From Crow-Scaring To Westminster; An Autobiography Part 10

That is the kind of agreement agricultural labourers are called upon to sign. It shows the Congress the nature of the difficulties that confront agricultural labourers. You might say the labourers are not intelligent enough to combine: they are intelligent enough if they have the freedom. Only this week, since I have been at this Congress, I have received a telegram from our solicitor who is contesting a case before the Grimston Bench on behalf of the Agricultural Labourers' Union. It relates to a labourer who obtained permission for a holiday. But when he went back to work he was discharged and received a week's notice to leave his cottage. He could not get another, and an ejectment order was applied for. Our solicitor in his telegram says the magistrates would have granted the ejectment order, but he was able to defeat it on technical grounds. This poor man's wife is within a month of her confinement, and, had the ejectment order been granted, his wife and four children would have been thrown on to the road. I ask you to do all you can to bring this matter to an issue and see if a Bill cannot be brought into Parliament giving the agricultural labourer security of tenure. Labourers who live under conditions such as I have described can neither make applications for allotments nor yet serve on local authorities. If they attempted to do such things, they are marked men and are turned out of their cottages at a week's notice. I trust that the cruel eviction business will soon become a thing of the past.

After some further discussion the resolution was carried unanimously, and for the first time the system under which the labourer has to hire his cottage was brought before the public. It has been a hardy annual at the Trade Union Congress ever since.

This exposure caused a tremendous sensation throughout the country. For months I was inundated with letters asking for the names of estates.

Others sought for information for the purpose of writing articles in the press. It gave a wonderful impetus to the Union.

During the summer I held a number of Sunday services under the auspices of the Union. After I had addressed one of these meetings a rather exciting incident happened. When attending a meeting in a village in Norfolk a clergyman was at the meeting and expressed a wish to speak privately to me, and we adjourned to a room in the inn. On entering the room he said he had heard that I had been blaspheming the name of Jesus and demanded that I make an apology to him (the clergyman). I told him I had done nothing of the kind, and, so far as apologizing to him, he would be the last man I should apologize to. Whereupon he informed me he was a lightweight champion boxer, and if I did not there would be bloodshed, and he came towards me. I at once pushed him over and left the room and went back to the meeting and reported what had taken place.

Needless to say he had very soon to leave for his own safety.

During the autumn it became evident to me that trouble was looming in the near future. Numbers of small disputes took place, which I had to deal with on my own responsibility and which caused a good deal of anxiety.

As we approached the end of the year the branches were asked to send in resolutions for the General Council. Most of them were demanding that the Executive should take up the question of an increase in wages, Sat.u.r.day half-holiday and a forty-eight hour week. At the December Executive I again warned the Executive that I feared we should soon have to face trouble as I was sure the members would soon press for an increase in consequence of the rise in the cost of living. I urged them to allow me to call them together at any time to discuss the best method of grappling with the situation and to obtain the increase so long delayed.

But they seemed to think I was able to deal with the situation. The General Council of the Union was not held in 1910 until March 19th. It was held in the Central Hall, King's Lynn. The reason for the Council meeting not being held until March was the General Election in January and the County Council Election in March. This Council Meeting was attended by nearly one hundred delegates. The greatest interest was taken in the proceedings. There were many resolutions on the agenda dealing with hours of labour and wages. The resolution dealing with Sat.u.r.day half-day was warmly debated and a resolution carried that the new Executive be instructed to take steps to secure the Sat.u.r.day half-day, one journey all the year round and an increase of 1s. per week at once. At the close of the Council a short meeting of the new Executive was held. Mr. George Nicholls presided. I again pointed out to them the seriousness of the situation and told them I was sure there was trouble looming in the near future, and that the labourers, so far as Norfolk was concerned, would insist on an attempt being made for an increase in wage and an improvement in their working conditions. I urged them to give me more help and to allow me to bring them together at any time, even by wire if necessary; but this they refused and held that I was quite able to deal with any dispute that might arise without calling the committee together. The fact was that, while I had an Executive who were able and earnest and anxious to do their best to build up the Union, they were inexperienced so far as Trade Unionism was concerned.

