LIBERTY'S Connection to Other Publications

An excerpt from The Debates of Liberty.  Please cite as unpublished manuscript.

by Wendy McElroy


INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS

In September 1901, President McKinley was assassinated by a self-proclaimed anarchist named Leon Czolgosz. In 1903, a law was passed by the United States Congress forbidding anarchists entry into the country. Before this backlash, however, it had been relatively easy to cross the Atlantic, and American Anarchism -- along with other native radical movements -- were enriched by international influences. The cosmopolitan Tucker acknowledged no intellectual boundaries and tolerated no political ones; national boundaries were simply the physical manifestation of government, an institution he adamantly rejected. Tucker's stress on internationalism was apparent from the first page of the first issue of Liberty on which, under the column "About Progressive People" he reported news of foreign notables such as Percy Shelley whose son had just died, Patrick Egan who had just purchased the "Dublin Irishman", and Lord Kimberley who had been converted to the cause of Land Reform. Here, and in subsequent issues, Tucker made particular comment on foreign periodicals. He noted that "The first number of a weekly journal called 'Victor-Hugo' recently appeared in Paris."(1)

Tucker's embrace of international anarchism was also reflected in the many articles Liberty reprinted from foreign journals and in the correspondents who reported on the progress of liberty in their native countries. These correspondents included David Andrade (Australia), Vilfredo Pareto (Italy) and Wordsworth Donisthorpe (England), founder of the Liberty and Property Defense League.

Distinctly foreign events and concerns, such as the plight of Russian nihilists or of Irish tenants, often received more attention from Liberty than American ones. Tucker was outraged by the imprisonment of the Italian Cipriani, the trial of French Louise Michel, and the plight of Russian refugees in Paris.

But he did not merely act as a vehicle for foreign radical news; he attempted to establish individualist-anarchism as a movement with international influence. For example, Tucker published Libertas (1888), a German-language version of Liberty, which was edited by George and Emma Schumm. "This will be the only thoroughly Anarchistic German journal ever published in the world..." Tucker wrote by way of announcing Libertas. "The paper will be of the same shape and size as the English Liberty, and the two will alternate in the order of publication -- the English appearing one week and the German the next."(2) In fact, Libertas was short-lived.

British Individualists

In terms of contributing articles and engaging in debate, the British individualists were the most active foreign presence in the pages of Liberty.(3) British periodicals, such as Commonweal (1885-1892) -- the monthly publication of the Socialist League -- were also followed closely by both Tucker and Yarros. Some British publications actively allied with American individualists such as Lillian Harman who lectured at its behest.(4)

The British Individualists differed from most of Liberty's other contributors in several ways. For the most part, they advocated limited government and, like their mentor Herbert Spencer, they shied away from anarchism. The labor theory of value, so integral to Liberty's philosophy, was not widely accepted among the British Individualists.

One of Liberty's lengthiest and most intriguing debates pitted the American Hugo Bilgram against the British J. Greevz Fisher on the justice of interest. Another major debate that involved Fisher was children's rights, and it pointed up a third difference between the two groups. This exchange was, at bottom, egoism versus natural rights. The egoists claimed that rights derived from contract and, thus, were unhappily led to conclude that young children had no rights because they were unable to contract. The British, however, had not participated in the earlier egoism debate in Liberty and they took a straight natural rights stand. That is, children had all the rights that any human being could claim.

Auberon Herbert's Free Life (1890-1901), quoted nineteen times in Liberty, was perhaps the most prominent British individualist periodical to appear in its pages. Free Life's prospectus read: "We shall oppose all hereditary privilege, all religious establishments, all artificial regulations tending to monopoly in land; and we shall equally oppose all attacks upon property of every kind . . ."(5) Of Free Life, Tucker wrote: "In a letter to me, written when he [Herbert] was contemplating the establishment of The Free Life, Mr. Herbert proposed that, in case of any friendly discussion between his journal and mine, each should reprint all that the other might say. Mr. Herbert will observe that I have been prompt to act upon his suggestion, and I have no doubt that he will reciprocate..."(6) The specific topic of "friendly discussion" anarchism.

