Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Foreign News
February 9, 1886
Springfield Globe Republic
Springfield, Clark County, Ohio
What is this article about?
In London, a massive mob of unemployed and starving workers rioted, sacking property but avoiding bloodshed, sparked by socialist oratory and police suppression of speech, underscoring severe economic distress in Britain.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
The London Mob.
The occurrence of the greatest mob of modern history, controlling the greatest city of the world, makes the late sensational news from London about the displacement of one government and the substitution of another look tame.
The lack of employment of labor, skilled as well as unskilled, in Great Britain at this time is portentous. There is discomfort, suffering, starvation among the honest people who are willing to work, all over the two islands, and most especially in the great metropolis. And London is swarmed with lazy, loafing, reckless socialists and anarchists.
The popular meeting was in the interest of the industrious but unemployed and starving workmen. It was transformed into a terrible mob of rioters by the incendiary oratory of the nihilistic element and the indiscreet interference of the police with the right of free speech.
We know better than that in this country. We let men speak all the foolish and inflammatory things they will, so they keep their hands off.
The howling Burns should have been permitted to empty himself undisturbed. The attempt to suppress him precipitated the violence.
But the masterful influence of the great body of British workmen, who are not anarchists but are in earnest for something to eat, kept the monstrous and infuriated assemblage from bloodshed. They held the vast city at their mercy for hours, sacking, plundering, and demolishing property, but they took no lives.
This is wonderful, and probably it could not have happened in any other great city in Christendom. An awful mob with such moderation and such respect for human life is an exclusively British phenomenon.
The socialistic orators should be caught and punished for the instigation of this disorder and its destruction of property; but the men who were there in the frenzy of want and despair must be heeded. Lords, Dukes, Earls, Counts, Princes, Queen, and all the other Tax-eating and Land-sweating Beggars of Great Britain, as of all countries, must understand that the Workmen of the world have rights and that they are determined to vindicate them.
The occurrence of the greatest mob of modern history, controlling the greatest city of the world, makes the late sensational news from London about the displacement of one government and the substitution of another look tame.
The lack of employment of labor, skilled as well as unskilled, in Great Britain at this time is portentous. There is discomfort, suffering, starvation among the honest people who are willing to work, all over the two islands, and most especially in the great metropolis. And London is swarmed with lazy, loafing, reckless socialists and anarchists.
The popular meeting was in the interest of the industrious but unemployed and starving workmen. It was transformed into a terrible mob of rioters by the incendiary oratory of the nihilistic element and the indiscreet interference of the police with the right of free speech.
We know better than that in this country. We let men speak all the foolish and inflammatory things they will, so they keep their hands off.
The howling Burns should have been permitted to empty himself undisturbed. The attempt to suppress him precipitated the violence.
But the masterful influence of the great body of British workmen, who are not anarchists but are in earnest for something to eat, kept the monstrous and infuriated assemblage from bloodshed. They held the vast city at their mercy for hours, sacking, plundering, and demolishing property, but they took no lives.
This is wonderful, and probably it could not have happened in any other great city in Christendom. An awful mob with such moderation and such respect for human life is an exclusively British phenomenon.
The socialistic orators should be caught and punished for the instigation of this disorder and its destruction of property; but the men who were there in the frenzy of want and despair must be heeded. Lords, Dukes, Earls, Counts, Princes, Queen, and all the other Tax-eating and Land-sweating Beggars of Great Britain, as of all countries, must understand that the Workmen of the world have rights and that they are determined to vindicate them.
What sub-type of article is it?
Rebellion Or Revolt
Economic
Political
What keywords are associated?
London Mob
Unemployment
Starving Workmen
Socialists
Anarchists
Riot
Police Interference
British Workmen
What entities or persons were involved?
Burns
Where did it happen?
London
Foreign News Details
Primary Location
London
Key Persons
Burns
Outcome
no lives taken, but property sacked, plundered, and demolished.
Event Details
A popular meeting for unemployed and starving workmen in London was transformed into a riot by incendiary oratory from nihilistic elements and police interference with free speech. The mob controlled the city for hours, causing destruction without bloodshed, due to the restraint of British workmen.