implied shortening of the hours. It uniformed the time for men
commencing work in the foreshift, and it gave them two or three hours
more time to rest when it was most natural and most needed. The writer
of this (as all men who were hewers at that time would go) went to
work, if in the whole, at one in the morning. The "caller" made his
rounds then, but there were many men who never waited until he came.
They were at the pit and down before the time. At some collieries the
back shift men went in at six or six-thirty A.M. If they were out until
the latter time they were the last to go in. It was not considered
necessary to suspend the coal-drawing to send them down. The man and
his picks were put into an empty tub, and went down against the full
tubs coming up. The engineman was told there was a "man on," and the
only difference in the running was the easing up a little at the
bottom. When the back shift hewer got to the face he had the company of
his marrow for some two or three hours. In 1872 the calling time was
changed, and the loosing in the face established.
Take the position of checkweighmen. Prior to the commencement of the
Union (and at the time) the workmen's choice of their weighman was
merely nominal. They selected, but the selection was subject to the
approval of the employer or manager, and he was at all times liable to
receive his notice, not from the men for whom he worked, but from the
manager--and it could be given for anything which did not harmonise
with the will of the manager. A breach of the law was not considered
except it was colliery-made law.
It will be obvious that his freedom of action (so far as the advocacy
of the rights of workmen was concerned) would be very much restricted.
In the generality of cases the policy was to "lie low." In this there
has been a great and useful change. Now the checkweighman is employed
by the workmen, and can only be removed by them, except he violates
the conditions of the Mines' Regulation Act; and now he is (with rare
exceptions) the mouthpiece of the men when meeting the manager, the
leader in public movements, and the most prominent in matters relating
to the Association.
No less important is the facility for meeting the employers, and the
spirit of equality which obtains. What a contrast between 1869 and
1904! Then it was truly a meeting of the superior with his inferiors,
and as a natural consequence there was an absence of free discussion,
which is so essential to the proper settlement of the questions
arising between employers and workmen. Happily, that feeling has died
out. There is less of the dictator and dictated to, and more of the
meeting of equals. Then it was thought to employ men was to confer a
favour upon them, and that consequently they were to consider
themselves under patronage, and be satisfied with the treatment meted
out to the patronised. Now it is realised that if the employers employ
a man's labour the workmen employ their capital, that reciprocity and
mutuality form the platform upon which the two sides can meet, and
that free, unrestrained, courteous expression is not merely the right,
but the safest and most beneficial course.
There has not only been an economic benefit accruing to both sides
alike, as a result of this equality, but there has been a mental
stimulus given to the workmen. It is true that, concurrently with the
life of the Association, the schoolmaster has been more abroad amongst
the people. The boys commence work later in life, and with a larger
mental capital, and that as a consequence there is more ability at
command for the use of workmen, but it is a safe assertion that the
fact of the organisation operating in our midst has been no mean
factor in stimulating the use of the learning so acquired. The young
men think it no small attainment to take part in the various offices
which are held out to them in the Union, and they know as well that
they must be prepared to fill those offices in an intelligent manner.
It would be a difficult, but yet a most interesting, calculation if it
could be shown how many men have been incited to mental activity in
the manner indicated. From the very inception the Association has
demonstrated that the industrial relations in this county were passing
out of the region of brute force into that of reason, and the play of
mind against mind, and that the body of working men who desire to hold
their own, and progress, must do so by the mental force they could
command. The greater that force the safer the position, and the more
assured the amelioration of their conditions. By that will they
conquer. The contrast between the number of able men now and in 1869
is encouraging. It gives the young assurance, and rejoices the heart
of the aged, who in their youth saw this day as in a vision, but
desired it.
A natural corollary from the equality in meeting and the mental
impetus is the amended mode of settling disputes and conducting our
negotiations. We have come from a chronic state of open and avowed
antagonism to (if not complete conciliation) at least a great approach
to it. The history in describing the various stages in our path, will
prove that the old era of contention was wearying and wasteful, as it
was sure to be when the two parties considered themselves as two
armies, and their strength of numbers and increase in capital were for
purposes of crushing the other side. These ideas, like that of
national superiority and large armaments, were hard to destroy on
either side. Their presence made the attempts at compromise more
difficult, and often helped those who were wishful to retrograde. They
brought about the abolition of the sliding scales and the first
Conciliation Board. It may be at some future stage they will effect
the same with the second. This will not be, if the past teaches any
lessons and the workmen of Durham recognise the tendency of the times.
