Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1886-02-20
sOcrALIsFTc REEoR,r-
London for siE Hours At lie Mercy

London for Six Hours at the Mercy of a
LONDON, February S.-Tbe STARVING ma
chanlcs Of London to-day held mass meet
/ ing IN Trafalgar Square. around the Nelson
monument which resulted in riOtOus pro
ceilings. 1t opened with an assem- blaze of
lO,OJO men, The police were present In large
numbers. They at once saw that the social
1st1c element OF London greatly prsdOrni-
mated IN the crowd which was managed by a
Well known socialist. BY extraordinary eff
forts peace Tor the time was preserved.
Conspicuous among the leaders Of the
Hu!lLGde was Mr.. Burns who ran as the
socialist candidate in Nottingham in
the recent election. He sneersd at
the pOpulace and acted generally
as If he desired to bring about a conflict he
tween them and the people. He finally as
cended the pedestal of the Nelson column
Tor the purpose OF delivering a harangue.
be WIS well aware that this act would not be
tolerated, and the police politely ordered
him to get down. This he refused to do an
peaIng to the crowd to prevent interferenee
WIN the exercise OF popular rights" The
officers, however, were determined, and thew
pushed their way through the excited and re-
slst1ng mass OF humanity and by force re
moved Burns from the pedestal, Bythis time
the crowd was greatly augmented and the
streets adjacent were packed by the surging
mob.
The stir IN the elevated spot where the
Burns incident took place, was easily per
ceptable over almost the entire area covered
by the cOncOurse; and the sight of the he'll
NETS and uniforms IN the struggle was ac-
cepI1ble proof OF the commencement of the
fight against law. The pOpuIace responded
20 the Sur with general, fearful howl, and
attempted to rush from all directions to the
point of interest.
Burns had now been removed to some dis
| lance from the position he had attempted to
occupy. He became embOldened by the
cries Of the throng, and made q desperate
effert to recover the lost ground. He was
so ehectually helped by the mob that officers
on the spot were brushed out of the way and
the orator was soon pressed up against the
monument.
He quickly re-ascended the pedestal, ac-
compan1ed by number of other socialist
leaders. Burns bore flag and waved it to
the assemblage as the signal of triumph over
the authorities. lie was greeted with deaf
/ en1ng shouts, repeated again and again.
Burns now leisurely finished ms address,
/ and then read the hercely WOrded resolutions.
/ They denounced the authors of the present
/ distress IN England, aud demanded that par
/ Lament should start the public works to
/ give employment and bread to tens of thou
/ sands OF deserving men out of work. The
{ resolutions demanded the immediate an
! pOintment of a minister of commerce and a
! min .ster Of agriculture, and concluded with
/ a resolve that copies be forwarded TO Glad
/ stone, Salisbury, PaEneu and the board of
/ public works.
] The reading of the resolutions was accom-
! panied by fierce comments dshOrt explain
/ atOry speeches by various orators who stood
/ with Burns. Some of these orators went so
[ far as to warn the government that, although
/ sta rVlng mechanics of London, now ATTEMPT
/ ing to draw the public attention to their
/ needs by quiet, peaceful agitation, they
/ were bound to get bread, and would get IL
! by attacking the baker shops next if the
/ government did not come to their relief.
! Burns himself, in one of these side speeches,
/ denounced the present house of commons as
/ a body of landlords and capitalists for
! whom hanging was too good.
He also declared that the people assembled
i fEIU re-
/ Heve the distress of British working men,
/ wanted the question settled and at once, if
/ possible; otherwise revolution was inevita-
bic. Ih15 so aggravated the excitement of
/ the huge mob that the police reformed with
increased force and made another assault.
The leaders of the mob then left the scene,
/ and proceeded to the Reform club building.
They mounted the steps. pointed to the
doors and windows, and bitterly denounced
the inmates. This looked like an attempt
on the part of the leaders of the mob to set
the mob on the building. The mob was eX-
cited, but not up to the point of violence.
Burns and his colleagues, seeing this, va
| Gated the Reform club steps and proceeded
to the Carleton club where they repeated
] their tactics.
By this time the mob was tremendous in
numbers and Verging on desperation. Stories
/ of what the police had said and done at the
/ Nelson column had been circulated from
mouth to mouth, exaggerated with every rep
| clifton until the starving mechanics, -
were convinced that the authorities actually
/ dared them to a conflict.
/ They visited nearly all parts of London
! stOrmlng and pounding all who interfered.
/ The police reports at midnight concur in
! stating that never before in the present gen
Grafton has such tremendous disturbances
/ occurred IN London with so little DiOOQshed.
! Some officials declare that upwards of fifty
! thousand men must have been riOting for at
/ least SIX hours with absolute possession of
every thOrOughfare they chose to invade.
If the police had been strong enough to
attack the mob at any DOIut there might
/ have been terrible record made. At 1870
/ O'Clock everything IS pretty much as 1t was
! during the day, and the whole thing appears
to nave been sort OF a night mare. While
| 1T lasted, the city was thoroughly excited, but
/ the mob was essentially English. 1t made
/ tr1ghtfuI demonstrations, but WasuOt resist
/ ed, and went to bed at the usual time.
/ Among the latter estimates 150, 600 persons
/ were engage din the Trafalgar square demon
/ stratlOn. IWO-thirds of the crowd were
/ bOnat1de unemployed WOrkingmen, the re-
! mainder were socialists. The two sections
] were not In accord; there were frequent col
/ IslOns among them. Working men took no
/ part In the riOtOus acts that followed the
meeting IN Trafalgar square. Socialists
/ aroused to fury by the violent TRADES of the
+ speakers In the square created a three hOgEs
/ reign of terror.
JeweIer shops were broken into, and the
! Contents were carried on by the mob Car
riages containing ladies were stopped on the
streets and the occupants forced to ahght.
/ Some of the rioters entered vehicles and
/ drove at the head OF the crowd. The mob
| swept though the streets shouting, ''Smash
the windows; let's get inside the shop" etc.
All decently attired persons who encounter
/ ed the rioters, were maItreated, Wearers OF
! silk hats meeting with particularly rough
usage.
About fifty shops were pillaged, including
/ jewellers, baksrs5 butchers and wine shops
| Hundreds of inOHensIVe people were NAL
/ treated. The police were pOWerless at first,
but ultimately succeeded in restoring order
by breaking up the ranks of the rioters into
/ small squads. The military kept under arms
Ill the evening while policemen patrOled the
streets.
LONDON. February 9.-By4 O'Clock the
mob at Trafalgar square was estimated to BE-
10000 strong. The majority of this great
throng was composed of lOafers and roughs
of the worst class. Large numbers Of police