POPLAR'S UNEMPLOYED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18566, 26 November 1923, Page 3

POPLAR'S UNEMPLOYED.

GUARDIANS LOCKED IN.-;-, POLICE FORCE AN ENTRANCE: . Wild scenes were witnessed at the offices of the Poplar Board of Guardians in th« East End of London recently. The board had received a deputation of the unemployed' workers' committee, some of whom complained of want of proper consideration of some of.the cases which came before them for relief. One of their number said that it , was asked that the board would not give less than £1 relief to unemployed single men and women. On the deputation leaving, a crowd of unemploved who had filled the gallery of the board-room, the gallery approaches and also the stone staircase bolted and locked the large street-entrance doors and denied egress to all who wore within the building, preventing the chairman of the board. Mr. Edgar Lansbury, from leaving the offices. There was a sharp struggle. A number of the unemployed then surged into the board-room, and there: ensued a heated altercation between Mr. George Lansbury, M.P., the father of the chairman of the board, and some of the leaders of the unemployed-. It was apparent that those responsible for the disturbance were men of very extreme type, and during the course of the lively passages which took place it came out. that some of those who were subjecting the guardians to the experience they were undergoing were men who had received consideration at the hands of members of the board individually and collectively. The police were telephoned for, and at the end of about an hour, although they had been asked to force an entry, they declined to do so without the written authority of he Board. While this disorder was taking place inside the building, a crowd outside, estimated at about 2000 or 3000 persons, were being addressed by speakers representing the unemployed. Shortly before ten o'clock it was stated that although the chairman of-the board had no objection to the police forcing the doors, he objected to the latter entering the building At about this time it could be seen that" a strong force of constabulary had cleared the thoroughfare in front of the main entrance outside. The action ot the chairman of the board did not meet with the approval of many of his colleagues. The Mayor of Poplar, Alderman John Scurr, a magistrate, and himself a guardian, then took the chair, and it was decided to give the police the requisite ■ authority to make a forcible entry. Io do ■ this the police, owing to the threatening H aspect of the crowd, had to draw their ■ batons. ... -I Then came the smashing of windows, and ■ forcing of doors by the police, and as some ■ of them entered the building unemployed ■ at the top of the staircase threw two or ■ three large wooden forms down below into ■ the entrance hall, happily without hurt to ■ those ascending. It was soon all oyer,?* I the members of. the board left nnder safe M escort. Eventually the men ma«*ed.»*»r ■ with a band at their head A thOPtoegg| I ually clearing the »#boi»r!g|«| tion was given by residents to UKW hud received injuries. M