Wordsworth Donisthorpe, the British correspondent of Liberty and its most frequent British contributor, edited Jus: A Weekly Organ of Individualism (1885-1888). Jus originated to give voice to the Liberty and Property Defense League; it ceased when Donisthorpe resigned from the League in protest over its marked tendency to defend privilege rather than liberty. On the demise of Jus, Tucker wrote: "There are no more than two papers on Liberty's exchange list which the cause of Liberty could not have better spared...it is comforting to think that, as this good ship went down...it nailed to its mast-head colors more unmistakable than ever, and thus made its death more glorious than its life."(7) The "colors" referred to Donisthorpe's explicit embrace of anarchism in Jus' final issue. Donisthorpe's association with Tucker undoubtedly moved him in that direction.

Another sympathetic British periodical was the Personal Rights Journal, the organ of the English National Association for the Defense of Personal Rights, which was edited by J.H. Levy for over 30 years. Much of Liberty's discussion of the Personal Rights Journal revolved around that publication's defense of government. "On the whole," Liberty co-editor Victor Yarros observed, "we find plenty of evidence that these are times that try English Individualists' souls. That the most thoughtful of them will finally frankly accept the anarchist position is a foregone conclusion. Let us watch them now."(8) Unfortunately, one of the things Yarros watched the Personal Rights Journal subsequently do was to review unfavorably his pamphlet "Anarchism: Its Aims and Methods"; the Personal Rights Journal remained an adherent of limited government.

Albert Tarn's The Herald of Anarchy (1890-1892), a London monthly, was an exception to the British Individualists' rejection of anarchism. In advertisement in Liberty, The Herald of Anarchy declared that it "seeks to destroy the authority and prestige of national government as well as to combat all other forms of tyranny; advocates free access to land, the abolition of national monetary laws and restrictions on credit, free contract and free love."(9) The debate between Tarn and Herbert on anarchism was followed carefully by Liberty.

Henry Seymour was another of the English anarchists, a founder of the neo-Proudhonian English Anarchist Circle, and an admirer of Tucker. In his periodical, The Anarchist (1885-1888), a four-page monthly beginning in March 18852, he published George Bernard Shaw and Henry Appleton, both of whom contributed to Liberty. "It is gratifying," Tucker wrote of The Anarchist, "to observe that it is to wage uncompromising war on lines precisely parallel to those of Liberty."(10) Later, however, Tucker indicated that The Anarchist was leaning toward communist anarchism. Seymour disputed the charge, writing, "Liberty says I have abandoned liberty in embracing Communism. This is untrue. I have embraced Communistic-Anarchism, but by no means Communism. I am Anarchist at least as entirely as ever. I simply embrace voluntary Communism on ethical and economical grounds."(11)

After this periodical, Seymour edited the London The Revolutionary Review (1889), a monthly which lasted less than a year.(12)

The Eagle and the Serpent, a bimonthly from London (1898-1902), was an exception to the British insistence upon natural rights as the basis for individualism. Edited by John Basil Barnhill under the pseudonym of Erwin McCall, this periodical presented the egoist ideas of Stirner, Nietzsche, and Ibsen, deriving its title from a passage from Nietzsche -- "The proudest animal under the sun [the Eagle] and the wisest animal under the sun [the Serpent] have set out to reconnoiter."(13) Welcomed by Liberty, The Eagle and the Serpent was the London agent for Georgia and Henry Replogle's American periodical Egoism.

John Morley's Pall Mall Gazette from London was among those British periodicals that received lukewarm attention from Tucker. He considered the Pall Mall Gazette to be "a moderately liberal journal, but prone to eschew that intensity of utterance to which men engaged in vigorous battle for great ideas generally give vent."(14)

The London monthly Freedom (1886-1927) received initial attention from Liberty, probably because its editor Pierre Kropotkin was a man whom Tucker admired.(15) The prospectus of the individualistic The Whirlwind (1890), edited by Herbert Vivian and Stuart Erskine, was reprinted in Liberty under the heading "Welcome the Whirlwind"; it read: "In politics we shall be individualists, instantly protesting against the encroaching tyranny of our grandmother, the state . . ."(16) Although it was generally well received, Yarros criticized The Whirlwind's anti-semitism.(17)

