Owing to information not yet made public, the authorities apprehend
considerable danger to order on Sunday after- noon. There appears to be, in particular, an idea that attacks may be made upon the suburbs, which are fall of rich houses, and as a rule but imperfectly defended. Large prepara- tions have been made, therefore, for defending Trafalgar Square and the neighbourhood of Hyde Park ; and the Home Office has issued a request for twenty or thirty thousand special constables. They will, it is believed, come forward with alacrity, as serious alarm is entertained for the outskirts, and the disgust at the useless destruction of the amenity of London is growing angry. The plan has now twice been adopted with success, in 1848 and 1867; but the police authorities ought to have the means, upon such occasions, of suddenly doubling or even trebling their numbers. London is so vast, and the numbers of those who love a riot so great, that the police, enduring as they are, get worn out ; and, moreover, become, in individual cases, uncontrollably irritated. That should be avoided, as should also the possibility that the police should be defeated at any one point. These riots will probably become more serious as time goes on and Socialist feeling spreads over the Continent ; and it may be necessary to make considerable changes in the law, one of which should certainly be that any person convicted of complicity in a riot should be disqualified for Parliament or for her Majesty's service for a period of years. That will equalise penalties as between those who lead and those who only follow.
