HYDE PARK ORATORS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 196, 4 September 1937, Page 15

HYDE PARK ORATORS

Those orators who take their stand in Hyde FaTk of an evening and exhort London crowds with fiery phrases to attack the Government, uphold the Government, destroy the social system, preserve the social system, or take up any of the score of "isms" peddled at this "pavement parliament," may take a deep bow. One and all, they have just been trighly praised by Seotland Yard. "The increased number of meetings and demonstrations in Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square," writes Air ViceMarshal Sir Philip Game, Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, in his latest report, "was no doubt largely due to international events, particularly the wars in Abyssinia and Spain, and, during a short. period, to the unemployed march to London early in November. But these meetings were in every case orderly and the conduct of the unemployed marchers beyond reproach." The significance of this statement is underlined by the fact that when writing it the police chief of London was commenting on the fact that last year street meetings elsewhere in this city were on the increase and caused the police much more trouble than usual. "A considerable st^ain," the Teport declares, was put upon police re-

sourees, to the detriment of their other work, especially during the latter half of the year, by a very marked increase in the number of public meetings in the street and the size of the audiences attracted." The" commissioner 's report goes on to state that the anti-Seanitic policy of certain Fascist organisations has caused violence in the East End. Police action, it is reported, has Tesulted in the diminishing of grosser forms of " Jew-baiting," but affairs are still bad enough in some districts to cause' considerable trouble to ihe police and place a strain upon their resourees. The Hyde Park demonstrations are different. There may be rlots elsewhere, but what is the. se'cret' of the Park that a communist, a conservative, a Christian, . a Muhammadan, mnd numerous undenominational and nonparty agitators can stand in a row and harangue roughly the same audience without causing a disturbance of the peace? Maybe it's the air. Maybe it is just an English secret. But if - it Is a seeret, sooiebody ought to "let the cat out of the bag. It might do a lot of people good to discover how it's done.