RAILWAY AMALGAMATION AND CONSTANTINOPLE
It would be tedious as well as tiresome to describe the many railway
contests in the Committee Rooms at Westminster in which, during the
remainder of my managerial career, it was my lot to be engaged; but one
great case there was, in 1899 and 1900, which, by its importance to my
company, and I may say, to the south and west of Ireland generally,
should not pass unnoticed, and of it I propose to give a short account.
It was from the grasp of the Waterford and Limerick, as I have mentioned
before, that in 1892 we (the Midland) sought, though unsuccessfully, to
snatch possession of the Ennis line. Now the Waterford and Limerick were
to lose, not only the Ennis line, but all their lines and their own
identity as well. A great struggle ensued which, from the length of time
it lasted, and the number of combatants engaged, was one of the biggest
railway fights the Committee Rooms had for many a long year witnessed.
For 106 days, from first to last, the battle raged. In it thirty-one
companies and public bodies participated, most of them being represented
by counsel. There was a famous Bar, including all the big-wigs of course,
and some lesser wigs, and numbering more than twenty in all. The
promoters were very strongly represented, but we had Littler for our
leader, who, indeed, was our standing senior counsel. Their team
consisted of Pope, Pember, Balfour Browne, Seymour Bushe, McInerny and
two juniors; our, much smaller but well selected, of Littler,
Blennerhassett and Vesy Knox; the last-named then a rising junior, but
long since a senior, and for some time past a leader, is still to the
front in the bustling, reckless, impatient world of to-day. Most of the
others, alas, are no longer with us. Littler later on was knighted, but
is beyond all earthly honours now, and so are Pope, Pember and
Blennerhassett.
As I have said, the proceedings occupied two sessions. In the first,
1899, two Bills came before a Select Committee of the House of Commons,
one promoted jointly by the Great Southern and Western and the Waterford
and Limerick Companies, the other by the Great Southern and the Waterford
and Central Ireland. But the Great Southern were the real promoters of
both; they paid the piper and, therefore, called the tune. The Great
Southern being the largest railway company in Ireland aspired to be
greater still, nor need this be considered in the least surprising, for
who in this world, great or small, is ever satisfied? The Waterford and
Limerick, a line of 350 miles, then ranked fourth amongst the railways of
Ireland, and its proposed absorption by the Great Southern and Western
Company aroused no little interest. The Central Ireland, a small concern
of 65 miles, running from Maryborough to Waterford, was a secondary
affair altogether and I shall say little more about it. The Waterford
and Limerick had its headquarters at Limerick, its southern terminus at
Waterford, its northern at Sligo--a direct run from south to north of 223
miles, certain branch lines making up the rest of its mileage. Its
access to Sligo was by means of the Athenry to Tuam, the Tuam to
Claremorris and the Claremorris to Collooney lines, all of which it
worked. The last-mentioned was one of the "Balfour" light railways
(constructed on the ordinary Irish gauge of 5 feet 3 inches) and should
have been given to the Midland Company, but by some unfortunate
_contretemps_, when constructed, it passed into the hands of the
Waterford and Limerick. From Collooney to Sligo (six miles) running
powers were exercised by that company over the Midland line into Sligo.
This Claremorris-Collooney line intersected the Midland system and in the
hands of the Waterford and Limerick Company introduced a competition in
Connaught which that poor district could ill afford to bear--a district
in which one railway system alone, though it enjoyed the whole of the
traffic, would scarcely earn a living. The Waterford and Limerick was
not what would be called a prosperous line, nor was its physical
condition anything to boast of, but it had latent possibilities, and was
in active competition with the Great Southern. Such railway competition
as existed in Ireland was dear to traders and the general public. In
country towns in the sister Isle there is not (more the pity!) much afoot
in the way of diversion, and to set the companies by the ears or get the
better of either one or the other was looked upon as healthy and innocent
amusement.
On the 7th of June the contest began, and this, the first engagement,
lasted for 44 days, when the Chairman of the Committee announced that the
Bills would not be passed. Great was our delight and that of our allies,
though the cup of joy was a little dashed on learning that the Great
Southern had determined to renew the struggle in the following year.