That is towards conciliation, and no step should be taken except to
perfect it. If wisdom rules, that backward action will be avoided as a
great danger.
A very pleasing change is the greater care for life manifest during
the last thirty-six years. The county has had its share of explosions
in the period indicated. The following table will give us a view as to
the extent of the life-saving in the mines of the nation. The table
deals with three decades, and 1905 singly, and gives the deaths per
year, the numbers of persons employed, with the number of tons, the
average of each ten years being taken.
Ten Years Deaths per Number of Number of
ending Year Persons Employed Tons
1882 1129 558,816 152,221,629
1892 1032 614,200 182,646,507
1902 1015 666,060 215,790,835
1905 1159 887,524 249,782,594
The table is very cheering. The full value of it will be realised if
we take the decade ending 1882 and compare it with 1905. There we have
thirty more deaths, but we have 300,000 more people employed, and an
increase of over 97,000,000 tons in output. The proportionate
reduction in the saving of life is great.
Three more changes remain to be noted. First, the political change. In
1869 the political power in the hands of the miners (as of all county
dwellers) was a very small quantity. The logic of the situation was
curious. Above a certain monetary position or size of a house, or
possession of land, or living on one side of a line, men were allowed
to vote; without those, and being over the line, they were prohibited.
The law of England was an open declaration that houses, money, land,
all insensate, could guarantee a man a qualification for doing that
which alone can be done properly by the operation of mind, and living
within an arbitrary area imparted to him full competency for the right
of citizenship. He might have them to-day, and live on the borough
side of the line, and be qualified; but the vicissitudes of life might
strip him of his possessions--or the necessities of his occupation
might compel him to move to-morrow--and he would be considered unfit
to take part in the election of those who had to make the laws he was
bound to obey, which is certainly a most sacred right. That anomaly
was swept away. The Durham miners took their share of the work, and
set the example as to the proper use of the power.
Another of the changes we note is the strong desire there is for an
improved home life. It is not an extraneous feeling forced upon the
miners by outsiders, but is within them. There is a great change in
that respect. There has been much done in the direction of the
much-needed reform. The present is a long way from being satisfactory,
but it is far in advance of the state at the inception of the
Association. That only existed because it was born of use. The
old-time houses are a standing witness of the opinion those who built
them had of the workmen. How should we know that the merciful man
regarded the life of his beast except by the manner of his feeding and
_housing_? There is a change in that respect, but there is a more
hopeful one, and that is the desire on the part of those who live in
them for betterment. The man who is _content_ with a hovel, or room in
a slum, will never look higher. To be dissatisfied with them is
healthy, and is the sure road to a better state. May the feeling grow
until bad houses and insanitation are removed; but it should never be
forgotten that a house itself does not make a home--the life in it
alone can do that.
The last of the changes, but not the least, is the altered opinion
about, and the more accurate knowledge of, the miner there is in the
country. Forty years ago, to many of the people of London the
northern miner was a dweller in remote regions, and a man of uncouth
and rude speech and habits. Some believed he remained down in the
mine, never coming to bank except for a holiday. The writer was once
asked by a man not far from London how long he had been in the mines.
He replied eight or nine years. Then said the querist: "Have you never
been up till now?" He was informed that the miner came up every day.
With surprise he exclaimed: "I thought you lived down in the mines
altogether." That is only one of the numerous instances which could
safely be quoted expressive of the ignorance about the miner and his
life. They knew his product because it warmed them and cooked their
food, but that was the extent of their correct information.
But the change in the geographical and domestic knowledge is not all,
nor the most important; the altered opinion of the miner as a man is
more. The common name was the "Geordies," and that was used as being
indicative of something low rather than a class cognomen. It was the
idea as seen in the attitude of many in Durham when the first gala was
held--as stated above. That is all changed during the thirty-six years
we have existed as an Association. The man who speaks lightly of the
class does it in the face of the clearest light, and from malice. It
is of the class we speak here. If we reason from the individual our
logic will be unsound, and all classes stand condemned. Taken in the
bulk, as compared with our start, the miner has been raised on to a
pedestal of respect. That is a result of his own self-respect. Without
the latter the former will never be attained. It is the compelling
force. It is the philosophy of Shakespeare's "To thine own self be
true," which finds exemplification in every sphere and grade of life.
The Durham miners have shown this in a marked degree. They may be void
of some of the polish which is to be found amid the complaisances and
conventionalities of the finer trades or higher walks of life--their
battle for bread is a rough one--but he who wants honesty,
uprightness, and bravery will not be disappointed if he turns to them.