Liberty also maintained ties with British freethought and free love groups. It reprinted articles from G.W Foote's Freethinker and reported the activities of Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant. George Bedborough's free love periodical, The Adult: A Journal for the Advancement of freedom in Sexual Relationships, received some mention as the organ of the Legitimation League. Liberty, however, had little enthusiasm for this League, critically reviewing a pamphlet entitled "Legitimacy" by J. Greevz Fisher, a vice president of the League. The Adult and the Legitimation League were more closely associated with the free love interests of Lucifer, the Light Bearer and Moses Harman.(18)

French Periodicals

Given the immense influence of Proudhon upon Tucker, Liberty naturally felt strong ties to radical movements in France. These ties manifested themselves in two ways: translations and reprints. Tucker, along with several of Liberty's associates, was a bilingual Francophile and translated many works from French to English.

Some were reprinted within Liberty itself; others were offered for sale independently, and were advertised within Liberty.(19) The shorter translated pieces were generally articles rendered directly from French periodicals. "The State: Its Nature, Object and Destiny" by Proudhon, for example, was translated by Tucker directly from Proudhon's popular periodical La Voix du Peuple, which followed on the heels of the suppression of Le Peuple. One of Tucker's greatest expressions of pleasure came as the result of a particular gift he received from John Henry Mackay. Tucker exclaimed:

"Through the thoughtful kindness of my friend, John Henry Mackay, of Germany, I experienced a few days ago one of the pleasantest surprises of my life. For many years it has been my wish to obtain possession of a file of the newspapers which Proudhon edited in Paris during the years 1848, 1849, and 1850. Mackay has gratified this desire ... I now have on my desk a complete file of 'Le Peuple', and a file of 'Le Representant du Peuple,' which lacks only the half-dozen numbers that the French government confiscated."(20)

The periodical from which articles were most frequently translated and reprinted in Liberty was Henri Rochefort's L'Intransigeant. Next in importance was George Clemenceau's L'Aurore.

Le Revolte (subsequently La Revolte) edited by Pierre Kropotkin received praise from Tucker as "our ardent and admirable contemporary."(21) Tucker was especially pleased by Le Revolte's condemnation of those American socialists who refused to protest laws against Chinese immigration into America. Le Temps and L'Audace were also quoted briefly.(22)

Australian Periodicals

David Andrade, Liberty's Australian correspondent, contributed several excellent articles on the progress of radical individualism in Australia. Part of this progress was Andrade's Honesty (1887-1889), an anarchist periodical from Melbourne. This twelve-page monthly was published by the Cooperative Publishing Company at 85 cents per year. Liberty was its role model; Honesty's advertisement proclaimed: "It is sufficient description of Honesty's principles to say that they are substantially the same as those championed by Liberty in America."(23) Honesty listed Tucker's name and address for subscriptions.

W.R. Winspear's Australian Radical from Hamilton was also associated with Liberty. According to Tucker, the Australian Radical changed its format in 1888 from state socialism to anarchism. This weekly reprinted articles from Liberty.

Other Foreign Connections

Although the German egoist Max Stirner had immense impact upon Liberty, Tucker did not follow German periodicals with the same interest as British or French ones. Tucker's inability to read German fluently may have accounted for this oversight. Much of his knowledge of Stirner and other matters requiring translation came from the George Schumm who was bilingual in German. Adolf Brand's Der Eigene and Johann Otten's Zeitschrift fur den Individualistischen Anarchismus were commented upon by Tucker. German-American papers monitored by Liberty included: Heinzen's Pionier, Reitzel's Arme Teufel, Der Wecker, and Der Freidenker.

Although Tucker exhibited great interest in Russian nihilism and in the assassination of the Czar (1881) in particular, few Russian periodicals were mentioned in Liberty.(24) Victor Yarros who had fled Russia to avoid arrest was probably the only associate of Liberty with enough background in that language and culture to appreciate and translate the various periodicals. There is, however, no evidence that he did so. Liberty did, nevertheless, follow the career of the Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoi.

It is difficult to assess Liberty's connection with Spanish periodicals. Revista Social and La Revolucion Social were mentioned briefly, and Liberty contributor Stephen Byington -- considered one of the three or four brightest Tuckerites -- engaged in debate over individualist-anarchism with the editor of A Vida. A Vida had printed a Spanish translation of an article that Byington had submitted to Tucker.(25) A Vida's source for the article was a French paper which had translated Byington's piece directly from Liberty.

