DEFEAT
The committee at their quarterly meeting held at Cozens' Temperance
Hotel, at King's Lynn, on Saturday, July 30th, decided, on the motion of
Mr. Winfrey, to move the office of the Union from Gresham to Fakenham,
if a suitable house could be found, and they appointed Mr. Robert Green
and myself a sub-committee to secure one if possible. This we did after
a good deal of correspondence. We first agreed on one on a seven years'
lease in Walsall Terrace, Queen's Road, Fakenham, at a rental of L17 per
annum and rates; but before the agreement could be signed and the lease
drawn up, it transpired that the house was let to another man without
the knowledge of the house agent. Then a Mr. Philips of Fakenham offered
us Wensum House at Hempton, near Fakenham, at a rental of L20 per annum.
This we accepted and took on a seven years' lease. This was a ten-roomed
house with two large attics. The two front rooms were very large. One of
the front rooms was taken as an office, and it was a very fine and
suitable room at that time, and quite large enough to be used as a board
room for the committee. The committee also decided that I should pay
them the same rent as I paid my landlord for my cottage and garden at
Gresham, namely L5 per year. The moving from my village caused me a good
deal of pain, but I knew I must bow to the inevitable, for the Union had
outgrown my little bedroom. I did, however, love my garden and my little
cottage, small as it was. I cultivated my garden as a relief early in
the morning when at home to occupy my mind from the worries of my
official duties. I always managed so that I had some kind of vegetable
all the year round. I was very fond of vegetable marrow and used to grow
a very fine kind. We ate some as vegetables, the rest we could cut and
keep and my wife would make what we called in our agricultural
labourer's phrase, "million pies." My wife, too, was very fond of fowls,
and we kept just enough to produce a few eggs for our own use. To my
little cottage my dear wife and myself were devoted. In fact, I was as
proud of it as any duke is of his palace. We had two downstair rooms,
the front room 12 ft. by 14 ft., its height about 6 ft. 8 in., the back
kitchen which we used to live in most of our time 9 ft. by 7 ft. There
was a little cooking-stove in it and a perpetual oven in the wall in
which my wife did most of her baking. The front room floor she covered
with cocoanut matting and put a nice paper on the walls, and there were
plenty of pictures and my bookshelf at one corner full of books, of
which I am so proud. As we both looked at this little cottage home,
which had so many sweet memories, one can understand how unwilling we
were to leave it. Further, I was living there amongst my own fellow
agricultural labourers, and the environments and surroundings were so
dear to me as to be part of myself.
[Illustration: THE FIRST OFFICE OF THE AGRICULTURAL WORKERS' UNION,
GRESHAM, NORFOLK.]
I was also Superintendent of the Primitive Methodist Sunday-school,
Society Steward and Circuit Steward of the Sheringham and Holt Primitive
Methodist Circuit. To take me from it all was a wrench indeed, and I
don't believe my dear wife ever did settle down to the change.
In moving into a town and a bigger house I knew I should be lifted out
of my natural environment, which was no small matter now that I had
reached sixty years of age. Besides, I was moving many miles from the
spot which was so sacred to me, namely the village churchyard of
Aylmerton, where I had buried my aged mother some eleven years before.
But the movement that I had so successfully launched and for whose
success or failure I was responsible I felt had a greater claim than any
other earthly consideration, so I braced myself up to the inevitable.
Those memories of the past are still, however, sweet to me, and, if I
had my choice, I think I would prefer to go back to them again. On
October 11, 1910, I moved from Gresham to Wensum House, Hempton, near
Fakenham, with all unforeseen events to face which I think I have done
bravely.
But during all my moving troubles I had still the strike troubles to
bear and the propaganda work of the Union, and no extra help allowed. My
assistant Mr. Thomas Thacker had resigned in August through ill health,
and his successor, Mr. James Coe, could not take up his duties until
after harvest. No sooner had I settled down in my new office, nicely
fitted up, than I saw I had great troubles to face which would cause me
greater worries than ever I had been called upon to bear, for the strike
continued as fiercely as ever, and I could see a crisis coming which I
knew would be either the making or the undoing of the Union. At the
conclusion of the harvest in the third week in September I met all the
men on strike in both districts who had lost their harvest through the
strike and paid them the whole harvest wages which they would have
received had they been at work. So no one man suffered the loss of one
penny through the strike. Such a thing no Union had ever done before.
During the quarter from July to October we had some few little disputes
over the harvest wages, at Swanton, Morley and Litcham, in which Mr.
Arnett, a member of the Executive, and myself were able to effect a
satisfactory settlement. On November 19, 1910, a most important meeting
of the Executive was held at Cozens' Temperance Hotel. There were
present Mr. George Nicholls, Mr. Richard Winfrey, Messrs. George
Edwards, J. Arnett, T. Giles, A. Gidney, W. Codling, A. Petch and J.
Stibbons. I presented my financial statement and quarterly report, which
read as follows:--
In presenting you with my fifteenth quarterly report I am sorry to
report for the first time a considerable decrease in our
accumulated capital due to the prolonged dispute in the St. Faith's
and Trunch districts. We have enrolled during the quarter 1,048
members. Our contributions have been L348 17s. 8d., which is L82
13s. more than the previous quarter and is the highest on record.
We have held during the quarter fourteen camp meetings, which were
all well attended. The collections taken have been devoted to
paying the expenses of the meeting, and the balances have been
given to a special lock-out fund for men with large families.
The dispute at St. Faith's and Trunch still continues at a very
heavy cost. We paid to the men from June 30th to September 30th at
St. Faith's L683 14s. 9d., Trunch L9 5s., Swanton Morley L9,
Litcham L3 0s. 5d., Castleacre 10s., Pulham 5s. Total amount of
strike pay during the quarter L705 15s. 2d., a sum for such a
purpose we must all deeply regret. We can, however, congratulate
ourselves on the fact that we have done more for our members in the
time we have been in existence than any other labour union has ever
done in so short a time. I feel, however, that we must now consider
the next step to take. The St. Faith's strike has entered upon its
twenty-sixth week. I have done all I can to bring the dispute to a
peaceful and honourable conclusion, but have failed. The St.
