THE Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1879. SOCIALISM IN EUROPE.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 31, 2 April 1879, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1879. SOCIALISM IN EUROPE.

V Words *re things,. »nd a drop, of ink falling like : dew upon.* thought, produces that which makes . thousands, perhaps millions think."

i Or late tlie clouds which, o'erspread the hoviaon of Europe have been surcharge*! I with danger and destruction, and it ; would appear to be merely a matter of time when the stbrm will hurst. E&ohj day the electric cable brings news of th& aspect being more and more th:reateningi and matters appear to have almost reached the culminating point, judging from the following statement made on the 20fch of March in the National Zeituhff,. one o[ the. most reliable journals published in the German capital. Accordihg-tb that paper, unless the, Powers join together in crushing Sbcialism v ii .will -'result in deluging the whole of Europe in bloocl ; it being further aided that out of all the European Sovereigns, the Hfe of Queen Yiotobu is the only one free from danger. That the fiu'st portion of the statement has* foundation in fact is but too apparent from the repeated attempts which have been-mq.de upon;' the" lives of the various crowned heads, aha the most startling circumstance in connection with such crimes has been the fact that the outrages appear to have been the outcome of secret 'organisations aimed at the safety o.E the holders of regal power, rather than actn of vengeance c* retribution fa? inAivjdua) shortcomings. The old traditional^ ma*im of the. divinity hedging ififc .a tang has long been an exploded fallacy ; for, in* steiad of the Jfcoyal pw'pie being a safe-guard-from peril to the wearer,. \t appears to ': have now the-sanw' attraettpii for the fttiletto of thf assassin? and the bullet of the bravo i* a red rag bas.fbr a m>id buU. the GeVmai> Ohanreitor wa» plot iiii'g I and intrigufn? afc Home for the extension of the empire o,f ■his master ? while the Prussian conque, rocs were.trfnflinsfin triumph the bnulevards! of Paris; : while th^ flower of P^pnch. bhivjftlry- were' puiir\g in cap, tivitjy. and t.er once victorious eagles trailed in th© dust, a foe more terrible and more insidious than the legions of France was seoretly, sapping the foundation of Vaterland, and aiming a deadly blow at the peace and prosperity of the newly^formed Empiw». /BisMlnos, like a spcond Bai,tb[A^za9, saw not the writing on tl»ewf)llfan(J after the glorious campaign .Tirhioh -.changed tfye :Pni!?s)an .Kingflom into the. German .instead «f heln^ giv&n; to consolidate anij . unite the people as a whole, were rather employed Jri outraging the liberties of those very people wh6 ; had helped to buildl up^the •: new^grandeup , ; of-: the thrcmei and add lqstre to the name of Eaiser Wilhelm. The oivil and re-, ligious liberties of the people ;were out--raged, and the glurious era of yiotory and triumph abroad; was sullied by tyrannies and persecutions at home. The foot of the eonqueror, which had pressed but HghjEly upon the neck of a fallen foe, became that of a ruthless oppressor at home? the prietit* were banished, the biahops imprisoned and Enfid; aiid Chris^anity itself made a

m&'ny is perhaps the most sceptical, if not infidel, of all professedly Christian nations, and the present hotbet* of sedition and assassination, which are but other names for Socialism, is easily traceable to it's want of faith, and total disregard of the laws of God. It is far easier to raise a stoi-m than to allay one ; and the Man of Blood finds to his bitter, cost that haying "sown with ilie .. winrf-Jie 1 is now reaping with the wbirlwindy History repeats itself, and the horrors conjured up by the infidel rofors of France during the Reign of Terror may again find a theatre upon the once happy face of Vaterland, ending as then with the destruction of its originators, and involving all in one common, ruin. Unfortunately, however, the evil is not confined to Germany, the territory of the Czar being likewise cursed with those secret organisations, which leave neither life nor libei'ty, soul nor body, in, safety. So long ago as the yeai' 1875 the work of the Nihilists had been known io be steadily undermining society in Russia, and their secret machinations and operations were a source of con side I'able anxiety .to the Government^ To such an-ex.tent did the/alarta prevail that the Minister of Education thought icneoessary to address a circular to his subordinates, warning them that these people were attempting to " seduce the minds of children," -''ybufffc and uneduoated persons, and that some parents, as has been shown by a judicial inquiry, bare inculcated such doctrines on their offspring.". An indigestible mas* of Buckle, Spekoeh, and Miw, has been poured info minds unrestrained by any previous culture, and the revelations of the prophets of Pasitiveigm are received as Gospel in some middle-class, Russian families. It is a most significant fact that in those countries where infidelity 1 and . scepticism predominate, there Socialism, .Nihilism, and all the other organisations whose aims are only against the peace of the State, flourish ; while in Great Britain, as yet happily ir'et from the social cancers encouraged on the Continent, liberty is sacred, and Bfe secure. /