The Great Riots in London.

Southland Times, Issue 9163, 11 March 1886, Page 2

The Great Riots in London.

Thß starving raech .nice of L»ndon held j a m«'g meeting on February 8, in TraI fal^ar eqnaro, wheh reKultcd ia a riot. Proceedings wfre opened with 8n asjemblugo of 10,000. The polic-! wore sent in iaigo numbers a^ oa;e. Ti;e Socid!j.-,'.ic elemenl o£ Lmdoa greatly predominated ia tho crow.l, whi h was a!io maangad by well-known B;eia!ia'.s, who used extraordinary vigilana« to preserve the peace at nil ha«sar<ls. Conspicuous araorg the 1-al rs o' tliu multjtii-'o was Burn-, who ran as a Sooialiblic candidate at Norting-h-)tn in (he ricent election. He eaoend at tha police and a ted gi nerally as if he wish' d to bring about a conflict between the police and people. Finally he ascended tbe pedestal of the Nelaon Column for th"3 purpose of delivering an harangue. He vvaa well aware this act could not be tolerated, and the police politely ordered him to get down, This ha refused to do, appealing to the crowd to resist iaterference with the exercisfl of popular right*. The officers, however, were determined, and they pushed tbeir way through the excited, resisting mas*, and by force removed Burns from the pedestal. By this time the crowd had vastly augmented. The streets adjacent were packed with surging mobs. AstiroQ the elevated spot where the Burns incident took place was easily perceptible over almost the entire area covered by the vaafc concourap, and the sight of officers'. h t-luiejts in tbe (struggle was accepted as a visible proof of tbe commencement of a fight against law; The response was a general fearful howl and an attempted rush from ail directions to the point of interest. Burns bad now been re. WQved corns die^oco fro» the position '

I which he attempted to occupy, but he became emboldened by the cries of the throng and made a desperate effort to regain his lost ground. He was so effectively helped by the mob that the officers on the spot were brushed out of the way. The orator quickly reaseended the pedestal accompanied by a number of other Socialistic leaders. Burns bore a red flag, and: wavedMt to the assemblage as a signal of triumph over the authorities. He was greeted with deafening shouts raised again and again. Burns now leisurely finished his address, r. then read a fiercely- worded resolution which ■'-'denounced lfte author! of the present distress in England, demanded that Parliament should start public works, to giv« employment and bread to tens" of thousands of deserving - m«n who were out' of work through no fault of their own, ; but because of miegovernment ; and .declared it was the duty of the Government to afford every facility for the employment of British capital at Home for the profit of British people, and to give British interests advantages over foreign. He asserted that the time had arrived for Parliament to legislate earnestly for the relief of the depression in English agricultural districts. The resolutions also demanded the immediate appointment of a Minister of Commerce and a Minister of Agriculture, and concluded with a -resolution that copies should be forwarded to Mr Gladstone,"Lord Salisbury, Mr Parnell, and the Board of Public Works. The reading of the resolutions was accompanied by fierce comments and short explanatory speeches by various orators who stood with Burns. Some of these orators went so far as to warn the Government that, although the starving mechanics of London were now attempting to draw attention to their needs by a quiet and peaceful agitation, they were bound to get it by attacking bakers' shops next, if the Government did not come to their relief. Burns denounced the House of Commons as a body of landlords and capitalists, for whom banging was too good. He also declared that the people had assembled to summon Parliament to relieve the distress among British working men, and that the people wanted the qnostion settled at once — peaoably, if possible, otherwise a revo« lution was inevitable. AH this aggravated the excitement of the huge mass. The police reformed with an incre*6ed force, and made another assault. They succeeded in forcing their way up to the pedestal. Tbey reached tbis point juet as the resolutions, which had been offered and seconded, were about to be submitted to the mob for The officers at once ordered the proceedings to be discontinued. BDd commanded Burns and his colleagues to come down. This they refused to do, The officers thereupon dragged them down by force, and drove them from the pedeßtal. It was evident that Burns expected that the application of violence to him would precipitate- a riot ; and it was also apparent that the officers engaged in removing the orators feared an attack ; but recognised that the mob were not in fighting