“The trouble which the police have been allowing to brew for some time by allowing members of the Socialist party to hold open air meetings on the Gore and in other parts of the city, at which city officials and prominent public and business men were blackguarded, was brought to a head on Saturday night, when Chief Smith and the members of the force tried to break up a socialist meeting which was being held at the corner of King and John Streets.”
Hamilton Spectator. September 16, 1901.
For several weeks, a group of Socialist speakers had been popping up in various locations to harangue listeners about the benefits of socialism and about the exploitation of the working classes by the elite. Also the speakers were not hesitant to names, whether local, national or international targets of their hostility.
Complaints had been made about the speakers from the Socialists Labor Party, even from some Hamilton pulpits. On the Saturday evening, just days after the death of U.S. President McKinley, the speakers had aroused widespread indignation by their insults towards to the late president.
Late that week, Hamilton Police Chief Smith had been told that if nothing was done about the socialists, a group of citizens were prepared to take the law into their own hands and silence them.
On Saturday evening, September 1901, a group of Socialists had set up a temporary platform near the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald at King and John streets. Lanterns had been included as the nights had already been starting earlier and the speakers wanted to be seen as well as heard.
The Chief had prepared a plan for dealing with the Socialists and their leaders but circumstances were not as he anticipated:
“Early in the day Chief Smith determined to put an end to the meetings, but, anticipating trouble, took the precaution to have all the members of the force close at hand and ready for action in case of resistance. Robert Roadhouse, having been the orator at nearly all of the previous meetings, it was expected that he would hold forth again. Saturday night and to strengthen his case, the chief armed himself with a warrant for Roadhouse’s arrest on a charge of seduction, alleged to have been committed over seven years ago. Roadhouse, however, had gone to Toronto to address a gathering there.”1 (Roadhouse’s name was also spelled Rodehouse in the press coverage.)
1 “Police Broke Up the Socialist Gathering.”
Hamilton Spectator. September 16, 1901.
The Hamilton newspapers certainly had reporters ready for the Saturday night meeting, scheduled to begin that evening :
“Before 8 o’clock Chief Smith, Sergts. Vanatter, Castell and McKenzie, and fifteen or twenty policemen, some in uniform and others in plain clothes, and a number of detectives were in the vicinity of Rodehouse’s rostrum. It was the intention to bag Rodehouse first, but that enemy of capitalists did not show up. Lockhart Gordon got on the stand and began the usual harangue against capitalists. There were fully a thousand people around the speaker, and the sidewalk on the south side of the street was blacked.
“Chief Smith walked up to the stand and requested Gordon to cease talking, saying he was causing an obstruction of the sidewalk. Gordon refused to obey. ‘Take him down,’ the chief said to his men, and in an instant Officers Miller and Haselfeldt seized him and pulled him from the stand. Gordon shouted ‘Appleton,’ as he started for the cells. There were hisses from some in the crowd, but loud cheers from many other persons drowned out the hisses. A large crowd of boys followed the prisoner and officers to No. 3 Police station.”2
2“That Riot On Saturday Night : Was Caused By Socialist Labor Party.”
Hamilton Times. September 16, 1901.
The already tense situation around the speakers’ platform was heightened by the arrest and removal of Lockhart Gordon. Many of the crowd had followed him and his arresting officers along John street and east along King William street to No. 3 Police station.
About half the large crowd remained near King and John streets, waiting for developments there:
“By this time, over 2,000 people had gathered and some of them began to get excited and hissed and jeered the police and the socialists alternatively. As Gordon was being led away, he called on Fred Appleton, of London, to mount the platform and address the crowd. The excitement was at a fever heat. Appleton jumped on the improvised platform and began when Gordon left off.