They were always anxious to keep working expenses down. At the committee the night before the Council the Treasurer, Mr. Richard Winfrey, wrote complaining about the increased expenditure during the year for organizing work, although we had saved during the year 1909 503 11s.

8d. and had only spent 771 9s. 9d. out of a total income of 1,275 1s. 6d. This expenditure was for lock-out pay, postages and rent of rooms. Salaries paid during the year were for my a.s.sistant secretary, Miss Pike, and myself 91; divided as follows: Miss Pike 12s. per week, 31 4s.; myself 1 3s. per week, 59 16s.; my a.s.sistant organizer, Mr.

Thomas Thacker, 1 5s. per week, 65. Total salaries for the three of us 156. Yet the Treasurer, in his anxiety to save money, thought this was too high an expenditure. Probably as an economist he was right, but no one can say that those who did the work were overpaid. I left the Executive and the General Council on March 19, 1910, with a very heavy heart, for I could see by the temper of the men that they were determined within a very short time to press for an improvement in their conditions of living and in my judgement they were justified. In fact, it was long overdue, for the cost of living was rapidly rising, and I also knew that the farmers, as they had done in the days of the other Union, would fight this honest desire on the part of the labourers to its bitter end. The saddest thing for me was I could not get my Executive to see it and they left me to face it single-handed. But I set to work to prepare for the inevitable whenever it did come. I was determined to put my back against the wall and stand by the men, and at the same time to do all I could, whenever the trouble did arise, to bring the two sides together.

I had not long to wait. On April 5th I received a letter from Mr.

Harvey, the secretary of the Trunch Branch, informing me that his members objected to working ten hours a day unless they received a rise of 1s. per week, a not very extravagant demand. I saw at once that the trouble I had for so long tried to impress upon my Executive had arrived, in fact I felt convinced the farmers were anxious to try their strength. On receipt of the letter I at once wrote to the branch secretary, instructing him to call a special meeting of his members for April 11th and at the same time telling him that no action must be taken until I had met them and obtained full particulars and laid them before the Executive, for in spite of what the Executive had done I was determined I would not take on my shoulders the responsibility of a strike without the Executive being called together to decide it and take their share of responsibility. I received no further information during the week, and I expected nothing would take place until I had an opportunity of meeting the men and discussing the matter with them. But to my surprise on Monday April 11th I saw in the _Daily Press_ that the men had struck work. Altogether thirty men were affected. It appears that the farmers had forced a lock-out by refusing to withdraw the notice until the men had time to meet me and discuss the matter with them. I was, however, determined to prevent an open rupture if possible.

On Monday April 11th I attended the Erpingham Board of Guardians, of which the Secretary of the Farmers' Federation was deputy clerk. During the day we had an interview, and I promised that if he would prevent the importation of Federation labour I would try and persuade the men to go back to work until representatives of the two organizations could meet and come to some arrangement, he undertaking to persuade the farmers to reinstate all the men without prejudice. This he did. I, with Mr. Robert Green, Mr. W. Codling and Mr. Herbert Day, met the men at Trunch in the evening and thoroughly discussed the cause of the dispute with them. The facts were as follows: In March, as was the custom, the farmers requested the men to work ten hours a day. This the men agreed to on condition that the employers would give them an increase of 1s. per week. This the employers refused to do and gave the men a week's notice to leave unless they worked the ten hours, the men accepting the notice, which expired on April 8th. I advised the men to go back to work until the committee could meet and some arrangement could be made in reference to their hours of labour and conditions of work. This the Knapton men agreed to do, and on Tuesday morning I received a report that the Knapton men had gone back to work on a nine-hour day. I at once wrote to Mr. J. T. Willis the following letter, which will show how anxious I was to avoid a dispute and to meet the farmers, which I regret to say the farmers for years refused to do.

FLITCHAM, _April 10, 1910_.

