TRAFALGAR SQUARE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 261, 3 November 1932, Page 6

TRAFALGAR SQUARE.

Those who know the industrial history of England for fifty years back will not view the recent rioting in London as seriously as those whose knowledge is more limited. Trafalgar Square is a well-recognised safety valve and storm centre, and many a violent speech against Britain and the established order has been made by the side of Landseer's lions and in the shadow of the column that commemorates the genius and devotion of the great sailor who died to keep England free. "Who was this Nelson, anyhow?" an orator is said to have asked in response to alistener who had pointed out the irony of his position. In 1886 there was a mass meeting of unemployed in Trafalgar Square, where it was joined by the Social Democrats with a red flag. The meeting was led by Burns, Hyndman and Champion, and later it developed into a riot, when for the space of two hours the mob smashed windows, ransacked shops and robbed private carriages. The total damage, however, was only about £11,000, and the rioters would have been dispersed sooner had it not been for defective police organisation. Some rioting at subsequent meetings was soon checked, and rioters were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. Next year there were further gatherings in Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park, but the police arrangements prevented any serious consequences. The leaders, including Mr. Cuninghame Graham and Mr. John Burns, were arrested, and meetings in Trafalgar Square were prohibited. Later Mr. John Burns became a Cabinet Minister and one of the most respected Labour members in Britain. William Morris, the poet, took part in one of the' gatherings.

The present rioting in London seems to have been occasioned by a Communist or hooligan element present among many genuine unemployed "who had gathered to protest against the means test. That some alteration is required has been admitted by Mr.Mac Donald himself. A London crowd is generally orderly, and considerable latitude is given to demonstrations. Indeed, the question has been raised whether the authorities were not too easy-going in allowing demonstrators to concentrate near the Houses of Parliament so soon after the riots at Hyde Park. There is at present the widest sympathy in England for the genuine unemployed, and it is admitted that most of those who assembled in Trafalgar Square conducted themselves in an orderly fashion. The greater pity that a small, disorderly element should have brought discredit on the gathering. That, however, is not confined to Britain. Everywhere the revolutionist and the criminal take advantage of unemployment. , ( «4 *• » .