Faith's strike is costing L35 per week. I have appealed to the
Board of Trade and clearly pointed out the miserably low wages paid
to the agricultural labourers in Norfolk, and asked the President
of the Board to intervene. He has, however, refused to do so. The
next step I should advise the committee to take is to ask the
members to express their views by ballot and at the same time point
out to them the seriousness of the situation. Great care, however,
must be taken in the matter, or we shall lose a great deal of the
ground we have gained. The special effect the strike has had on the
Union in Norfolk is that it has prevented the farmers reducing the
labourers' wages from 13s. to 12s. per week during the autumn. We
have appeared to the farmers to be a great deal stronger than we
really are. And I do not consider the money we have spent in the
dispute has been spent in vain and, further, it has created a
lively interest in the Union. I wish to point out that the trouble
at Litcham and Swanton Morley would have taken a very serious turn
had it not have been for the firm stand your Emergency Committee
took. The dispute at Trunch still continues, but several of the men
have found work with other employers. There is some little trouble
arisen in one of our branches over a very difficult matter. The
branch asks the Executive to support the case. Another little
trouble has arisen at Felthorpe, which after very close
investigation I am supporting, and I ask for your endorsement. In
closing my report I wish to say we have received enormous support
from our Norwich friends, both morally and financially, and great
thanks are due to them from the committee. I feel I ought not to
close this report without mentioning the fact that Mr. Herbert Day,
our Vice-President, has been untiring in helping the men out on
strike. He nobly came forward when they were shamefully persecuted
and fined a sum amounting to L68 16s. and paid this himself. I hope
the criticism and the discussion on this report and the position of
the Union will enable us to come out of this crisis successfully. I
also wish to report that I attended the Trade Union Congress held
at Sheffield in September and moved the following resolution as
instructed by the General Council:--
"That it be an instruction to the Parliamentary Committee to take
steps to get the agricultural labourers included in the Trades
Board Act of 1909."
The committee endorsed my report. Mr. Arnett also reported that he had
received some communications from Mr. Leadbeater, a schoolmaster at St.
Faith's, offering to negotiate with the farmers with a view to bringing
the dispute to an end if the Executive wished.
It was resolved that Mr. Arnett be empowered to ask Mr. Leadbeater to
negotiate with the employers at St. Faith's with a view to their taking
the men back at 13s. per week, the wage which the men struck against.
To this I strongly objected, contending that the committee had no right
to authorize anyone to negotiate with the employers on such terms until
the members of the Union had given them the power to do so. I at once
found I was up against my Executive. I also could plainly see that the
Union was about to pass through a most severe crisis, and without great
care the movement for which I had worked so hard for the last four years
would be smashed. The committee also decided that a ballot of the
members should be taken and the resolution should be sent to all the
branches. It was also resolved that as soon as I received the ballot
papers from the branches, if the majority were in favour of the
resolution, I should at once inform Mr. Arnett of the result, and that I
should instruct Mr. Arnett to ask Mr. Leadbeater to make arrangement
with the employers to take the men back on the old terms, namely 13s.
per week and the hours of labour as before. Thus it will be seen all
through nothing was in the circular about the terms. The committee
decided without even meeting to discuss the ballot that the strike was
to be closed and the men sent back on the old terms. As I look back at
this proceeding I am not surprised that there was serious trouble, but I
am surprised that the whole movement did not collapse. I am sorry to
have to recount this, but I feel in writing my life-story and of the
whole facts of the progress of this movement which I founded and the
vicissitudes through which it had to pass, the whole facts should be
made known. Further, most of it is a matter of history now.
The resolution and ballot the committee themselves drew up and
instructed the President and myself to sign. This read as follows:--
_To the Secretary of the..............Branch._
MOST URGENT.
Sir,
Please call a special meeting of your branch not later than
Saturday November 26th to consider the strike at St. Faith's. The
Members of that branch last May asked their employers for 1s. per
week rise and for their working week to finish at one o'clock on
Saturdays, which was equal to shortening their hours of labour
three hours per week. The employers refused to grant either of
these requests. A strike ensued which has lasted just on six months
and has cost the Union over L900, which your committee consider a
most serious matter. We had hoped the dispute would have been
brought to a peaceful and honourable settlement. We consider the
time has now come when you ought to have the seriousness of the
situation placed before you, for you to decide by your vote
whether the committee shall not try to bring the dispute to an
honourable conclusion. You must call a special and urgent meeting
and put the following resolution to the meeting, sending us the
result. Please write the number of votes for and against on your
ballot paper signed on behalf of the committee.
(_Signed_) GEORGE NICHOLLS, _President_.
GEORGE EDWARDS, _Secretary_.
_Resolution._
That in the opinion of this Branch the Executive Committee of this
Union should immediately take steps to bring the St. Faith's strike
to an honourable conclusion.
Number of votes.
For
Against
-----
I received the ballot papers back from all of the branches by November
29th. On counting them, I at once sent the result to Mr. Arnett as
instructed by the committee. The result was as follows for closing the
strike as per resolution:--
For 1,558
Against 802
-----
Majority for closing 756
Mr. Arnett on receiving the result at once wrote to Mr. Leadbeater and
received the following letters:--
ST. FAITH'S, NORWICH.