J. T. WILLIS, ESQ., Secretary, Farmers' Federation, Sheringham.

DEAR SIR,

I was pleased to hear from my representative at the Trunch district before leaving home this morning that some kind of a truce had been arranged between the employers and their men, which I think is a credit to both parties concerned; but to avoid any unpleasantness in the future and in order to arrive at a settlement that will be satisfactory to both parties, I beg to suggest to your committee that a committee be formed consisting of an equal number of employers and employed without prejudice to any one, with you and myself in addition, to represent the two organizations and discuss the whole question of hours and wages. I have hurried my committee on, and they will meet on Monday April 18th, probably at Sheringham, when the whole question will be discussed from our point of view. I shall be glad to hear from you before that date in reference to the above suggestion, and hope the truce will be maintained until after that date.

Yours faithfully, (_Signed_) GEORGE EDWARDS, General Secretary, Agricultural Labourers' and Small Holders' Union.

To this letter I received no reply, but I heard from my representative during the week that the farmers had broken the truce and were again demanding that the men should work a ten-hour day, which they resolutely refused to do. When the men at Trunch met me on Sat.u.r.day April 16th I found them all out again and very indignant at the treatment they had received from the employers. I soon found that all hope of a settlement was gone. The meeting was largely attended and most enthusiastic. I had never before witnessed such a spirit of determination. I addressed the men in a most hopeful tone, although in the first instance they were a little out of order. A resolution was pa.s.sed without a dissentient voice urging upon the Executive to support them, and thus the trouble began.

My first effort to effect a settlement by peaceful means had failed. I could plainly see what was in front of me. I knew that the brunt of the battle would fall on me and I should have poured on my head showers of abuse and the grossest misrepresentation. But I knew the men's cause was just and their demands moderate, and I made up my mind I would fight their battle honestly and justly. The Executive met on Monday April 18th and decided to support the men to the utmost.

The struggle commenced in earnest. The men set themselves to it like grim death. The farmers became furious. The Farmers' Federation imported non-unionists into the villages, but no one would lodge them, so the farmers had to make provision for them. These men were not many of them efficient workmen. They received 10s. per week more than the labourers had asked. They also had lodgings free and a cook found to look after them. They were also supplied with plenty of beer. Policemen were sent into the village to keep order, as they said, but there was no need for it. For one thing I had pressed on the men that they must conduct the dispute in a peaceful way and not on any account allow themselves to be provoked into breaking the peace, for if they did I would not lead them.

They received many provocations, but with no avail. Many threats were thrown out to them. The women dressed up an effigy and set it up in their garden and made its legs black, and wrote on it "blackleg." This the police ordered them to take down. I came into the village at the time and told the police to mind their own business or I should report them. No more was heard of it. Many attempts were made to evict these men from their houses, but failed. One thing in the men's favour was that Mr. Bircham of Knapton was under notice to leave his farm. It was up for sale. I was on the County Council and a member of the Small Holdings Committee. I advised these men to make an application to the County Council for a small holding, which many of them did for five, ten, and even up to twenty acres, and so great was the demand that, when the farm was put up for sale, the Small Holdings Committee was one of the bidders and bought it. When this became known the farmers became more furious than ever.

I, of course, came in for all the credit for this and they were not far wrong. I look upon this as one of the best pieces of work I have been able to do for my people. So angry did the opponents of the men become that they became threatening in their att.i.tude towards me, so much so that the men would insist on acting as my bodyguard when I went into the district, and it would have been a sorry day for any man who dared to have attempted to molest me. I set myself at once to collect funds to enable me to pay the men that had families more than strike pay, which was 10s. per week. The subscriptions came in fast. Our first collection was at a meeting held on a Sunday at Knapton when over a thousand people were present. The meeting was addressed by myself, Mr. Day, Mr. Robert Green, Mr. Thacker, and in the evening some friends came over from Norwich, amongst them being Mr. W. R. Smith, now the able President of the Union. This was the first time we had met and we soon became fast friends. The result of the day's collection was over 7 10s., and thus a good start was made. The men themselves were in fine form. This meeting did the greatest good in every respect. It awakened a spiritual interest such as there had not been for a very long time. I devoted my time during the week to holding public meetings and making collections for them. I never missed a Sat.u.r.day night in going over to pay the men.

