The nature of the propaganda issued by this and other Russian papers will be described in the subsection of the report which deals with propaganda.

DECENTRALIST MOVEMENT OF THE I. W. W.

Among the documents and papers seized by agents of this Committee in the execution of a search warrant against the headquarters of the I. W. W. at 27 East 4th street, on June 21, 1919, were several issues of a magazine published in the Finnish language, entitled "Luokkataistelu." This puroprted to be the organ of the Finnish branch of the I. W. W., and was advertised in

the "One Big Union" monthly, the official organ of the I. W. W., as an independent I. W. W. paper.

Attention was focused upon this publication through an article which appeared in the March, 1919, issue, entitled "The Activity of the Rioting Masses," the significant portion of which is as follows:

"And thus a rioting mob is the one and only possible means for organizing a fight in the everyday as well as in these last open and decisive blood-battles between the capitalists and the working classes. The above mentioned are illustrations of the pure morals of the working classes. To hell with the teachings of peaceful revolution. The bloody seizure of power by the working classes is the only possible way. Because as long as our enemies are able to raise even one sword a bloodless fight is a day dream."

The publication did not bear the name of any editor or publisher, and the address printed on the paper was a Finnish boarding house at 58 East 123d street, at which address could be found no one connected with the paper.

The Committee thereupon, in co-operation with the AttorneyGeneral of this State, began an investigation to ascertain what persons were behind the publication. This resulted in locating the printer, and finally in the discovery of the editors, Carl Paivio and Gust Alonen. Gust Alonen was located in New York City, and was immediately arrested. From correspondence seized upon the premises, the address of Carl Paivio in Detroit was found, and a member of the Bomb Squad of the New York City Police was sent to that city to effect his arrest. From the correspondence found in the rooms of Carl Paivio and that found in the possession of Gust Alonen, the history of the decentrist or anarchistic movement within the I. W. W. was found.

Three other men joined with Alonen and Paivio in the editing of "Luokkataistelu," namely, Elmer Wirta, Matti Sari and John Helberg. These men represented a group of Finnish members of the I. W. W., who claimed to represent a decentralistic group within that organization. They were anarchists adhering to syndicalist principles but did not believe in any kind of centralized power, centralized organization or centralized government.

One of their principal assertions was that all rules are old even while they are being made. There should be no rules whatsoever.

The individual should govern everything according to his will and pleasure. Members of this group retained their membership cards of the I. W. W., but the character of the group is well expressed in a letter written by one Hans Johnson of 4404 Clinton avenue, Ohio, on July 21, 1919, to Gust Alonen, 864 Caldwell avenue, Bronx, New York City, of which the following is a correct translation:

"It is my opinion that we should start to publish the 'Class Struggle' as a real anarchistic publication from now on. Why should we care, because we are as a matter of fact anarchists. We cannot get away from it even into hell. We will always be able to fix the K. P. in a discussion if it comes to that. Let us publish in the 'Class Struggle' that it is the only Finnish anarchistic publication in the world, and we start there to wipe out the principles of all the violent and all the Finnish K. P."

The initials "K. P." refers to the Finnish equivalent of the pseudonym of a group of men who published the Finnish I. W. W. paper, "Tia Vaupautin" (Road to Freedom).

While the Luokkataistelu group was thoroughly anarchistic, it was apparent that they desired to carry on their propaganda under the cover of the I. W. W., and as exponents of the doctrine of decentralism.

In a letter written by Carl Paivio from 58 High street West, Detroit, which is not dated, we find statements of which the following is a correct translation:

Hans wrote me that he had written you to announce to 'Luokkataistelu,' or 'Class Struggle,' publicly to be an anarchistic publication. I want to mention only that much, that such special announcement should not be made until the discussion about it is submitted to the backers. Always in such things we should find out the opinion of the men upon whom the distribution of 'Luokkataistelu' depends, because here it is much harder to distribute any publication than in New York. Thus, it is much better to be here under the cover of decentralism. The contents in spite of that can be as anarchistic as they please."

The propaganda of this group was carried on throughout the United States in large measure by itinerant workers going from