WILD UTTERANCE.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXII, Issue 2784, 1 May 1911, Page 2

WILD UTTERANCE.

A SOCIALIST IN THE SQUARE

The by-law prohibiting the address-

ing of meetings in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, was applied in a manner that was almost dramatic on Sunday

afternoon last,

A hoarse-voiced middle-aged man

was preaching the doctrines of what may or may not be Socialism. He declared that there was a sure and speedy

answer to the question of bow the peo-

pie would pay the capitalists for the various indusirial works when they took them over ; they would capture them by force. The men who had fought to bring Chinese slaves to South Africa

would fight in a better cause

In the midst of his appeal on behalf

of violence two policemen stepped forward quietly. The speaker stopped abruptly as the officers whispered to him. The crowd began to dwindle. He turned to those who remained. " Don't go away, don't go—this is the most interesting part of the afternoon ! "

When what appeared to be his first scare had worn off, he assured the policemen that if they wanted word about him they could apply to the Chiefs ot Police of Chicago, New York, or Colorado Springs. He howled his name very loudly. He asked the people to allow him to tell stories until he had recovered from the effects of the interruption. After speaking of " a thief called William the Conqueror, " he assured them that might was right in 1911 just as it had been in 1066. He appealed to the world at large to supply him with a Mauser, a Remington, or even a Snider, and put him face to face with Carnegie. Presently he stated that those who suggested municipalisation as well as all those in the higher places in Labour matters, did not know the beginning of political economy. When the reporter left he seemed to be preaching anarchy, not, and civil war to a rapidly thinning audience, which occasionally applauded ironically.—" Press. "