This, however, meant many a long weary night cycle ride and long hours for my poor a.s.sistant at home. But the worst had yet to come. The struggle continued all the summer, and I don't think any one man suffered a penny loss. All the applicants for small holdings and several of the men who had been locked out became tenants in October on the very farm on which they had been locked out a few months before. All of them were allowed to keep in their houses, so that we were able to find work elsewhere for those that could not take any land. Thus in this district, although the dispute lasted over six months, we won a notable victory and its effects are felt to-day, for the Trunch Branch is one of our largest branches in the Union, and Mr. Harvey, their first branch secretary, is still their secretary, and is to-day a member of the Norfolk County Council and a Justice of the Peace. In this district we have a fine type of the Norfolk labourers.

CHAPTER XII

THE GREAT STRIKE

On April 25th I got the committee together again. This time they met in the Cozens' Temperance Hotel, King's Lynn. There attended the following: Mr. George Nicholls, M.P., President; Mr. Richard Winfrey, M.P., Treasurer; Messrs H. Day, J. Stibbons, T. Thacker, W. Codling, A. P.

Petch, G. Giles, M. Berry and myself. The first minute that was pa.s.sed was that my quarterly report be received and that my action in giving support to the Trunch members out on strike be endorsed. The last part of the resolution was not necessary as the Emergency Committee I had called together on April 18th had decided that I should support the men, but it was an attempt on the part of some who were not at the meeting on the 18th to ignore the Emergency Committee, as they were opposed to my calling the meeting; but I stuck to my guns and said I would do it again if such an occasion arose. The malcontents, however, were determined I should not, so they pa.s.sed the following resolution on the motion of Mr.

Winfrey:--

That an Emergency Committee be formed consisting of the officers of the Union and three other members of the Union living nearest to the District where any dispute takes place, and that they have power to deal with any dispute that may arise and report the same to the next Executive Committee.

I warned them of the folly of such a resolution and told them that we were within measurable distance of another dispute of much greater magnitude than the one we had got on at the moment. I asked them if they thought it was right for one or two men to commit the Union to a strike?

No one knew where it might end. The reply I received was that they were not going to the expense of calling the committee together more than once a quarter. Mr. Day, who was in close touch with the enormous amount of work that was being heaped upon me and my a.s.sistant and knew that we were utterly unable to cope with it, moved a resolution that another organizer be appointed in order that I might devote more time to office work. This was turned down, although the Union was going up by leaps and bounds, which all added to the work of the Union, and we were left to struggle on as best we could. Can it be wondered at that the matters at the office got into a state of chaos? For it was humanly impossible for any one person to grapple with the work, especially in a room four feet by six feet and I never at home.

Events soon proved how true my forecast was, for on May 10th I received a letter from Mr. George Hewitt, branch secretary St. Faith's Branch, informing me that there was a great deal of unrest in the St. Faith's district in reference to the hours of labour and rate of wages and urging me to go over and hold a meeting and discuss the matter with them. I at once summoned a special meeting of the branch for May 14th. I also summoned Mr. H. A. Day, Mr. Robert Green and Mr. Thomas Thacker, members of the Executive, to an Emergency Committee according to the minute pa.s.sed at the last Executive Committee.

All of them attended. The branch room was packed, every member being present. Mr. G. E. Hewitt presided. I asked the members to state definitely what alteration they required and what demands they wanted to have made on the employers. Their reply was that they wanted 1s.

increase on their present wage, which would bring their wages up to 14s. per week, and wished to have their hours of labour so arranged that their working week should finish at one o'clock on Sat.u.r.days. I could not say this was an unreasonable demand, in fact I had made the one o'clock stop on Sat.u.r.days one of the chief planks on my platform ever since the days of Arch, and so far as the rise of wages was concerned I felt it was long overdue. The labourer had not had an increase in wages for years, yet the cost of living had been steadily going up meanwhile.

