EFFECT IN THE CITY
Monday, 3rd September 1910, was indeed Black Monday for London.
By midnight on Sunday the appalling news had spread everywhere. Though
the full details of the terrible naval disasters were not yet to hand,
yet it was vaguely known that our ships had been defeated in the North
Sea, and many of them sunk.
Before 7 a.m. on Monday, however, telegrams reaching London by the
subterranean lines from the north gave thrilling stories of frightful
disasters we had, while all unconscious, suffered at the hands of the
German fleet.
With London, the great cities of the north, Liverpool, Manchester,
Sheffield, and Birmingham, awoke utterly dazed. It seemed incredible.
And yet the enemy had, by his sudden and stealthy blow, secured command
of the sea and actually landed.
The public wondered why a formal declaration of war had not previously
been made, ignorant of the fact that the declaration preceding the
Franco-German War was the first made by any civilised nation prior to
the commencement of hostilities for one hundred and seventy years. The
peril of the nation was now recognised on every hand.
Eager millions poured into the City by every train from the suburbs and
towns in the vicinity of the metropolis, anxious to ascertain the truth
for themselves, pale with terror, wild with excitement, indignant that
our land forces were not already mobilised and ready to move eastward to
meet the invader.
As soon as the banks were opened there was a run on them, but by noon
the Bank of England had suspended all specie payments. The other banks,
being thus unable to meet their engagements, simply closed the doors,
bringing business to an abrupt standstill. Consols stood at 90 on
Saturday, but by noon on Monday were down to 42--lower even than they
were in 1798, when they stood at 47¼. Numbers of foreigners tried to
speculate heavily, but were unable to do so, for banking being suspended
they could not obtain transfers.
On the Stock Exchange the panic in the afternoon was indescribable.
Securities of every sort went entirely to pieces, and there were no
buyers. Financiers were surprised that no warning in London had betrayed
the position of affairs, London being the money centre of the world.
Prior to 1870 Paris shared with London the honour of being the pivot of
the money market, but on the suspension of cash payments by the Bank of
France during the Franco-German War, Paris lost that position. Had it
not been that the milliards comprising the French War indemnity were
intact in golden louis in the fortress of Spandau, Germany could never
have hoped to wage sudden war with Great Britain before she had made
Berlin independent of London in a money sense, or, at any rate, to
accumulate sufficient gold to carry on the war for at least twelve
months. The only way in which she could have done this was to raise her
rate so as to offer better terms than London. Yet directly the Bank of
England discovered the rate of exchange going against her, and her stock
of gold diminishing, she would have responded by raising the English
bank-rate in order to check the flow. Thus competition would have gone
on until the rates became so high that all business would be checked,
and people would have realised their securities to obtain the necessary
money to carry on their affairs. Thus, no doubt, the coming war would
have been forecasted had it not been for Germany’s already prepared
war-chest, which the majority of persons have nowadays overlooked. Its
possession had enabled Germany to strike her sudden blow, and now the
Bank of England, which is the final reserve of gold in the United
Kingdom, found that as notes were cashed so the stock of gold diminished
until it was in a few hours compelled to obtain from the Government
suspension of the Bank Charter. This enabled the Bank to suspend cash
payment, and issue notes without a corresponding deposit of the
equivalent in gold.
The suspension, contrary to increasing the panic, had, curiously enough,
the immediate effect of somewhat allaying it. Plenty of people in the
City were confident that the blow aimed could not prove an effective
one, and that the Germans, however many might have landed, would quickly
be sent back again. Thus many level-headed business men regarded the
position calmly, believing that when our command of the sea was again
re-established, as it must be in a day or two, the enemy would soon be
non-existent.
Business outside the money market was, of course, utterly demoralised.
The buying of necessities was now uppermost in everyone’s mind. Excited
crowds in the streets caused most of the shops in the City and West End
to close, while around the Admiralty were great crowds of eager men and
women of all classes, tearful wives of bluejackets jostling with
officers’ ladies from Mayfair and Belgravia, demanding news of their
loved ones--inquiries which, alas! the casualty office were unable to
satisfy. The scene of grief, terror, and suspense was heartrending.
Certain ships were known to have been sunk with all on board after
making a gallant fight, and those who had husbands, brothers, lovers, or
fathers on board wept loudly, calling upon the Government to avenge the
ruthless murder of their loved ones.
In Manchester, in Liverpool, indeed all through the great manufacturing
centres of the north, the excitement of London was reflected.
