The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Introduction.
• Taxation and Anarchism.
• I.—: By Auberon Herbert.
• II.—: By J. H. Levy.
• III.—: By Auberon Herbert.
• IV.—: By J. H. Levy.
• V.—: By Auberon Herbert.
• VI.—: By J. H. Levy.
• VII.—: By Auberon Herbert.
• VIII.—: By J. H. Levy.
• IX.—: By Auberon Herbert.
• X.—: By J. H. Levy.
• XI.—: By Auberon Herbert.
• XII.—: By J. H. Levy.
• Appendix. By J. H. Levy.
• Political Terminology.
• The Personal Rights Association.

XI.—

By AUBERON HERBERT.

I think, with Mr. Levy, that our controversy should now close, and I accept the offer, which he is good enough to make me, of the last word, for the purpose of alluding to two points, which seem to want a finishing touch.

(1).How is the amount of punishment for crime to be determined?—I don’t think, on this point, there is much difference between us. I am quite ready to admit that his view, that punishment should be adjusted so as to deter from crime, is an important factor, not to be neglected, in solving the problem of punishment. At the same time, I would point out it could not determine the matter of itself. If it did, we might find ourselves applying the severest punishments to the most trifling offences, and the moral sense of the community might be constantly shocked by there being no relation between the cruelty or wickedness of the offence and the punishment awarded. If our object were simply to deter, it might be a question with many persons, whether petty larceny should not be punished more heavily than murder—men being certainly more prone to the former than to the latter. I do not myself hold that opinion. I suspect that, in truth, the two principles coincide—that the punishment which is as truly proportioned to the offence as, with our imperfect knowledge, we can proportion it, is the punishment which will exert the most deterring effect. The whole matter, however, is complicated and difficult; as I should at once be asked if the punishment is to be adjusted to the amount of malice involved or the amount of injury received.

(2).The dividing line between Archism and Anarchism.—Here the difference between Mr. Levy and myself is that we place the dividing line at different positions. I prolong Individualism outside and beyond his boundary line. We agree that there must be a central agency to deal with crime—an agency that defends the liberty of all men, and employs force against the users of force; but my central agency rests upon voluntary support, whilst Mr. Levy’s central agency rests upon compulsory support. The question between us is: Are the principles of Individualism most truly followed when the tax for the support of this agency is taken voluntarily or compulsorily?

Now does the difference between Individualism and Anarchism depend upon whether this payment is compulsory or voluntary? Is that not a small matter as compared to the real difference between Anarchism and Archism? My charge against Anarchism is that it sees many forms of crime existing in the world, and it refuses to come to any settled opinion as to what it will do in the matter. If it says it will do nothing, then we must live under the reign of the murderer, tempered by Judge Lynch; if it says it will have some form of local jury, then we are back into government again at once.

There are existing schools of moderate and reasonable Anarchism—the Anarchy represented in America by Mr. Tucker, and some philosophical Anarchists in England—which are quite distinct from the other schools of Force-Anarchy, which seem to be mere “organized madness”; but, as far as I have hitherto seen, none of these schools are prepared to tell us clearly what they will do about ordinary crime. Indeed, what can they tell us? As I have said, the moment they begin to deal with crime according to any fixed method and settled precedent, they are at once back into Archism.

This, then, seems to me the dividing line between Archism and Anarchism—Do you intend to provide an agency for dealing with crime according to fixed rules and methods, or not? The way in which you pay your agency—though a very important matter in itself, must be looked upon as a non-èssential element in the difference between the two systems.

I hope Mr. Levy will add what comment he likes, just to pull the balance again even between us.