But the temper of the men was of such a nature that I felt the utmost caution must be exercised by us who were responsible for the conduct of the men and in whose hands the interest of the Union was placed, for I felt that one false step would wreck the whole movement. The spirit of the men was so aroused that they demanded prompt action, which meant notices being handed in at once. This I knew would never do good, and I then proceeded to address the members in a speech in which I felt the grave responsibility resting upon me and which was delivered with some emotion. I counselled the men to move slowly and not to rush into any action without well considering the importance of such a step. And further, I told them that so far as I was concerned I could not consent to a strike until every other means of a peaceful nature had been tried and failed. I told them that if they consented to this course being taken, then, if we failed and the worst had to come, I would fight for them to the bitter end and would be a staunch advocate of their claims which I knew to be just. This rather damped them, and I do not think according to the temper the men were in that they would have allowed any other man to have said such things or have taken such an action. But I had the satisfaction of knowing that they thoroughly trusted me and would take any advice I thought it wise to give them, and I was able to persuade them to pa.s.s the following resolution:--

That the committee be asked to allow the General Secretary to write to every employer in the parish and district covered by the branch asking if they would consent to a rise of 1s. per week and to so arrange their hours of work as to enable their working week to finish at one o'clock on Sat.u.r.day, and to make arrangements for this to commence on Sat.u.r.day May 28th.

On this resolution being pa.s.sed the committee withdrew to consider it.

We discussed it most seriously, and I expressed an opinion to the committee that I considered the matter of such a serious nature that I thought the whole committee ought to be called together and decide the matter as a whole. Mr. Day did not think so, and reminded me of the resolution that was pa.s.sed by the committee on April 25th on the motion of Mr. Winfrey, M.P., which absolutely prohibited me calling the committee together for such a purpose. My other two colleagues agreed, and they pa.s.sed the following resolution:--

That the request of St. Faith's Branch be granted and the General Secretary be instructed to write to every employer in the district as requested by the resolution pa.s.sed by the branch.

They also decided that another special meeting of the branch and the Emergency Committee should be called for May 20th to receive the reply of the employers.

On returning to the room I informed the meeting of the decision of the committee. This was received with the greatest enthusiasm, but I left with a heavy heart as I could not see the end of it. I could see the beginning, but it is one thing to commence a strike and another thing to end it. I was, however, determined that I would do everything that was humanly possible to prevent a strike of this magnitude. I was also determined that so far as I was concerned the other officials and the Executive should take their share of the responsibility of what might happen, and that I would so frame the men's request to the employers that it would open every avenue for a peaceful settlement and, if trouble did arise, that the whole fault should rest with the employers.

I can't explain it, but I always had, from the moment I took a leading part in the Trade Union movement, the greatest horror of a strike, and would go almost any length to prevent it, so much so that many of my friends used to say that I went too far in my peace-loving methods. But I don't think I did, and in looking back over my long public life I don't regret any action I took in this direction. I have made many mistakes, but that is not one of them. When, however, I had to fight, I gave no quarter to anyone and fought with the greatest determination.

I had no time on the Sat.u.r.day or Sunday to do any correspondence. On Sat.u.r.day I had my County Council work to attend to, and on my return home I had my week's accounts to make up with my a.s.sistant, and on the Sunday I attended to my religious work, for I never neglected that for anything. But on the 16th inst. I wrote the following letter to the employers on behalf of the men:--

DEAR SIR,

I am directed by the men in your employ who are members of the Labourers' Union to ask if you will consent to raise your men 1s.

per week. Further, if you would be willing to so arrange the hours of work as to make it possible for their working week to finish at one o'clock on Sat.u.r.day. They would also be glad if this arrangement could be made in time to commence on Sat.u.r.day May 28th.

I would be glad to receive a reply from you at the earliest possible moment.

Trusting that you will be willing to accede to the men's request, and, further, we would be glad to meet a number of the employers and discuss this matter and come to some reasonable arrangement, and thus prevent any dispute arising between you and your men with all the suffering and inconvenience that must inevitably follow.