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Title: John [Johann] Most Author: Jay Fox Date: 1906 Language: en Topics: obituary Source: Retrieved on 27 March 2011 from http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/jdfnwt Notes: From: The Demonstrator, April 18, 1906. Reprinted in KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 34, April 2003
John Most is dead, and with his death the movement has lost a most
ardent worker. Most was a born rebel, and early in life harnessed
himself to the revolutionary movement. He died in his sixtieth year in
Cincinnati while on his way to Chicago to speak at the commune
celebration.
Most was one of the great individualities the German revolutionary
movement has produced. For forty years, with pen and tongue, he has
fought the powers of privilege, and so powerful was the force of his
words that, for more than twenty-five years he had the honorable
distinction of being the most feared and hated individual in the
revolutionary movement. A powerful orator, with strong convictions and
an undaunted courage he soon brot down upon his head the wrath of the
capitalists and their watchdogs — the governments. Jailed and jailed
again in every country he has honored by his presence this mouthpiece of
the social revolution could not be subdued. The unconquerable could not
be conquered, the untameable could not be tamed. Each term of
imprisonment, instead of cowing and subduing him, only added fuel to the
fire of his revolutionary genius. the terms of imprisonment were mere
recreation for him, wherein he recuperated his forces and stored up
fresh supplies of energy to renew his masterly attacks upon the system
immediately upon his release.
Most always hewed to the line, attacked the enemies of society openly,
and chose his words for their force and directness. Like all men of
force and genius, he was no respecter of forms of literary expression
and where language did not afford him proper vehicles for the expression
of his thots he promptly invented words that suited them. He had no
liking for the English language, and, altho more than twenty years in
this country, his propaganda was confined to his native tongue. With the
exception of his autobiography, and a few pamphlets, Most’s literary
work was confined to the publication of his paper Freiheit. Like all men
of worth he was little understood, even by the wage-slaves, for whose
emancipation he was among the foremost champions of the age. It is a sad
commentary upon men of genius that to be understood they must be dead a
long time.
Comrade Most cared nothing for reputation; he hated it. To him the truth
was of more value than all the wealth of popularity and gold the world
could heap upon him; and truth in John Most had one of the ablest and
most devoted champions ever born of woman.
Truth has always been unpopular. Few there can be, even in this age of
advancement, who care to hear it spoken. The great mass of humanity
moves carelessly along ion the beaten paths of its ancestors, and it
looks with suspicion on the man who ventures to suggest the building of
a new road. And if he persists it treats him with scorn and derision, if
not with the hangman’s noose. In spite of the scoffs and sneers of the
mob, in spite of the threats of the privileged tyrants, in spite of
jails and gallows, men and women are constantly coming to the front with
the red flag of truth in their hands and the burning words of liberty on
their tongues. It is such men and women that have made the world advance
in spite of itself. They prod it in the ribs, and urge it forward, and
it hates them for disturbing its sleep. The world has always hated its
benefactors. It hated Most; that is his reward. A striking example of
the esteem in which he was held by the capitalistic hangdogs was given
by the New York Times. That slimy sheet, in an editorial comment upon
his death, declared him a mad dog in human form, and rejoiced at his
death.
Well may The Times rejoice. It knows its enemies well, and the bigger
the game the slimier its epithets. No better appreciation of Most and
his work could have been written than that vile screed. The Times can
croak in perfect safety at a dead man. It may be forced to recant sooner
than it thinks.
Most has left his mark on the history of his time, and the influences of
his work will be felt for ages. He died in the harness. I honor his
memory.
Jay Fox
Johann Most died March 17, 1906.