In Manchester there was a panic “on ’Change,” and the crowd in Deansgate
coming into collision with a force of mounted police, some rioting
occurred, and a number of shop windows broken, while several agitators
who attempted to speak in front of the Infirmary were at once arrested.
Liverpool was the scene of intense anxiety and excitement, when a report
was spread that German cruisers were about the estuary of the Mersey. It
was known that the coal staithes, cranes, and petroleum tanks at
Penarth, Cardiff, Barry, and Llanelly had been destroyed; that Aberdeen
had been bombarded; and there were rumours that notwithstanding the
mines and defences of the Mersey, the city of Liverpool, with all its
crowd of valuable shipping, was to share the same fate.
The whole place was in a ferment. By eleven o’clock the stations were
crowded by women and children sent by the men away into the
country--anywhere from the doomed and defenceless city. The Lord Mayor
vainly endeavoured to inspire confidence, but telegrams from London
announcing the complete financial collapse, only increased the panic. In
the Old Hay Market and up Dale Street to the landing-stages, around the
Exchange, the Town Hall, and the Custom House, the excited throng
surged, talking eagerly, terrified at the awful blow that was
prophesied. At any moment the grey hulls of those death-dealing cruisers
might appear in the river; at any moment the first shell might fall and
burst in their midst.
Some--the wiseacres--declared that the Germans would never shell a city
without first demanding an indemnity, but the majority argued that as
they had already disregarded the law of nations in attacking our fleet
without provocation, they would bombard Liverpool, destroy the shipping,
and show no quarter.
Thus during the whole of the day Liverpool existed in hourly terror of
destruction.
London remained breathless, wondering what was about to happen. Every
hour the morning newspapers continued to issue special editions,
containing all the latest facts procurable regarding the great naval
disaster. The telegraphs and telephones to the north were constantly at
work, and survivors of a destroyer who had landed at St. Abb’s, north of
Berwick, gave thrilling and terrible narratives.
A shilling a copy was no unusual price to be paid in Cornhill, Moorgate
Street, Lombard Street, or Ludgate Hill for a halfpenny paper, and the
newsboys reaped rich harvests, except when, as so often happened, they
were set upon by the excited crowd, and their papers torn from them.
Fleet Street was entirely blocked, and the traffic stopped by crowds
standing before the newspaper offices waiting for the summary of each
telegram to be posted up upon the windows. And as each despatch was
read, sighs, groans, and curses were heard on every hand.
The Government--the sleek-mannered, soft-spoken, self-confident Blue
Water School--were responsible for it all, was declared on every hand.
They should have placed the Army upon a firm and proper footing; they
should have encouraged the establishment of rifle clubs to teach every
young man how to defend his home; they should have pondered over the
thousand and one warnings uttered during the past ten years by eminent
men, statesmen, soldiers, and writers: they should have listened to
those forcible and eloquent appeals of Earl Roberts, England’s military
hero, who, having left the service, had no axe to grind. He spoke the
truth in the House of Lords in 1906 fearlessly, from patriotic motives,
because he loved his country and foresaw its doom. And yet the
Government and the public had disregarded his ominous words.
And now the blow he prophesied had fallen. It was too late--too late!
The Germans were upon English soil.
What would the Government now do? What, indeed, could it do?
There were some who shouted in bravado that when mobilised the British
troops would drive the invader into the sea; but such men were unaware
of the length of time necessary to mobilise our Army for home
defence--or of the many ridiculous regulations which appear to be laid
down for the purpose of hindering rather than accelerating the
concentration of forces.
All through the morning, amid the chaos of business in the City, the
excitement had been steadily growing, until shortly after three o’clock
the _Daily Mail_ issued a special edition containing a copy of a German
proclamation which, it was said, was now posted everywhere in East
Norfolk, East Suffolk, and in Maldon in Essex, already occupied by the
enemy.
The original proclamation had been found pasted by some unknown hand
upon a barn door near the town of Billericay, and had been detached and
brought to London in a motor-car by the _Mail’s_ correspondent.
It showed plainly the German intention was to deal a hard and crushing
blow, and it struck terror into the heart of London, for it read as will
be seen on next page.
Upon the walls of the Mansion House, the Guildhall, outside the Bank of
England, the Royal Exchange, and upon the various public buildings
within the City wards a proclamation by the Lord Mayor quickly appeared.
Even upon the smoke-blackened walls of St. Paul’s Cathedral, where, at
that moment, a special service was being held, big posters were being
posted and read by the assembled thousands.