_December 3, 1910._
DEAR MR. ARNETT,
I had a long interview with Mr. W. W. Cook last night, and with
slight reservations he is willing to take the men back again at the
old rate of wages. We discussed matters very fully, and finally I
think Mr. Cook is prepared to deal very fairly with the men. Of
course there will be certain sore places for a time, but he will
not be vindictive. The _modus operandi_ of closing the strike will
require great care. The Federation men will have to be cleared away
in a proper way and our own men will have to be prepared to take
their places at the most convenient time. This will require
delicate handling, and I hope any statement made before the matter
is closed will be well guarded. I sincerely hope you will be able
to bring the issue to a satisfactory conclusion. I believe this is
a chance, and in any way I can help you I hope you will let me know
and I will gladly assist. Kindest regards,
Sincerely yours,
(_Signed_) H. LEADBEATER.
ST. FAITH'S,
_December 5, 1910_.
DEAR ARNETT,
Mr. Cook suggested yesterday that I should write to Mr. Willis, the
Federation Secretary, and give him an account of Friday's
interview. I am doing so by this post. I think this is a step
nearer and may lead to an official recognition and discussion. Mr.
Cook also told me yesterday that he was prepared to take on the
evening school lads at once, if I send them in to him. What do you
say to this? Let me know as soon as you can and then some start can
be made. Hoping for the best, believe me to be acting in your best
interest,
Yours faithfully,
(_Signed_) H. LEADBEATER.
ST. FAITH'S,
_December 13, 1910_.
DEAR ARNETT,
I have received an answer from Mr. Willis, the Federation
Secretary, in which he informs me that the local masters will treat
with their employees in a most friendly spirit and will at once
employ them at the same rate as before. This is from the Executive
Council, and I, knowing the feeling of our best farmers, beg to
suggest that all pressure should be made to settle the matter at
once. I feel sure, if the chance goes by, there will not be another
on such good terms as now. This is the climax, and under no
consideration will the men receive better terms. I should say if
once acted upon there will be practically very few left outside. I
think it is far better to keep the two or three left on the Union
funds than to keep on a hopeless fight. Believe me, it is a
hopeless fight, and I hope for the sake of the Union and the men
the end has come and that your Executive can see it. Kindly let me
know what your Executive say so that I can report finally the
result of my endeavours to bring about a settlement which will give
us peace.
With my good wishes,
Yours sincerely,
(_Signed_) H. LEADBEATER.
This was the first stage of the trouble. On receiving these
communications from Mr. Arnett I at once summoned the Executive
together, and they met on December 17th. A strange thing happened at the
committee held on November 19th. Although the committee decided to take
this course, they suspended me and my assistant organizer Mr. James Coe
for a period during the General Election, and left only my secretary in
the office to attend to all correspondence and keep the books. Of course
I had to do all correspondence which had all to be sent on to me.
The Executive Committee met at the office of the Union on December 17,
1910, and there were present Mr. H. A. Day (Vice-President), who
presided in the absence of the President, Messrs. A. Petch, W. Codling,
J. Stibbons, M. Berry, J. Arnett, G. Edwards and T. Thacker.
It soon became evident that the committee would be hopelessly divided on
the St. Faith's dispute. I reported the result of the ballot and that I
had carried out the instructions given me at the last committee meeting,
namely I had sent the result of the ballot on to Mr. Arnett and that I
had instructed him to ask Mr. Leadbeater to make arrangements with the
employers for the men to go back on the old terms of 13s. per week and
the working hours to be as before. I had, therefore, carried out all my
instructions in reference to the matter. Mr. Arnett was asked to state
what he had done in the matter, and he then read the correspondence he
had had with Mr. Leadbeater, and he strongly recommended that the
arrangements made by Mr. Leadbeater with the employers be carried out
and that the men be instructed to return to work on the employers'
terms. Mr. Day then moved and Mr. Berry seconded that the General
Secretary be instructed to write and thank Mr. Leadbeater for his kind
efforts to bring about a settlement of the St. Faith's strike, but, as
the employers had not given any guarantee that they would take all the
men back without any further reductions, the present negotiations be
brought to an end.
This resolution caused a most heated debate, and there voted for it Mr.
Day, W. Colding and Mr. Berry, against Messrs. Arnett, Petch and
Stibbons. The chairman gave his casting vote for the resolution and it
was adopted.
The Secretary read a letter from the St. Faith's Branch containing a
resolution passed by that branch:--
That this branch is of opinion that the resolution sent by the
Executive to the branches to vote upon was rather misleading. We
ask the Executive to take another clearer ballot of all the
members. If the strike shall continue for 14s. per week or go back
for 13s. per week, if the employers will give an undertaking to
take all the men and lads back at one time, and that a clear
financial statement be given with the ballot. Further we are
prepared to loyally abide by the wishes of our fellow members.
Mr. Day then moved and Mr. Berry seconded that another ballot be taken
of all the members and that they be asked to vote on the following
questions:--
1. Shall the men stand out for 14s. per week?
2. Or shall they go back for 13s. per week if all the men and lads
are taken back at once?
Further, that the following circulars be sent with ballot papers:--
_To the Secretary of the_............_Branch_.
MOST URGENT! ST. FAITH'S DISPUTE.
Seeing that the words "honourable conclusion" in the first ballot
were not clearly understood, we ask you to call another meeting
and take a vote of all your members present and let me have the
ballot papers back not later than January 1, 1911. I am also
instructed to let you know the true position of the Union. We
report to you that since the strike commenced at St. Faith's last
May we have enrolled nearly 2,000 members. We had in hand on
September 30th last over L1,100. Since then we have spent L500 for
strikes and general purposes and received about L250, so that we
now have about L850 in hand. At this rate of expenditure and income
we could continue the strike for another six months certain, that
is until next May. We understand that the farmers have often
trouble with the imported strike-breakers. The men at St. Faith's
are prepared loyally to follow the wishes of their fellow Trade
Unionists and either continue to stand out for the 14s. or go back
for the 13s., if all can be taken back together. If the vote is in
favour of the men going back for the 13s., then the General
Secretary be instructed to act on the other resolution.
