INTRUDER EJECTED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17956, 7 December 1932, Page 7

INTRUDER EJECTED

SCENE IN THE HOUSE COMMUNIST INTERRUPTS TUSSLE IN THE GALLERY (Parliamentary Reporter.; WELLINGTON, this day. A sensational incident occurred in the House last night when a young man, reputed to he a prominent Communist, attempted to address the House from the public gallery. He resisted the efforts -of an orderly and a constable, and vas finally dragged from the precincts and ejected into Lambton quay, still protesting and shouting vigorously. The House was quietly discussing the short title of the Municipal Corporations Bill at 8.45 p.m., and Mr F. Langstone (Lab., AVaimarino) had just sat down when the man jumped to his feet and with one hand on the rail overlooking the Chamber, and vigorously waving the other, in which he had a hat, shrieked out: “Mr Speaker, 1 want to say .something on behalf of the unemployed.’’ By this time Mill. M. Campbell (Coal., llawke’s Bay) had risen to address the House, and without taking any notice of the interruption the chairman of committees, Mr S. G. Smith, imperturbably called on him to speak. “The Christmas adjournment is coining, and I want to know what you are going to do for the unemployed,” yelled the man. “I am fighting here for the rights of the people. How can any man live on 13s (id a week?” CONSTABLE JOINS IN

By this time he had been seized from behind by an orderly, but with his hand firmly clenching the rail he refused to be led out. “This is what happens to a man when he wants the law,” he shouted, struggling to retain his grip on the rail.

A constable -who is always on duty in the gallon' joined in the tussle, but. the combined efforts ot: the orderly and the constable could not yet shift the man.

“How can any man live on 13s 6d a week?” he cried. “He’ll starve! lie’ll starve!” Still endeavoring to throw both the constable and orderly off, the man got his side against one of the big marble pillars. The efforts of the two officers forced him to let go his grip of the rail, and he clutched wildly at the pillar. A terrific heave by both officials got the intruder on the move, but he was still resisting vigorously. Fighting every inch of the way lie was dragged up the gangway between the seats.

“How can any man live on 35s a week?” he cried. “AVe want the right to live.” Still being propelled by the constable and the orderly he struggled all the way along the passage, shrieking: “Wo want the right to live. AVe want the right to live. We are starving.”

ORDER SOON RESTORED Once at tho top of the gallery the weight of the two officials began to tell, and he was dragged out of the door, yelling: “You can put. your force on us, but we want the right to live.”

All the way through the passages he repeated his cries. He made strenuous endeavors to break away, but the officers piloted him without delay through the main doors and out of the grounds to the street. “Don’t hurt any arm,” he cried, as he was pushed out of the door. The incident lasted less than a minute, and it was over before most of the members realised where the commotion was occurring. Atany members cannot see the public gallery from their seats in the House, and it was not until all the members of the Labor Party, whose seats face the gallery, were gazing at the incident that realisation came to tho Government members.

Well dressed and groomed, the man appeared to be about 30 years of age. He is well known, having taken a prominent part in organising unemployed demonstrations. He was one of the men who addressed the mob which assembled outside Parliament Buildings on the night; of May 10, when risgraeeful scenes occurred which resulted in something like 200 shop windows being smashed. Three minutes after the incident the machinery of Parliament was working once again, and a newcomer into the House would have been unaware of anything out of the ordinary having happened.