RILEY CONVICTED.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20411, 4 December 1931, Page 9

RILEY CONVICTED.

IDLE AND DISORDERLY PERSON. COMMUNIST LEADER AGREES TO WORE Charles Francis Riley, a leader of the Communist "section of the Christchurch unemployed, was convicted in the Magistrate's Court yesterday of being an idle and. disorderly person in that he had insufficient lawful visible means of support. Upon his giving an undertaking that he would accept relief work, Riley was ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within six months.

Mr E. P. Mosley was on the Benth. Biley was not represented by counsel and pleaded not guilty. Senior-Sergeant Fox said that this was one of the few cases in' which the onus of proof lay on the defendant. He was required to establish either that he had lawful means of support or that it was not his own fault that he had not. Riley had not only been doing no work himself and • making no. effort to obtain it but he had been creating disorder amongst those who were working. A quantity of literature of a doubtful nature had been found in Riley's possession by the police. Living on Charity. Riley here interrupted by saying that he would like to see some others in the dock with. him. There were hundreds of others in the same position as himself in Christchurch.

Continuing, the senior-sergeant said that Riley bad been living on relief rations and charity from a community in which he was doing his beat to stir up trouble. John W. Beanland, chairman of the Works Committee of the Christchutch City Council, said that on one occasion Riley had complained about the work he was being given on relief, claiming that it should be done by the Council employees. Riley had used offensive language and had been dismissed. - "Have you any questions to ask, Eiley?" enquired the Magistrate. Riley: No I don't want to ask him questions. He's biased. William Strathde'e, foreman for the City Council, said that Riley had been very troublesome, calling meetings of the men in the Botanic Gardens, and had once hoisted a red flag there, refusing to remove it when requested. Evidence was given by officials of the Labour Department to the effect that Eiley had not registered at the Unemployment Bureau since October sth. » Inflammatory Literature. Detective N. W. Laugesen said that he had known Riley for a year, in connexion with the defendant's public activities for the Communist' Party. He had done no'.work since .September, had been speaking at public meetings, and circulating inflammatory literature. When arrested Riley bad 1 " his pockets crammed with such p'arkphlets. At the conclusion of tW" police case, the Magistrate explained' to Riley that the onus lay upon him of disproving the charge of having 110 lawful visible means of support. "This is going "to be fought out on a legal issue," declared Eiley, to the

amusement of the spectators in_ Court. . „ _ ; , The Magistrate advised Busy to make a statement, but he would not take the Bible handed to him by the Court orderly when he went. into til# witness box. - • ''lll take a Communist oath,' Bara Riley. . . The Magistrate: There is no sn« thing. ■ . « Riley then made a declaration to tell the truth. He stated that ha had had no work for two mbnths. He had had £5 10s given to him, of which he gave £2 5a to his wife. Asked where he f&t the money to take a trip to Wellington, he said that lie ."had £1 * "*WS®k coming in regularly from the F.OABFriends of Soviet Russia." : "What is the object of this subsidy from Russia?" enquired the Senior Sergeant. Biley said the money came from friends. The Senior Sergeant: Oh, not from Russia? Riley: No. I wish it did. "Will Not Work for 18s 9d." "I am not going to work for 18s 94 a week,' 1 Riley declared when the Magistrate asked what efforts he had made to obtain a livelihood"That means bread and hotter, though," remarked the Magistrate. "I am not going to live on bread and butter," declared Riley. "Too find me a good job at £4 a week under trade union conditions and, IH work all right—not unless." To the Senior Sergeant's enquiry as to why he did not go to Russia, Biley said that "he had orders to cany on here." He would not disclose from whom the "orders" came. Riley toW the Magistrate that he had had a secondary, school education in Christchurch and had attended Outnbw# 1 College from 1919 to 1922. Hehadbeea a life-long reader of Karl Marx. "I understand yon are willing to work on relief," said the Magistrate when Riley appeared-for sentence at the resumed sitting of the Court in the afternoon. "It seems to be the only way oat/ Riley agreed. "Mr Bailey has come to the rescue, as he has for so many of yon fellowa," said the Magistrate. "I want to say that I have been, waited npon during the luncheon adjournment by three gentlemen who are members of the Communist Party. • They inform JH that your statement regarding the receipt of £1 a week from the F.OAK. lis untrue, and * must be the .result *of ! your own imagination."