Signed on behalf of the committee,
GEO. EDWARDS,
_General Secretary_.
This was carried by the casting vote of the chairman. At the conclusion
of the meeting I at once had this circular printed. It was finished that
evening and I sat up all night and addressed the copies ready for post
the next Sunday, as I had a religious service to conduct on Sunday. I
would not neglect my religious work for anything. The committee also
decided by a majority in which I voted that unless guarantees were given
by the employers to the satisfaction of the General Secretary and the
Union's solicitor, Mr. W. E. Keefe, the strike was to continue.
These decisions of the committee were, however, not allowed to remain
unchallenged, for I at once received instructions from the President,
Mr. George Nicholls, to call a special meeting of the Executive, which I
did for December 28th, and there were present Messrs. George Nicholls,
R. Winfrey, George Edwards, J. Arnett, T. Giles, A. P. Petch, J.
Stibbons, M. Berry, W. Godling and T. Thacker.
The committee discussed the strike at St. Faith's. The strangest part of
the proceeding is that although they had confirmed the minutes of the
last meeting without rescinding anything, they at once set about taking
steps to ignore what was done at the Executive held on December 17th.
Mr. J. Arnett at once moved, seconded by Mr. J. Stibbons, that Mr.
George Nicholls and Mr. Richard Winfrey be instructed to visit St.
Faith's and use their endeavours to bring the dispute to a close on the
honourable terms mentioned in the first ballot papers and that they have
full power to act. Before this was put I pointed out that by the
instructions of the meeting held on December 17th I had sent out fresh
ballot papers which were not all returned. Further, they had just
confirmed what that meeting had done. But they persisted in putting it
to the vote, and Messrs. G. Nicholls, R. Winfrey, A. P. Petch, R. Green,
J. Arnett and J. Stibbons voted for it. Against it were Messrs. H. A.
Day, W. Godling, M. Berry and myself.
After the meeting Mr. Nicholls and Mr. Winfrey proceeded to St. Faith's
and interviewed Mr. W. W. Cook and the other employers and came to the
following agreement: The employers undertook to take back at once
thirty-three out of the seventy-five now on strike at the old rate of
wages, viz. 13s. per week and the hours of labour as before. This
arrangement left forty-two men for us to support. This was communicated
to me, and I at once summoned another meeting of the Executive on
Wednesday January 4, 1911. All the committee, with the exception of Mr.
Thacker, were present. Mr. Winfrey at once moved and Mr. Stibbons
seconded that the seventy-five men now on strike at St. Faith's receive
full strike pay up to Friday January 6th, and that the thirty-three men
who the employers have agreed to take back be instructed to see their
employers and proceed to work on Monday January 9th, and that strike pay
be continued to the remainder for the present, and that the committee
meet again on January 28th to consider the matter further. Mr. Day
moved and Mr. Codling seconded an amendment that a third ballot paper be
sent out, stating that Messrs. Nicholls and Winfrey had visited St.
Faith's and find that the employers were only willing to take back
thirty-three of their employees and that forty-two men would not be
taken back. Some might be taken back by degrees. The members should be
asked to vote on these points:--
(1) Shall we accept the employers' terms?
(2) Or shall the strike continue and a levy of 1d. per member per
week be made to enable the men to be paid without further loss to
the Union?
Before the question was put I pointed out to the committee that I had
received the result of the second ballot, and I did not see how they
could ignore that, for it would be an insult to the members, which I was
sure they would deeply resent, and further, how could they accept such
terms as the employers offered, when not only were the employers
exacting their own terms, but they were not willing to take back more
than 40 per cent. of their men? Such a settlement was unheard of in the
history of Trades Unionism.
In spite of this the question was put, and there voted for the amendment
Messrs. H. A. Day, W. Codling, M. Berry and myself.
For the resolution Messrs. G. Nicholls, R. Winfrey, J. Arnett, T. Giles,
A. P. Petch and J. Stibbons. The resolution was carried and I was
instructed to take steps to carry this out. I then gave the result of
the second ballot:--
For continuing the strike 1,102
Against continuing the strike 1,053
-----
Majority for standing out 49
Thus the strike that had lasted nearly eight months was brought to a
close, not because the funds of the Union were exhausted, but because
the majority of the committee honestly believed that it was to the
interest of the men and the Union that it should be closed.
I and those of the committee who were in the minority thought it was a
grave mistake, and I think so to-day.
The troubles of the Union, however, were only just beginning.
Mr. Day wrote to the press condemning the action of the committee and
publicly advised the members to take the matter into their own hands by
demanding a General Council Meeting as per Rule 3, Section 3. This
brought to me scores of telegrams and letters demanding that I should
call a General Meeting to undo what the Executive had done. Of the many
letters I received the following is a specimen, and shows the feeling
that existed amongst the members on the whole matter:--
KENNINGHALL,
_January 6, 1911_.
DEAR MR. EDWARDS,
I have read in the press with deep regret of the way in which the
committee have stopped the St. Faith's strike. If it is true that
the farmers at St. Faith's have said, and I have it from good
authority, that they were prepared to give the 1s. per week, but
did not like giving the three hours on the Saturday, in the face of
this how is it they were willing to send the men back without even
asking for the 1s. or even a promise that it should be given on a
certain date or when the men could work the full hours? And,
further, they are sending the men back against the express wish of
the whole Union. I certainly thought the funds of the Union
belonged to the members and that they had power to say how their
money should be spent and not the E.C.
I strongly protest against the last two committee meetings being
called at all. The first one was called before the second ballot
had come in and when it was in the hands of the members to decide.
The second one was called after the members had decided how their
money was to be spent and the committee went and reversed what the
members had decided. I say emphatically the Union never ought to
have been saddled with the expense of either of these two. The
expense ought to have fallen on those who called the E.C. together.