How many foreign periodicals (re)translated and reprinted Liberty is a matter of speculation. The extent may be judged by sampling a representative "On Picket Duty" column with which Tucker generally introduced each issue of Liberty. "On Picket Duty" for May 12, 1888 included the following observations:

"G. Bernard Shaw describes Liberty as 'a lively paper, in which the usual propositions of a halfpennyworth of discussion to an intolerable deal of balderdash are reversed...'

"I print the extract from Henry Courtney [extracted from Our Corner] chiefly because it aptly puts the case for the Egoists...

"In Mrs. Annie Besant's magazine, "Our Corner," G. Bernard Shaw has published the first of a series of two articles in reply to my paper on 'State Socialism and Anarchism.' After the buffoonery of the "Workmen's Advocate" and the superficiality of "Der Sozialist," it is pleasant to be critiqued by a man of brains and wit... From the fact that so much space is devoted in her magazine to an examination of my arguments, I infer that Ms. Besant, who but a year ago 'could support Mr. Benjamin Tucker's strictures with perfect equanimity,' has discovered that equanimity alone is scarcely adequate to the task.(26)

"The London 'Anarchist' and the Chicago 'Alarm' have suspended publication. The former will appear again on July 1; the fate of the latter is uncertain...[A review of Alarm's significance followed]

"Will Hubbard-Kernan, the eccentric editor of the prairies, in connection with S.F. Wilson, George Frances Train's lecture agent, has come to the surface with another journal, 'The Free-Lance'..."[A review of The Free-Lance and subscription information followed]

CONNECTIONS WITH DOMESTIC PERIODICALS

The complicated network of connections between Liberty and contemporary radical periodicals published within the United States would require a book-length treatment and be redundant with material within the book of this book. Thus, the following discussion provides merely a taste of some of the more important periodicals that associated with Liberty.

One category could be called Spencerian periodicals: that is, publications that generally furthered the philosophy of the English classical liberal Herbert Spencer. These periodicals are significant because they maintained the natural rights focus within the individualist tradition while Liberty drifted toward egoism. Yarros was virtually the only Spencerian to remain with Liberty after the egoism debate: indeed, during a brief three-year period, he too converted to egoism.(27) Yarros defended the radical Spencerian tradition exemplified Spencer's most politically extreme work "The Right to Ignore the State," a chapter in his book "Social Statics."

In advancing the most radical interpretation of Spencer's position -- that is, anarchism -- Yarros incurred the displeasure of more conservative individualist papers that considered themselves the true Spencerians. The Denver Individualist, formerly the Arbitrator, (1889-1890) attacked Liberty on this point: its editor, Frank Stuart openly challenged Tucker on anarchism. The Spencerian Today (formerly Waterman's Journal), edited by J. Morrison-Fuller, called upon Liberty to produce evidence supporting anarchism. On this exchange, the more Yarros commented: "Today occupies considerable space with an attempt to answer a recent Liberty paragraph."(28)

Liberty reciprocated by reprinting and commenting upon such periodicals. E.L. Youmans' Popular Science Monthly was the most prominent vehicle of Spencerian thought in America. Tucker reprinted several articles from its pages.

Predictably, Liberty influenced contemporary individualist periodicals, many of which have been discussed in the preceeding text of this book. E.H. Fulton, editor of The Age of Thought, The Ego, and The Egoist, was a Tuckerite who published several individualist-anarchist periodicals: The Alturian (1895); The 1776 American (1920); The New Order (1919), which listed Stephen T. Byington(29) as a contributing editor; and The Mutualist (1925-1928), to which C.L. Swartz contributed. George and Emma Schumm borrowed the title of Tucker's first periodical, the Radical Review, publishing a short-lived version of their own from Chicago. Radical Review was advertised in Liberty, as was the individualistic The Whim.

