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BAKUNIN  THE  APOSTLE  OF  NIHILISM.
(3)  Substitution,  for  the  existing  State,  of  a  social  organism  based  on
the  most  absolute  autonomy  of  groups  and  of  federal  communes, ­
  with  a  view  to  the  organization  of  the  public  services,
the  thorough  cultivation  of  the  land,  the  beautifying  of  the
globe,  and  the  happiness  of  all  ;
(4)  Civil,  political,  and  economical  equality  of  all  human  beings,  without ­
  distinction  of  sex,  colour,  race,  or  nationality  ;
(5)  Guarantee  of  individual  independence  by  enabling  each  producer
to  possess  the  surplus  value  obtained  by  his  labour  on  the
raw  material  worked  up  by  him  ;
(6)  The  assurance  that  each  member  of  society  shall  receive,  at  the
collective  cost,  both  a  general  and  a  professional  education
on  a  level  with  the  sum  of  the  knowledge  of  his  times.
In  the  programme  of  the  “  Federation  of  the  Marches  and
of  Umbria”  may  be  found  an  indication  of  the  object  aimed  at
by  the  Anarchists  :—
“  Seeing  that  the  emancipation  of  the  labourer  ought  to  be
the  work  of  the  labourer  himself  :  that,  inasmuch  as  he  does
not  wish  to  be  led  by  any  superior  authority,  the  labourer  is
essentially  anti-authoritarian  and  anarchic;  that  the  emancipation ­
  of  the  labourer  has  for  aim  equality  of  rights  and  duties
and  the  abolition  of  classes;  that  this  emancipation  is  impossible ­
  with  the  existing  organization  of  the  State  and  of  property  ;
that  the  destruction  of  the  State,  in  all  its  forms,  is  the  grand
aim  of  the  social  revolution,  which  strives  to  transform  society
on  the  basis  of  anarchy  and  collectivism  .  .  .  ’’—Except
for  the  idea  of  pan-destruction  the  rest  is  very  vague.  An
anarchist,  Costa,  explains  the  matter  in  a  letter  to  the  Egalité
of  Paris  (1878)  :  “As  to  doctrines,  we  may  say  that  we  have
few  of  them.  We  are  anarchists,  that  is  all.  We  wish  that
every  one  should  have  the  opportunity  of  making  known  his
wants  and  the  means  of  satisfying  them  ;  in  a  word,  that  every
one  should  be  able  to  do  as  he  likes.'’  Nothing,  in  truth,  is  more
desirable  than  this  universal  liberty;  but  how  to  realize  it?
Destroy  everything—that  is  the  sole  practical  plan  suggested.
These  extracts  suffice  to  show  that  the  programme  of
militant  Socialism  in  Italy  is,  at  bottom,  no  other  than  that
of  Bakunin.  The  same  is  the  case  in  Spain.
The  history  of  the  International  in  Spain  is  as  tragic  as  it
is  instructive.  Although  there  are  few  working  men  engaged