humouri The mob contented itself for a time by hooting the police nod smothering them with flour, dirt and garbage. The. officers behaved admirably under tbis abuse and showed no resentment. After their ejection neither Barns nor any of hia colleagues made any further attempts to get back. They at once left the street and proceeded towards the National Gal" lery, where they mounted the doors and windowß and bitterly denounced the inmates. This looked like an attempt to set fhe mob on the building. Tbe mob were excited, but not up to the point of violence yet. Burns and his colleagues seeing this vacated the National Gallery wall and proceeded to the Oarlton Club, where they repeated their tactics. By this time the mob was tremendous in numbers and verging on desperation. Stories of what the police bad said and done at the Nelson Column had been circulated from mouth to mouth and exaggerated with every reit» eration, until the crowd was convinced that the authorities had actually dared tb.pm to conflict. Such a fire, ready for ignition and within touching distance, was inflamed by the speeches delivered from the Carlton Club steps. The mob waa split up into two divisions by being forced down different streets by the police, from Trafalgar square In endeavouring to get nearer the occupants^ of the Club* bouse steps, and the divisions started off howling and challenging the authorities, The invaded streets were at once aban-i donerl to the rioterß, who, finding themeelveß no longer opposed, vented their ill* will agaiost well-housed people, and against clubs, by stoning dwellings and club-houses along the way. All that part of the cily in the neighbourhood of the National Gallery, Carlton Club, and Re* form Club was in possession of the mob. Several faction fights took place among the*rioterj<» A furious mob was at ? p.m. marching through St. James street and Piccadilly, on the way to Ityde Park, to hold a meeting. Some of the mob at* tacked shop?, sacked saloons, got drunk, Bm3 smashed windows on ita way to the Park. The front mob made an effort to enter the vVar Office, bat turned away when tbe sentinels at the entrance confronted the intruders with bayonets. Conspicuous among the buildings attacked were thoße occupied by the Devon* shire Club, and that occupied as a residence b/ Mr Arnold Morley. The'police aloDg the route to Hyde Park* were crushed out of the way by the rioters as bo many mpn of straw, and many officers were terribly whipped for interfering, That part of the Trafalgar square mob which went to Hyde Park was composed of thehordes which had filled up Cookspur street, Pall Mall and St. Jam? e street when the O&rlton Cub was attacked. This long-drawn-.up throng bent at Regent street, and moved northwards through Rogent street and Piccadilly, a quarter of a mile avay. Pasaing around Reboot Circus, it went north again through Regent street, half a mile, to Oxford Circus. It turned here to the left and went next down Oxford street to Hyde Park. This was undoubtedly chosen by the leaders for the purpose of keeping the crowd on, safe ground, as they would be on the north side of the park. If the mob bad gone along St. James street to Piccadilly, and thence to Park L*ae, it mt^hi have run too near tha barneks on the south s'de of the park. Mr Arnold Morley's residence is in Piccadilly, and the house having bpen formerly occupied by Mr John Bright it was well known to the mob. When the rioter 3 approaohod the hoase Morley wqs in he loudly called for help. A number of po icemea for a moment stood in tho way of the men, but were pushed aside like chaff. A host of desperate men rushed up Morley's steps. He;had barricaded the door,but it was burst open and the hou*e overrun. When the invaders went away they left soarcely a sound pane of glass in the building. A great number of other private houses along their road fared much worse than John Bright's old house, including tho Devonshire Clnb Houae, which had baea previously attacked. The attack upon thia building was Very savage. : -The /Hatchet Hotel, a well-known hostelry in Piccadilly, was attacked. When the mob paasecUhis locality many of _ the. rank and file beiri^ Hungry made a rash for the hotel. They had it in their'posdessipn for a moment, and sacked it of all the food and drink, and left the building badly wrecked, As the men were leaving they saw a oar* riage which bad been pressed up against the curb by ' tbe mob and abandoned by its frightened occupants. It was seiz d in an instant and* broken ap, and the wheels, spokes, shafts, and other good pieces carried away for Slobs. The Tqrf Qlub gogee, bejog j fl