“Policemen in plain clothes were scattered through the crowd to prevent breaches of the peace and to find out, if possible, who was doing the shouting and jeering. The sympathies of most of the men appeared to be with the police, but a few boys became troublesome and commenced throwing dirt and other missiles, but when they discovered that the police were in earnest , this quit for a time.”1
The relatively peaceful pause was brief and things quickly heated up again:
“Before any person else had a chance to speak, Detective Coulter and a number of policemen had extinguished the lights and pulled down the platform. The crowd hung around, however, and Finally, A. McKenzie, a tailor, who lives at 205 John street north, took off his hat and started to talk. His friends advised him to stop, and the police ordered him to go away quietly, but he refused to accept their warning for some time. Finally , seeing that to remain longer would mean that he too would be arrested, he started west on the south side of King street, calling and waving to the crowd to follow him. Soon the crowd was pressing its way after him – a few because their sympathies were with the cause he advocated, but the majority because they wondered what was to be the next move and wanted to see the fun.”1
McKenzie led a long, and increasingly agitated crowd on a protest walk through Hamilton’s core:
“Headed by McKenzie, the crowd went down James to Merrick street, along York street and across the Market square to the south side of the city hall. When James street was reached, a stop was made, and Mackenzie began to speak again. By this time, the crowd was so large that both James and York streets were blocked. The city hall steps were black with people, and small boys even climbed up on the window sills to get a good view of what was going on. Acting Detectives Miller and Zeats turned the corner of King and James street, just as McKenzie started to speak, but the noise was so great that they could not hear him until they got close to where he was standing, hat in hand, shouting at the top of his voice. Again the officers asked him to go home quietly, but again he refused, and they had no alternative but to lock him up.”1
It was at this point that the near-riot had escalated into a full-blown riot:
“Up till this time, the crowd, though unruly had not shown itself to be hostile to the police, but as soon as the officers laid hands on McKenzie, the police began to crush in on them, and there were cries of ‘Don’t let them take him. Several officers, including Constable Harris, went to the assistance of their fellow officers, and helped them get McKenzie to the police station. Constable Harris found it impossible to get the mob to step back, and drew his baton, and after warning those close to him to keep back, swung it right and left, for the purpose of scaring them. As he was swinging it, someone pushed a small boy named Thomas Oliver forward, and the club came down with full force on his head, stunning him. He was carried into Spackman’s drug store and was soon revived, and soon afterwards was able to go home, 145 Grant avenue, unassisted. It got rumored that the boy was seriously and perhaps fatally injured, and this incited the rougher element, and for a minutes, it looked as if there was going to be serious trouble. Several times, the police were surrounded and had to fight their way out of the mob. Large stones, rotten eggs, rotten apples and other missiles were hurled at them, but fortunately no one was hurt.
“Constable Harris was struck on the chest by a stone weighing several pounds. Another stone grazed Officer Miller’s head and struck the fence. A rotten egg hurled at Acting Detective Yeats missed its mark and landed on the jaw of the prisoner Mackenzie. A man named Benson was was struck with a stone on the nose and severely injured, and several other persons were struck. Finally, however, Mackenzie was handed in to No. 3 police station, but even this did not stop the trouble. Stones were thrown at the station and the large lamp which hung over the door was smashed. Constable Cruickshank heard George W. McNeal, 267 Main street west, inciting the crowd to take McKenzie away from the officers when they were taking him down King William street and immediately placed him under arrest.”2
An immense crowd filled King William street near No. 3 Police station, and rocks were freely being pelted against the station breaking many of the windows:
“Several men called upon the crowd to take McKenzie from the police. Constable Cruickshanks seized George McNeil, Main street west, and acting detective Miller grabbed Isaac Sherwood, of the same street. These were arrested for disorderliness. The arrests put a damper on the crowd. As soon as the prisoners were taken inside of No. 3 Police Station, a number of stones were thrown through the windows.”
It appeared that the situation around the station was getting out of control, so the police dealt with it as follows:
“A riot call was turned in for the patrol wagon. The patrol wagon came down King William street, the horses at a dead gallop. This caused the crowd to disperse and the excitement was over for the night.”2
(To Be Continued)
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