My company was the principal opponent, and bore the brunt of the fight,
though the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (now the Dublin and South-
Eastern) were vigorous opponents too. A. G. Reid (from Scotland, who I
have mentioned before) was general manager of the Dublin and Wicklow
Railway. Like myself he is a pensioner now enjoying the evening of life.
Living near each other in the pleasant Kingstown-Dalkey district, we meet
not infrequently, and when we do our talk, as is natural, often glides
into railway reminiscence. We fight our battles over again. We had many
allies, prominent amongst them being the City and Harbour Authorities of
Limerick. They were represented by good men who were hand and glove with
us. Sir (then Mr.) Alexander Shaw, John F. Power and William Holliday
were particularly conspicuous for their valuable assistance. Power (well
named) was a host in himself. Strong, keen, clever, energetic,
enthusiastic, yet cautious and wary, he was a splendid witness. I
sometimes said he would have made a fine railway manager, had he been
trained to the business. Could I give him higher praise?
Mr. Littler was in great feather at our success. He entertained us
(_i.e_., his Midland clients) to lunch. Over coffee and cigars we
learned that he had not been in Ireland for over 20 years; so to equip
him the better for next year's fight we invited him over, promising that
I would be his faithful cicerone on a tour through the country. As soon
as Parliament rose he came, and he and I spent a fortnight together,
visiting Limerick, Waterford, Cork, Galway, Sligo and other places. It
was a sort of triumphal march, for our friends, and they were many,
warmly welcomed on Irish soil the great English Q.C. who had routed the
enemy. Littler enjoyed it immensely, and was charmed with Irish warmth
and Irish ways. Full of good humour and good nature himself, with a
lively wit, and an easy unaffected manner, he gained new friends to our
cause, and increased the zeal of old ones. He was a charming companion,
a keen observer and interested in everything he saw and everybody he met.
Before the next session arrived my company determined upon a bold course,
and decided to themselves lodge a Bill to acquire the Waterford and
Limerick line. There was much to be said for this. With the Waterford
and Limerick in our hands the competition, which the public loved, would
continue, whilst in the hands of the Great Southern monopoly would
prevail. That we would command much public support seemed certain. So
in the following year three Bills were presented to Parliament, viz.:--
Midland Great Western
Great Southern and Western and Waterford and Limerick
Great Southern and Western and Waterford and Central Ireland
That Parliament regarded these proposals as being of more than ordinary
importance is clear from the fact that it referred the three Bills to a
Joint Select Committee of both Houses--Lords and Commons--describing them
as "The Railways (Ireland) Amalgamation Bills." An experienced and able
chairman was appointed in the person of Lord Spencer.
On the 18th of May the proceedings opened. Day by day every inch of
ground was stubbornly fought, and on the 12th of July the decision of the
Committee was announced. After the presentation of the Great Southern
case our Bill was heard and all the opposition. One of the most
effective witnesses for the Great Southern was Sir George (then Mr.)
Gibb, general manager of the North-Eastern, the only big railway in the
country that enjoyed a district to itself. His _role_ was to persuade
the Committee that railway monopoly, contrary to accepted belief, was a
boon and a blessing, and well he fulfilled his part.
My examination did not take place until July 6th, after nearly all other
witnesses had been heard. Mr. Littler intentionally kept me back, which
was a great advantage to me, as when placed in the box I had practically
heard what everybody else had said, and the last word, as every woman
knows, is not to be despised. Littler took me through my "proof." I had
spent the whole of the previous Sunday with him at his house at Palmer's
Green and we had gone through it together most carefully. He attached
great importance to my direct evidence, and we underlined the parts I was
to be particularly strong upon. That I had taken great pains to prepare
complete and accurate evidence I need scarcely say, for, as I have stated
before, if there is any kind of work I have liked more than another, and
into which I have always put my heart and soul, it is this kind. After
we had got through I was cross-examined by eight opposing counsel,
including Pope, Pember, Balfour Browne and Seymour Bushe. One of the
very few things connected with my appearance in the case I have preserved
(and this I have kept from vanity, I suppose) is a newspaper cutting
which says, "In cross-examination Mr. Pope could not get a single point
out of Mr. Tatlow. On the contrary it actually made his case stronger.