He need not seek far.
IN MEMORIAM
We have finished our history for the present, and traced it in rapid
outline for thirty years. With the benefits we are enjoying from it,
the enjoyment must not induce forgetfulness of the brave men who laid
the foundations of our little kingdom, for such it is. We enter into
their labours, but we will do so with gratitude, and not indifference.
Their memory deserves more than a mere casual place with us. We should
not be true men if we gave it only that. Let us remember that in
reality the position we have realised and the solidity of our
Association have been won and made possible by their spirit and
foresight, and because we have kept ourselves close to the lines of
their procedure. Ours is a great organisation, not because of its
numbers (bulk may be weakness), but because of its principles. If it
were not so, instead of standing out prominently as we do we should be
in a dwarfed and stunted condition, and comparatively useless. The
structure we now possess has risen by slow growth from very small
beginnings and opposing forces. Every new idea, all the teaching of
experience, were used as blocks by those patient builders laying the
foundation for those who were to follow them. It is true there might
be some mistake and bungling in the building. But in spite of these
the structure has arisen with solidity, and from the rubble of that
time we have reared up great walls and fair outlines, giving promise
of future strength, durability, and usefulness. Truly the little one
has become a great nation, and the weak one a strong force, and as
long as we do not harm ourselves no power outside can.
How shall we show our respect for them? We have no possible way except
by carrying on their work and seeking to give effect and volume to it.
The end of their policy was reform, not revolution--not only in a
political way, but in every direction where it was needed. Every
hindrance in the whole round of working conditions was to them an
evil, and as such should be removed. Where immediate abolition was not
possible they tried to reduce its magnitude. They preached the ideal
life, seized the possible, and made the best of circumstances. And is
the wisdom of their action not evident? The spasmodic has been
succeeded by the settled and the orderly. Where hate was endangering
the general weal by its unreasoning action we now have regular
business relations. No doubt to many whose main feature is ardency and
rush they were slow-paced. These would have gone faster, but there
would have been slower progress. To the Israelites Moses was
slow-paced, but the wilderness was their portion as a result of their
grumbling. There were grumblers in our start from Egypt to a better
position (some of them remain to this day), but these are not the
spirits who would either lay foundations or rear structures. The live
men before us now were not grumblers. They were too busy; the work
before them was too imperative. They were discontented; but in essence
there is a wide difference between that and a grumbler. Never since
the world began has any grievance been removed by the latter class.
They may have hindered, but never helped. They are the drags on the
wheels, and complain because more speed is not made. The men of 1869
were men of different mettle, or the fear is we should never have had
the Association we have, nor stood in the proud position we enjoy
among the trades organisations of the nation. We are reaping where
they sowed, and while we enjoy the harvest let us remember the sowers.
We have placed their statues in a prominent position; but what do they
mean to us? They are reminders of a state of things in a large part
passed away, and as suggesters of a hope of a larger life in the
future they contain a recognition and a resolve--a recognition of
their work and a resolve to carry it forward: a recognition of the
debt we owe to them, which can only be paid by service rendered to
others. It is a debt which no statue, no matter how costly or
lifelike, can liquidate. It can only be paid in kind. That is a truth
we should not forget, but on all occasions give expression to. It is
that expression which stamps real dignity upon the life of any man.
Position, rank, title, wealth are all useless, for the true index is
manliness and useful service. The true reformers have been (and are)
men who assisted the good and resisted the evil, not simply because it
would pay or bring preferment or popularity, but because they felt in
their hearts the impulses (and compulsions, if you will) of duty. The
love of man constrained them, and the imperative _I must_ forced them
onward. The world's progress has not depended on the acts of the
so-called great men, but on the endeavours and self-denials of men who
were lost often amid the mists and struggles and poverty of life, and
to whom its heavy burdens were not theoretical, but terribly near in
their contact, and fearful in their weight and trial.
The deeds of the workers of the race are not recorded to decorate
history, but for strengthening the generations to come. For such
purpose has prominence been given here to our workers. "The measure of
a nation's civilisation is the number of the brave men it has had,
whose qualities have been harvested for children and youth." We have
had our brave men. They did not live to themselves. In this we must be
their imitators.
