ORGANISED DISORDER.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14987, 6 June 1914, Page 12

ORGANISED DISORDER.

SMALL GANGS OF INTERRUPTERS.

A NOISY TAYO HUNDRED.

SCENES IN THE CROWD,

"There arc a few .here to-night who are afraid -of hearing mc speak," shouted Mr Massey in a brief lull in the boohing and.yelling of the organised opposition", and of a crowd of irresponsible boys and voteless youths. "The measure of their pluck is shown by their actions to-night." 'And the truth of his remark was acknowledged by the vast majority of the great crowd which filled tho open space round the band rotunda in Victoria square. A GREAT AUDIENCE. Fully an hour before the Prime Minister was duo to speak, there was a rapidly growing crowd assembled round the rotunda. Tho seating accommodation provided was quickly filled by those desirous of hearing what Mr Massey had to say, and there wero many ladies amongst them. The sea of humanity widened every minute until there were nearly 5000 people packed into th J open space facing the oast side of the rotunda and curving round towards tbo river and Victoria street. CAREFULLY-PLANNED ATTEMPT. Tho great majority had come to hear a policy speech and to give the Prime Minister a fair and impartial hearing— a„ really square deal. Some of them may have been opposed, and indeed, must have been opposed, to Mr Massey. politically, but they were very anxious to hear his speech, and they were disgusted at the tactics adopted by a very small section of the great crowd. There is no doubt that there was a carefullyplanned attempt to break up the meetingvand to prevent the; Prime Minister from getting a hearing. Long before Mr Massey arrived it was noticeable, that there were' three or four little groups of men stationed [ at different points .amongst the crowd, plainly organised to create as .much noise and disturbance as possible.- Directly in front of the Prime Minister's table one of these groups set up a great hooting and yelling as members of tho local branch of the Reform League took their seats on the rotundla, and when the first mob momentarily quietened down, another gan,g some distance away carried on the organised disturbance. Good-humoured remarks rose here and there amongst the crowd and one man raised roars of laughter by calling to the organiser of the Reform "Give us a tango Davy" A REMARKABLE DEMONSTRATION. The arrival of the Prime Minister and the Mayor was the signal for a remarkable demonstration. Wild cheers rose from the. crowd mingled with hoots and groans from the littlo organised mobs, but tho cheering easily made the greater volume of sound. There was round upon round of cheering, men waving their hats wildly and women their handkerchiefs. "What about tho square deal?" sbonted "somebody to tho Prime Minister, who smiled genially on tho crowd. "AFRAID TO HEAR" ME." / Tho Mayor asked for a fair hearing aor the Primp Minister and again loud cheers overwhelmed tho hoots and groans. When Mr Massey stepped forward to speak he was greeted with a storm of cheers and applause, mingled with hoots and yells. Somo leather-lunged disturbers started the "count out," and the Prime Minister said, ''There are a lew afraid of hearing mc speak. (Cheers and applause;, birtrif you think yon can affect mc, you aro making a great mistake." (Cheers, groans, and hoots and the report of a detonator.) j ' The policy we put forward three years ago has been strictly adhered to to the very letter," began Air Massey, and there followed another burst of cheering and hooting. "Three cheers for 'Bob' Semplo." felled a hoarse voice, but his own was the solitary response. The Prime Minister then proceeded to deal with finance, hut. amid the noise of hooting and groaning from the small knots of obstructionists, who persisted in giving tho "count out." and in calling out "AYe want Ward!" his remarks could he heard only by those iv the immediate vicinity of the rotunda. The organised opposition appeared to be ably backed up by numbers of youths aiid small boys, who shrieked and yelled insulting, and abnsive remarks, and seemed bent on making as much noise and confusion as possible. It was a display of larrikinism which disgusted and annoyed the thousands, who stood patiently and' attentively, trying to hear what Mr Massey had to say. MR MASSEY SMILES. . The Prime Aliniste.r was unperturbed and smiling throughout, and he administered some hard knocks to the loud-mouthed individuals who attempted to shout him- down. Only those near at hand could hear what was si..;--and. that not .continuously, but -Mr Massev kept on. making toiling points all through, and gaining the sympathy and admiration of the majority. ■- : - The Mayor rose once, and appealed against uYdin of hoots and yells for a fair, hearing. "Boys boys!" he called. I am sure iio* gentleman would l>ehave like that." And then to the orderly sections of the crowd ho called, It is mostly boys who are making a disturb-

