FUN IN LIVERPOOL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3015, 27 December 1911, Page 88

FUN IN LIVERPOOL.

I By Evelyn Isitt.

(Special to the Otago Daily Times.) i " The labour war in Manchester is I quite as interesting as in Liverpool," said a London journalist at the beginning of the week, " but there is more fun in , Liverpool." it was a distant view of the sensational, hideous episodes that during the past few days have made Liverpool the centre of interest to England. I It may be that the riot at the srceat, gathering of strikers outside the i-ime , Street Station on Sundav afternoon was due primarily to the impetuous indiscrej tion of the police, though that qutfitiuu is not likely even to be satisfactorily settled, but the subsequent disturbui cea and the fatal fracas on Tuesday night wern due to the most disorderly element of tha community. And no one knew L<nv far the disorder would spread, how far this element would succeed in inflaming the genuine and aggrieved, workers. One , only knew that Liverpool was, for a few . days at least, the most interesting town . in England. Those of us who came down from Lon- , don by Tuesday's midnight train were greeted on arrival with the news of the hght between the mob and the soldiers, j and the first person I met was a woman | who had been in it. She was on her way j to the station with her husband the prej vious night, had been suddenly surrounded by that furious mob, separated from her ■ husband, thrust by the police into a | crowded public house, and Kept there till j the tumult was oyer. iN ow she sat in the | waiting room, waiting for the police to j bring ncr some news of her husband, afraid that he might have been killed, tor sue had only a ghastly idea in her rnind of a wild, confused, murderous | Barricades were up around the station, I and at the one narrow entrance stood a ' group of policemen, while others paced along the front. One had a feeling that ; the woman's story and the newspaper reI ports were too sensational to be true, but the two officers whom I asked for information knew better. They sighed heavily, and with ominous shaking of •their heads gave me to understand that the outlook -*as very black indeed. Policemen are apt to be alarmed, but these men were elderly, experienced, and obviously sincere. Liverpool itself woke in a state of alarm, and all that day wore. an air of expectatant, nervous apprehension, able to talk of nothing but the things it hoped would never happen. Terror hung over the city like a black eloud; one felt sure that any sudden alarm, the bursting of a bicycle tyre in the main street, tha slamming of a great front door, would have scattered the people .like a bomb. For the first time perhaps they realised the value of the Mayor's warning, displayed , in all directions, that people should avoid the disturbed areas, and all i crowds, lest in case of riot the innocent should suffer with the guilty. i The most reassuring thing was the sight . of the valiant rioters themselves as they stood their trial in the stuffy little Central Police Court. Hearing of their violent deeds, one had pictured a crowd of | burly ruffians, brawny giants, strong enough to charge a company of cavalry fearlessly, and to wrestle with those splended policemen, but the captives one saw were men of poor physique, whose idea of warfare seemed to be to throw ; a brick at a policemen, and when it hit j him to fly for dear life round the corner, | or into the miserable tenement called f " home." Some, sullenly defiant, nieaded : guilty, but others told impossible' stories I to prove that when the riots occurred I they were in bed, or at tea, or reading , the paper—anything rather than flinging f missiles at the stalwart police who were, by the way, warmly complimented by the magistrate on the amazing courage they displayed in all these riots. One has. j sympathy for the strikers, but the men in the dock, many of them wearing blood-stained bandages, were not genuine working men with a genuine grievance; they were the constant lurking peril of the slums. Scotland road was the next place to | visit, a thoroughfare in the dockers' dis- ! trict, always more or less seething with disquiet; and here some of the worst riots I had occurred. The 'debris . has been j cleared away, but the shops are still shuti tered as a protection against looters, and the police guard the district closely. There the people swarm along the pavej ments, and one has ample opportunity to i observe wealthy Liverpool's solid reason t for pride, the basis of her fabric. It ' was the most appalling sight, and on 3 quite believes that no other city in the world can display such awful poverty. 1 j could not have such sordid [ destitution, nor have dreamed of such ! women, wrecks of humanity, beaten-down wretched creatures; they reminded one of the women of the French Revolution in their hopelessness, their almost Inhuman appearance. I "They needn't be so poor," said a j woman in the car impatiently. "I've I worked among them, and I know. They j spend their money in drink." Shocked as I felt at her callous tone, I found there I was reason in what she said. Some years : "agj in this poorest district a private : estate was bought, and model homes were built. Among the old buildings were j 48. public houses, the owners of which | claimed enormous compensation, and some ; of them proved that from these almost ; destitute people they took £SOOO a year. [ Where the money came from" is a : mystery, for the wages are poor. The railway porters are striking for an increase in - wages that are absolutely ing, and one is appalled to hear of mar-.

ried men with families subsisting on 18s a week.

" Weare preaching peace," said some Catholic priests yesterday, " The trouble may begin when the people are hungry." It is difficult to understand how they ever contrive not to be hungry. All that day Liverpool was quiet, buzzing with talk, but subdued and orderly, and it was only in the slum districts that any rioting occurred. Up there at night they did attack the trams and do some email damage, and, coming back from a trip through the worst quarters, one did feel rather nervous, especially when the tram conductor ordered all passenges on top, lest they should have their heads broken by the rioters. Nothing did happen, and nothing .at that time was to be seen except police posted in force here and there, a line of soldiers ly across one dangerous side street, a troop of cavalry riding up, and a score of policemen driving past in their armoured motor van, with wooden walls nearly six f,eet high behind which they found sure shelter, while hundreds, thousands of people stood about waiting for something to happen. The night was comparatively quiet, and since then Liverpool has been reassured. Hundreds of soldiers, infantry, and cavalry are stationed in the city, but disposed bo inconspicuously. that one hardly ever sees them. St. George's Hall, opposite the Lime Street Station, is full of them, and they are always waiting round the corner where there is any hint of disturbance, but their chief daily appearance is an : entirely peaceful one, when, in full force, they escort a procession of lorries and waggons down to the goods station to rescue perishable foodstuffs. It is a sight worth seeing, but Liverpool does not like it. The town wears a holiday aspect. The miles of magnificent docks are deserted, not a soul to be seen near them, and near the more central docks the men sit in the sun, pursuing man's favourite occupation —talking. Little business is being done in the shops, and one imagines that any work done is done in great distraction. In the evenings .the streets are more crowded than ever, and despite all warning the women flock down the main streets to see if anything is happening. Last night, when the. tramway men went oh strike, and the- -electric lighting was threatened, the authorities were nervous, but the people were more curious and keener on investigation than ever. Should a riot occur at any time the densest crowd can asembsle in a few seconds. It is always on the spot, but scattered. To-day when it is known that the railwaymen have; rejected the Government's offer of a Royal Commission, and will carry on thestrike, the expectation of rioting is greater - than before. Three warships are guarding the waterside,-the steets are more crowded, and a huge crowd watched the departure of the convoy. The Post Office people are nervous, and with great surprise see each new mail despatched. "We hope to get the mails through," said one clerk, "but there is trouble at the station, and the postmen would be killed if they touched a mail bag "—a wildl.story, as was proved by. a visit to the station, where, guarded by soldiers and naval men, the postmen worked as usual. ...

The strikers* beet friends ~ still hope that the offer of a Royal Commission may bo accepted. The real point at issue, the grievance with the working of the Conciliation Act-, is, they say, wrapped in mystery, and in. the interest of the public as well as of the railwaymen a thorough investigation should be made.