PANDEMONIUM.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 484, 17 April 1909, Page 7

PANDEMONIUM.

CHRIBTCHURCH DREADNOUGHT. MEETING. -•','■■. THE FIGHT FOR THE FLAG-. ■,: , (IIY TKr.KOKArU—SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) '■ Chrlstohurch, April 15. Tlio proceedings at the Dreadnought meeting Inst night amply justified tho predictions of thoso people who had days before expressed tho opinion that it would be the rowdiest mcotiiig ever held in Cliristchurcli., There aro many conflicting; statements as to who' woro responsible for the absolutely unmiti-j Rated disorder that took place, but a great deal of it must bo ascribed , to fhe fact that tho mooting was hold in a huge rather dimlylighlod building, in' which tho audience stood, and had room to moyo about. If it had been, held in a thentro with the necessary limitations as to the number admitted, and a silvor coin admission fee had been charged as in 1 tho enso of Mr. Taylor's mooting last week,,it could havo boon carried through with comparativo case. As it was with free admission, . all tho,conditions in tho.barracks invited disorder and noiso. . .: The 'papers describe tho meeting at great length and in graphic language, but when all 1 is said and dono, tho whole affair may bo described in one word—pandomonium. Tho noiso was incessant and deafening. The '. speakers could not mako thcmselvos heard, 1 slid oven to tlio reporters. their utterances tvero drowned in tho opposing volloys of cheers ' rind'"' hoots. Tho opponents of the Dreadr > nought offer groaned and yelled at. every ' fresh man as ho roso to speak. Tho supporters of' the' offer .'cheered or tried to hoot down their antagonists, and manjr. hundreds i booed or cheered irresponsibly without tho , faintest idea as to why they wore doing it, except that they to'mako a row. ;. [ : Tho senso of the meeting, if it could havo been obtained by a proper yote, would unj doubtodly have been largely in favour of tho Government's action, for tho enormous numbor of. people''who-took no part-in tho dis- ' turbanco could thon havo given expression to • their opinions. As it was, no man in Now ' Zealnnd would have had the slightest chance, of carrying any resolution, for ho would not . havo been listened to, and could hot havo . mado himself heard two yards from tho r platform. Tho only impression left on 'the onlooker was one of unreasoning, appalling up- ■ roar and : confusion — a , mixture of'cheers, " groans,-yells, iwhisiles, and bursts of pat-' rioti'c songs, in which the Garrison Band from time to timo gave a powerful lead. It iit had been directed to-any sane- purpose tho i thunderous noise as it rolled back and forth ■ in the half gloom under the vaulted iron roof would,havo been impressive. As it'was, it was : merely •an outburst of noise directed at everything and nothing.: - : ~ ■;' The one good featuro .was-that' , the crowd was, in tho 'main, good tempered. If it had been really angry, the local faction fights ; micht easily havo turned to serious rioting.. ;. Tho central and most deplorable incident . of the; evening was, of coursej the fight for the flag. First reports of this affair prove : to v havo been unintentionally exaggerated. > Tho man who tore the flag from the platform > was hot a Socialist intent on dishonouring , tho flag, but'an ox-contingentor and voluni feer,_ desirous \of using it as a banner and rallying mark. Whether his action; was' riiis--1 construed, by, thbso around him, as it was F by those' on tho platform, or whether some b of tho Socialists, really meant to affront'the . (lag, is, of course, impossible to decide, and •' in dny caso does not affect the.fact that • the : flag . becamo the object of.: an intense [ '-and.'exciting struggle, in tho courso of which it: was torn to pieces.. . There may have j. been half-a-dozen men in.; tho' crowd who j would not have minded-; offering: indignity jto tho flag, but it.may bo accepted as fact j that nothing was further from the; thoughts , and wishes of tho:other thousands whose j .deep regret . at' tho. incident would bo r strengthened if'thoy thought that in other j centres tho affair was regarded as tainting j the^ 'city's loyalty. . • '~. \" ■ ■, k ■' That the opposition. to the Navy League's 3 resolution approving the Government's action / was: organised, admits.of.'no; doubt, for an \ advertisement in, the morning papers invited 3 "general labourers, Socialists, workers; and ! all lovers of British freedom and liberty" . to; "roll up". at King Edward Barracks to j ,enter' -their portest against the manner "in. " r ' which they had been/ mortgaged by ; their v autocratic Prime Minister"and his Cabinet. ■ ; Mr. T. E. Taylor, of course,, is quite conx ficlent that there was a huge number of the B audience entirely opposed to the motion, and . that the vote against the motion*-was quite r as large as that in favour of it/ As against :; this opinion, that of Bishop Julius is .interesting, as summing up'the situation concise- : .ly.;"I think they camo for a.row," he:said. .- "and they got it.. I. do not think-that the g . opposition to the motion was very marked, for it' camo mostly from a section in 'tho .: middle of thehall. If I thought this was 6 an'illustration of. the temper of the Emjj pire I .'should think we want . six Drcadj .noughts instead of two."., ..... .■':■-•."-. r Bishop Grimes, on being interviewed after (j tho meeting, said ho felt deep, regret -that 0 sucha-stote'of things'-as: had occurred had i. taken place, because it/was bound to reflect n on Ghristchiiroh.,._Therefpre; he, was. sorry g that tho action of an irresponsible few should s have caused such a:sceno. The impression t mado upon - him by the , conduct of a .section g m the meeting was that they came', , there s with tho express intention , of preventing tW r. speakers being, heard. There was never an , ~ opporhinity. given to anybody, to putibefore q the meeting any- arguments: at all 1, T. Taylor,. M.P.; .who several times 0 . attempted to make himself heard'-above the' d din.-and. uproar, but: liko the rest' of the e speakers, was unsuccessful,- was interviewed f by a "Press" Topresentativo as to'the lines' il on which he had. 'intended to base his ad--0: dress. His intention, he said, had'been to 1 point out that tho issue .before the country ;t was not whether/the people were merely, dee: sirou3 of maihtainang tho British Navy in a a, state of efficiency, He-believed that every a man who was at the/present time expressing e disapproval ;of the Government's action was t '"f.- 10 ,^ 1 . to British flag- as r Sir -Josephi- Ward himself claimed to,be, but'the action e of the Government wag recognised as tho ■a most deliberate .violation of the rights of if Parliament that-had ever taken ■• place"in 10 any self-governing colony. The issue was a J constitutional one. ■ .' ■ ,'..-. c ■.:..:'', . ;.. . . ■ -. -' \