Topics of the Day.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 305, 21 December 1912, Page 13

Topics of the Day.

DANGERS OF LONDON. AN IRISH BIOT SEQTTEX* SUFFRAGETTES ON THE . WABPATH. (From Onr Special Correspondent.)^ LONDON, November S. IK "THE SAFEST CITY." London is rapidly Josing her good name as the safest city in the world. At one time we prided ourselves on the fact that travelling, whether by vehicle or on foot, was safer in London than on a country road, and our shopkeepers reckoned that they could expose valuables on their counters and in their windows with much less risk of theft than their confreres in the great cities of any other part of the world. But, as the old horse 'busdriver remarked, "things is changed, and for the worser" The risks to vehicular travellers are not, perhaps, much greater than of yore, but the swift growth of mechanical traction has filled our streets ■with huge motor 'buses, taxis, private tars, and commercial vehicles, which "•mong them make the crossing of the city i.rtreets dangerous to anyone not possessed with agility and a cool head positively dangerous. Certainly to-day London's crop of street accidents is treble what it was ten yeurs ago, and in spite of the fact that people should be getting iiiccustomed to the swifter and more frequent passage of mechanically-propelled vehicles, the police ambulance seems busier than ever.

As regards shopkeepers, they certainly, have to exercise a groat deal more restraint in the exhibition of valuables; )j'»wellers in particular. Shop-lifters .~.nd ■'sneak-thieves" are rampant, and in addition to the risk of being burgled at night, the London dealer in valuable articles of personal ornament must beware thpse ■days of the daring and armed daylight robber.

In less than a month l>ondon has been startled by four prraliarly cheeky daylight robberies within her best policeprotected area. On October 14 chree armed men raided Messrs. B. Bosher and Sons' shops in Kdgwarr Road, and threatened the manager and an assistant with a revolver. The crowd outside the shop was kept at bay with a revolvpT, and the men escapsd in a. taxi-cab after coercing the driver. Rings valued at £75 were stolen. A couple of days later armed /ruffians boldly entered a Bloomsbury ■boardimrhouse and, having thoroughly scared the servants, made off with all the jewellery they could Jay their hands on. Then, on October 2flth. three men, one of whom is said to huve exhibited a rcvoKer. smashed a window at the shop of Mr Attenborough at the corner of Lumley Court, Strand, and stole a pearl necklace valued at £380. When pursued, they baffled their would-be captors and gained time to make good their escape by closing and loekiqg an iron gate which jbars the thoroughfare at night-time.

Yesterday evening , another most daring robbery was committed. Just as daylight was fading, three young men entered the shop of Mr Faulkner, in Upper St. Martin's Lane, and asked to spe some rings- The only person in the shop at the time fas an assistant. He produced a trayful of rings, and inrmedi ately one of the men grabbed a handful and ran into the street. The assistant dropped the tray and was about to pursue the man when a revolver was placed to his head by one of the thiePs companions. "Stop where you are," said the intruder, "or I fire," and the assistant stopped.

Meanwhile the third man endeavoured to wrench open a showcase, but Mr Faulkner, the proprietor, suddenly ran into the shop, and, grasping the situation, attempted to close with the thieves, whereupon the man with the revolver struck him a.violent blow with the buttend, inflicting a serious wound on his forehead.

Mr Faulkner clung tenaciously to his assailant, who, however, managed at last to wrench himself free, and ran out ol bhe shop. The assistant, who attempted to prevent the third man leaving, was knocked down and severely kicked. All three men got clear away, and though in their flight they dropped several valuable rings, they managed to secure booty worth about £400.

BEAIi IRISH.

An extraordinary development in connection wkh the prosecution of the men charged with rioting during the recent shipyard disturbances has occurred. It is in 'some respects a most ludicrous business —a thing that could only happen in Ireland—but it has its serious side, because it has given evidence of existence of a state of things in connection with the administration of justice which is utterly discreditable.

At the initial Police Court proceedings, ten shipyard workers were returned for trial at the Belfast Quarter Sessions. before Judge Craig, Recorder of Belfast. A number of men arrested in connection with the riot jut the Celtic football grounds were returned for trial on the same day. When the eases came up at Quarter Sessions, Mr. MacSweenev. K.C., on behalf of the Crown solicitor, applied to have all the cases postponed to the Winter Assizes, on the grounds that the present condition of party feeling in Belfast was prejudicial to a fair trial.

Eventually Judge Craig decided to send the men arrested in connection with the football riot forward for trial at Derry. He held that the shipyard cases could not be designated party riotinsr. and decided to try the accused in hts own court. In consequence, three of the prisoners were discharged, and the Crown thereupon announced that they would not proceed further with the other cases. All the shipyard workers in custody were therefore released.

There was general Jubilation amongst the discharged men and their friends at ?rhat they believed to be the coDapse of the Crown case, but a few hours later on, new warrants were issued and executed before midnight. A still greater sensation occurred on Saturday, when the men were brought up. Mr. Garret Nagle, the Resident Magistrate, and seven other justices were on the bench. Mr. MacSweeney began by declaring that the accused, two of whom had been put forward, were not brought toefoTe the magistrates at all, but fcefore Mr. Nagle,

-who bad issued the warrants. He declared that it was an attempt to defeat justice by persons who had no right to toe there or to adjudicate, and that the beech was "packed"- for tiie purpose. A long legal argument ensued. Mr. Nagie ultimately ruled that ho could not interfere ■with the magistrates. Mr. MacSweeney then directed the police to remove the prisoners to tlic cells, but Mr. Brown, who defended, asked the Court to discharge the mon. Exerting scenes followed. Counsel for the accused clamoured for their discharge, and called upon the magistrates to take a vote. Mr. Nagle appeared to be in a diffisulty in the midsD of the uproar, but the empty dock seemed to supply him with inspiration.