His evidence from beginning to end was most masterly. It was the
evidence of a man who knew what he was talking about and who told the
truth. Mr. Pope, in the end, agreed with Mr. Tatlow's statement on
running powers." Mr. Pope was a big, generous-minded man. In the course
of his great speech on the case he paid me the very nice compliment of
saying that, "Mr. Tatlow went into the box and with a candour that did
him great credit at once admitted that they (the clauses) were the most
stringent that he knew of." This from opposing counsel was a compliment
indeed, and I was much complimented upon it. Mr. Pope greatly admired
candour, and indeed I found myself that candour always told with the
Committees. Littler loved Pope, and so did all the Parliamentary Bar, of
which he was the acknowledged leader and the respected father. Littler
said to me, "He is a wonderfully and variously gifted man, and had he
chosen the stage as a profession would have been a David Garrick." I
said, "What about his very substantial person?" for he was colossal in
figure. "I had forgotten that," said Littler. Littler told me a good
story of him which Pope, he said, was also fond of telling himself.
It was in the great man's biggest and busiest days. Influenza was rife.
Mr. Pope was a bachelor, and his valet inconsiderately took the "flu."
Mr. Pope's nephew said the valet must go away till he fully recovered, or
Mr. Pope would be sure to take it. "What shall I do?" said Mr. Pope, in
dismay. "Oh, I'll get you a good man for the time," said the nephew; and
so he did; a skilful, quiet, efficient, attentive man, whose usual duty
it was to attend on a rich old gentleman, who resided, on account of a
little mental derangement, in a certain pleasant private establishment.
Mr. Pope had not been told, nor had he inquired, where the excellent
valet, with whom he was well pleased, hailed from, nor had the valet
asked any questions concerning Mr. Pope. Both seemed to have jumped to
certain conclusions. After the valet had been there a week or more, one
day, when _downstairs_, he said to the servants: "Tell me, what is it
that is wrong with the master? He seems to me to be as sane as any of
us!"
Balfour Browne, in his book _Forty Years at the Bar_, says, "He" (Mr.
Pope) "had a broad equitable common sense, and never did anything mean or
little." He was certainly an orator, and displayed in his speeches much
dramatic power. His voice was fine, flexible and sonorous. In his later
years he must often have wished his "too too solid flesh would melt," for
it had become a heavy burden. He had to be wheeled from Committee Room
to Committee Room in a perambulating chair, and was allowed to remain
seated when addressing Committees. On the 12th of July Lord Spencer
announced that "the Great Southern Amalgamation Bill may proceed subject
to clauses as to running powers, etc." This meant that _our_ Bill was
gone, and that the Great Southern had gained possession of the Waterford
and Limerick, Ennis, the line to Collooney and running powers to Sligo.
Thus they had secured a monopoly in Munster and an effective competition
with us in poor Connaught. It was hard lines for the Midland, but all
was not yet lost. If only we could obtain running powers to Limerick and
carry them back to Ireland, we should have secured some of the spoil.
Another week was spent fighting over running powers, facilities, etc.,
and I was in the witness box again. Balfour Browne and Littler now
conducted the warfare on either side, and keenly they fought. The
Committee at one time seemed disposed to put us off with little or
nothing. In the box I know I waxed warm--"the Great Southern to get all
and we nothing--iniquitous," and then, "the public interest to count for
nought--Oh, monstrous!" Well, in the end, on the 19th of July, we were
awarded full running powers to Limerick, and--the curtain fell!
The Act came into operation on the 2nd of January, 1901, the 1st being a
Sunday. On the 8th we ran our first running power train, and the Joy
Bells rang in Limerick. The Great Southern threatened us with an
injunction because we began to exercise our powers before the terms of
payment, etc., were fixed between us; but we laughed at threats and went
gaily on our way. Limerick rewarded us by giving us their traffic.
In this last amalgamation year (1900) we were in the Committee Rooms also
in connection with another case--the Kingscourt, Keady and Armagh Railway
Bill; but, I will say no more about it than that we opposed the Bill for
the purpose of obtaining proper protection of Midland interests.
The year 1900 brought a general Act of some importance called the
_Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act_. It empowered the
Board of Trade to make rules with the object of reducing or removing the
dangers and risks incidental to certain operations connected with railway
working, such as braking of wagons, propping and tow roping, lighting of
stations, protection of point rods and signal wires, protection to
permanent way men, and other similar matters. It also empowered the
Board to employ persons for carrying the Act into effect.