Published in 1901, The Whim fell under the editorship of E.H. Crosby in February 1902. The advertisement in Liberty described its orientation: "The Whim is an independent, anti-military, anti-government journal, claiming relationship to Thoreau and Tolstoy, but owning no master."(30)

Georgia and Henry Replogle's Equity (1886-1887), was a fortnightly journal from the experimental town of Liberal, Missouri, which had been founded by freethinkers to demonstrate the virtues of churchlessness. Equity stated its purpose to be the "emancipation from sex, wage, monopolistic and custom slavery, and state superstition." Tucker described it as "a tiny sheet, but a brave one."(31) Apparently, the tiny sheet was too brave. A mob forced the Replogles to leave town.

Another individualist paper, The Twentieth Century elicited mixed reviews from Tucker. Under the editorship of Hugh Pentecost and T.L. M'Cready (associate editor), the Twentieth Century became more and more radically individualistic. The advertisement in Liberty stated: "This Journal advocates Personal Sovereignty in place of State Sovereignty, Voluntary Co-operation as opposed to Compulsory Co-operation."(32) Although Tucker's opinion of M'Cready was high, he grew increasingly critical of Pentecost, eventually questioning his integrity. Pentecost responded in kind, aiming subtle insults at Liberty in the pages of the Twentieth Century. Tucker reported one such incident: "This meant, I could not help perceiving, a condemnation of the personnel of Liberty's office. We are fighters, and therefore savages, according to Mr. Pentecost, and this fact stands to our dishonor."(33)

Tucker also had a mixed response to the Alarm. His ambiguity revolved about questions about the proper use of force. Founded by Albert R. Parsons, one of the Haymarket martyrs, the paper's editorship was assumed by Dyer D. Lum (1887) upon Parsons' arrest and subsequent execution. Lum was on cordial terms with Liberty, having contributed a series entitled "Eighteen Christian Centuries: or, the Evolution of the Gospel of Anarchy," but he became severely critical of Tucker's stand on the Haymarket incident. Tucker refused to make martyrs out of men who espoused or used violence as a strategy for reform. Nevertheless, he roundly condemned the State for arresting and executing the Haymarket radicals. Indeed, Tucker's pamphlet "Henry George, Traitor" was written to prove that George, "the leader of the Single Taxers was a hypocrite and coward in his sanctioning of the hanging of the Chicago Communists."(34)

Another periodical which became more individualistic by virtue of a change in editors, was the American Idea. When C.M. Overton left the paper, M.D. Leahy, (a head of the Freethought University in Liberal, Missouri) and W.S. Allison assumed the editorship. In Tucker's words, it became "a stanch and straight advocate of Anarchism," which he requested subscribers to "encourage ...by generous subscription to his paper."(35)

Many contributors to Liberty were involved in individualist publishing efforts of their own. Clara Dixon Davidson, whose brilliant article on children's rights illuminated that debate within Liberty, published the Enfant Terrible (1891) from San Francisco. The Progressive Age was edited by Voltairine de Cleyre from Grand Rapids, Michigan. C.L. Swartz, and later J.W Lloyd, edited The Free Comrade (1900-1902, 1910-1912). The Galveston Daily News achieved prominence in Liberty through the work of its chief editorial writer, James L. Walker, whose articles Tucker frequently reprinted. For a short time, the Chicago Evening Post was co-edited by Victor Yarros, who became an associate editor of Liberty. An unusually high percentage of those who contributed to Liberty were professional journalists or experienced "amateurs" who, true to the definition of that word, pursued publishing for the love of it.

LIBERTY AND LITERATURE

Politics and social theory may have been the focus of Liberty, but Tucker was also keenly aware of the impact and importance of culture on societal attitudes. The ensuing description provides only a flavor of Tucker's contribution to literary awareness within the American individualist tradition.

