RELIEF CAMP PROTEST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21136, 19 March 1932, Page 12

RELIEF CAMP PROTEST.

DEMONSTRATION IN CITY.

PROCESSION BLOCKS TRAFFIC. UNUSUAL EVENING SCENE. A demonstration against t lie relief camp system for unemployed was lield in the city last evening, when a noisy procession "f 1400 men and women, carrying banners, marched through Queen Street. Traffic, including Iramcars, was held up at frequent intervals, the stationary trams at one period being in an unbroken line from Customs Street to Shorthand Street. Slogans derogatory to relief camps were chanted, and the "lied Flag" was sung from time to time. 'l'he procession was preceded by a gathering outside the Town Hall, when the number of demonstrators was augmented by a largo crowd of spectators. The stone balustrade outside the Town Hall, where Grey's Avenue converges on to Street, was used as a platform from which a number of speakers addressed the crowd. The addresses lasted for half-an hour, and at 8.15 p.m., after a resolution condemning relief camps had been carried, the procession moved off down Queen Street, headed bv two pipers. According to the banners carried the procession was composed of contingents of unemployed drawn from the city and outlying districts as far afield as Glen Ede;i. Some of the banners bore slogans, including one which read: "To-night, Working Class Laws." About 50 women marched in a special section, some of them carrying children. The procession marched down Queen Street to the posb office, and then turned and marched up the other side of the street. The manoeuvre of turning caused all traffic to be held up at the Customs Street intersection. Snatches of songs were sung and the following slogan was frequently chanted: "Shall we go to relief camps?— No. Shall we starve? — No. Shall we fight?— Yes." Upon arriving back at the Town Hall a decision was made to march down Queen Street again. Traffic was held up once more while the column turned. The second journey was marked by considerably more noise than the first. On this occasion Shorthand Street was made the turning point and traffic was held up again for a lengthy period. Eventually the demonstrators arrived back at the Town Hall again, and although the column turned as if to inarch down Queen Street for the third time, it reached a point only a short way below Wellesley Street. Xfter remaining stationary and blocking the traffic once more it dispersed, Iho " Red Flag" being sung in a last united effort. \

A portion of the column straggled back to the Town Hall, where two more brief speeches were made. After being told by tho last speaker that their greatest enemies in Auckland were the paid trades union secretaries, the Labour Department and tho Charitable Aid Board, the stragglers dispersed.