A ROWDY MEETING

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue LIII, 7 April 1908, Page 6

A ROWDY MEETING

Mil. KEIR HARDIE AT JOHANNESBURG.

■ South African plea's to. hand show that the cable in no way exaggerated the rowdiness displayed at Mr. Kedr Haidie's meeting in Joliannewburg on February 17. Ihe meeting, which was held in the Caledonian Hall, waa crowded Jt>ut not more than a fourth cf Ihe large audience was disposed to hoar Mr. Hardie, nor, indeed, anyone else The front seatk were occupied by members cf the Transvaal Independent Labor Party, and the ohajrmq.ii of Ihe party, Mr. Berman,. presided. Hia opening remarks were hewd only by the reporters, and that very indiatinofcly. An idea, of tho behaviour of the met/ting oan be gleaned from the opening paragraph of the report published by tho Transvaal Leader. "The rotten egg has now been introduced to Johannesburg as .a political force. Ita effect is undsriabl©, especially whom the odor of the unbprn chick is backed up by tjhe. fumes of putrid-amdling chemicals enclosed in coffee tins,. glass tubes, and paper partels." The mok evidently came well supplied with various chemicals, and a perfect shower of missies pt 11 kinds was rained on the platform. One heavy tin of chemjitoals struck the table in front of the chairman, and shivered th© glasses. "In the midst of it all/ to quote the Leader report, "the ola*. man (Mr Hardie) B J^..l* rf |«t¥-calm, die* 6ut> hand slightly raised, and took not the jdmhfr esc notice of the filta tliatwas flying around him." A number of ladies occupied swita on the platform, and one of ilwse "of striking appesranca and handsomely dressed, suddenly stepped forward, and stood beside Mr Kdr flardio." Then after Mr Hardie had left the hall, s*veral others attempted to speak, including Mr Munro, chief of the Caledonian Society, but the I orowd, still thinking that Mr Hardie waa on the premises refused to hear anyoaia Then some persons tried to rush the stage, after which the police cleared the building. AJI tho time the mob sang "Rule Britannia," and wheo they had been deaf ed out struck up "Wettl hang' eld Hardie to a sour a,pplo tree^' tte. , The causei of the outburst m not'definiuly stated, but the ohairr>iait in hia 1 opening remarks made it plain that the rowdies were not the tools of th& mine, magnates and he .publicly admitted that tte Jews could not be 'blamed. It is clear in fact that the mob waa^composed cf Bribishera, for the ohairmatLtold them that they were a disgrace to'.the^nama of Britisher, and that the Bows\ert right to refuse them votes. Evidearay Mr Hardiefs Indiain speeches vresrei. the\ prirae' cause . of the trouble, ajxd'he waa unfortunate enough to visit Jo-

hannesburg just as Hie r^ olto was waited over the p^Ve rceastance of Hindus c registration law. A re P**t: wu9 circulated that a deputation of Indian? had waited on Mr Hardie, but this was denied, though he admitted that he would not refuse to receive them if they asked. The opponents of Mr Hardie appear to have made capital out of the statement that he favored the franchise for the Hindus; The Leader calls the meeting the most disgraceful ever held in Johannesburg, ■ and comment*) strongly on the behaviour of tie populace. In the face of the facta it -would appear that there ia trouble ahead of tho Botha Government for modifying fta pcliej towards Asiatics.

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