No doubt we shall hear at the General Council that we ought to cut
down expenses. I can see no reason, if half a dozen men can spend
our money in that fashion, why we should not call a General Council
to deal with the whole question as far as our members are
concerned. They strongly protest against the entire action of the
Executive in regard to the St. Faith's strike.
Yours truly,
(_Signed_) J. SAGE.
I received many more letters much more strongly worded, giving the names
and number of members who wanted a Council to be called. Eight branches
sent in requests for a Council. The Executive met again on January 12th,
when I placed in front of them the telegrams and letters I had received
demanding that the Executive Committee should call a General Council to
discuss the closing of the St. Faith's strike. By a majority of the
Executive they decided, on the motion of Mr. Winfrey, that Rule 3,
Section 3, stipulating that the E.C. shall summon a meeting of the
Council on a requisition signed by not less than fifty members
representing five branches, had not been complied with.
The whole question of the St. Faith's dispute was adjourned until the
General Council meet on February 25th. At this meeting it was evident
that the committee were hopelessly divided and that quite a party spirit
was being manifested. I also became conscious of the fact that there
would be a most bitter attack made on Mr. Day and myself at the General
Council meeting by the Treasurer of the Union on the St. Faith's
dispute. But I was determined that as far as I was concerned I would
carry out every instruction the committee had given me. On Friday
January 6th I went over to St. Faith's and paid the men out on strike
and reported what I had already informed them by letter, the conditions
of settlement, namely that the employers had agreed to set to work
thirty-three of the men out on strike at the rate of 13s. per week and
the working hours the same as before, and that these thirty-three men
were to present themselves at their employers' ready for work on Monday
morning January 9th. I also informed them that the Executive would
continue to support those left out until they met again, when the whole
situation would be revised. The men received the information with tears,
as they felt the whole case was given away, and I don't think I ever
spoke with greater emotion, to see these brave sons of the soil after so
many months of battle go back on the same terms as they had left, and
what was worse they were compelled to go back and leave forty-two of
their fellow workers still out. That was worse to them than going back.
They felt that was a sacrifice too great to make and those that had
stood by them were to be the first to be victimized.
My old friend George Hewitt, the branch secretary, was specially marked
out for victimization. No one would employ him at any price. I gave the
men as much encouragement as possible by assuring them that the Union
would not let them starve. I told them they had fought a noble battle,
and although they apparently had suffered a defeat in their first
engagement, still the day would come when their efforts would be crowned
with victory if they would but stand firm. This seemed to give them a
little courage, and we concluded the meeting by singing one of our Union
songs that we had sung many a time during the campaign, to the tune of
"Lead, Kindly Light."
1. Strong human love, within whose steadfast will
Is always peace;
O stay with me storm-tossed on waves of ill,
Let passions cease.
2. The days are gone when far and wide my will
Drove one astray,
Which leads thro' mist and rocks to truth and good.
Be with me, Love, thou fount of fortitude.
3. Whate'er of pain the passing years allot
I gladly bear;
With thee I triumph whatsoe'er my lot
Nor can despair.
Freedom from storm thou hast immortal song,
Peace from the fierce oppression of all wrong.
4. So may I far away, when night shall fall
On light and love,
Rejoicing hear the quiet solemn call
All life must prove.
Wounded, yet healed, by Man beloved forgiven.
And sure that goodness is my only heaven.
As we sung it the old club room resounded again and again, and the sobs
of the women were heard above all. But a note of sadness was sounded at
the thought that they had not won. It was a time of inspiration to me,
and I had a stronger faith than ever that right would yet triumph over
wrong. I advised the men to be loyal to the decision of the Executive
and present themselves at their various employers' on the Monday and to
show no spirit of bitterness to those non-unionists they would have to
work with. This they promised they would do. I also promised those who
would be left out that I would come over each week and pay them. My old
friend George Hewitt, though he was going to be one of the scapegoats,
did not lose heart, but braced his companions up and told them to be of
good cheer.
CHAPTER XIV
PARTING FROM OLD FRIENDS
As the time drew near for the General Council to meet there was every
evidence that the meeting would be a stormy one. Resolutions for agenda
condemning the Executive for closing the St. Faith's strike came in by
the score. Letters of protest poured into the office. I drew up my
report, got the books audited, got the balance sheet printed ready for
the meeting as instructed by the Executive, prepared the agenda, hired
the Town Hall and Assembly Rooms at Fakenham for the day and invited the
representative of the press as ordered by the Executive. I also prepared
myself for the attack that I knew was going to be made on me. The
Executive met at the office of the Union. The Executive dealt one more
blow at the St. Faith's men by carrying a motion that all strike pay
cease after a week. Five voted for it and four against. The meeting was
stormy all through.
On the Saturday morning my assistant Miss Pike and myself were up early
and got everything ready for the meeting. Every delegate was presented
with a balance sheet and a copy of my report as he came into the hall.
Exactly at 10.30 a.m. Mr. George Nicholls took the chair; on his left sat
Mr. Winfrey, the Treasurer. I sat on his right, and the following were
on the platform: Messrs. T. Giles, J. A. Arnett, J. Stibbons, A. P.
Petch and M. Berry. Mr. Godling was at the door as steward.
After the roll call was taken and the minutes of the last meeting read
and confirmed, my report was taken and discussed, at the suggestion of
the chairman, before we proceeded with the election of the officers. The
following is a summary of it:--
FELLOW WORKERS,--In presenting you with my fifth report I wish
again to thank you for the confidence you have placed in me during
the year; also all the kind friends that have rendered me such
valuable help during the year. The year has been a most eventful
one. Great interest has been taken in the Union. We have enrolled
over 2,000 members since I last gave my report. In May last the men
in St. Faith's and Trunch districts got restless. The men at St.