AU REVOIR
I have had many pleasant occupations in connection with our
Association, and the writing of this outline of our history is not the
least pleasing among them. It has taken much time, but the result has
been (not to be burdensome, but) to impart a somewhat hurried and
loose character to the writing, and perhaps some slight omissions of
facts, not material to the general course of the history. It has been
compiled in the rush of other matters, and in odd minutes as they
offered themselves, but its purpose will be attained if a desire to
form a closer acquaintance with our growth and transactions be
provoked, especially in the minds of our young men, in the hope that
they may be rooted and grounded in their faith in Trades Unionism. The
dependence of the future is upon them. What is more important than for
them to have a full knowledge of our policy and procedure?
The subject is to me of the most interesting nature. From start to
finish it has been running the current of my own life, because in
nearly all the incidents I have had some small share--as one in the
ranks at first, and in these later years as one of the officials. I
saw the start, have seen the growth, and feel proud of its position.
With those who helped to form it I shared the evil speaking and unfair
treatment when we made the attempt, and have never hesitated to be a
partner in the blame and slanders which small-minded men have seen
fit to bestow upon those who were doing their duty. The narrow mind
always feels a pleasure in censuring others. I say nothing of the work
which has been done except this: in all I have had any part in there
has been pleasure, and none of the hireling waiting for the shadow of
the day. I have shared the regrets of those who regretted the
failures, and now I am thankful there is large room to rejoice over
the progress made and the position attained. This feeling, you will
permit me to say, is bound to be stronger in me than in most men. It
is part of my life. Thirty-seven years is a long time. A man is a
fool, or worse, if, living in contact with an institution (one in
which he has lived and moved and had his being), it has not made more
than a mechanical impression upon him. I have passed from youth to age
in that contact. It commenced in the prime of manhood, and continues
when life's day is declining, and the gathering shades indicate the
sun has dipped far to the west, and to find myself in active service,
even with the limited powers resulting from the weight of threescore
years and ten, is the crown of my rejoicing.
I have been a long time the colleague of some of you. In the battle we
have been shoulder to shoulder, and our hair has turned grey in the
fight. We have been together in good and evil, for the web of our life
has been of mingled yarn. Good and evil together have been mixed, but
the good has predominated--how much we alone can tell. I rejoice with
you that we have lived to see this day, and that we are still fighting
the good fight, with the hopeful spirit, if the physical energies are
less than when we commenced. There is a great distance between the
point we have attained and the valley whence we started--a distance
not measured by time. The true standard is an experience such as our
life alone can supply.
My final word is to my young brothers. It is that of exhortation to
appreciate not merely the conditions you enjoy, but the possibilities
opened out to you. The thought of these should stir you up to the
enjoyment of one and the use of the other. Believe me, about this I am
very anxious, and shall rejoice if something in this book, or
suggested by it, tends to stir you to good and profitable use of the
facilities and time the Association has opened out to you. The opening
out of these devolves upon you a twofold duty: to yourselves first,
and then devoting yourselves to the improvement, solidifying,
strengthening, and perfecting of the organisation. Let me quote a few
words I have written to you before:
To omit the duty you owe to yourselves; to neglect the opportunities
which are open to you; to think all of pleasure and sport, and
nothing of mental culture; to leave the institutes which are opening
out to you, with their libraries, and which with their stores of
knowledge bring you into living, thoughtful contact with the mental
giants of the race; to live only for present enjoyment, with no
preparation for to-morrow, which will need and make demands upon you,
is surely a lack of forethought, which is condemnable for two
reasons, because it stunts your own nature (for no uneducated man is
complete), and hinders your usefulness when matured manhood calls
upon you to take your place in the affairs of your class and nation,
to assist in the progress of one and the rectification of the
national evils. Put not your trust in other people entirely; look not
to some power outside yourselves to raise you higher in the social
scale, whether it be parliamentary or otherwise. The most effective
means for further progress lies in us. We want to be true to
ourselves, resting not satisfied with foul conditions and
surroundings nor ignorance. An educated people is a powerful people;
for where is there a man who knows what is due to a man who will be
satisfied with less than what a man requires and deserves?
These thoughts form the _raison-d'être_ of this history. The aim is to
make it a reliable record of facts and an inspiration to those who
read. There has been no attempt at literary display. There has been a
desire to give prominence to the principles of the founders, and to
urge adherence to them, for by them we have come, and by them we shall
progress. Our course has been gradual, but it has been safe. We have a
record of which all may justly feel proud. It has not been rushing nor
spasmodic. In these ofttimes lies ruin, and this we have found when we
as an Association have tried that method. Carefulness and caution are
not cowardice. These feelings may not be heroic, but they have proved
their fitness in the years that are gone. "Discretion is the better
part of valour."
"More firm and sure the hand of courage strikes
When it obeys the watchful eye of caution."