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A CONTRAST.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —Those who have not witnessed or read of riots may not bo • able to realise tho necessity of taking adequate) measures to protect life and property, or appreciate tho precautious taken by tlie present Government to ensure this. I give two instances which occurred in Bristol to show tho differeuco between a want of preparation which resulted in disaster, and a firmness'which prevented it.

i 111 1831 the Reform Bill was beforo tho 1 country. .Sir Charles Wctherell, the Recorder of Bristol, Who was most unpopular through his opposition to it, entered tho city to preside at the Court of Quarter Sessions. Crowds assembled and tliero was a. hostile demonstration. The baser element took advantage of this to break into houses and stores for plunder, . and finding large quantities of wines and spirits became intoxicated. Then the mob, regardless of their fellows, set fire to the buildings and many perished in tho* flames. With maniacal frenzy it burst the Mansion House. Customs Houses, Bishop's palace, various public aud private buildings, and tho gaol, aftor liberating the prisoners. Pandemonium reigned Until cavalry, hurrying into tho city, charged through tho crowded streets, sabreing indiscriminately, so that m.any innocent persons, with the guilty, wero killed and wounded.. This destruction and slaughter could easily have been prevented if it had been checked in time. There was a small force of military quartered in the city, but the municipal authorities were paralysed, and thd officer in charge feared to act. For this neglect of his duty ho was tried by Court Martial, apd committed suicide during the trial. Stanley Weyman, in "Chippinge," describes the events which took place in a most vivid and accurate way aud I would adviso vour readers to get this book.

_ About 60 years later, in the same city, the wharf labourers and lumpers came out 011 strike. • At first the public sympathised as thoy worked long hours for little'pay. Somo men and women of a better social class, but impulsivo visionaries of tho Trcgear type, headed processions through the streets calling all employees to leave their work instantly, which they mostly did, so that thero was a general strike by night. Within a day or two reason resumed its sway and most of the strikers returned to work, but it gave tho employers an exciiso for dispensing with the services of the aged, weakly, or incompetent. Thero was much distress and some suicides, while their abettors left them to tho consequences of tfteir own folly. The wharf, labourers, encouraged by Ben Tillett and their union leaders, refused the employers' terms and the strike continued, while there was an abundance of free labour, under adequate protection. Driven to desperation tho striko leaders planned a repetition of the riots of 1831. A procession was arranged to go through the narrow streets of tho city ,011 Christmas Eve, when, tho shops .were making their usual display, and the streets would be crowded, and thero would bo opportunities for looting. The authorities forbade the. procession, but tho strikers persisted. The intention was for tho head of tho prcccssion only to go into tho city so ■,vi to draw tho police away from tho docks. The other and larger portion was to attack the free labourers and burn the sheds and timber yards. The procession started with bands of music and inucji cheering, but all tho streets leading into the uusiness part of tho city were blocked by police and soldiers who shepherded it to an open space m the suburbs, whore.a meeting was held and tho leaders urged the crowd to join those who were' attacking the free labourers and to burn property. For making these incendiary speeches they were tried afterwards and sont to gaol. Tho fighting portion of the strikers when they reached tho docks found tho jnili.tary in such force that they ran, and the striko collapsed. It is strango how in times of excitement and mental stress so many people lose their mental balance. Tho usually peaceful citizen displays a most destructive tendency and a tigerish thirst for blood, as ill tho Paris revolutions, while 110 even tries to mutilato inoffensive animals. We have seen latoly a public official who was employed at a handsome salary, and 'is now drawing a pension, to perfect and run tho arbitration system on lines which he himself approved, now ignoring his moral responsibilities and encouraging, men to pursuo a course which must inevitably result to their own injury and to that of the community. I trust that I have shown how necessary it is to make adeouato arrangements to avoid any disorder at tho nresent time. —I am, etc., PRECAUTION.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19131112.2.75.9

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1904, 12 November 1913, Page 10

Word count
Tapeke kupu
783

A CONTRAST. Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1904, 12 November 1913, Page 10

A CONTRAST. Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1904, 12 November 1913, Page 10

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