Faith's put in a demand to the employers for 1s. rise and their
working week to finish at 2 p.m. on Saturday. This was refused and
the men came out on strike on May 28th and have been out on strike
ever since. The committee on December 28th decided to close down
the strike at St. Faith's in consequence of the financial strain.
At the conclusion the President gave his address in which he rather
severely criticized the strike and said had he been at the committee
meeting he should not have sanctioned the men coming out on strike on
such a request.
Mr. Winfrey condemned the strike and accused Mr. Day and myself of
sanctioning the strike without consulting the rest of the committee, and
said he did not know anything about it until he went to Weasenham on
June 6th, after the men had been out on strike a week. I replied to this
rather warmly, pointing out that I carried out to the very letter the
resolution he (Mr. Winfrey) had moved at a committee meeting held on
April 25th, and, further, that I received a cheque from Mr. Winfrey on
June 4th to pay the men their first lock-out pay--so how could he say he
did not know? Further, before the strike commenced I had written both to
the President and the Treasurer begging them to let me call the
committee together to discuss the whole situation.
The discussion was carried on during the day with great spirit and
incriminations were indulged in from all sides.
A motion of censure on the Executive was moved by Mr. G. E. Hewitt on
behalf of the St. Faith's Branch for closing the strike. This was as
follows:--
That this Council protests against the dishonourable way the
Executive closed down the St. Faith's strike.
After a long discussion the resolution was put to the meeting and
carried by a large majority.
The President, Mr. Geo. Nicholls, at once handed in his resignation, and
although he was unanimously requested several times to withdraw it, he
refused to do so. Mr. Winfrey refused to allow his name to go to the
ballot for the treasureship. Mr. Day was opposing him. Mr. W. R. Smith
was elected president by a large majority. Mr. W. B. Harris
vice-president, Mr. H. A. Day treasurer, and the following were elected
to serve on the Executive: Messrs. J. Arnett, W. Smith, G. E. Hewitt, W.
Holmes, R. Green, H. Harvey, W. G. Godling, M. Berry and James Coe.
Mr. Nicholls then left the chair, and he with Mr. Winfrey retired from
the meeting. Mr. W. B. Harris occupied it for the rest of the business,
but the meeting was too excited to transact much business and it ended
in confusion. Thus ended the first chapter of the Union.
I left the meeting greatly perplexed, wondering if the child I had
brought into being was going to be killed in its infancy. I knew its
life was in terrible danger, having passed through a similar experience
in the years that were past. I had, however, great hopes for the future.
I think that I ought not to close this stage of the Union's history
without paying a tribute to those who were going out of the movement and
who jointly with me had done their best to build up the Union to its
present position. In the previous pages in giving the facts of the
struggles we had to pass through in the early stages of the Union it
might appear that I complain rather bitterly of my colleagues who had
worked with me during the four years, but nothing of the kind is my
intention. No body of men have worked with greater honesty or were
prepared to make greater sacrifices in the cause of human progress.
Neither the president, Mr. Nicholls, nor Mr. Winfrey nor Mr. H. A. Day
ever took a penny piece for time, rail fare or out-of-pocket expenses,
and on one occasion these three gentlemen paid for the delegates' lunch
at one of the General Council meetings. No member of the committee ever
charged more than 2s. per day and his rail fare, and for the first
twelve months took only their rail fare. In fact, in March we had a
balance at the bank of L1,569 0s. 10d. saved in less than four years,
and, when it is remembered that the members only paid 2d. per week
contribution or 8d. per month, it must be admitted that there is great
credit due to those men who had given so much time and labour to build
up a movement of this kind. Most of them were inexperienced so far as
Trade Unionism was concerned.
The only mistake they made was that they endeavoured to build a strong
labourers' Union on strictly commercial lines, which was not humanly
possible; but the mistake was a creditable one, and these pioneers of
this movement will go down to history as having laid a foundation of one
of the finest movements in the world's history. I can look back with my
connection with these men in the early stages of this movement with the
greatest pleasure. The work was hard but it was of the pleasantest kind,
and although Sir Richard Winfrey, M.P., has since allied himself with a
party that is anti-progressive, he has done some good work for the
agricultural labourers. I am sorry we shall always have to remain in
opposite camps, and I feel it my duty to appear on a platform in
opposition to him, still he must be given credit for the good work he
has done.
The same must be said of my friend Mr. George Nicholls. I only wish he
had stayed with us. He could have done far more useful work, but this
separation is only what has always happened in times of strikes. I have
never known a strike so far as agricultural labourers are concerned
without it has either ended in a split or a large number of the
labourers concerned leaving the Union, and that is one of the reasons
all through my long connection with the Labour movement why I have
always been against the strike weapon being used until every other means
have failed to secure justice. Even a victory by a strike is dearly
bought. I would commend this experience to my young readers who are
coming along in the Labour movement in the future. For strikes in the
future will be more dreadful than they have been in the past.
CHAPTER XV
THE NEW MODEL
The General Council being over and the new Executive being elected, they
were called upon to bring to a close the strike according to the
decision of the old Executive, which, though we soon found it to be a
very difficult matter, we set about in a business-like manner. In our
President, Mr. W. R. Smith, and Mr. Holmes we had two men who had had
wide experience in settling such things; this made the task much more
easy, and we closed the dispute without inflicting more hardship than we
could possibly help. Apart from this nothing eventful happened during
the year. I set myself to work to prevent the split taking wider
dimensions than could be helped, and I soon found that I had got a most
sympathetic Executive Committee which made my task very much easier. The
General Council meeting was held at Fakenham on March 9, 1912. The
President, Mr. W. R. Smith, presided. To show the progress we had made
during the year and the task devolving upon us, I will give my report as
I presented it to the General Council:--
RESPECTED Brethren,--In presenting you with my Annual Report and
Balance Sheet, I wish again to thank you for the continued
confidence you have placed in me during the year; also to thank the
officers and friends who have rendered me such valuable service in
carrying on the work of the Union.
