Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-02-11
THE noxDos RrorsRs.
How a Worixingmcn's Demonstra-
ton Was Captured by Socialists
aud Turned Into a Furious Mob
No E0rM aBs I.tf.. akennrfeS7.

i wv A""n " LUG Hepuhte1s
| LONDON, Feb. S.-The starving me.
chanics Of London to-day held mass
meeting in Trafalgar Square around the
Nelson monument and itresulted in a riot.
The proceedings were opened with an
assembiage of 10000 men. Police were
present in large numbers. They at once
saw that the socialistic element of London
| greatly predomiaated in the crowd, which
WAS also managed by well-known social
lists, and extraordinary vigilance wns
ordered to preserve the peace at all
hazards.
Conspicuous among the leaders of the
| multitude was Mr.. Burns, who ran as the
socialist candidate in Nottingham in the
recent election. He sneered at the police
and acted generally as if he wished 10
bring about conflict between them and
the people.
Finally he assembled the pedestal of the
Nelson column for the purpose of deliver.
ing harangue. He WIS well aware that
this act would not be tolerated and the
| police politely ordered him TO get down.
This he refused to do, appealing to the
| crowd to resist "interfereuce with the
exercise OF popular rights"
The officers, however, were determined
and they pushed their way through the
excited ana resisting mass of humanity
and by force removed Mr.. Burns from the
pedestal The crowd by this time had
vastly increased and the streets adjacent
were paved with surging mobs.
The STIR In the elevated spot where the
Burns incident took place was easily per-
ceptble over almost the entire area COW
cred by the concourse and the sight of
helmets and uniforms in the struggle was
accepted as visible proof of the COM
mtncement of ''the fightagainst the law. +"
The intelligence was responded to with a
general and fearful howl and an attempted
rush from all directions to the point of
interest.
Burns had now been removed some dis.
lance from the position he had attempted
to occupy. He became emboldened by the
cries of the throng and made desperate
effort to recover his lost ground He was
so effectively helped by the mob that the
officers on the spot were brushed out of
the way and the orator WIS soon
pressed up against the monument.
He quickly reascended the pedestal
accompanied by number of other social.
list leaders. Burns bore q red flag and he
waved 1t to the assemblage as signal of
his triumph over the authorities. He was
greeted with deafening shouts, repeated
again and again. Burns now leisurely
finished his address. He then read a
tiercely worded resolution.
This denounced the authors of the
present distress in England" demand
ing that parliament start public works
to give employment and bread to the
tens of thousands of deserving men
who were out of work through
no fault of their own, but because of bad
government declared that it was the
duty of the government to afford
every facility for the employ
ment of Britis't capital at home for
the benefit of the British people and
to give British enterprise preference over
foreign and asserted that the time had
arrived for parliament To earnestly legis-
late for the relief of the depres-
sion in the Engli,h agricultural
industry. The resolutions also
demanded the immediate appointment
of minister of commerce and minis
ter of agriculture, and concluded with
the resolve that copies should be for
warded to Mr.. Gladstone. Lord Sails.
bury, Mr.. Parnelland the boItd of public
works.
The reading of the resolutions was nc.
oompanied by fierce comment and short
explanatory speeches by the various
orators who stood with Burns. Some OF
these orators went so far as TO warn the
government that, although the starving
| mechanics" of London We're now attempt
ing to draw attention to their needs by
quiet and peaceful agitation, they were
bound to get bread, and would get il by
attacking the bakers shops next if The
government did not come TO their reli #
Burns himself, in one of these sid,
| speeches, denounced the present house Of
commons as body of landlords and cap
italists for whom hanging was too good
He also declared that the people had ms
sembled TO summon parliament to imne
diately relieve the distress of the British
workingmen that the people wanted III,
question settled at once, and peacefully
If possible, otherwise revolution was in
| evitable.
All this SO aggravated the excitement
OF the huge mob, that the police reformed
with increased force and made another
assault. They succeeded in forcing theil
way up 10 the pedestal. They reached
this point just as the resolutions, which
had already been offered and seconded
were about to be submitted to the mol
for approval. The officers at once or
dered the proceedings to be discontinued
on the pedestal, and commanded Burn
and his colleagues to cUine down. Thi
they refused to do, and the officers there
upon dragged them down by force ant
drove them from the PEDESTAL.
| II was evident that Burns expected tina
the application of force to him would pre-
cipitate riot, and it was also apparent
that the officers Immediately engaged il
| removing the orators feared attack. But
the men composing the mob were not yet
in lighting humor, and the mob contentet
itself for the time hooting the police and
smothering them with flour, dirt and gar
bage. The officers behaved admirably
under This abuse and attempted no resent
ment.
After their election neither Mr.. Burns
nor any Of his colleagues made any
further attempts to get back. They al
once left the scene and proceeded to tn,
Reform Club building. They mounted
the steps, pointed to the doors and win
dows and bitterly denounced the inmates
This looked like an attempt TO set the
mob on the building. The mob was
excited, but not up to the point Of
violence YET Burns and his colleagues,
seeing TINS, vacated the Reform Club
steps, and proceeded to the Carlton 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 coluiOn bad been cir.
culated from mouth to mouth, exaggerated
with every repetition, until the Starving
mechanics" were convinced that tLe