London newspapers were in agreement today, commenting on the Fascist disorders yesterday, that only by the decision of the police at the last moment to ban a march through the East End district was tragedy averted, Had the parade been allowed, they said, the police would have been helpless to restrain the impassioned crowds.
Several of the dailies criticize the government on the one hand and the anti-Fascist elements on the other for the rioting which caused injuries to more than 200 and arrests of 69.
The Times editorially points out that the Fascists were looking for trouble and stresses the necessity for suppressing the Fascist anti-Jewish terrorism in the East End and an even further need for Parliament to review the whole situation.
Liberty of speech does not include the right to cause a breach of the press, declares the News-Chronicle, at the same time attacking vacillation of the Home Office. The Daily Telegraph berates the anti-Nazis for menacing free speech.
The Daily Herald denounced Sir John Simon, Home Secretary, for disregarding warnings against permitting the demonstration. The parade was arranged to provoke disorder, the Laborite daily asserted, demanding that in the future the Government deal firmly with “challenges against order.” The editorial charged the Blackshirts with attempting to import into England the methods and theories of Nazism.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