Our worthy president, Mr. W. R. Smith, J.P., has thrown his whole
soul into the work and has attended a large number of meetings, has
cycled hundreds of miles without fee or reward, and in business
meetings has proved himself a most able president. Mr. H. A. Day,
our treasurer, has rendered most able assistance in putting the
affairs of the Union on a better financial basis, while Messrs. J.
A. Arnett, R. Green, W. Holmes and other members of the Executive
have all done useful work. We have also had the assistance of
Messrs. Reeves, George Roberts, M.P., George Lansbury, M.P., Keir
Hardie, M.P., Noel Buxton, M.P., and Joseph Fell.
We commenced the year under a very dark cloud. Differences of
opinion had arisen over the conclusion of the unfortunate strike at
St. Faith's, and because of these differences some of our old
friends left us. Others prophesied that the doom of the Union was
cast. We had also been seriously handicapped by hostile criticism
in some journals, while others had not given us the same publicity
as hitherto.
One of the first things your Executive did on coming into office
was to put the Union on to a thoroughly business-like footing. All
monies are now banked in the Union's own banking account. All
monies are now paid by cheque drawn by the treasurer, and an
entirely new system of book-keeping has been adopted and every
account receives a double entry.
The Executive on coming into office had to bring the dispute to a
conclusion according to the decision of the late Executive, and
this we found to be a most difficult task. It could not be done
without causing a deal of heart-burning amongst many of the members
affected, and we had also to deal with one or two clear cases of
victimization which we were bound to take up. Yet, notwithstanding
this serious crisis, we have been able to hold our own. We have
admitted during the year 617 new members. Our organizers have
cycled thousands of miles in attending meetings. Mr. Coe has
attended 183 meetings in Norfolk, 14 in Oxfordshire, 13 in Kent,
total 210, and has cycled 3,240 miles. Mr. Codling has held 242
meetings in Norfolk, has walked 202 miles, and cycled 2,840 miles.
I have attended 153 meetings in Norfolk for the Union, 12 in Kent,
18 in Oxfordshire, total number of meetings for the Union 183. In
addition to these I have attended 83 meetings in connection with my
duties as Guardian and County Councillor. I have attended
altogether 266 meetings and have cycled 1,866 miles and have
travelled by rail 1,563 miles. The total number of meetings held in
Norfolk is 751 and in other counties 57, giving a grand total of
808. Early in the autumn we received urgent appeals to visit other
counties, and the committee yielded to the requests. So we have for
some weeks past been carrying on a campaign in Kent, Oxfordshire
and Bedfordshire, and have been able to open several new branches
in these counties. New branches have been formed in the following
places: Aylsham, Larkfield, East Malling, West Mailing, Offham, Ivy
Hatch, Wateringburgh, Roughton, Monchelsea, Barming, Wardington,
Croughton, Chacombe Evenly, Clifton, Souldren, Chipping, Warden,
Cople, Biggleswade and Morening. Sixteen small branches have
become defunct in Norfolk. We have held fifteen Sunday meetings
during the summer months, which again proved a great success and
were attended by several thousand people. Collections were made at
each meeting to defray expenses and there is a small balance left.
The committee had hoped to have a good balance left to form a
benevolent fund to help needy cases. The collections, however, did
not come up to those of last year and several of the meetings did
not pay their way, but the committee have been able to deal with
some few cases out of the fund.
We have been called upon again this year to place a large number of
cases in our solicitor's hands, and these he has dealt with in a
most able and successful way. In three cases he was able to effect
a settlement which put into our members' pockets L256 12s. 6d. In
other cases he has been successful, as his report will show. I
think the Union ought to congratulate itself that it has such an
able advocate and adviser as Mr. Keefe. The committee wishes me to
press upon all our members that they must not in any case settle
the matter themselves without the solicitor's instructions when
once they have placed the matter into our hands.
Our Union was again this year represented at the Trade Union
Congress held at Newcastle in September. The committee sent two
delegates, Mr. James Coe and myself. We were treated with great
respect by the delegates and much sympathy was expressed towards
our class when we related the great difficulties and the hardships
they have to endure. The Trades Board Act resolution was carried
unanimously and the Parliamentary Committee has already taken
action. I attended the deputation to the President of the Board of
Trade on February 26th and pointed out to him that a labourer with
a wife and children, when he had paid for rent, coal and clothing,
had only just a little over 3/4d. per meal, and therefore you as a
class were receiving much below a living wage. The President of the
Board of Trade, whilst admitting that you were underpaid, asked for
the Government to have time to work the Act before any more trades
were included.
The President of the Board of Trade did the Union the honour of
appointing two of its organizers on the Advisory Committee of the
Labour Exchange.
Our President also has a seat on the committee, and I think that as
time goes on we may be able to do some good by preventing Labour
Exchanges being used to import blackleg labour in time of disputes.
Brethren, in closing my report let me give you a note of warning.
We are on the eve of a great social upheaval, the greatest the
world has ever seen. It has already begun with the great labour
unrest through the industrial world. It is a proof that the workers
are determined that better conditions of labour shall prevail. A
commencement has also been made in Parliament with social
legislation, such as Old Age Pensions and the Insurance Act. The
latter will come into operation during the year, and for the first
time in the history of this country the State has recognized that
it owes a duty to its workpeople by insuring them against sickness.