Piccadilly, presented a temptation to tbe t' , lioters as they went by. They smashed til the front doors and windows along Regent and Oxford streets, between Piccadilly and- Hyde Park. Houses were attacked indiscriminately, and their win- * dbwa smashed. ; After Burns had been driven away from J' , the Nelson Monument by the police, and ] bad spoken from the National Gallery wall ';..'. . and Carlton Club steps, a savage fight took t- - place between his adherents (the Socialists) and anti Socialists. The battle raged for ■ tomo time, but the Socialists proved vie- • torions. Four of them lifted Burns to ; their ehonlders and bore him aloft to Be- - . gent street, where, with him, they eucceeded in bending the crowd towards '" . Hyde Paik, Burns leading theway. At Hyde PuTk, .when the mob had all collected. Burns again addressed them. His : speech was even more violent than the others he had made, the language being exciting, and the whole address calculated to set the crowd loose upon the town. ' ~ Barns was followed by several other Socialistic speakers, all of whom did all io their power to stir up strife. When the speaking was over the mob broke up into -o. parties. The main body went back along v^ \ Oxford • street and again affrighted the residents on this thorough-fare, who had not yet recovered from the panic. The mob had the street to themselves. Thoy I -. smashed every sound window they noticed, and wine-shops were broken into and their distributed freely to whoever ift y wished to driok. BeerrßalooDß theyj eimiv lirly treated , Tailors' shops - were : broken fT-J into and clothes and tolls of cloth ■ were, v thrown into the streets to be . taken by those Strongest in the fight which resulted - Every person met who looked like a foreigner was stoned or beaten from the , ■ street. Scores of times policemen attempted to save assailed property and ' ; make arrests, but they were every time ;i beaten and compelled to surrender their ? priibners. In the meantime several thouJ aand remained at Trafalgar --.' (Square occupying time in daring the police to come od, arid making rushes at con-* '•tables, and other obnoxious persons.. In v:' .. one (»f these rushes the mob overthrew two -. V, h<«vy granite columns. These fell across - - fQidnng Cross and blocked the traffic to ■ r and from Chajing Cross railway station. : The police made several most desperate :i- H :to dear away the obstructions, £ 5 %ut were .easily resisted every time by the • f Ihpb; The entire powers, of the police ?u-" tj«we3'insuffi6ient to clear a way to one of :- v ; ' themost important railway stations in the s > . *Otld , to permit even a single carriage line &■■?' to pass to or from the Jdepot. Some. '/ ' : tinieafterdark the mob gradually leffcTra- * falgar sqttare. They Went a satisfied - that Without having actually collided with £ tilie police they had won the day. As the xsSmob dispersed, its Sections made havoc in ; ffjhe stfe^ts until ;they dwindled away. '**■ Ttfricenes which characterised the re%h £&&&$. that section of the Hyde Park ,# %flioli^which went through Oxford Btreet llbo mtlended the retreat of other scoW tibns Of the tjrbwd. Every street they ;: illteted surrendered to them. tU-. I^Ehe police reports concurred in stating that never before in the present generaition baa such a disturbance occurred in '¥■":- London with so little loss of blood. Some officials declared that upwards of 50,000 then Must have been rioting for at leaßt ''' ' Bit hobrS) with absolute poaßesaion of every thoroughfare they chose to invade, 4 yetnoiosß'?of>life is reported. Had the 4l*diei;pblice been strbng enough to attack the mob at any point there might have been a terrible recqfd made. At midnight everything was pretty much as it was during the day^and the whole thing ap- <•«/ ' pears to' have been a . sort „of nightmare Awhile it lasted. The city was thoroughly ■r- : <- excited, but the mob was essentially : ;:»E D glish— it made a frightful demonstration, and when it was not resisted it went to bed at the usual time. . ; ... According to the lowest estimates 150,000 persons were engaged in the Trafalgar Square demonstration. Twothirds of the crowd were bona fide unemE loved working men, the remainder being pci«liats. Tbe two sections not being in f accpid, there were frequent collisona betjeeenthem. ... . •'■■ t | ;Fear« were entertained that the riots of • the Bth would be renewed next day. In inticipation of another demonstration, imall crowds of roughs passed in Trafalgar iquare from different points of the • city, and at 3 p.m. the crowds numbered 3000. None of the leaders of the day before, however, made their appearance. The roughs look advantage oftbehtavy fog to assemble in various parts of the West End. They were bold and impudent^and one (rang attempted to atop carriages :of members of the nobility who Were on their way to St. James' Palace to attend the levee given by the Prince of Wales. A