Literature was a prominent aspect of Liberty's emphasis on internationalism. Tucker kept current on the state of art and letters in France, England, and America. When Max Nordau published his anti-modernist work "Degeneration" (Entartung), Tucker was discerning enough to solicit a critique from the one man best able to handle it -- George Bernard Shaw. Shaw's essay, entitled "A Degenerate's View of Nordau," was one of the first articles by the British literary giant to appear in America. Indeed, Tucker introduced Shaw to America and later declared, "Bernard Shaw highly appreciates the fact that I was the first person to print his name in America (way back in 1885). He was hardly known in England then."(36)

The literary works Liberty translated and published were: Claude Tillier's "My Uncle Benjamin", Zola's "Money", Octave Mirabeau's "A Chambermaid's Diary", Felix Pyat's "The Rag Picker of Paris", and Sophie Kropotkin's "The Wife of Number 4,2375" -- an account of her experience with her husband Pierre Kropotkin at Clairvaux prison.(37)

This fascination with cosmopolitan literature lead Tucker to publish The Transatlantic (1889-1890), a biweekly literary magazine. The advertisement for this publication in Liberty promised: "Every number has a complete translated novelette, a piece of European Music, a Portrait of a Foreign Celebrity and part of a translated European Serial." The Transatlantic was said to consist of the "cream of the European press translated into English. Not only from foreign periodicals, but from books as well."(38)

Predictably, much of the literature which interested Tucker had political implications. When Oscar Wilde's plea for penal reform "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" was widely criticized, for example, Tucker enthusiastically endorsed the poem, urging all of his subscribers to read it. Tucker, in fact, published an American edition.(39) From its early championing of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" (40) to a series of short stories by Francis du Bosque in its last issues, Liberty was a vehicle for controversial and avante garde literature.

ENDNOTES

(1) Liberty I (August 6, 1881): 1.

(2) Liberty V (December 31, 1887): 4.

(3) In his book "Freedom and Authority," William R. McKercher touches one reason for the high level of debate within English political circles during Liberty's tenure. McKercher comments on some of the brilliant radicals who fled to England to escape persecution in their own land. "Kropotkin had come to London as an exile in 1885...Errico Malatesta, an Italian...and Rudolph Rocker, a German emigre, arrived in the city at the age of twenty-one..."[p.153] Chapter Three of McKercher's book, entitled "Libertarian Propaganda and Personalities in England", provides an excellent overview.

In Anarchist Portraits, Paul Avrich remarks upon how many of the contributors to Liberty -- quite apart from those representing British Individualism -- were either British or had been born in Britain. In this list, he includes: William Bailie, James L. Walker, Henry Bool, Miriam Daniell, Helena Born, William A. Whittick, Alfred B. Westrup, and A.H. Simpson.

(4) Harman lectured for The Adult (1892-1998) -- an outgrowth of the free love organization, the Legitimation League.

(5) Liberty VI (March 8, 1890): 2. This is the prospectus as it appeared in Liberty.

(6) Liberty VII (July 12, 1890): 5.

(7) Liberty V (March 14, 1888): 7. This appeared almost as a fulfillment of a prophecy by Yarros -- "Mr. Donisthorpe cannot be long in reaching anarchy."

(8) Liberty VII (July 26, 1890): 5.

(9) The first advertisement appeared in Liberty VII (November 29, 1890): 7.

(10) Liberty III (April 11, 1885): 1. Foote, editor of The Freethinker, however, did not share Tucker's salutary opinion of The Anarchist, which he described as 'an affliction'. (The Anarchist, June 1885.) The Anarchist later (January 1, 1886) became a fortnightly -- at least for two months, after which it returned to its monthly format until 1887.

(11) The Anarchist, June 1, 1886. Despite Tucker's published statements of good will toward Seymour's periodical, Seymour behaved rather boorishly toward Tucker's and his concerns in an article entitled "An Arrogant Sophist" The Anarchist, August 1886. A few months later, however, Seymour seemed to revert more to individualism, running articles from Donisthorpe.

(12) The phrase 'The Revolutionary Review' was the subtitle of Seymour's The Anarchist until April 1887 when the subtitle was changed to 'Communist and Revolutionary'.

(13) This was the motto of the periodical, appearing on its masthead. It did not change when the subtitle went from "A Journal of Egoistic Philosophy and Sociology" to "A Journal of Emersonian Philosophy and Sociology" (July, 1900) to "A Journal of Wit, Wisdom and Wickedness' (October, 1900) and finally to "A Journal for Free Spirits and for Spirits Struggling to be Free" (March, 1901).

(14) Liberty II (January 20, 1883): 1.