There was a sullen gloom everywhere as the hours went slowly by, and the
sun sank into the smoke haze, shedding over the giant city a blood-red
afterglow--a light that was ominous in those breathless moments of
suspense and terror.
Westward beyond Temple Bar proclamations were being posted. Indeed, upon
all the hoardings in Greater London appeared various broadsheets side by
side. One by the Chief Commissioner of Police, regulating the traffic in
the streets, and appealing to the public to assist in the preservation
of order; another by the Mayor
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [Illustration] |
| |
| =PROCLAMATION.= |
| |
| =WE, GENERAL COMMANDING THE 3rd GERMAN ARMY,= |
| |
| HAVING SEEN the proclamation of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor |
| William, King of Prussia, Chief of the Army, which authorises the |
| generals commanding the different German Army Corps to establish special |
| measures against all municipalities and persons acting in contradiction |
| to the usages of war, and to take what steps they consider necessary for |
| the well-being of the troops, |
| |
| HEREBY GIVE PUBLIC NOTICE: |
| |
| (1) THE MILITARY JURISDICTION is hereby established. It applies to all |
| territory of Great Britain occupied by the German Army, and to every |
| action endangering the security of the troops by rendering assistance to |
| the enemy. The Military Jurisdiction will be announced and placed |
| vigorously in force in every parish by the issue of this present |
| proclamation. |
| |
| (2) ANY PERSON OR PERSONS NOT BEING BRITISH SOLDIERS, or not showing by |
| their dress that they are soldiers: |
| |
| (_a_) SERVING THE ENEMY as spies; |
| |
| (_b_) MISLEADING THE GERMAN TROOPS when charged to serve as guides; |
| |
| (_c_) SHOOTING, INJURING, OR ROBBING any person belonging to the German |
| Army, or forming part of its personnel; |
| |
| (_d_) DESTROYING BRIDGES OR CANALS, damaging telegraphs, telephones, |
| electric light wires, gasometers, or railways, interfering with roads, |
| setting fire to munitions of war, provisions, or quarters established by |
| German troops; |
| |
| (_e_) TAKING ARMS against the German troops, |
| |
| =WILL BE PUNISHED BY DEATH.= |
| |
| IN EACH CASE the officer presiding at the Council of War will be charged |
| with the trial, and pronounce judgment. Councils of War may not |
| pronounce ANY OTHER CONDEMNATION SAVE THAT OF DEATH. |
| |
| THE JUDGMENT WILL BE IMMEDIATELY EXECUTED. |
| |
| (3) TOWNS OR VILLAGES in the territory in which the contravention takes |
| place will be compelled to pay indemnity equal to one year’s revenue. |
| |
| (4) THE INHABITANTS MUST FURNISH necessaries for the German troops daily |
| as follows:-- |
| |
| 1 lb. 10 oz. bread. 1 oz. tea. 1½ pints beer, or 1 |
| 13 oz. meat. 1½ oz. tobacco or 5 cigars. wine-glassful of |
| 3 lb. potatoes. ½ pint wine. brandy or whisky. |
| |
| The ration for each horse:-- |
| |
| |
| 13 lb. oats. 3 lb. 6 oz. hay. 3 lb. 6 oz. straw. |
| |
| |
| (ALL PERSONS WHO PREFER to pay an indemnity in money may do so at the |
| rate of 2s. per day per man.) |
| |
| (5) COMMANDERS OF DETACHED corps have the right to requisition all that |
| they consider necessary for the well-being of their men, and will |
| deliver to the inhabitants official receipts for goods so supplied. |
| |
| WE HOPE IN CONSEQUENCE that the inhabitants of Great Britain will make |
| no difficulty in furnishing all that may be considered necessary. |
| |
| (6) AS REGARDS the individual transactions between the troops and the |
| inhabitants, we give notice that one German mark shall be considered the |
| equivalent to one English shilling. |
| |
| =The General Commanding the Ninth German Army Corps, |
| VON KRONHELM.= |
| |
| BECCLES, _September the Third, 1910_. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
of Westminster, couched in similar terms to that of the Lord Mayor; and
a Royal Proclamation, brief but noble, urging every Briton to do his
duty, to take his part in the defence of King and country, and to unfurl
the banner of the British Empire that had hitherto carried peace and
civilisation in every quarter of the world. Germany, whose independence
had been respected, had attacked us without provocation; therefore
hostilities were, alas, inevitable.
When the great poster printed in big capitals and headed by the Royal
Arms made its appearance it was greeted with wild cheering.
