The mother of abominations

This is a rather obscure pamphlet.

In 1901, an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz assassinated the US president William McKinley. Later the same year, socialist spokesman Daniel De Leon organized a meeting about the assassination, explaining the differences between his brand of socialism and anarchism. At the time, De Leon was the de facto leader of the Socialist Labor Party (SLP).

The pamphlet "Socialism and anarchism" contains the text of De Leon's speech and the debate that followed. Unfortunately, it's not terribly interesting. De Leon never really engages the ideas of his anarchist opponents. Essentially, he just claims that anarchists still hold an ancient conception of government as something standing outside and above society, which leads them to think that political attentats can change the course of history, while in reality the modern world can only be changed by the organized labour movement. This analysis may hold for some anarchists, but hardly for all. In 1901, most anarchists had given up terrorism and instead supported...well, the labour movement (anarcho-syndicalism).

A large part of De Leon's speech isn't even relevant to the subject at hand. He attacks "Kangaroo Social Democracy", his label for a dissident faction which had left the SLP. Several "kangaroos" were present at the meeting, and their exchanges with the speaker aren't particularly illuminating either. De Leon also touches on the Protestant reformation, the character of Judaism, etc.

More disturbingly, De Leon makes a number of pretty weird claims, including the idea that all anarchist assassins were really Catholics, educated by the Roman Catholic hierarchy or the Jesuits!

As an appendix, "Socialism versus anarchism" contains a rambling and bizarre piece by Paul Lafargue (Marx' son in law), in which he claims that the anarchists and the police often co-operate, and that anarchists are inspired by Catholicism. Presumably, this is where De Leon got his idea from. De Leon had a special animus against the Catholic Church, and often singled it out for special treatment. De Leon's use of Judith and Holophernes as an example of the ancient attitude to government also comes from Lafargue, who mentions the exact same episode (found in Catholic Bibles).

To sum up, "Socialism and anarchism" is uninteresting as an explanation of the differences between regular socialism and anarchism, although it may be a fun read for those who like strange and obscure pamphlets...