"RED"CHARGED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 243, 14 October 1931, Page 8

"RED"CHARGED.

• INCITEMENT ALLEGED.'

SUNDAY AFTERNOON SPEECH.

NORFOLK STREET EVICTION

DISCLOSURES 'BY POLICE,

"Yes, it's true. lam a Communist. I joined when' Bernard Shaw did. I thought if it was good enough for him it was good enough for me. All great minds think alike." (Laughter.) So ,'said James Henry Edwards when giving evidence at the Police Court this morning, where- he was charged with encouraging lawlessness. . , * As was the. case yesterday, when ,he appeared, the' Court was ' completely packed. '■'■'•■■ •.',''-'"' Mr. F.' K. Hunt, S.M., was ori the bench. Chief - Detective Hammond prosecuted, ; and- Mr. -W.-F. Schramm appeared for. who pleaded not g' ui3± y;;. . ~ ■ , V • ■-.'*, .• "The charge .against'.Edwards was ]as follows:—"On October 11, did encourage lawlessness at a meeting on the old railway station'site, by,saying, 'Go to 21, Norfolk Street, oil Monday morning in thousands and prevent the eviction, by force, if necessary, and prevent brutality audi'/"bludgeoning of the working class by the tools of Capital ism. Prevent force by force and ho matter by-What means, the eviction' of- this'.woman' and children." -.< •. • ' • " '_ ; The -first "witness ' was '.Detective Nalder, who said he' heard ' Edwar'ds speak". at. a meeting held ,-pn- i Sunday afternoon. Edwards.described the eviction in* Sydney *of; a, returned- soldier for'not paying-his rent. .-.Edwards: said that,returned. • soldier -friends: - : of ;the te.naptva.nd; members' ; of the ■'Communist party had rallied to fight the eviction, and .-that-tlie police who /carried it .out were half drunk, that they had ,t,o get drinks to-'get sufficient courage to .make tho attack. .As the result of the attack, a returned soldier fia'd" three ribs kicked .;',ui-.by. the '~police,: : . a nd. i public sympathy was aroused- against the eviction of. unemployed tenants. ~.. :' ';' The. Noffolkjstree't Case. •Edwards, said witness,' stated that he had; been specially appointed in Auckland to organise -and , obtain public sympathy, agajnst eviction-, of .unemployed tenants. . He .also, said that at the^'present time there wa? a similar case in Auckland, that of Mrs. Martinov.icli, and her live children, in Norfolk Street, Ponsonby.. Edwards, said that the poor woman had been deserted by her husband and was not getting any maintenance from him. The "blundering Government authorities" had failed to locate her husband, and the Government would not grant her the usual maintenance for three""'children. The woman-had relief on an order approved by £he Trades Union Council that workers snouldtnqt pay more than 14/10 per-week rent. ;; ; :■ v\ '•■' ■'•?.! ■■' •

"You trade' unionists- who do stand'-,by her. are scabs/' continued Edwards,;according to'Hetective. Nalder. Edwards' 1 appealed to 'trade unionists to go to Norfolk' Street in: their thousands and ! to organise and. prevent the brutal throwing out of the:woman and children into the' street ;*lry;. "diabolical, greasy capitalists' in the interests of a' capitalist bug.".: .';' : ;;..;,..'"..' ,'■ .; ■.

.'. "He told, 'them, 'to; : -ueei force if necessary and to.prevent the eviction," said Detective .-Nalder.''. X "He ;' said ' that;: an order had been made by -the"'Court' and that the police and -bailiffs: would be coming. He told them to prevent force by using,fpr'ceV; arid "asked'them "to come in thousands, as in the event of only a small number arriving,-they would be 'cleaned up'by the police. Edwards said he did not want to hear police batons on the heads of the workers and added that-it did notmatter. If the-men' lost work on Monday—they could come again on-Tuesday if-the-.eviction -.was postponed .until then. ■• .Edwards', concluded his speech •by saying, - 'Go there, arid do hot. peep round corners.- Go inside or, stand ;.on; the verandah and assist .the defenders of this woman and her children to prevent the- tools of capitalism from brutally throwing them into the street.'" "' -' Copy of a Telegram. Nalder said that a warrant for the arrest of Edwards, was issued on Monday. : He then described, the arrest. Edwards ran to th 6 door of the hous'e in .Norfolk Street and called out to those inside, "I/ookl out, boys, they are here.? witness read the charge to Edwards at- the police station, Edwards . remarked, '"The 'wording' is a I'bit out.-'" Detective'.-Nalder said to him, {•'But the -effect is-there." Edwards re-plied,"Oh,-yes." searched Edwards, ;■ who had in his possession a r eopy "of a telegranr'seii'tby him at 11.20 a.m. on Saturday, October 10, addressed to "Sandford,. 2, Jessie Street, Wellington.- Court order evictiorij trade union principle 14/10 involved. : U.W.M.' enthusiastic, act. Edwards." .:/ Request from Raetihi.; ' __Detective -'Nalder .explained that U.W.M.;.,meant;. Unemployed Workers' Movement. There were also two letters from. Raetihi. . One -stated- that it was found necessary, to have a first-class "Bed" worker (the. word "Bed" being underlined), Ed wards-was asked to come down and speak there. "We are all 'Bed' enough to pay your, expenses and compensate you for your work lost," the letter stated. "We earnestly appeal for your .help.". The letter was concluded :< "Yours of the Revolt: H. Punch." The other, letter, also from Raetihi, was signed "Yours for Communism, Tom Short." This was also an appeal for Edwards or another good "Bed" speaker to go to. Raetihi.- -It- stated: "We have got oome enthusiastic young rebels here, i Send a good; mail.. We will - pur yOur.;'expenses and something, to boot. The duds; are in the majority here." ' .Cross-examined" by- Mr. Sciirannn, Mr. Nalder sftid that he. listened to the whole of Edwards' speech from the edge of the crowd. ': ■ * Mr. Schramm: Did you take any 'notes? —As soon as'he finished speaking, I went to the post office and made notes. . Have you got your notes?—No, I have not produced them. You have no right to sec .them, anyway. . I put it to you that while Edwards was speaking someone interjected "The tools of capitalism."—No, I heard him say it. , " "■"< Did he not say "to demonstrate in force and: prevent the. eviction"?:—No. He said, "Go there in y-oui- thousands, organise, aaid, if necessarv, use force to prevent the eviction." Did he tell them to keep the peace and not to break the law?— No. Was not his meaning this;. To demonstrate by force;, and arouse public sympathy?— No- -.. • ■ .