Nineteen hundred, take it all in all, was a busy, interesting and
delightful year. Though we did not succeed in acquiring the Waterford
and Limerick Railway, which I may now say we scarcely expected, for
_compulsory_ railway amalgamation was then unheard of, yet our _bold
course_ was regarded with considerable success (as boldness often is) and
the running powers we had won were pecuniarily valuable as well as
strategically important. Sir Theodore Martin, our Parliamentary Agent,
and who had taken the keenest interest in the contest, wrote me: "After
all I do not much regret the issue of the fight the Midland have had. To
have got running powers to Limerick, and to have to give nothing for them
is a substantial triumph." So also thought my Chairman and Directors,
for on the 25th of July they passed the following Board minute:--
"Resolved unanimously, that having regard to the great exertions of Mr.
Tatlow in connection with the several Bills before Parliament, and the
Directors being of opinion that the favourable terms obtained by this
Company were due to the great care and attention given by him, they have
unanimously decided to raise Mr. Tatlow's salary 200 pounds a year on and
from the 1st inst."
Not a very great amount in these extravagant days, perhaps, but in
Ireland, nineteen years ago, it was thought quite a big thing; and it had
the additional charm of being altogether unexpected by its grateful
recipient.
Sir Theodore Martin, though 84 years of age, was full of intellectual and
physical vigour. He was a sound adviser, and enthusiastic in the
amalgamation business. Poet, biographer and translator, he kept up his
intellectuality till the last, and the end of his interesting life did
not come until he reached his 94th year. In 1905 he published a
translation of Leopardi's poems. Between us arose a much greater
intimacy than the ordinary intimacy of business, and his friendship,
through a long series of years, I enjoyed and highly valued.
[Sir Theodore Martin: martin.jpg]
Between the two periods of the Amalgamation control I sandwiched a
delightful holiday, and in the autumn of 1899, after the conclusion of
the great Ballinasloe Fair, travelled east as far as Constantinople. Were
this a book of travel (which it is not) a chapter might be devoted to
that trip. But the cobbler must stick to his last, though a word or two
may, perhaps, be allowed on the subject, if only by way of variety.
My companions on this interesting tour were my good friends F. K. and H.
H. We went by sea from Southampton to Genoa, where we stayed two days to
enjoy the sunshine and colour; its steep, picturesque and narrow streets,
and its beautiful old palaces. Then we visited Milan and Venice. At
Venice we spent several days, charmed with its beauty. From Trieste we
took an Austrian Lloyd steamer, the _Espero_, to Constantinople. At
Patras we left the steamer to rejoin it at Piraeus, wending our way by
rail along the Gulf of Corinth to Athens, in which classical city we
stayed the night. Messrs. Gaze and Sons had ordered their guide (or
dragoman as he was called) to meet us and devote himself to our service.
The next morning at 7 o'clock, he called for us at our hotel, and from
that hour till noon, under his guidance, we visited the temples and
monuments of ancient Athens, and inspected the modern city also. In the
afternoon we drove or rather ploughed our way from Athens to Piraeus
(five miles) along the worst road I ever traversed, not excepting the
streets of Constantinople. We found the harbour gay with music, flags
and bunting, in honour of a great Russian Admiral who was leaving his
ship to journey by ours to Constantinople. His officers bade him
respectful farewells on the deck of our steamer, and he ceremoniously
kissed them each and all.
