ADRIAN COLA RIENZI
IN DEFENSE OF
WORKERS
By Michael Anthony
People of the
Century
Adrian Cola Rienzi
Part 1
Express
Section 2
September 6, 2000
Page 2
One
of the most remarkable of the unsung heroes of Trinidad and
Tobago was Adrian Cola Rienzi.
If
it is true to say that in assessing the independence of Trinidad and Tobago,
the contribution of Uriah Butler is enormous, then it will also be true to say
that without the intervention of Rienzi, the role which Butler played would
have been null and void.
Little
is known of the background of Rienzi, but he comes to our attention in San
Fernando, during the early 1920s, when as the youth, Krishna Deonarine, he
showed a lively interest in the welfare of the working class. This was the period, when, following the
First World War, the Great Depression commenced, and there was poverty and
squalor on all sides.
Except
on the side of the employing class - especially the oilfield employers, who
seemed to be striking it rich, but who appeared to have nothing but contempt
for the labouring class.
Krishna
took account of the widespread misery and he decided to throw in his lot with
any force organised to combat it.
Feeling
as strongly as he did about the plight of the working class, it was not
surprising that Krishna identified with a 14th century Italian
patriot who organised and fought great battles on behalf of workers.
One
of the acts of this patriot, which may have fascinated Deonarine, took place in
May 1947, when the patriot incited the workers to rise against the rule of the
nobles. The nobles were driven out and
the patriot made efforts to unite the various Italian states, during which
period he was made "Tribune of the People".
What
was the name of this patriot? Cola de
Rienzi. Coming under the influence of
such a hero, Krishna took on the name "Adrian Cola Rienzi".
However,
this Rienzi wanted neither power, nor did he seek to be made "Tribune of
the People". But he certainly had the passion to make Trinidad a much
better place for the working people.
When,
a few years later, Captain Arthur Andrew Cipriani came on the scene and took up
the fight for the labouring classes, Krishna Deonarine rushed to his side,
forming the Trinidad Citizens' League.
On
the other side of Cipriani was another young radical, Uriah Butler, who formed
the British Empire Workers and Citizens Home Rule Party.
The
Trinidad Citizens' League, which was immediately branded by the authorities as
Communist, mainly appealed to the workers in the sugar belt, while the party of
Uriah Butler spoke particularly to the workers in the area of the oil belt,
such as Fyzabad, Point Fortin and Siparia.
With
Cipriani taking charge of the workers in the north, the aspirations of all
workers were being attended to.
In
1936 Rienzi, tired of what was called Cipriani's "back-pedaling",
left Cipriani, and he saw his friend Butler do the same.
When
Butler's agitation in the oil belt in June 1937 resulted in oilfield riots and
a police bid to apprehend Uriah Butler, Rienzi at once closed ranks with Butler
and tried to protect him.
One
of the important areas of Rienzi's training was that he became a brilliant
lawyer and at the time undertook to be Butler's legal adviser.
When
Butler was on the run following the riots, Rienzi shielded him and officially intervened
between the "fugitive from justice" and the government.
To
keep away from the police and from the charge of sedition and inciting to riot
Butler had to go into hiding. The only
way he could have kept in touch with his workers, and at the same time with a
governor sympathetic to Butler's cause, was through Rienzi. For Butler was asking the governor for a
safe conduct and peace talks, meantime fearing to show himself in case he fell
into the clutches of a vengeful police force.
And
awaiting Butler's capture was a hostile Legislative Council who did not even
want to hear the words "safe conduct".
A DISTINGUISHED
TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE
By Michael Anthony
People of the
Century
Adrian Cola Rienzi
Part 2
Express
Section 2
September 13, 2000
Page 10
It
took a lot of courage and loyalty on the part of Rienzi to maintain contact
with Butler until months later when Butler bravely decided he would give
himself up.
In
the face of Rienzi's insistence that Butler should be given a safe conduct,
Governor Sir Murchinson Fletcher, influenced by the hostility of his
government, had to refuse. Fletcher
declared that in the country's interest it was crucial for the oilfield strike
to end and until the strike was called off, there could be no talks with
Butler.