It was a message of love from King to people--a message to the highest
and to the lowest. Posted in Whitechapel at the same hour as in
Whitehall, the throngs crowded eagerly about it and sang “God Save our
Gracious King,” for if they had but little confidence in the War Office
and Admiralty, they placed their trust in their Sovereign, the first
diplomat in Europe. Therefore the loyalty was spontaneous, as it always
is. They read the royal message, and cheered and cheered again.
As evening closed in yet another poster made its appearance in every
city, town, and village in the country, a poster issued by military and
police officers and naval officers in charge of dockyards--the order for
mobilisation.
The public, however, little dreamed of the hopeless confusion in the War
Office, in the various regimental dépôts throughout the country, at
headquarters everywhere, and in every barracks in the kingdom. The armed
forces of England were passing from a peace to a war footing; but the
mobilisation of the various units--namely, its completion in men,
horses, and material--was utterly impossible in the face of the
extraordinary regulations which, kept a strict secret by the Council of
Defence until this moment, revealed a hopeless state of things.
The disorder was frightful. Not a regiment was found fully equipped and
ready to march. There was a dearth of officers, equipment, horses,
provisions, of, indeed, everything. Some regiments simply existed in
the pages of the Army List, but when they came to appear on parade they
were mere paper phantoms. Since the Boer War the Government had, with
culpable negligence, disregarded the needs of the Army, even though they
had the object-lesson of the struggle between Russia and Japan before
their eyes.
In many cases the well-meaning efforts on the part of volunteers proved
merely a ludicrous farce. Volunteers from Glasgow found themselves due
to proceed to Dorking, in Surrey; those from Aberdeen were expected at
Caterham, while those from Carlisle made a start for Reading, and found
themselves in the quiet old city of Durham. And in a hundred cases it
was the same. Muddle, confusion, and a chain of useless regulations at
Aldershot, Colchester, and York all tended to hinder the movement of
troops to their points of concentration, bringing home to the
authorities at last the ominous warnings of the unheeded critics of the
past.
In that hour of England’s deadly peril, when not a moment should have
been lost in facing the invader, nothing was ready. Men had guns without
ammunition; cavalry and artillery were without horses; engineers only
half-equipped; volunteers with no transport whatever; balloon sections
without balloons, and searchlight units vainly trying to obtain the
necessary instruments.
Horses were being requisitioned everywhere. The few horses that, in the
age of motor-cars, now remained on the roads in London were quickly
taken for draught, and all horses fit to ride were commandeered for the
cavalry.
During the turmoil daring German spies were actively at work south of
London. The Southampton line of the London and South-Western Railway was
destroyed--with explosives placed by unknown hands--by the bridge over
the Wey, near Weybridge, being blown up, and again that over the Mole,
between Walton and Esher, while the Reading line was cut by the great
bridge over the Thames at Staines being destroyed. The line, too,
between Guildford and Waterloo was also rendered impassable by the
wreck of the midnight train, which was blown up half-way between
Wansborough and Guildford, while in several other places nearer London
bridges were rendered unstable by dynamite, the favourite method
apparently being to blow the crown out of an arch.
The well-laid plans of the enemy were thus quickly revealed. Among the
thousands of Germans working in London, the hundred or so spies, all
trusted soldiers, had passed unnoticed, but, working in unison, each
little group of two or three had been allotted its task, and had
previously thoroughly reconnoitred the position and studied the most
rapid or effective means.
The railways to the east and north-east coasts all reported wholesale
damage done on Sunday night by the advance agents of the enemy, and now
this was continued on the night of Monday in the south, the objective
being to hinder troops from moving north from Aldershot. This was,
indeed, effectual, for only by a long _détour_ could the troops be moved
to the northern defences of London, and while many were on Tuesday
entrained, others were conveyed to London by the motor-omnibuses sent
down for that purpose.
Everywhere through London and its vicinity, as well as in Manchester,
Birmingham, Sheffield, Coventry, Leeds, and Liverpool, motor-cars and
motor-omnibuses from dealers and private owners were being requisitioned
by the military authorities, for they would, it was believed, replace
cavalry to a very large extent.
Wild and extraordinary reports were circulated regarding the disasters
in the north. Hull, Newcastle, Gateshead, and Tynemouth had, it was
believed, been bombarded and sacked. The shipping in the Tyne was
burning, and the Elswick works were held by the enemy. Details were,
however, very vague, as the Germans were taking every precaution to
prevent information reaching London.