When Policemen go on Strike.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13432, 2 November 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

When Policemen go on Strike.

\ strike is always av-jnore or less serious' matter, both for the strikers and for the community at large. But when the- strikers are policemen, and when, moreover, they go on strike: against a: strike, as happened in Belfast the other day, the situation becomes alarming. . , This was shown very clearly -in Dublin, in 1882, when the entire police force of the city mutinied simultaneously, leaving the-<capital to. the mercy of an excited savage, and strongly disloyal mob. Happily the, -Castle authorities were equal to -the' emergency. service was 'suspended by proclamation, and the public houses were closedj.-.- Then came the troops,' riot by two and threes, but in battalions, occupying all the principal thoroughfares, : as well as; the squares, parks, quays, and other similar strategic .points throughout the city. :■'; Night fell, arid proved that the precautions were far from needless. ; From •dusk" till" dawn, • ferocious rioting, scarcely distinguishable from civil war, prevailed; but the gleam of many thousand bayonets and the rattle of rifle fire, cowed the mob so that within 24 hours peace was restored. Similar scenes were aboui/the same time, being enacted in Cork,sLimerr ick, and - other Irish cities. England has been happily free from police strikes—with one.notable exception. On the evening of July sth, 1890, about 130 men of the , force ' attached to Bow street Police Station refused duty, and marched into the' street, shouting and cheering. The result was pandemonium for quite a considerable while.. The socialist anarchists of Soho swarmed .into the district. 1 Red flags were ■grayed. The Marseillaise was sung in unison; by thousands of lusty lungs. But eventually the Foot Guards "put in a belated appearance, and charged the excited mob of civilians and constables. Whereupon the strike ceased as suddenly as it had begun.