MELBOURNE RIOTS

Otago Witness, Issue 3414, 20 August 1919, Page 43

MELBOURNE RIOTS

FIGHTING IN T.HE STREETS. POLICE AND SOLDIERS IN COLLISiOiN. .TROOPS BIDE THROUGH CROWD. Australian papers received by mail contain graphio accounts of the street rioting that took place in Melbourne, commencing on the night of the peace celebrations, July 19, and reourring on the following Sunday and Monday. On Saturday night a huge crowd assembled in front of the Town Hall in Swanston street. Just after 9 o'clock the scene was reminiscent of Maieking night, and the excitement was intense. A number of men in naval and military uniform exceeded the limits that are admissible even on such occasions, and the police deemed it necessary to interfere and arrest two. The offenders were lodged at the police depot at the Town Hall, and before long a crowd was hammering at the door. A number of soldiers demanded the release of the*** comrades. An attempt was made to ■ force open the door, and in a moment of high tension someone in the crowd discharged a revolver on the skirts of the huge gathering. Out of the by-streets hundreds of people rushed towards the scene of the explosion. Into the big crowd rode a body of mounted troopers, and forced their way from Collins street towards Bourko street. Many persons were kicked by the horses. The polioo tried to" induce the crowd to disperse, it is said; but, whatever was done, there followed a shower of stones and bottles. As the troopers swung over their horses' bodies and struck right and left with batons, the people rushed in all directhe horses' flying feet and the descending' weapons. It was soon pandemonium. Shop _ windows caved in. Men, women, and children were trampled upon, and screams went up. About 20 people were arrested; as many were treated for injuries, mostly minor, at the hospital; and over 100 were treated at the Town Hall. During the afternoon soldiers entered the few cafes that wero open, demanded a holidav' for the workers, and closed the places. A few trams that were run were -uncoupled and pushed off their tracks. Consequently, no cars entered the city proper. SENTRIES WITH DRAWN BAYONETS. The events of Saturday night had a disquieting effect, and in the intervening 24 hours they gave rise in the minds of many to anticipation of more incidents of the kind. That night the police felt called upon to use their batons again, although the crowds were small. As the result of a serious disturbance in front of Victoria Barracks late on Sunday night 10 arrests wero made by the police, and a man named James O'Connor, of Madeline street, Carlton, was shot below the heart. He was first treated at the base hospital, and then conveyed to Caulfield Military Hospital, where he was operated on. At the barracks a brawl occurred between about 50 and 60 sailors and soldiers in uniform and members of the guard on duty at the gates. Almost simultaneously several mounted constables from the dspot at the rear of the barracks arrived, and, working in conjunction with the foot police, they dispersed the crowd assailing the guard. STRUGGLE WITH THE POLICE. Some 20 of the offenders dashed across St. Hilda road and entered the Domain. They sought refuge in the rockeries and tangled scrubs about 10ft high on either side of the Domain gates. Drawing their batons, the police crawled after the escapees and searched through the mass of undergrowth, in which many of them were hiding in the darkness. There were many short and silent struggles. The force of foot police was strengthened by the mounted men, who joined in the pursuit, and later in the attack a cordon of military sentries, with bayonets, surrounded the rockeries, and the 10 men who were captured by the police were handed over to military custody. Several of the men fought fiercely before they were arrested. A FIREMAN KILLED. During a brawl at Fitzroy John Andrew Wootten (27), fireman, of 575 Canning street, North Carlton, was knocked unconscious. He died later of concussion of the brain. Later, David A. Perkins, one of the crew of H.M.A.S. Melbourne, was charged with attempted murder. On Saturday afternoon the small arms establishment of Abrahams Bros, was broken into, *and ££o worth of revolvers were stolen. ATTACK ON THE PREMIER. " On Monday the trouble continued, and in the afternoon between 8000 and 10,000 soldiers and a number of sailors over-ran the State Premier's room. The Premier (Mr Lawson) was wounded on the head. The day's events were introduced by a meeting of ex-service men at the Returned Soldiers' League rooms in tSwanston street. All was excitement. The speeches constituted a denunciation of the police force. At the instance of Mesrs Whelan and Lowe, the meeting decided —"That in tho interests of life and property,. and the maintan anco of order in the the Chief Commissioner should dismiss or remove- to a side distance the irresponsible officers whosa conduct is believed to have caused the unwarranted attack on and indiscriminate batoning of loyal citizens who were listening to the band outside the Town Hall on Saturday night." Speakers said that on Saturday night innocent men, women, and children were ridden down by the troopers' horses on the footpaths. One had heard Senior Constable Scanlon say he was out to break the soldiers. Voice : " We'll break him." The State Commandant, Brigadier-general Brand, then addressed the men, and advised them to send some of their number to, interview the Police Commissioner. This was decided, the meeting declaring an armistice till 2 p.m. The men streamed out into the street and spent most of their time hooting every policeman in sight; a small deputation immediately left and interviewed the Commissioner of Police at his office. AN EXCITED GATHERING. At 2 o'clock the soldiers reassembled, but after a little discussion adjourned to the Atheneaum Hall, where the ex-service men had already gathered. In a few minutes

