“The riot was inevitable” – James Edward’s
There was a limitation on how much adversity the country could experience before the frustration boiled over due to the inadequate relief being provided by the Government.
The working schemes that the Government constituted created discontent with many unemployed. The rates of pay were not good enough for the hard labour that they were performing and many felt that the Government was being unsympathetic. New Zealand was horrified at the state their country had been diminished to. Hostility was growing through the numbers of unemployed who were under nourished and living in poverty. Anger built up until the oppressed decided to take action and vent in the form of protests which manifested into riots, vandalism and looting. This period of riots was called ‘Angry Autumn’ and produced the hardest couple of months the country had to face. Society was distraught over the present hardships and violence of New Zealand.
The Auckland Riots
The Auckland Riots were the most violent and dangerous riots to take place. Anger throughout the unemployed was paramount and embodied itself into savage behavior.
Large crowd that has gathered during the Queen Street riots. Showing the destruction of many shops, the broken plate class window
Auckland on the 14th of April 1932, a procession of Post and Telegraph employees were holding a demonstration against the 10% wage cuts. The Unemployed Workers Movement joined in the procession alongside the workers to voice their own opinions. Many carried banners that said "close the slave camps", "restore the wage cuts", “free milk for schools” and “give us this day our daily bread”. The march was peaceful and there was no talk of violence to be ensued. Marching down Queen Street to Town Hall many chanted or sang “why don’t you work like other men do? How the hell can we work when there’s no work to do”. The unemployed were gathering outside the Town Hall a number, which was estimated to be 20,000 where Labour MP John A. Lee was speaking inside, they wanted to attend this meeting. There were too many people to all fit inside the hall, suspicions rose that they had been deliberately locked out and the meeting was not “full”. Many unemployed tried to hammer down doors and the policemen tried to disperse the crowd with their batons. Jim Edwards anticipated trouble so he stood in front of the crowd trying to address them, however was knocked on the back of the head by a police baton. However the official police report speculated a different story stating that Edwards was trying to provoke the crowd. Many cried out “They’ve batoned Jim Edwards. They’ve killed him!” this was heard by his son James Edwards who was in the crowd. Frustration rose within those unemployed in which sparked a riot. John Mulgan wrote in his book Man Alone that the Auckland riot was “(A) Payment for the long weeks and months of monotony and weariness and poverty and anxiety that could be satisfied like this in a few moments of freedom and destruction”. Mulgan’s perspective was that a peaceful protest with no intention of violence turned into the unemployed expressing themselves in a violent manner. Destructing property of the city was their small way of showing the Government how they devastated their lives. It gave them a taste of freedom, which the oppressed would not have felt for a period of time.
The unemployed tried to push forward but the police charged the crowd with their batons, making the audience retreat back down Queen Street while others targeted the police. Lee exited the Town Hall and witnessed the aftermath “Queen Street was looted from end to end. Law and order were down and out… The looters being ordinary decent citizens moved to desperation by distress exploded in violence”. Lee’s quote just shows that ordinary men have been driven to act upon violence and their anger due to the harsh circumstances they have been suffering. That this grave unemployment rate has pushed men to be who they are not and act in destructive ways all for survival. The aftermath on Queen Street, Auckland was apparent. The crowds had armed themselves with palings that they had torn off fences at the bottom of Airedale Street or used the poles as improvised weapons that were holding their banners. Many who had no weapons resorted to using their fists or their boots against the police. A number of 250 windows were broken and the shops with broken windows were looted. Many people in the mob looted things such as jewellery, clothes, food and liquor. They mainly looted items that were valuable in the hopes of being able to sell such items for money or being able to use these items that they would generally not be able to afford. Many chemists were wiped clean of contraceptives, this was quite important because it gave the perspective on society. Many women did not want to get pregnant in this time for it would cost more to feed another mouth and raise a child. The looting continued for 2 to 3 hours. By the end of the night 200 people had been injured and 8 people had to be hospitalized. The Queen Street riot is not where the violence and looting stopped, in the following evening Karangahape Road was struck by the unemployed. The police had support from the Waikato with 100 territorial troops and George Hutchinson the mayor of Auckland organized 1,000 Specials however with the mass amount of police presence could not stop the violence. Mass violence and destruction occurred again with 50 people being injured and 50 arrests being made by the end of a very destructive night.