Jim Edwards
Jim Edwards had an intense desire to alter the conditions of life, especially for the unemployed workers so he was a central figure in the actions of the Unemployment Worker’s Movement and is said to have been the unofficial leader of the Auckland Riots.
James Henry ‘Jim’ Edwards, was of Welsh and Irish descent and arrived in New Zealand from England during the 1913 Waterfront Strike. He describes his own background as “respectable poor” and it was the effects of the waterfront dispute that helped to shape his views on politics. In his youth he had joined the Salvation Army and later he became involved in the Socialist Party, New Zealand Labour Party, the Labour Defence League, the Unemployed Workers’ Movement (which he helped establish in 1931) and the Communist Party. He was a communist as he admired communism’s idealism and the thought of having an equal society. He became a part of the unemployed movement from its early stages and in 1930 it suddenly grew under the impact of the 1929 slump. In 1931, the movement was consolidated on a national basis and it was under the direction of Edwards that it was named Unemployed Workers’ Movement (UWM). Although he was part of the Labour Defence League along with the Unemployment Workers’ Movement, he became increasingly frustrated the Labour Party because he felt the Party was not doing its duty by the workers. The situation of the workers and working farmers was getting worse. And as the situation worsened, the Labour Party was retreating from its position and people were becoming more desperate for guidance and stability. It was then that he joined the Communist Party who told him that “it was not the man to be altered but the conditions that made him what he was” and from then on, he became intensely involved in movements to change the conditions of the workers.
|
As published by his son James Edwards in Riot 1932, “he brought disappointed, disillusioned men and women out into the Auckland streets to listen to the promise of hope....people in the glow of his eloquence forgot their cold houses and empty cupboards...and he could convince them that they must not grovel to charity but stand up and fight for their rightful place in the sun...”He was a charismatic leader who people respected and listened to. He was able to bring newfound hope to the unemployed and speak to masses of crowds without the need of megaphones or amplifiers.
It is partly because of such traits that he possessed that he is said to have been the leader of the Auckland Depression Riots in 1932. When these riots took place, he had already been jailed twice for his political activities. The extent of his leadership in the riots however has been questioned many times. He was actually trying to restore peace and order and calm down a frustrated crowd of unemployed workers at the Auckland Town hall on the 14th April 1932, when he was struck down by a police officer. The officer had thought that Edwards was trying to provoke the crowd and the move backfired. The crowd saw this as a sign to start attacking the police and to further vent their anger in a large, violent riot. Jim Edwards when questioned about the role he played in the Auckland riots said (as published Riot 1932):
“I was afraid of what would happen if the ranks of the unemployed marchers, of whom I was the leader, were broken. I was given orders by the police to detour men to the back of the town hall because the main hall was full – the marchers under my control were the most militant and the most defiant. Impatiently they bashed at the locked doors at the back of the won hall and I realised that the only way of gaining a measure of control was to address them from the balustrade of the building while the meeting was held inside. Despite my appeals, however, to those within earshot, the ranks broke and the men turned and rushed again to the front doors of the hall. I was aware of the danger to women and children who could have been crushed in the mad rush and I ran to the centre of the cordon of police who were guarding the main entrance. I turned and raised my hands in an effort to restrain those who would have forced their entry to the town hall. In those days I wore a light suit and no hat. I I’d know what was to happen I’d have worn a tin helmet. A policeman who was immediately behind me batoned me before I could say a word. It was a hard blow. It was not on the head that I felt the pain but in the solar plexus as I collapsed. Now the mob was infuriated. Someone rushed into the town hall and yelled: “they’re batoning our men in the street – they’ve killed Jim Edwards.” I staggered to the balustrade of the town hall, scrambled up and tried to address the crowd. By this time the police had arrived in force and were wielding their batons against the demonstrators and driving them back from the won hall doors, and within seconds the crowd in their thousands bad become a frenzied leaderless mob. Whatever I said was drowned in the tumult and uproar and all I could see through the blood that was blinding me, from the wound on my head, was the dark bodies of my fellow men in violent conflict as police and demonstrator encountered one another...”
It is partly because of such traits that he possessed that he is said to have been the leader of the Auckland Depression Riots in 1932. When these riots took place, he had already been jailed twice for his political activities. The extent of his leadership in the riots however has been questioned many times. He was actually trying to restore peace and order and calm down a frustrated crowd of unemployed workers at the Auckland Town hall on the 14th April 1932, when he was struck down by a police officer. The officer had thought that Edwards was trying to provoke the crowd and the move backfired. The crowd saw this as a sign to start attacking the police and to further vent their anger in a large, violent riot. Jim Edwards when questioned about the role he played in the Auckland riots said (as published Riot 1932):
“I was afraid of what would happen if the ranks of the unemployed marchers, of whom I was the leader, were broken. I was given orders by the police to detour men to the back of the town hall because the main hall was full – the marchers under my control were the most militant and the most defiant. Impatiently they bashed at the locked doors at the back of the won hall and I realised that the only way of gaining a measure of control was to address them from the balustrade of the building while the meeting was held inside. Despite my appeals, however, to those within earshot, the ranks broke and the men turned and rushed again to the front doors of the hall. I was aware of the danger to women and children who could have been crushed in the mad rush and I ran to the centre of the cordon of police who were guarding the main entrance. I turned and raised my hands in an effort to restrain those who would have forced their entry to the town hall. In those days I wore a light suit and no hat. I I’d know what was to happen I’d have worn a tin helmet. A policeman who was immediately behind me batoned me before I could say a word. It was a hard blow. It was not on the head that I felt the pain but in the solar plexus as I collapsed. Now the mob was infuriated. Someone rushed into the town hall and yelled: “they’re batoning our men in the street – they’ve killed Jim Edwards.” I staggered to the balustrade of the town hall, scrambled up and tried to address the crowd. By this time the police had arrived in force and were wielding their batons against the demonstrators and driving them back from the won hall doors, and within seconds the crowd in their thousands bad become a frenzied leaderless mob. Whatever I said was drowned in the tumult and uproar and all I could see through the blood that was blinding me, from the wound on my head, was the dark bodies of my fellow men in violent conflict as police and demonstrator encountered one another...”
For his supposed responsibility in starting the Auckland Riots, he was found after six weeks of hiding, and sentenced to two years in prison with hard labour. After he was released in 1934, he continued his work with unemployed labour groups as he was still adamant about building a more equal society. During World War Two, despite his work against anti-conscription, he enlisted in the Army and was discharged in 1947. He died later in March 1952, at the age of 60.
|
This image shows the arrest of James Edwards. He was arrested for his involvement in the Auckland Queen Street riots and was accused of being the one who provoked and led the protest action. He was sentence to two years hard labour.
|