(15) Although Tucker's philosophy differed markedly from Kropotkin's own, Tucker considered him to be one of the foremost anarchists in Europe and his periodical Le Revolte to be the most scholarly of all anarchist journals. Tucker translated Kropotkin's "Order and Anarchy" and "Law and Authority", both of which appeared in Liberty.

Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist-Socialism was established under the editorship of Kropotkin and Charlotte M. Wilson, an anarchist and early member of the Fabian Society. Its subtitle changed to "A Jounral of Anarchist-Communism" in 1889.

(16) Liberty VII (June 28, 1890): 3.

(17) Liberty VII (September 13, 1890): 6-7. The controversy revolved around The Whirlwind's statement that "the proper way to deal with Jews is a rigorous boycott." Yarros was outraged, claiming that "intelligent individuals will certainly dissent."

(18) For an overview of the British influence upon Liberty, see "The English Individualists As They Appear in Liberty" by Carl Watner in "Benjamin R. Tucker & The Champions of Liberty: A Centenary Anthology," p.191-211.

(19) At 225 Fourth Avenue, New York, Tucker had a large, radical bookstore. See Liberty XV (June, 1906): 9-10, and (August, 1906): 1-2 for an account of the establishment.

(20) Liberty VIII (July 11, 1891): 1. In later life, Tucker condemned Mackay due to the latter's unusual lifestyle.

(21) Liberty II (June 9, 1883): 1.

(22) Le Revolte wrote: "And not a single socialist was found in San Francisco to say to these people that they cannot prohibit the admission to America of these poor wretches." Quoted in Liberty I (May 13, 1882): 1.

(23) The first advertisement appeared in Liberty IV (June 18, 1887): 1.

(24) Liberty's 'oversight' is surprising. The Jewish anarchist community was a strong radical element in America, many of whom had immigrated from Russia. Two of the English language papers that seemed to be favored by the Jewish anarchists were Liberty and Dyer Lum's The Alarm.

(25) Liberty XV (August, 1906): 24-34.

(26) "State Socialism and Anarchism" was published in Liberty and advertised as a pamphlet for sale in its pages thereafter. The exchange between Tucker and George Bernard Shaw was examined in detail in Shoshana Edwards' "The Worthy Adversaries: Benjamin R. Tucker & G. Bernard Shaw" in Benjamin R. Tucker and the Champions of Liberty, p.92-100.

(27) In the 1920s, Yarros wrote an article in which he repudiated anarchism itself, along with his past connections with Liberty. The article caused a bitter rift between Tucker and his former associate editor.

(28) Liberty VII (July 12, 1890): 4.

(29) Byington's first name sometimes appears in secondary sources -- such as the Editor's Preface to the 1972 edition of Eltzbacher's "Anarchism" -- as Steven rather than Stephen.

(30) Liberty XIV (December, 1903): 7.

(31) Liberty IV (July 17, 1886): 4.

(32) Liberty VI (December 28, 1889): 8. In 1892. Pentecost's editorship ceased and the periodical leaned toward state socialism.

(33) Liberty VII (July 26, 1890): 1. M'Cready (a pseudonym for

G.O. Warren) died in 1890, mourned by Tucker with the words, "Liberty learns with profound sorrow the fact of the sudden death of T.L. M'Cready." Liberty VII (June 28, 1890): 1.

(34) Liberty XIII (May, 1897): 8.

(35) Liberty V (March 31, 1888): 1.

(36) Joseph Ishill (ed.) Free Vistas, II (Berkley Heights, N.J.: Oriole Press, 1937) p.278.

(37) For publication data on these and other works translated or reprinted by Liberty, see Appendix II.

(38) The Transatlantic, subtitled A Mirror of European Life and Letters, was first advertised in Liberty VI (October 5, 1889): 8, as being issued on the 1st and 15th of the month. Herbert Gutman, in the introduction to the Greenwood reprint of Liberty mentions another literary periodical, Five Stories A Week.

(39) Tucker published both a cloth and paper edition of this 600-plus page poem, which was first advertised in Liberty XIII (May, 1899), 8.

(40) First advertised in Liberty I (July 22, 1882), 4, Tucker appended a challenge to various officials responsible for the suppression of "Leaves of Grass." He advised them of his intention to sell the work and offered to deliver a copy of it to them at their place of choice to be used in evidence against him. There were no takers.