[ance, and they don't- know . any . bet- | ter." j "Since the Reform Government came [ into power," said Mr Alassey, "there j has not been a vestige of increased taxation —not even by . tho . hundredth j part of a farthing." (Loud applause | mingled with hooting.) | Somebody intci jocted that the Re- | form Government would be out after I tin- next election. [ "Don't y.oti worry-," retorted the [ Prime .Minister, "you will find that [after tho election■ Massey will still be |on top." (Loud cheers and more hooting.) ACTS OF LARRIKINISM. At a later stage of the meeting the i crowd had iucrcased greatly, and the gangs of interrupters, who kept up a continuous hooting and veiling, and shouting of insulting remarks, finding that they could not stop Mr Massey from speaking, attempted to break up the iiathering, and in this they were assisted by. hordes of irresponsible youths, who started to push and shove their way through to the front. The crowd swayed and surged in places, and at- times it seemed as if somebody would be injured. There was a very small number of policemen in the crowd, and they were powerless to stop the ugly rushes of the mobs of larrikins and hooligans who pressed m ! upon the ladies seated close to the rotunda. Many of the ladies were con- ! sidcrably alarmed, and wero forced to j leave their seats and escape from tho ' crush. One old lady refused to leave [ her chair, and in very plain terms told I som of tho excited hooligans what sho thought of them, emphasising her remarks with well-directed blows from her umbrella. DESPICABLE TACTICS. Tho conduct of the organised interrupters and the irresponsible boys and youths was despicable in tho extreme, and aroused the resentment of tho vast majority. Foiled in their efforts to stop Mr Massey from speaking, they descended to worse tactics. Their advance guard seized chair after chair and hurled them over tho heads of the crowd. Several people narrowly escaped serious injury to their heads, and in many cases the legs of the falling chairs went dangerously closo to tho eyes of men and women. Some forty or fifty chairs must have been picked up and thrown haphazard amongst the crowd. The police did their best to stop the riotous behaviour, but they were far too few, and when they appeared in one section of tho crowd, tho chair-throwing started in other places. The din caused by tho hooting and yelling of tho mobs, who numbered not moro than 200 or 300 out of the 5000 to 6000 people, was drowned at times iby the enthusiastic cheers of Mr Massey's supporters, and of those, who, while they were probably political opponents, admired his courageous attitude. Ho went through his speech right to the end and although his remarks towards the close were heard only by a narrow circle which included many Interrupters who had rudely pushed their way through the crowd, he "won out" and gained the admiration of the thousands for his good-humoured patience in the face of organised opposition. A DISORDERLY SCENE. » The amendment of "thanks only" for his. address was plainly lost, and the motion of thanks and pf confidence in tho Reform Government was declared carried amidst wild cheering, and apr plause which drowned the hoots of the small minority.- , When Ilr Massey turned to leave the rotunda there was a wild rush to the .stens. The police struggled hard to .make a passage fo r him through the crowd, Cut a mob of some 200 men and youths who appeared to have taken leave of their senses fought andstruggled wildly. Mr Massey was shaken heartily by tho hand by dozens of people as he left the rotunda, and. was seized by. enthusiastic , supporters: and carried shoulder high for some distance. ;>-,-.' Mr E. J. Howard and several of his friends valiantly backed up Reformers and police constables to check the disorder. "Bo men, be men," called Mr Howard, but the mob took: no notice. Their rush carried away the fence round tho fountain near the rotunda, and several people narrowly escaped being forced into the basin. Finally Mr Massey got clear of tbe mob and {returned to his hotel in a tmotor-car, accompanied by a multitude of.cheering people and a small detachment of the. rowdies.-

"I think he was splendid," declared one lady in. the crowd: "I had never heard him speak before, but he was great-to-night." ... "I like to hear, both sides of a question," said a man to-his friend, "and when I don't agree \vith a speaker I keep quiet." 'Tt is tho worst thing for themselves that has ever- happened," said smother man, plainly referring to the Opposition. "They have done themselves a lot of harm to-night and have disgusted decent people." When Mr Massey descended the steps of the rotunda, an ugly rush was mado by an oxcited mob. The police did their best to keep the crowd back, but could not stem tho rush. In the wild scramble the chain fence round the rotunda was broken down and a heavy garden seat upturned. Mr W. A. Price, who is in tho office of Mr Swanston, builder and contractor, and who lives at 3 Conference street, who had tried to stem the pressure, had the misfortune to get his right arm caught between tho seat and the fence, and being pushed by the mob. his arm was dislocated at the shoulder. Sergeant Stowart and Constable Curtis rendered first aid, but could not get the arm back into its socket. Dr. Irving Was summoned and attended to Mr Price, who suffered consfderable pain. Tho injured arm was put into place, but it will be some time before it is properly right again.