force of police, however, drove them back. By 3 o'clock the crowd in Trafalgar square was 10,000 strong. A majority of it was composed of loafers of the wonst clsbb, Daring the afternoon a gorgeous equipage was driven, near the mob. Someone cheated •• Turn out the Lord Mayor." The rioters at once made a rush for tho vehicle, seemingly de- j terinined to tear it to pieces and stamp the occupants to death. The police, how- i ever, by a vigorous charge rescued tbe equipage and its occupantß and got them i-. toji place of safety. After a struggle and repeated charges the police, about 430 '■■'■■ p.tb., pucceeded ..in pnshing the mob into - side s* reefs, and thus splitting it up. The U police followed up their work, and drove "P> % each* ragmentof the broken mob until its ? % ? elements were liißsipated in the alley-ways '*'; by-ways of the city v ■ I « {i -Sparling, the Socialist leader, and Hy nd- ~ - man, president oi ths Democratic Federation, were interviewed. Both dfgolaimed ■•"•■' any connection with the riote, and the ' ' ! former said that while he did not approve of rioting, he could not but rejoice at tin .event that shows society to be insecure. In regard to the etone-throwing at Carlton ... Olnb, Sparling said the members of that body brought the- attack upon themselves by appearingat the windows and coughing and jeering at tbe mob. In. explanation of .■-■'-■'ffie rough treatment which a lady had :.-■ ;been subjected toby the rioters, he said '-''*" the carriage had been stopped because the ladywas, beard to order her coachman to „._,. .^ drive over those dogs." The mob, *" ■•Sparling ''BaidJ selected and at tacked; those .. • shops iwhfch exhibited the R«yal 'arms. toat trouble of a; very . wrious purpprj will ensue if the distress existing among tbe working people is not Boon relieved. -On the third day the dense fog oontioned, and favoured the congregation of j roughs. A second crowd of loafers asv- * " v "- -aembled on^street corners, aud crowds of hundreds of jgrenuine workmen, out of employment wandered about Traf ulgar square afternoon. Aboui:2- o'clock newa'iratl^qeived fa the city that amob - Which had aßßemhled at Deptfbrd wa« # marching towards the cjty, and stnashing ihevafrpptß of I fi^onw|* ialbng the routed and -ajjanio pret Iraile^^ 1 Bbfirtlyi before; £. b'clcok this mob '^^m^^^^S^^v^i^^M; Southwark, I s^^artjp^ 'flteimCleB t iroioa tti(B?startin)g; point. ■ - > during its progress north. The mob rested /• r jo SWthwarfc bttween London Bridge and I ! J The pblicej held all Uieb^dgevjßppraaches. The Deptford mob i largely/ composed ,of| thieves and % rnnisnirwha had organisedsto . attack the - - city empoririras and banks, JOn its way to % - m KeDtroajlandNewing ton Causeway, small shops were>acked. "rioierit stopped at -ttie mammoth ' of uWpam Tamand , and ■•-■^ Cb^ "^^tto'-^W'W"^! l^ o^^*!- 8 roand "from iand focludinKNos^o^l pn^Kent toad, awfil6s to m on^ewifagton^Oaufie. -■"■:'■: "■;''.'•■"-.•;.::■■■■■:. . ;■■ ■:••., -:;:..^;v.:.:- t^.'-'- .:■•■.'.. ■ -

and women's clothes, boots and chocs, carpets, ironware., bedding, "and furniture.* The building was under police protection, but the mob overrun the officers and sacked tbe store. When they retired, the building waa badly wrecked. ! A Socialist meeting was advertised to take place the same evening in Cumberland Market. Many thousands .assembled, the lowest classes of London being present. The Socialist leaders came to the conclusion to abandon the attempt to hold a meeting, because, as they said, the dense fog that prevailed prevented them from distinguishing the unemployed working men from loafers. The police were raoro active in dealing with the mob than on thepreceding occasion, and. by midnight the city was quiet. Tbe official estimates of th" losses by the riots amount to L 30,000. On tbe 11th 300 workmen called upon the Lord Mayor to urge upon him the necessity of doing something to relieve tuo distress among the unemployed of London. He received them courteously, and stated that a Mansion-house fund, which had been started on Tuesday with ibat object in view, already amounted to L6OOO. The better classes of London had been thoroughly aroused to tho real need of the unemployed, and over LI O,OOO had been subscribed within three days for their relief, nearly all of which was contributed by metropolitan merchants and bankers. The general public bus scarcely given anything to toe Mansion-houßo fund. Tho Bank of England and Messrs Glyn, Miles, and Curry have dunatcd, LIOOO each. The ' engineers, John;Penn and Sonp, 3ent their cheque for L2OOO. The Queen wrote a lettor expressing her sympathy with the sufferers by the riots. Hynrfman, Burns, and Champion, Socialist leader?,' were arrested on February 13 for inciting riot, contempt of law, etc.