Exact Statement in Dispute. »j Mr. Schramm: Did he not say something like this, "Now a lot of you people are expecting force and brutality. A lot of you people will go there to be amused, to seek sensation by seeing and hearing the thuds of the batons. I saw the batons used in Wellington and was sickened. If you people do your duty ■ and act as ambassadors on our behalf, you will bring the matter up in your trade union meetings. You will influence your trade unions to do their duty,-'which is that you be at No. 21, Norfolk Street on Monday in your thousands. This is the only way to prevent force and brutality. 'The greater the number the greater the safety. Do • you think that the police want to do the [ dirty business of the'bailiff? They,are also working men, and you will be doing ' them a favour by being there on Monday ' ;— anc i above all, see that tire trade union movement in New Zealand is :not disgraced by allowing a destitute .woman and five innocent girls to be thrown out, on the streets of Auckland. I appeal to you to be at Norfolk Street on Monday to sec that the eviction does riot take place. - ' ' ■ ■ - \ -Detective Nalder: He did not say that when he spoke. Mr. Schramm: You were at his meeting the same night?-—-Yes, a meeting of the Friends of Soviet Russia. Who were the speakers: Edwards and also Mrs. Soljak. • - . Two constables . then gave evidence. One said he heard Edwards remark, "If the police use batons, we will use them too." Mr. Schramm: Are you sure, constable, because Detective Nalder was there for the express purpose of listening, and he docs not say that. Constable McLean: Well, I heard him . say it. . Constable Cook said lie heard Edwards say 'that he did not want to hear the batons used on the heads of the workers, but if batons were used, they would have to use them too.. "Yon arc quite sure?" asked Mr. Schramm. , • "Yes," replied Constable Cook. "At. the time he said this I commented to' the other constable that he was 'gettin* hotter.'" -f . '■ •■ ■ i Bailiff's Experience. Arthur Henry Beer, bailiff at the Magistrate's Court, described what happened when .he went with other bailiffs to carry out the -eviction yesterday. On knocking at the door, he was asked by a male voice within if another house had been found for the woman. He replied that if the door was opened no harm would be "caused to the woman. "There were about twelve men inside armed, with clubs and batons," said witness. Mr. Schramm objected, saying that this had nothing to do with the charge bdfore the Court. Mr. Hunt: It shows that some tdo.k notice of. what Edwards is alleged to have said* . Beer added that when he told them inside that if they did not open the door, it would be forced open, a man inside called out, "They're going to force the door. We'll fight to a finish." But there was no fight, said witness. Defence Opens. Mr. Schramm said the defence would be that the words set out in the charge were not -used by Edwards. : Counsel said that what Edwards said was Avhat he (counsel).had read over to Detective Naldeij: What Edwards "expressed by these words .was the. desire to protect the woman and obtain better terms, and 'something, better in the law between landlord and tenant. Counsel pointed out' that Edwards was not responsible for what happened at the eviction, as. the men were in the house days before he had made his.speech. ..'. Witnesses for the defence were then called. One, named Woodroff, said the words Edwards was alleged to have usad were most inaccurate. He did not say that force should be used. What he did say was for the workers to go in their thousands and prevent force, brutality and bludgeoning of the working class. Mr. Hint: Thousands were to go there and prevent the eviction ?—Yes, but not by force. It was the moral effect that Edwards referred to. • ' < Mr. Hunt: I see. "Take a man to the ' well, but for heaven's sake, don't throw him 'in." ■ ' The witness added that he did not hear any mention by Edwards of baton-;. ' Other witnesses called were Gordon ( Watson, Charles Morris/who admitted that he was chairman of the Labour { Defer.to League, and Arthur Pinder. All ; stated that Edwards did not use the 1 words alleged in the charge. Mrs. Nellie Edward*, wife of accused, ] who would not take the oath, but made . an affirmation, ..said that, .she was nbtj at the meeting, but Edwardr* had told her he was going down to tell the public that they should not iisc force. She said she had a family of eight children, ' whose ages ranged from eight months ' to 13 years. .-'■■■ Mr. Hunt: H'm. That's what she's 1 called for, I sec. Chief Detective Hammond: You know ' your husband has been bound over to keep the peace?— Yes. Edwards Gives Evidence. Edwards, who also refused, to take the oath; gave evidence. He described himself as a manufacturer's salesman. He denied using the words in ' the charge, | and stated that he used the words outlined by-his couifeel. He meant them to go in their thousands, as he considered that if, say, 5000 people had been in Norfolk there would have been no violence, because with bo many people there the police would never have attempted an eviction. He had never advocated the use ol oatons. "Recently the police and ourselves, the -'Reds,' have, been on 'Hail fellow, well met' terms. There was a bit of an outburst some time ago, but we weren't responsible for that," said Edwards. The Court then adjourned lor lunch.