STORE RAIDED.

Waikato Times, Volume 111, Issue 18641, 20 May 1932, Page 7

STORE RAIDED.

FOODSTUFFS STOLEN. BY HUNTLY UNEMPLOYED. SEVERAL ARRESTS MADE. (Special to Tiroes.) HUNTLY, Thursday. The circumstances in connection ■with the raid -on the Farmers’ Trading Company's store by unemployed were that the men had held a meeting to decide whether they would accept the Waikato Hospital Board's offer of one day’s labour at 12s a day. This was turned down, and it was decided to ask for sustenance instead. A proposal that the Farmers’ Trading Company be asked to extend credit to the unemployed to the value ol* £oo was carried by 45 votes to 33. The men immediately crossed the road from the Lyceum Hall, where the meeting was held, to the premises of the Farmers’ Trading'Company. When they put their request to Mr Nortnmore he asked for time to consult the other shopkeepers of the town with an idea of seeing what could bo done in the matter. While some of the men were willing to fall in with Mr Northmore’s proposal, the majority were hostile. For 25 minutes Mr Northmore argued and pleaded with the men. lie pointed out that the Hospital Board L had already offered unemployed mar- — rled men a day’s work during each stand-down week at a remuneration of 12s instead of relief in kind. The men’s point of view as stated by the leaders was that all other hospital boards gave the unemployed rations during the stand-down week and that no work was demanded in return. They insisted that the same measure of relief should be extended to the unemployed of Huntly. The discussion was interrupted when the leaders of the movement suggested a vote to decide whether the men should help themselves. As a result direct action was taken and the shelves raided for foodstuffs. The value of the goods taken was estimated at £lO. Pickets were posted at the front and back doors to warn the crowd if the police should approach. An assistant, however, went to a rear room and telephoned for the police. Owing to it being lunch hour the threo members of the police force who were in Huntly were at their homes having their mid-day meal, and when they arrived the crowd had dispersed. Thereafter there was no disturbance of any kind, the men either went quietly home or gathered about the main street in little groups to discuss the situation. Every precaution was taken, however, to prevent another "outbreak. Police reinforcements were sent for, members of the Hamilton force being first on the scene. At five o'clock Superintendent Till and 12 constables arrived from Auckland, bringing the police strength up to 20. Soon afterwards two arrests were made and before 10 p.m. eight men had been taken into custody without any hostile demonstration. The arrested men were ■ conveyed to-night to Hamilton and L will appear in Lhe Hamilton Court to- ,■ morrow morning.

A QUIET NIGHT. (Special lo Times.) HUNTLY, Friday. Last night the town was very quiet *nd to-day with the police patrolling the streets there is no sign of violence. HELP GIVEN PREVIOUSLY. CANNOT UNDERSTAND ACTION. HUNTLY, Thursday. Mr Northmore, manager of the Farmers’ Trading Company’s store, from which goods were taken by unemployed men and women to-day, stated this evening that ‘he was at a 'loss to understand why the Farmers’ Trading Company should have been singled out for attention, seeing that he had previously granted the strikers ■ relief. On an earlier occasion he had advanced £OO worth of provisions, and the strikers had raised sufficient money bv donations and entertainments to pay the account within a month. In view of his help in the past he could not understand why his store should have been the one lo suffer. Relief work was declared “ black ” in Huntly after Mr W. Slaughter, 011 - Tcer controlling unemployment in tho Auckland district, had interviewed the men on Tuesday. He (old them work would be available on Hie railway line next week. There is no relief 'work available this week, and the Waikato Hospital Board was appealed to for help. In pursuance of its policy the board offered the unemployed 12s in return for a day’s work. ' The offer under those conditions was refused. REASON FOR ACTION. PARTICIPANTS’ EXPLANATION. MEN’S SITUATION SERIOUS. -MAKING GOVERNMENT REALISE.” (Special to Times.) HUNTLY, Thursday. In an interview with a Waikato rimes representative one of the men ivho took part in the .shop-raiding denoiislratioi! to-day made the iollowng .statement: — “The majority of Hie unemployed In Huntly have been put Off from Ihe mines since Christmas, and since January have been working on Ihe unemployed scheme." the informant slated. "They have not been receiving the full alloeation, and insle.nl of nveivaig three clays al 12s Col a day have averaged 12s (hi a day for two days, iMiring this time Ihe men's elolhing ami boo's wore oil! and they eoubl not pay a rent. How can a man receiving 2b-, a week pay ids a week for rent and v food his wife, ins children and himself id the same time.' "Three weeks ago the Waikato Hospital Hoard gave us a donation of £>3

