§ 45. Commander BELLAIRSasked the Prime Minister whether legislation will be 1578 considered with a view to substituting more rapid and efficient machinery than the reading of the Riot Act, so that the intention to use force is visible and audible to a riotous assembly, and so be the means of saving life and limb?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Shortt)I have been asked to reply to this question. The legal effect of a Proclamation under the Riot Act is not as suggested in the question, but is to make persons who fail to disperse within an hour guilty of a statutory felony. The question whether a bugle should be sounded before troops fire on a crowd has often been raised, but the military opinion has been against it. The officer in charge of the troops is required, if possible, to warn the crowd before firing.