the place was crowded with excited people. Mr Caldwell (vice-president of the league), who presided, reported the result of the interview with the police chief (Sir George Steward). The commissioner had, he said, appeared reasonable, and was prepared to weigh all the charges the deputationists laid against the police. This statement did not satisfy the assembly. It was impatient of consideration. It wanted something like submission to its will. Captain Burkitt mounted the platform. He said that the soldiers should make the Government understand that they were Australians. They had been blamed for the beginnings of every row that occurred in the country. They should make the Government realise that in this case the men who wero kept to maintain the law had been the first to break it. AT PARLIAMENT HOUSE. The leaders of the men, who had been appointed.officers of the league, and others who put themselves in the van for the occasion, moved through the crowd. Some of their impatent followers reached the State Offices before them and the rest surged behind. Three or four members of the executive left the crowd to seek an interview with the Premier. Mr Lawson was conferring with the Cabinet at the time. He hurriedly consulted with other Ministers regarding the situation. The soldiers' delegates awaited him in the Treasurer's room. The Premier delayed a few minutes, and when it was announced that the interview had not yet taken place, the crowd lost what little patience it had. Hundreds rushed tho doors and ran upstairs. • They met the Premier on his way to the delegates. The Premier suggested that a delegate should confer with him. and that the imprisoned men would be released on bail. He turned indoors. Then followed a breaking of window glass. The building was rushed. The Premier found himself imprisoned in the Treasurer's room, with an ungovernable mob about him. The soldiers mounted the horse-3hoe table, rifled the drawers, destroyed some papers, pocketed others. They removed everything in the room that was removable, and destroyed everything that could be destroyed. Somebody brought a heavy metal inkpot down on the head of the Premier, and left a gash two inches long. He staggered, and appealed to some of the men. "No digger did that," said one, and they shepherded Mr Lawson, and got him out. They escorted him to the refuge of the Cabinet room. The plundering proceeded in different parts of tho building. Word came of the approval of the troopers, and several soldiers called for revolvers and guns. _ - Then, out on the street the mob sallied, equipped with pokers, bits of furniture, and other things. In the street, however, it was all so different. A force of foot police was busily dispersing the crowd. The looters showed little disposition for the collision they anticipated, so they also dispersed. At night the streets were thronged, and two-up was played under the noses of the police force. A. menacing demonstration was made by the members of the R.S.L. early in the evening in Swanston street. At a late hour 5000 people congregated outside the City Watch-hotise, in Russell street, and were addressed by several men from the steps. The speakers advised them to remain calm, since conferences were being held with the authorities. They also warned the people that if the police interfered with them they should stand their ground and not scuttle away, as they had done on Saturday night. Immediately after this a body of troopers appeared, riding on the outskirts of the croAvd, and making to disperse it. Their interference produced a desperate effect on the people. Stones were torn from the road and hurled at the troopers.

Then Saturday night's melee was repeated. Finally, under severe batonings, the assemblage dispersed in terror. THE FOURTH DAY. Disorder and riot were again rampant on Tuesday, though the area t of trouble was not large, nor the consequences material. After the troops returned from the funeral of ex-Private Jas. O'Connor, who was shot on Sunday night, "the men streamed across the road and the trouble opened. There wer e cries of "They're after the police." The street rapidly filled. The crowd, ready for a fight, was taken with a feverish desire to reach the same spot at one and the same time. The objective of the people was two shining helmets in the centre of the street. Th e objective of the soldiers was certainly not the police. However, several men made hastily for a van standing by the pavement, and one of the policemen, Constable Allen, an exservice man, followed to see what was happening. There was a collision. Hooligans, the police say, precipitated it. At all events Constable Allen and his uniformed companion were roughly handled, and those who contested for supremacy with them were treated by the policemen no less lightly.

In a few minutes the mounted troopers who were patrolling the city during four days appeared, and rode through a crowd, with batons .free, to tha centre of the fight. Their appearance electrified hundreds who wer e not yet engaged in the fight, and sticks, stones, .and bottles of all descriptions greeted them. Their assailants endeavoured to unseat them. One trooper was actually unhorsed, and only saved _ himself by swinging his baton and brandishing a revolver. In the meantime the foot police carried on a series of hand-to-hand _ engagements. Missiles came from mysterious positions undei* the shop verandahs. They had not been taken from the shops, because all establishments in the immediate vicinity were closed during the riot. Apparently a great number had come forewarned and forearmed. After about an hour the trouble began to evaporate. Four troopers rode into Flinders street; then, wheeling about suddenly, they rode significantly towards the crowd. That was sufficient. The result was a general dispersal. The streets were thronged again at night, but no serious disturbance was reported.