l
the same subterranean passages. The one through corruption impresses the
will of the wealthy and powerful upon the community. The other hopes
that by some dash upon authority a spirited, daring, and reckless
minority can overturn existing society and establish a new social order.
The method of the political boss, the aristocrat, the self-seeker, the
monopolist--even in the use of thugs, private armies, spies, and
_provocateurs_--differs little from the methods proposed by Bakounin in
his Alliance. And it is not in the least strange that much of the
lawlessness and violence of the last half-century has had its origin in
these two sources. In all the unutterably despicable work of detective
agencies and police spies that has led to the destruction of property,
to riots and minor rebellions that have cost the lives of many thousands
in recent decades, we find the sordid materialism of special privilege
seeking to gain its secret ends. In all the unutterably tragic work of
the terrorists that has cost so many lives we find the rage and despair
of self-styled revolutionists seeking to gain their secret ends. After
all, it matters little whether the aim of a group of conspirators is
purely selfish or wholly altruistic. It matters little whether their
program is to build into a system private monopoly or to save the world
from that monopoly. Their methods outrage democracy, even when they are
not actually criminal. The oldest anarchist believes that the people
must be _deceived_ into a worse social order, and that at least is a
tribute to their intelligence. On the other hand, the Bakouninists, old
and new, believe that the people must be _deceived_ into a better social
order, and that is founded upon their complete distrust of the people.

And, rightly enough, the attitude of the masses toward the secret and
conspiratory methods of both the idealist anarchist and the materialist
anarchist is the same. If the latter distrust the people, the people no
less distrust them. If the masses would mob the terrorist who springs
forth to commit some fearful act, the purpose of which they cannot in
the least understand, they would, if possible, also mob the individual
responsible for manipulation of elections, for the buying of
legislatures, and for the purchasing of court decisions. They fear,
distrust, and denounce the terrorist who goes forth to commit arson,
pillage, or assassination no less than the anarchist who purchases
private