On
the one hand, Rienzi pointed out to the government that Butler had a legitimate
right to appeal to his fellow oil workers to stop work in support of their
demands yet on the other hand, he was objective enough to press Butler to call
off the strike.
Butler
wrote to Rienzi at this time: "Dear Mr. Rienzi, I deeply regret to inform
you that as a result of a referendum I find myself in the perhaps unhappy
position of not being able to call off the strike As a mediator between myself
and the Government I respectfully beg that you communicate this information to
His Excellency the Governor through the strike committee.
Thanking
you for your efforts to make peace."
Rienzi
not only informed Fletcher of this, but in his anxiety for peace between Butler
and the Government, he went to see Governor Murchinson Fletcher. On July 9, 1937, Fletcher told the
Legislative Council: "I saw Rienzi on the morning of the 28th
June and I informed him there could be no question of a safe conduct for
Butler."
The
truth was that Fletcher, who was at the time being bitterly criticized for
being "pro-Butler", had to put on an appearance of toughness.
However,
this was the interlude when Rienzi had Butler's fate in his hands. The whole police force was scouring the
length and breadth of Trinidad for Uriah Butler, but Rienzi, who was in
constant touch with Butler, stood firm, when he could have easily given in and
"sold" Butler to the authorities.
And
this is particularly interesting because the oil workers had come to depend on
Rienzi for advice and leadership in Butler's absence, a clear invitation for
Rienzi to usurp Butler's position.
Another
thing to consider is that when police and troops swooped on Fyzabad in the
early hours of Sunday, July 2, 1937, they caused chaos and confusion amongst
the strikers, severely hurting their confidence, and causing disarray.
Rienzi
rallied these workers together, called for courage, and persuaded them to
organise themselves for the common good.
He urged them to meet together to consider the goals ahead of them for
the sake of the working class.
The
workers did get together. The meeting
took place on July 27, 1937, and what emerged from it was the formation of the
Oilfield Workers Trade Union. Rienzi
was asked by these workers to be their President-General.
Rienzi
also became president of the Trade Union Council, and although he was the
lawyer, maintaining a strict and irreproachable legal posture, he intensified
his personal opposition against all attempts to exploit the predicament of the
oilfield workers.
After
Butler surrendered to the authorities in September 1937, and was brought to
trial, Rienzi defended him in the courts, and his performance was so brilliant
that although Butler was found guilty and sentenced to two years hard labour,
the trial judge praised Rienzi for what he called a distinguished contribution.
The
oilfield workers so admired Rienzi for the part he played during the Butler
troubles that they clamoured for him to campaign for a seat to represent them
in the Legislative Council when General Elections came in January 1938. Rienzi contested the seat for San Fernando
as a candidate of the Trade Union Council and was swept to victory. In the Legislative Council he was to meet
his old rival, Captain Arthur Andrew Cipriani.
In
a speech to the Legislative Council on June 16, 1939, Rienzi could not help
remembering the day of the Butler riots, June 19, 1937, and he addressed the
Governor, who was then Sir Hubert Young.
He
said: "June 19, Sir, is a day which, in the minds of the workers, marks a
landmark in the history of the working class movement." He went on to suggest that it should be made
an annual public holiday in place of Empire Day, which was celebrated on May 24
every year.
Captain
Cipriani, stung, retorted: "We don't want a day for the making of false
heroes."
Yet
neither Butler, nor Cipriani, nor the man to whom tribute is being paid, was a
false hero.
Adrian
Cola Rienzi remained long enough in the Legislative Council to see the new
enlightened times he hoped for. He saw
the end of the Crown Colony System and the coming in of Adult Franchise. It is clear that these new political times
might not have come when they did had Rienzi, an authentic "Tribune of the
People", not befriended and protected the man of that moment.
Rienzi,
apart from having been a Member of the Legislative Council, was Mayor of San
Fernando from 1939 to 1942.
He served
the government in several high legal positions, his last post being that of
Assistant Solicitor-General in 1964. After
his retirement, he lived in the shadows until his death on July 21, 1972.