"There are no prisoners before mc," he exclaimed.

"Send for them," shouted someone. "No appearance," decided Mr. Nagle, and adjourned the court.

The names were then formally called over, and "No appearance" entered amidst a regular hubbub. Mr. Nagle and Mr. Davidson then left the court. But the matter had by no means ended, Ciie remaining magistrates, electing one of their number as chairman, called on the police to produce the prisoners.

The Head Constable however, said that he was under orders not to produce the prisoners, who had been removed from the dock toy Mr. MacSweeney's instructions. Inspector Gelston was- sent for by the magistrates, but "when he appeared, he also refused to produce the prisoners, saying he was acting under orders from the Crown solicitor. Latt!7 in the day, the men were brought before one magistrate, and were remanded on tail, WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THEM? The rejection by the House of Commons last Tuesday evening, of an amendment extending the franchise to women under the Irish Home Rule Bill now before Parliament, quickly produced another recrudescence of window-smash-ing by suffragettes in London. Late at night, a gang of iromen, armed with hammers, descended on Xew Bond Street, and within a few minutes had smashed, the big plate-glass fronts of shops belonging to eighteen firms, doing damage estimated at over £1000. So swiftly did these mad-brained women do their work, that ere the police could come upon the scene, they had all cleared off save two of them, who were seized by civilians and handed into custody.

The "ladies" distributed their "favours'' in a most unprejudiced manner, the firms suffering including provision merchantSj a dealer in antiquities, confectioners, Court dressmakers, drapers, the Society of Artists, bootmakers, hatters, furriers, a surgical instrument maker, tailors, motor-car agents, fssjtion publishers, and tobacconists.

The New Bond Street outrage was serious enough in all conscience, but the worst feature of the latest outbreak of "militancy" among the Suffragettes is their letter-box campaign. All over the country crack-brained disciples of the Pankhursts and Peth wick-Lawrences an? introducing into letter-boxes, public and. private, substances calculated to either destroy entirely, or render useless the postal packets that may be in them —■ burning phosphorus, corrosive acids, copying ink, varnish, Condy's Fluid , , treacle, jam, and other "messy" iteEns. One or two of these •wanton creatures have been caught, ibnt in the majority of cases they have, unfortunately, managed- to escape detection. It is really difficult to know what punishment would really fit the crimes of these letter-box fiends. It is charitable to assume that they are mentally deficient, and fitter subjects for lunatic asylums than prisons. If men, however, were to.indulge in this sort of thing, most people would be inclined to suggest a dose of the cat as the best method of adjusting air ill-regulated mind. If there is one thing that should be held sacred by everybody, it is the people's post-bag. If you break' a window, the damage can be readily reckoned in pounds, shillings and pence, tout who can assess the amount of material damage arising out of a suffragettes' raid on a public letter-box, or set an end to the troubles it may cause? Already we are told that one unknown suffragist is morally responsible for the death of two people. It appears that a poor woman, whose daughter and her child were both lying seriously ill, appealed to a son for money, to enable her to get urgently required necessities for the sickroom. TBft young fellow procured a postal order, and posted it to his mother, but, unhappily, deposited the letter in a pillarbox upon which a suffragette operated with such success that nearly all the postal packets in it were destroyed or badly damaged. Amongst the former, it appears, was the letter containing the young man's order; at any rate, his mother never got it, and was thus unable to get for her daughter and grandchild the tilings necessary to give them a grip on life.

Yesterday the accused were brought before Mr. Davison, M.P., in the head constable's office in the Belfast Central Police Station. The explanation as t<s why the court was held in this stuffy little room, was that threats had been made against the presiding magistrate. Mr. Davidson himself gave the reporter present a typewritten statement, explaining that he had been subjected to threats of personal violence, and injury to hi 3 business, in spite of which he was "determined to do what he considered to be his duty -whatever the cost." The case was proceeding, when one of the defending solicitors announced that he had received a telegram from his counsel in Dublin, informing him that i conditional order and interim prohibition had been granted by the Kings Bench Division against Mr. Davison interfering in those and other cases. Mr. Davison asked the Crown solicitor, if, in these circumstances, he would be right in proceeding, and Mr. Moorhead replying in the affirmative, further evidence was heard. About four o'clock, the chief clerk of petty sessions entered, the room and read a telegram addressed to himself: — "The Court of King's Bench this day granted a conditional order prohibition, directed to William Davison, Jj?., prohibiting further proceedings in the case.' . The magistrate again withdrew to consult the clerk of petty sessions, and after a quarter of an hour's consultation with that official, returned to court, and stated that after consulting all the available authorities, he had decided to adjourn the case for a fortnight. The defending solicitors immediately protested that an adjournment could not he made on an indictable offence, but notwithstanding their observations, the prisoners were formally bound <wer to appear on November 22nd. And there for »>■» jraatvt this very neculiar case reati.