HC Deb 25 July 1912 vol 41 cc1361-2
Major ARCHER-SHEE

I beg to ask the Home Secretary a question, of which I have given private notice, namely, whether his attention has been drawn to the so-called prayers and statements of one B. Tillett on Tower Hill yesterday, and whether the arrest of this man has been ordered, in view of his continuous and repeated incitements to murder and violence?

Mr. CROOKS

May I also ask the right hon. Gentleman a question, of which I have given private notice, namely: Whether he is aware that the utterance of Mr. Ben Tillett on Tower Hill yesterday with regard to Lord Devonport is repudiated by the majority of the Labour Members in this House, and that they join in expressing their abhorrence of such conduct?

The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. McKenna)

With regard to my hon. Friend's question, I am personally delighted to hear the statement he has made. In answer to the other question, I am advised that Mr. Tillett's so-called prayer is not an incitement to murder upon which an indictment could be founded.

Mr. PEEL

Did Mr. Tillett on that occasion say, alluding to Lord Devonport, "That sort of vermin ought not to exist "? Is not language of that kind, addressed to a crowd of men who are suffering from the strike, as great an incitement to violence and murder as could possibly be made?

Mr. McKENNA

I can understand the hon. Member taking that view, but I am advised by competent persons that this language would not constitute such an incitement to murder as would give a good foundation for an indictment.

Mr. T. M. HEALY

What would the right hon. Gentleman think of a suffragette who used such language?

Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTT

Will the right hon. Gentleman take into consideration, along with the case of Mr. Ben Tillett, the utterances of Lord Willoughby de Broke, reported in to-day's papers, in which he says he has volunteered for active service in Ireland? And has Lord Willoughby de Broke been repudiated on the other side?

Mr. SPEAKER

That is not an urgent question.

Major ARCHER-SHEE

I beg to ask the right hon. Gentleman another question, of which I have given private notice, namely: Whether his attention has been drawn to the attempts of Messrs. Tom Mann, Havelock Wilson, Harry Gosling, Robert Williams, and Cunninghame Graham to organise a general strike of the transport workers of the country; whether this does not constitute a conspiracy, and whether any steps have been taken to arrest these men?

Mr. McKENNA

I am advised that the facts, so far as they are known to me, do not constitute conspiracy.