|in cash. This worked out at lOs for a man and his wife and 2s for each J child. Single men received ss. No i work was done for this money. This i week the board decided that married | men would receive one day’s work in i lhe off week at 12s for the day, while j no guarantee was made for single men. 1 It was stipulated lliat this would be the | last assistance obtained from the board. The only way to get assistance was for us to place the responsibility on the Government and not on | the board. The Situation Desperate. “What we did to-day we did to show the authorities that the situation in. Huntly is desperate and that the people are short of food. “The unemployed went to the Farmers’ Trading Company and asked for goods to tlic value of £1 for each family on credit. The manager had ! been good to us before and had granl- . ed a credit of £SO to us, which we paid off within a month. This time .he wished to consult other shopkeep- , ers on the matter, but the unemployed would -not wait and helped , themselves. “The instructions of 'the leaders ‘ were that no windows were to be broken, no property destroyed, or any- , thing taken other than food. This the men implicitly obeyed. ‘•The objoct was not to stoal, ; but to bring before the public and | the Government the seriousness of our position and at the same 1 time to show that the unemployed of Huntly should be provided for : In the samo manner as those of ; Auckland and Wellington.” 1 Work on Railway. i “Two months ago ten members of the Unemployed Workers’ Movement i were placed on the railway to do pers manent way work which had previ--1 ously done by permanent railway work- ■ ers at 14s a day. The Government . dispensed with several of the railway ■ staff who were working on the .14s a day basis and asked the unemployed of Huntly to take on their jobs at 12s Gd a day. “This was nothing better than a ■ wage reduction scheme, and the unemployed refused to ‘scab’ an railway workers. We went out on strike and remained out for five weeks, when on receiving a guarantee that none of us would bo placed on the railway, we returned to work. “The day before yesterday, however, Mr Slaughter, of the Auckland Labour Office, informed us that 30 'of the Huntly unemployed would be placed on the railway. This was a breach of the settlement arrived at to end the strike. It has also been inferred that if we are called upon to go into the mines at 12s Gd a day, and ‘scab,’ therefore, on the miners, we will have to do so or lose the right to relief work. We have decided, however that we will not ‘scab’ on the miners any moro than on the railway men.” PRELIMINARY SEQUEL. EIGHT MEN CHARGED. REMANDED FOR A WEEK. A sequel to yesterday’s disturbance at Huntly, when the premises of the Farmers’ Trading Company were entered and groceries forcibly removed by a number of relief workers, took piace in the Hamilton Magistrate’s Court this morning, when eight of the men who are alleged to have participated in the looting appeared before Mr Wyvern Wilson, S.M. Four of the number were charged wilh the theft of groceries to the value of £lO, the (property of the Farmers’ Trading Co., and with inciting and encouraging lawlessness. They were: David Fuller (Australia), aged - 32 years; Raymond Richards (Eng- ’ land), 32; Albert Allen (England), 32; Joseph Bincham (England), 50. “If bail is fixed I ask that It be made substantial," said Senior Sergeant Sweeney in response to -accuseds’ solicitor’s application for bail. The Senior Sergeant added that these four men were the ring-leaders at yesterday’s 'disturbance. Bail was allowed in two sureties of £IOO each, iu each individual case. The following were charged with the theft of groceries to the value of 1 £lO, tho property of 'the Farmers’ Trading Company: (Horatio Swindell (England), 47 years; Francis George 1 Stevens (England), 45; James Moyes : (Scotland), 50; Thomas Morgan (England), 44. Similar bail was allowed in each ] case. On tho application of the police j all accused were remanded lo appear at Iluntly at 9.30 on Friday morning next.

ACTIVITY OF POLICE. TWENTY MEN ARRESTED. THE TOWN NOW QUIET. (Special to Times.) HUNTLY, Friday. Twenty men have so far been arrested by the police in connection with yesterday's disturbance. Of these eight were charged al Hamilton this morning, and the remaining twelve will appear in Hie Iluntly Court this afternoon. All is quid in the town to-day, although speculation is rife as lo future developments. HOSPITAL BOARD. AND STAND DOWN WEEK. HUNTLY RUMOURS DENIED. “The Waikato Hospital Board is eer! i[a!v not Hie only hoard which demands work for relief given,” said an (dlieial of 11m board when questioned by a Waikato Times representative to-day. "As a mailer of fact, all work on the same basis. ■'.-him.' give groceries in exchange for work done, others give cash. The Waikato Board gives cash, as it considers that the best and fairest met bod. "The secretary of Ihe Unemployed Worker-' Movement was informed Hud the special roiiimillee id’ Hie Hospital Hoard set up to consider the relief question hid. no power lo alter the. jiivseisi arrangement that married men s! i o 11 !. I be provided with one lay's work !■> the llunliy Borough Council, l ,r which Ihe bo ir.l would pay I 2s. ‘•.\s fur stopping relief during the ■tiff wed,, Hie fart is Dial the board i-.iiild im! make any delhiile si.dement limit Ho. 1 next stand-down period, which occurs in a month's time, as it

was hoping that by I hat lime Hie Uncmpioviiienl Board would have instituted al Huntly it- new scheme for Hu' full week. "If the Unemployment Board has not Brough! ils scheme into force by next month Hie question of furllu'r help to Hie llunliy people will he considered. ‘‘Them is no suggestion that tho board would rofusa further help if nocossary.”