THE THIRD DAY.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 145, 13 March 1886, Page 4

THE THIRD DAY.

Moving Towards the City. News was received in the city on February 10 that a mob ol roughs, which had assembled at Doptford, were marching towards London, and smashing: windows and wrecking the tronts of houses along the route. A panic prevailed among the residents of that portion of the city which the mob was likely to traverse, and shopkeepers closed their establishments. The police and troops were in readiness to prevent the mob from assuming the proportions of that of Monday and from committing similar excesses. The mob readied Hope Exchange in Southwark, nearly five miles from the starting-point of march. It had formidably increased by constant accessions during its progress north. All the shops along the routo wore closed. The destination of the rioters seemed to bo Trafalgar Square. The mob rested in Southwark, between London Bridge and Blackfriar's Bridge. The police were ordered to scciirc possession of all the bridges crossing the river Thames, and to resist all attempts on the part of the mob to cross, and they held all the bridge approaches and prepared to resist an attack. The authorities warned all tradesmen doing business in the Strand, Cockspur-stroot, Pall Mall, and Regentstreet to expect disorder, and to immediately close their shops and take steps to protect their property. West End already has a funereal appearance. The police woro informed that the Doptford mob was composed of largo numbers of roughs, who had organised to attack the oity emporiums and banks. Such stores as remained open in the city had their windows closed and barred, and woro ready to close their doors at a moment's notice. People stood about in the streets discussing the situation. Newspapers printed extra editions, which were eagerly bought up. The fog was dense. About six: p.m. the mob dispersed. The Dcptford mob, on its way toward tho Thames, swung through New Kent Road and Ncwington causeway. They sacked several small shops along the way. They stopped at the mammoth establishment of Wm. Tarn and Co. This establishment covers tho ground from and including No. 5 to 21 on Kent Road and 165 to 173 on Nowington causeway, and is devoted to the trade in linen, silk, men's and women's clothes, boots and shoes, carpets, ironware, bedding, furniture, etc. Tho building was under police protection, but the mob overran the officers, sacked the store, and whon they retired loft tho building badly wrecked.

Estimates of Monday's Damage. The official estimate places the amount of damagos by Monday's riots at about"£So,ooo. Tho vigorous action of the South London authorities compares favourably ■with the inaction of the police at the Trafalgar-square meeting on Monday. Mounted constables, armed with cutlasses and rovolverq, assisted the police on foot in dispersing the mob. A gratifying feature was tho fact that many small

tradesmen and a number of bona fide working- t men joined the police in repulsing the rioters, u who, dreading the encounter, quickly dispersed. The police had been informed early in the day a of a conspiracy of thioves and inhabitants of{the s common lodging-houses to make South London c the starting point of a pillaging expedition. Precautions were accordingly taken to prevent dis- l order. c

The Riots Without Precedent in London. At midnight the city was quiet. The crowds disappeared by 10 o'clock. The streets were deserted and the panic subsided. The scaro was without a parallel in the history of London. Tons of thousands of desperate mon wero gathered in the streets, and only needed some one more reckless than themselves to lead them to commit the wildest excesses. Everything was quiet in the metropolis on the 11th. Tradesmen have re-opened their shops and business is proceeding as usual. Considerable uneasiness, however, is still felt lest there should be further riotous demonstrations.

English Labour Riots. Three hundred unemployed working men called upon the Lord Mayor to urge upon him the necessity of doing something to relieve the distress among the unemployed of London. The Lord Mayor courteously received the deputation and promised to personally assist the distressed so far as his means would permit him. He added that the Lord Mayor's fund for the relief of the distressed poor of the city, which had been started on Tuesday, already amounted to £G,OOO. Six hundred police recruits have been engaged by the Government for service in London. The now men will go on duty at once, and while waiting tor their uniforms they will wear plain clothes with a badge on the left arm.

Distress and Riots in the Provinces. The movement for tlio relief of unemployed working men is spreading to the provincial towns. Two thousand rations and a large quantity oi clothing are distributed in Glasgow daily. That the existence of the distress is owing to the seventy of the winter is undisputed. A despatch from Leicester says : The hosiery operatois here are out on a strike. They are parading the streets and smashing windows of iactorics. The police charged upon the strikers, but were unable to disperse them. Four arrests were made. Placards have boon posted in Birmingham, callingamecting of unemployed workmen for Monday next. The placards are headed, " Come, ye thousands ! Why starve amid plenty ? Justice to the starving poor ! " A large meeting of unemployed workmen was held in Norwich, for the purpose of urging the authorities to give the unemployed labourers and mechanics work on the new barracks, schools, and gaols, instead of employing convicts. Similar meetings were held at Yarrow and elsewhere. The striking operatives in the hosiery factories at Leicester renewed their riotous demonstrations on the 12th. They attacked and sacked several houses. The police frequently charged the strikers during the day, and in each instance were resisted, many of the policemen being injured. The authorities, alarmed by the aggressiveness of the strikers, and seeing that the regular police were inadequate to cope with the disorderly elements, ordered the appointment of • special policemen, and a number ol citizens \ were sworn in to do duty as such. The strikers continued their rioting until a late hour. Twenty -seven rioters were arrested, ) and the mob made several attempts to rescue . them from the police. [ At a meeting of workmen it was announced ; that the masteis had conceded four important points and ottered to arbitrate the others. A ! resolution was passed agreeing to submit the demands of the strikers to arbitration.

Deputation to Mi' Gladstone. Burns, Ilyndman, Champion, Walls, and Williams, the leaders who managed the Trafalgar Square meeting last Saturday, called in a body to-day at Mr Gladstone's oiiicial residence, in L)owning-strcct, ior the purpose of obtaining an interview with that gentleman. Gladstone was absent at the time ol the visit and his Secretary received the callers. The Socialists said that the object ot their visit was to obtain irom Gladstone some declaration of the Government's intention with regard to affording relief to the unemployed orkmen of the country by means ot public works. They desired to obtain this information before stumping the country in the impending labor agitation, in order to be able to carry as much encouragement as possible to the people. Gladstone's Secretary advised the deputation to call at the oflice of the Secretary for Home Allah's, as the subject was not one properlj pertaining to the Treasury Department,m ent, ot which Gladstone is the First Lord. This reply ■u as 1 eccived a\ ith dissatisfaction, and the deputation handed the Secretary a document for Gladstone's perusal. This is in the nature of a formal declaration, insisting, on behalf of the unemployed ~v\ orkingmen, that the Government take immediate steps to relieve their pressing needs. Mr Childers, Home Secretary, has appointed a committee, of which he is the president, to inquire into the character and origin of the recent riots and the conduct of the police.

The Relief Fund. The Bank of England and Giynn, Miles & Currcy, bankcis, have donated £1,000 each towards the relief of the Tinein plowed working men of London. The rchcl fund now amounts to £100,000. Subscriptions arc being collected on the Stock Exchange.