PUBLIC INTRIGUED

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1934, Page 7

PUBLIC INTRIGUED

MYSTERY ABOUT GRIFFIN SUGGESTION OF A DUMMY TWO PROTEST MEETINGS NEWCASTLE; MELBOURNE By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Sydney, Nov. 19 The movements of Gerald Griffin, the New Zealander who is being sought by the police as a prohibited immigrant, are intriguing the public of two States. Questions are being asked: “Is there one Griffin or several Griffins, and are the anti-war agitators running a dummy Griffin to mystify the Federal authorities?” An alleged Griffin addressed a meeting at Newcastle on Saturday afternoon and at Melbourne on Sunday night a man claiming to be Griffin addressed a meeting of protest against the exclusion of Kisch. Five thousand people in the Melbourne Stadium had been listening to addresses condemning the Federal Government for banning Kisch and Griffin, when the chairman asked: “If Gerald Griffin is in the hall, will he stand up?” Then as a bespectacled man rose, men and. women rushed from their seats, cheering and yelling. When order was restored the man purporting to be Griffin said: “The Federal Government was not able to prevent my entry and they cannot prevent my message. I want to tell you that in New Zealand we are opposed to war, and want you to help us to smash the play of the warmongers.”