The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-11-13 00:00:00

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER
.13, 188 G.

THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW.

THE ninth of November, 1886, sa:w a civic
display in the City of London which will be
remembered longer than ordinary Lord
Mayor's Show days by reason of the fears of
a Socialist riot, which fer a time prior to the
pageant, had gone abroad. The. threatened
disturbance was happily averted by the
firmness and. admirable precautions of the
authorities, but the strong, hoardings and
barricades, which were erected for miles
along the route, will not be easily forgotten
by dose who saw them, and itis to be hoped
that no succeeding Show will render such
extraordinary safeguards necessary. London-
ers, taking warning by the lesson of the
triumph of King Mob in the West-end'
streets last February, determined to look
after their own property as much as possible,
instead of trusting to the police to stop any
onslaught of lawless roughs. Butthere was,
this Lord Mayor's Day, no reason to find
fault with the police arrangements for pre-
serving peace and order. Sir Jan-es Fraser
had shown firmness in the city proper, and
warned off the Social Democrats from the
precincts of the heart of Mid-London. Sir
Charles Warren had followed suit, and. made
his own arrangements for the safe protection
of tlytt greater London for which he is
responsible. There were many protests from
the self-sufficient Socialists, and cries con-
cerning constitutional privileges and the
right of public meeting, but the. Police Com-
missioners knew their powers, and wielded
them wisely, with the moderation whieh
comes of conscious strength, and as the
event proved, with success. It would have
been a hard task for the most valiant of the
loudly-protesting reformers to force a
through the solid guard of the "Blues"
which was drawn across the broader road-
ways at important points along the line of
the procession, and which cut up and di-
verted the immense masses of people who
pressed behind the pageant. Not a very
brilliant duty post for the stalwart troopers
of the Royal Horse Guards Blue, to be sure,
bat a very useful one, and filled very good-
humouredly and efficiently all through the
drenching rain which damped and spoiled
the procession. Again towards night, when
a red flag, in spite of police proclamation,
was seen move than once in Trafalgar-square, '
the Guards, as well as the 10th Hussars, did
good service in dispersing the crowds when-
ever they assumed a menacing appearance,
thus greatly assisting the numerous
mounted and foot policeman who abounded
everywhere. The unpropitious state of the
weather, which ranged from a gentle drizzle
at first to a heavy downpour later on, and
caused the costly uniforms and liveries of
the civic servants to be hidden out of sight
by oilskin coverings, kept a good many of
the ordinary middle-class sightseers away
from the City, but a-y slackness of numbers
thus accounted for was more than balanced
by the influx of the rougher elements of all
big Lendon crowds. Packed about on all
ham4s, wherever the procession passed, there
were quite a number of the most reckless
and daring of low lived East-end and other
rascals, as well as a heavy contingent of the
vagrant race, who only require opportunity
to become criminal. Had it not been for
the pause given to their determination by
the completeness of the police arrangements,
doubtless Wednesday morning's papers would
have been lively reading. • As it was a great
number of pickpockets and other thieves and
vagabonds were removed for a magisterial
interview. Bat there was no Socialist row
of any importance, and never will be so long
as constitutional authority is vindicated and
maintained with the strong hand and
thoughtful brain, as it has undoubtedly been
this ninth of November in London, thanks
to the heads of police and the Home Office.
Undoubtedly this survival of mediaeval
pomp and pageantry pleases many London-
ers who have little enough of romance in
their lives, so that it would be a pity to see
Lord Mayor's Day swept out of being be-
cause of its having become a nuisance and
a danger. There were many, minds on
Tuesday occupied with the thought at one
time or another during the procession that
the days of the "Cockney Carnival" --as a
gentle humorist called it—are drawing to a
close. The Socialist scare and the police
precautions gave an element of danger,
which is undesirable and out of place in such
a steady-going, sober, substantial city as
London. The wet weather took away much
of the glory of the gilded coaches and
brightly- emblazoned-banners, bedimmed the
brave dresses of municipal laequeys and
military detachments, clad in kilt, tunic, or
shell jacket, and with drooping plumes or
ponderous busbies; and the multitude of
sightseers so congested the City that busi-
ness was either at a standstill or seriously
inconvenienced for several hours. People
asked themselves what the compensation
for all this—not to count the cost of the
procession was—was. Could not the Lord
Mayor of London's term of official pre-
eminence be inaugurated with business-like
formula, and altogether without this vain
progress from London to Westminster and
back between solid masses of uncomfortable
sightseers? Could not the chief magistrate
of the capital walk, clothed in his ordinary
attire, or take a shilling hansom from the
Mansion House or Guildhall to the Royal
Palace of Justice, and be sworn in solemnly
and sans unnecessary ceremony? Of courE•
he could, and take his seat with :as little of
pomp as the Aldermen and City Councillors
do. The shedding of antique pomp would
not in.any way =Mate against the proper '