On the twenty-second day after leaving home, at six o'clock in the
morning, we were aroused in our berths and informed that we had arrived
at Constantinople. The morning, unfortunately, was dull, and our first
view of the Ottoman city, therefore, a little obscured. All the same, it
was a great sight, with its minarets and towers, its Golden Horn and
crowded quays. Our dragoman kept at bay all the clamouring crowd of
porters, guides and nondescripts of all colours and races that besieged
us. It was 8.30 a.m. when we landed, but 3.30 p.m. by Turkish time. The
Moslem day is from sunset to sunset, and sunset is always reckoned 12
o'clock; an awkward arrangement which the reforming "Young Turk" perhaps
has since altered. The week we spent in Constantinople was all too
short. We stayed at the Pera Palace Hotel, and the first night after
dinner, in our innocence, strolled out. All was dark and dismal; no one
in the streets. We went as far as the quays, strolled back and on the
way called at a small cafe, the only inmate of which was a dwarf, as
remarkable looking as Velasquez's _Sebastian de Morra_. The hall porter
at our hotel was waiting our return with anxiety. "It was not safe to be
out at night," he said; "we had gold watches on us and money in our
purses, and knives were sharp." Murray's guide book, we afterwards
found, gave similar warning, without mentioning knives. Sir Nicholas
O'Connor was our Ambassador in Constantinople. He was an Irishman from
County Mayo, and I had a letter of introduction to him from my friend Sir
George Morris. Sir Nicholas invited me to lunch at Therapia, where the
Embassy was in residence in its summer quarters. He was exceedingly kind
and facilitated our sightseeing in the great city during our stay. We
witnessed the Selamlik ceremony of the Sultan's weekly visit for prayers
to the Mosque Hamedieh Jami, which stands adjacent to the grounds of
Yildiz Kiosk. It was worth seeing. There was a great gathering of
military in splendid uniforms and glittering decorations. Seven handsome
carriages contained his principal wives, or ladies of the harem (wives we
were told), and several of the Sultan's sons (mere youths) were there,
beautifully apparelled. We caught glimpses of the ladies through their
carriage windows, and being women (though veiled) I should be surprised
if they, on their part, did not get glimpses of us. There were eunuchs
too, black frock-coated--and the chief eunuch, an important personage who
ranks very high. Then came the Sultan (Abdul Hamid) himself in an open
carriage, closely surrounded and guarded by officers. He was an elderly,
careworn, bearded, sallow, melancholy looking man, whose features seemed
incapable of a smile. He entered the Mosque alone; his wives remaining
seated in their carriages outside. In the room in which we sat at an
open window to view the ceremony we were regaled with the Sultan's coffee
and cigarettes.
The streets and bazaars of Constantinople were absorbingly interesting.
The various nationalities that everywhere met the eye; the flowing
eastern costumes, the picturesque water carriers, the public letter
writers patiently seated at street corners and occupied with their
clients, the babel of voices, and yet an Oriental indolence pervading
all, crowds but no hurry; the sonorous and musical sound of the Muezzin
call to prayers from the minarets--all was new and strange; delightful
too, if you except the dogs that beset the streets and over which, as
they lay about, we stumbled at every step. They are now a thing of the
past. Poor brutes, they deserved a better fate than the cruel method of
extinction which Turkish rule administered.
Of course we visited Stamboul's greatest Mosque, S. Sophia. Many other
Mosques we saw, but none that approached the majesty of this. One, the
Church of the Monastery of the Chora, famous for its beautiful mosaics,
we did not see, although the German Emperor had driven specially to it on
his visit in 1898 to the Sultan. The only good road Constantinople
seemed to possess was this road to the church, which lies outside the
city, and this road, we were told, was constructed for the convenience of
His Imperial Majesty.
One day, on the bridge that spans the Golden Horn, we passed the Grand
Vizier in his carriage. It was the day on which we crossed the Bosphorus
by steamer to visit Scutari on the Asiatic shore. Scutari commands a
splendid view of the city, the Golden Horn, and the Bosphorus in its
winding beauty, right away to the Black Sea. What a city some day will
Constantinople be! The grandest perhaps on earth. In Scutari we heard
the Howling Dervishes at their devotions, and the following day, in
Constantinople, witnessed a _performance_ shall I call it? of the Dancing
Dervishes in their whirling, circling, toe-revolving exercise. The
object of both is said to be to produce the ecstatic state in which the
soul enters the world of dreams and becomes one with God. There is no
question as to the ecstatic, nay frenzied state many of them attained.
Our last day was the eve of the Ramadan Fast. At eight o'clock that
night we left by train to journey homeward overland, for time demanded
that we should go back much quicker than we came.
We broke our journey for two days at Buda-Pesth, and looked on the
Danube; at Vienna we stayed a little longer, and found that gay city hard
to leave. We drove and rode in the Prater, and horseback exercise in
such a place was, I need not say, delightful. We stopped at Frankfort,
enjoyed its opera and other things, then, _via_ Ostend, wended our way to
London.