Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-01-02
"H0OLIGANISM" IN LONDON.
Bands q Rowdies Who Terrorizc the English
Metropolis.

| "HOoliganiSm' may be described as
essentially English. There is in Lon
| don to a greater extent than in any
| other metropolis an element composed
of lads and young men, the offspring
| of unSkilled workmen, of the per-
manently unemployed or of no known
origin. who have evaded the obligatory
! schooling provided for by law, and
| who with no educational or conven-
| tiOnal restraint to check their! DISPOSE
ton to horseplay. their tendency to
| mischief and their exuberance of
youth. give unbridled rein to their
savage instincts. For they are young
| savages in this sense that they are
not bound by any of the moral tram
mels of civilization. and that their no
ton of fun is permeated with a strong
element of ferocity m
Until few months ago the "hooli-
sans' entertained a certain fear of the
police. 1t was the wholesome terror:
inspired by the latter. which if it did
not exercise any complete control
over them, at any rate served in
measure to confine their sphere of
operations to the poorest quarters Of
the metropolis. But what is now
known in England as 'mafeking" has
had the effect of spreading "hoolsan-
ISM over the entire city. since it
destroyed the prestige of the police in
the eyes of the mob.
The ''mafcking" was the extraordi-
nary orgy to which London abandoned
itself when, after many reverses in
South Africa. the relief of Mafeking at
length became known. THE London
Spectator" al the time said the lead
erS of these excuses in the British
metropolis were educated people in
more or less well to do circumstances.
such as brokers, city clerks. medical
and legal students, etc, who. in
famed by mingled patriotism and liz
uor, cast aside all restraint and in
dulged in what Americans call paint
ing the town red" Through some
mistaken notion on the part Of the
local authorities in London, the police
received instructions on that Occa-
sion to close their eyes to everything
short of actual crime. Consequently
they stood idly by without making
any attempt to keep the mob within
bounds. These ''mafeking' scenes
We're repeated on the capture of Pre-
tora. and again on the occasion of the
return of the London Volunteers from
South Africa.
Unfortunately the passive attitude
of the police in this connection was
construed by the "hooligans" not as an
indulgence, but as an evidence of
weakness. They came to the conclu-
sion that if the well-to-dO were al
lowed to enjoy such unbrdled license
without any interference on the part
of the authorities there was no reason
why they should not be accorded the
same privilege. SO 'mafeking' has
been developed by .hooligans' into n
permanent form of lawlessness ex-
tending all over the metropolis. and
has reached such proportions that for
the first time since the great Fenian
scare following the attempt to blow
up the metropolitan prison of Clerken-
well. where the Irish prisoners We're
confined, the London police are about
to be armed with revolvers The
dominant motive of the ''hooligans'' is
mischief. and since ''mafeking'' came
into existence bold defiance of the
police and a war to the death against A
the latter have been added thereto.
The origin of the word "hooligan,"
which has now become as familiar to
the LOndoner as the word "hoOdlum'
is to the people of San Francisco and
'larrikin" to the inhabitants of the
great cities of Australia, is curious.
Some time ago the Magistrate of the
Westminster Police Court while ex-
amining some young prisoners before
him. was told by an Irish policeman
that the prisoners were ''all Hooley's
gang
Hooligans'!" exclaimed the magis-
trate. who had misunderstood the
policeman. What are they" ~
Bands Of young blackguards, who
are terror to all decent people," re-
piled the policeman.
The magistrate asked no more cues
tions, but sentenced the prisoners to