Centennial Expressions on Peter Kropotkin 1842-1942.

WHAT KROPOTKIN MEANS TO ME
By Walter E. Holloway, Author:
"The Rubiyat of Today"
It is a pleasant thing to do to pay tribute
to the memory of a man whose life has had a
powerful influence upon our own lives and to
whom we owe a debt of gratitude for a clearer
understanding of the world and of men and
their ways than we could otherwise have hatd.
Hence these few words of mine about Kropotkin.
The real significance of a man is to he
found, I am sure, in his life-his activities,
his accomplishments, what he did or tried
earnestly to do-and the key to the understanding of a man's activities is to be found
in his beliefs, his fundamental convictions. To
be sure, the pattern of no man's life is consistently simple or all of one piece any more
than is the pattern of history, the life-story of
the human race, but the main outlines of
Kropotkin's thoughts and purposes are remarkably clear in his life and in his writings.
We radicals and libertarians are too prone, I
fear, to lay emphasis upon our differences of
opinion rather than upon our agreements. Tliis
springs naturally from our very earnestness
of purpose and we would do well to remlember
that we ourselves may be wrong, and that inI
any event we all learn by mutual exchange of
opinion and that out of conflicting opinions
comes enlightened understanding. We ma'y not
always have agreed with Kropotkin's ideas but
none of us, I am sure, can fail to appreciate
the engaging simplicity of his character and
the stea(Ifast singleness of purpose of his long
and useful life. We do well to remember him
with affection and gratitude on this hundredth
anniversary of his birth.
What then were the fundamiental convictions of Kropotkin What were the deep motivations of his activities What made him live
as he did, write what he wrote, and strive
thro-rughout his whole life to accomplish what,
in his early muanhood, he coniceived would
benefit his fellowmen Surely, here we have
an opportunity to discover the real man--tlhe
great and goodl man who left an indelible
mark upon the minds and hearts of his own
time and whose influence will extend into the
limitless future. Kropotkin believed in the
people, the commnon people who had been disinherited and despoiled all through the ages.
He loved them. He had confidence in their
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potential capacity to learn and in their courage
to act upon this knowledge. He really believed
they would in time establish a society upon
earth in which mankind might live comfortably and happily together. To some of us his
confidence may seem too naive, too ingenuous,
in the light of the astounding stupidity and
subserviousness of mankind, but it is none the
less beautiful, and we may still hope that it
will yet be ijstified. Kropotkin was a real
democrat. He believed in the intelligence and
courage of the common people. We see the
same pattern of mentality and sympathy as in
Jefferson and Lincoln. It is this identity of
mind and heart that makes these great men
brothers and will associate them in the minds
of men as long as liberty is loved and justice
respected.
Understanding this we can see why Kropotkin early in life cast aside the privileges of his
princely station to devote himself to the education and emancipation of the commono
people.
To hiim the R Evor'TO)N was not
merely a revolt against tyranny, a studden passionate upheaval that would sweep away the