PEOPLE'S VICTORY OVER HOOLIGANISM

Chronicle (Levin), 8 May 1946, Page 5

PEOPLE'S VICTORY OVER HOOLIGANISM

(Speeial Australian Correspondent.)

ROWDY SCENES IN SYDNEY'S TOWN HALL

ileeeived Tuesdav, 7 p.m. HYliXEY, -May 7. Yestei'day 's meeting of eiti/ens in the Sydiiev Town Iiail froni wh'n-Ii b" nien and women were e.jevted i:y the poliee in less than an liour, is regarded as a victory for the citizens iiguinst orgnnised hooliganism by t'omnmnisis aiul their supporters. The meeting, whieh was called as a protest against the deliberate holding up of supplies by industrial aetion, was attended by £4U" people, of whoiu about -1"" showe.i a determination to provent the s^.etikers from being heard. "The meeting was probably the inightiest and most triuiuphant demonstmtion by the general publie ever held in tSydney, " said Alr. D. 1*. Alacdonald, -M.L.C. "A frantie, yet orgauised, attempt to disrupt the meeting i'ailed miserably, iiut it served to sliow the e.xistenee of au element whieh is prepared to der'y law and order and resort to gangsterism. The resolution passed by the meeting from ihe i'itizens' itiglits Committee will have i'arreaehing elfects. ' ' The disturbance started wlien the lirst speaker was introdueed. At one stage people were being ejeeted it the rate of one per minute. A bodyguard of several nien was formed round a liian who tried to address the meeting i'rom ihe speaker \s platform. One woman bit an attendaut 's wrist, and left a false tootli embedded in his iiesli. A man cliiigiug to a row of six ehairs was removed by four polieemen, who earried him out, ehairs and ail. Fometimes as many as 1"U interjeetors were on their i'eet shouting ;ti oiiee. Their eries were mostly: Aleat baron, " "Press baron," and "Wait till the revolution, " before being foreed to leave. Some» disruptionists tossed handfuls of u'ommunist propagandii in the air. At oue stage £U iist nglits were taking phu*e at onee. The meeting ended with tliunderous eheers by the main body of listeners in support of the oflieial speakers, "The worni turned in the Town Ilall vesterdav, " says the Telegraph. "Alore than £"()" citizens deuoutieed the de^jiotism of planned anarehy whieh trumps up industrial grievanees to deprive the people of nieat, eoal, eleetrieitv and power as a lever to breal:' down the authority of the law aml extraet special benelits for a sellisli seetion. A strong, popular organisation Is needed to continue expressing the ordinary man and womnn's inartieulate anger against actions whieh the-auth-orities studiouslv ignore. Alr. Forde anxiously warned liis partv the other day tliat strikes were the Achilles lieel of Labour. " Pointing out tliat the meeting w:m a genuine ^'itizens ' -rally originating in a strong sense of community grievance, the Herald describes it as an " amazing demonstration botli of the depth of public feeling over repeated hold-ups of essential supplies and of the audacity of.the faction whieh is out to spreud disorder and sujipress free speech. The citizens are in revolt ti! last, and those to whom they have looked in vain for protection should take lieed of their spontaneous uprising."