One hundred years ago
ARE there men among us, not belong- ing to the unemployed, who really desire to produce a conflict betwen rioters and the State? On Tuesday, Sir C. Warren, finding that the perpetual agitation in Trafalgar Square and its neighbourhood impeded business, and relying on the Statute which declares that Square a thoroughfare, prohibited all meetings there until further instruc- tions. It was expected, therefore, that there would be a riot on Wednesday during the progress of the Lord Mayor's Show, which passes by the Square; but, thanks in part to a heavy downpour of rain, the Show passed off with even less than usual commotion. On Thursday and Friday, the Square was perfectly quiet; but it is announced that those opposed to the police are determined on resistance to the order, and that on Sunday a 'grand demonstration' will be made in the square to insist on the release of Mr O'Brien. As those who sympathise with Mr O'Brien can meet anywhere they please, the object of selecting Trafalgar Square must be riot; and it is a subject of legitimate curiosity to understand its object. Is it simply to harass the police, or, by calling out the Irish, to produce a collision amid which blood will be shed? The Irish could do nothing worse for their own cause than to alienate the public opinion of Lon- don, or produce a burst of public opinion in favour of law and order.
The Spectator, 12 November 1987
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