The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-02-13 00:00:00

FROM THE SOCIAL DEMOCRAT POINT
OF VIEW.
AN INTERVIEW WITH MESSRS.

HYNDMAN AND CO. -
Immediately after the meeting in Hyde-park ca.
Monday afternoon a representative of the Pall Moll
Gazette interviewed Mr. Hyndman, Mr. Champion,
and Mr. Watts, three of the most prominent leaders
of the Social Democrats.

"We have had a great stroke of luck to-day," said
Mr. Hyndman, rubbing his hands joyfully; "a great
stroke of luck, indeed, and so entirely unexpected.
"Yes," said Mr. Champion, "none of us had any idea
what would happen.
"Why," said I, "do you mean to say that you did
not instigate the mob to break all the windows? I
am assured that Mossrs. Hyndman, Burns, and
Champion were seen leading on the mob to break all
the windows in the clubs, even if they did not throw
the stones.

"Nothing of the kind," said Mr. Hyndman; "so
far from our having instigated the attack on the clubs,
we did not even bring the people together to Tra-
falgar-square. That was the work of paid agitators,
fair traders, and the like, who collected the un-
employed in order to gain a rise for their own parti-
cular nostrum. As they had brought the people
together, we thought it a pity to allow so good an
opportunity to remain unutilized. So, having the
congregation provided for us, we inculcated the sound
economic doctrine, with the result that, as you saw,
we had the whole meeting, and they had nothing but
the fringes."
"Then," said I, "the whole responsibility of the
outrages this afternoon lies upon Messrs. Kelly,
Peters, and others who brought the crowd together?"
"Precisely," said Mr. Hyndman, "the responsibility
lies with them; all that we did was simply to preach
the true faith."
"Then you did not break any windows, loot any
shops, &e. ?" "So far from that being the case," said
Mr. Champion, "if I had a revolver and I saw the
mob looting a shop I would shoot the fellows down
right and left with my own hand. So far as I know,
only two shops were looted in Piccadily—Dacre's, the
shirt shop, where several white shirts were taken,
which some of the crowd tried to put on in Hyde
Park with curious effect; the other was Itaffael'g
Tonic Wine shop." "Yes," said Mr. Hyndman, "I
was very much afraid that the fellows got hold of
brandy when I saw them knocking off the tops of the
bottles, pouring out the wine, and drinking it out of
their hands. There were tiers of hands, one below
the other, catching the wine as it was
poured out, and dripped from one into the other.
But with that exception I did not Eire ay plundering. "
Every carriage was mashed on the way to Hyde-
park, and I much regret that a lady was frightened
who was driving in a barouche. That was entirely
contrary to our wishes. None of the responsibility
lies at our door. We simply did what we have been
doing for the last two years and more—namely, set
before the people what we conceived to be the only
truth that could bring them permanent and sub-
stantial relief; but we had no idea that they would at
once proceed to break windows, or indulge in any
violence whatever. The time for that is not yet come,
in our opinion. It may come, but this was premature
—decidedly premature."
"It will do good, however," said one of the trio--
"wake people up, and probably have a good moral
effect upon Mr. Chamberlain, whose club by the way
was worse smashed than any other, excepting the New
University—which happened," remarked Mr. Ilyncl-
man, "by a very curious but purely accidental co-
incidence, to be the club from which I was expelled
some time ago for my Socialistic tendencies. Not
that that had anything to do with it, however," he
added, "because the people knew nothing whateser
about the difference between the clubs."
"What do you think will come of it ? " I asked.
"Probably relief works," said Mr. Hyndman. "That t
is, if Mr. Chamberlain be the man that he professes
to be. When Mr. Chamberlain was waited upon by
the people at Highbury, he feared to face them, tak-
ing refuge in some back premises until the people left '
his grounds; and possibly he may decline to receive
a deputation from the peonle of London in the same '
way. Should he do so, we shall wait upon him
whene'er he takes his walks abroad,' in park or public
street, and confront him with the representatives of
the starving thousands of his fellow-countrymen."
"We shall ask Mr. Chamberlain three things," said I
Mr. Champion. "First, whether he is personally
in favour of relief works being undertaken? secondly,
whether he will advise the Cabinet to start such
works? and thirdly, if so, can he assure us that the
Cabinet will take his demand into favourable conside-
ration? If he says Yes,' well and good, something
will have been done to relieve the misery of the
hungry multitude. If not—"
"If not, what will you do?" I asked. "No one
knows what we shall do," said Ilyndman impressively,
";not even ourselves. Probably we shall disappear
for six months altogether, and then you shall hear of
us again in a much more serious fashion than you
have heard of us to-day."
"One thing is certain," continued Mr. Hyndman,
"we cannot go back; we dare not even if we would."
"Why dare you not go back ? " "Because,"
replied Mr. Hyndman, "I should be killed if I
did."
"Stuff and nonsense," said I. "Who would kill •
you if you went back?" Said Mr. Champion, "I
know at least two men who may be guaranteed sure
to kill Hyndman if he were to sell the cause.
We must go forward, whether we like it or not—
there is no retreat. We do not care for our lives;
and when you find a band of resolute men who are
perfectly willing ta die in defence of their cause, you
may depend upon it this trouble will not soon be
overpast. Things ale bad, and they are getting
worse. Distress is striking the hitherto better paid
artisan, and every man who is out of work, with wife
and children hungering at home, is ripe for our
teaching."
"Yes," continued Mr. Champion, "you should see
ho.w the eyes glisten when we tell them the truth
about society. When you tell a man who has not
had any food all day and is starving and shivering
with cold that his suffering is due to the way in
which he has been plundered by the capitalists; wh9n
you tell him that in the course of his life he has
probably produced £lO,OOO value, that he has only
received £l5OO in wages, and that a balance of £B5llO
is still due from society, he greedily drinks in the
new gospel."
"And it's true, too !" exclaimed Mr. Hyndman.
"and you cannot get over it. There is a great deal
more class hatred abroad than most people think.
And when once the idea is well planted in the minds
of the working men that nothing can put them right
except an entire revolution of the existing order of
society they will not be easy to stop before they have
made a clean sweep of the classes which have bate
tened so long upon the plunder of the poor."