A meeting was
being prevented, and the police engaged in the operation were being
pelted or obstructed. Mostly people were just looking on.
"It amounts to nothing," said Benham. "Even if they held a meeting,
what could happen? Why does the Government try to stop it?"
The drifting and charging and a little booing went on for some time.
Every now and then some one clambered to a point of vantage, began a
speech and was pulled down by policemen. And at last across the
confusion came an idea, like a wind across a pond.
The strikers were to go to the Power Station.
That had the effect of a distinct move in the game. The Power
Station was the centre of Johannesburg's light and energy. There if
anywhere it would be possible to express one's disapproval of the
administration, one's desire to embarrass and confute it. One could
stop all sorts of things from the Power Station. At any rate it was
a repartee to the suppression of the meeting. Everybody seemed
gladdened by a definite project.
Benham and White went with the crowd.
At the intersection of two streets they were held up for a time; the
scattered drift of people became congested.
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