There is, however, a grave danger that the capitalist class will
use every means in their power to saddle the entire cost of the Act
upon the shoulders of the workers by a reduction in their wages and
an increase in their cost of living and thus prevent the toiling
masses from obtaining the benefits of the Act. Unless our class
take a timely warning they will be helpless. The capitalist class
will fight with all their force to delay the day of social
emancipation, and it will require the united action of the workers
to prevent the capitalist and privileged class from crushing noble
efforts that are now being made for industrial freedom. Your Union
has now been in existence for five years. Its progress has not been
so rapid as some of us had hoped after the bitter experience of the
rural workers during their disorganized state. We thought that long
before now at least 90 per cent. of the labourers would have been
organized. That a large amount of time and money would have to be
spent we were well aware, and that a great deal of opposition would
have to be encountered, but the cost of establishing the Union has
been beyond the wildest dream of any of us. I think the time has
come when some steps ought to be taken to obtain some financial
help for organizing work, because, as is shown in the financial
statement, the contributions of the members have gone down during
the year in Norfolk, which means that there has been a decrease in
members largely due to a number of young men leaving the country
for other spheres of labour. Notwithstanding this there has been a
good awakening in other counties, and there is now a prospect of
the Union becoming a national movement, which is essential if we
are to take our part in the social battle that is about to be
fought.
Yours faithfully,
(_Signed_) GEORGE EDWARDS,
_General Secretary_.
WENSUM HOUSE,
HEMPTON, FAKENHAM,
_December 31, 1911_.
The officers were all elected and the delegates were well pleased with
the position of the Union after it had passed through such a terrible
crisis. The breach that was made the year before was apparently healed
and I was enabled to proceed with my work with a much lighter spirit,
as it was evident the Union would very soon leap forward during the
year. The Executive had decided to become an Approved Society under the
Insurance Act. I had been elected by the Government to serve on the
Advisory Committee under the Act. I was also elected to serve on the
Advisory Committee of the Labour Exchange. The work, however, at the
office was becoming very much more complicated through the Union
becoming an Approved Society, and the system of book-keeping required by
the Government was of such a nature that my assistant, Miss Pike, felt
she was not equal to it. I too was not up to book-keeping of that kind,
for it required an experienced clerk, and the committee were compelled
to dispense with the service of Miss Pike, greatly to my regret. Mr. R.
B. Walker, of Banbury, applied for the post, and in June was appointed
assistant secretary. This appointment released me more for outside work
and enabled me to give more attention to the organizing department, and
we were very soon able to make rapid progress.
During the year 1911 it became evident to me that my dear wife was fast
failing in health mentally as well as physically, and that her end was
drawing near. Her condition caused me the greatest concern and I looked
forward to the future with dismay. But at the commencement of the New
Year 1912 she apparently took a sudden change for the better, especially
mentally--in fact, she became her former self again. This sudden change
blinded me to the real state of her health and I seemed to buoy myself
up with the hope that she would be spared to me for some few years and
that she would again be able to stand by my side. I was, however, not to
be long deceived as to her true state, for by the beginning of April the
disease took a serious turn for the worse, she took to her bed and her
suffering was great. For three weeks I never left her day or night. I
never took my clothes off, but watched by her side. In this hour of
sorrow I had one comfort, that her intellect was as bright as ever. She
made requests that I should not leave her, and I never did, and took
great care that her every wish should be gratified. The last Sunday she
was alive she made a request that the Salvation Army band should be
asked if they would come and play under her window, and the tunes she
selected were "Lead, Kindly Light," and "Nearer my God to Thee." This
request was at once granted, and on the Sunday afternoon the band came
and played as requested. They never played more sweetly and it was
thoroughly appreciated by my dear one. On Monday we saw that the end was
drawing near. So great was her suffering that on Monday I begged of Dr.
Fisher to try to do something to ease her pain, which he did, and she
passed a peaceful night. Early on Tuesday morning the effects of the
medicine were exhausted and she was again racked with pain. About seven
o'clock I saw the end was come.
She raised herself up in bed and placed herself in my arms and breathed
her last.
The last words she said were "Good-bye, dear boy, I am going."
Her birthday was on April 22nd, and she died on April 24th. I laid her
to rest in Fakenham Cemetery. I have erected a stone at the grave to her
memory and the following inscription is on it:--
IN LOVING MEMORY
OF
CHARLOTTE EDWARDS,
THE BELOVED WIFE OF GEORGE EDWARDS, C.C.
WHO PASSED AWAY APRIL 24, 1912.
AGED 70 YEARS.
I loved her, yes, no tongue can tell
How much I loved her, and how well;
Christ loved her too, and thought it best
To take her home with Him to rest.
"_Thy Will be done._"
[Illustration: THE LATE MRS. GEORGE EDWARDS.]
Had she lived until June 21st of that year we should have been together
for forty years. We shared our joys and bore our sorrows together. Hers
had been a lonely life, but she made the sacrifice for the Cause in
which she was as deeply interested as I was myself. This shows the noble
spirit of the woman and endeared her the more to me. No one can tell the
lonely life the wife of a public man has to live, but she never
complained.
She was always anxious to help me, and if she thought I was in any way
depressed and disappointed she would cheer me up with kind words and
press me on with my work. In fact, our lives had become one. That made
the blow the heavier. I felt I had lost part of myself. In any case I
had lost a good helpmate, and a chair became vacant that could never
again be filled.
When my wife was laid to rest, then the effects of the loss fell on me
with full force. Three weeks of anxious watching and the twelve months
thought and care I had with her and the worry of the crisis the Union
was passing through had told upon me. This caused me to have a serious
nervous breakdown, and I felt sure the day was not far distant when I
should have to lay down the cares of a responsible official life. I had,
however, a most sympathetic Executive who did all they could to help me,
and with their help I pushed forward. The Union made rapid progress. We
extended our borders. We had a pressing invitation to open up a campaign
in Lancashire, and during the summer and winter I addressed several
meetings and opened up several branches in Lancashire. By the end of the
year we had several hundred members in that county, and I see by the
report which I presented to the General Council meeting held at Fakenham
on Saturday February 8, 1913, that we had made more progress than at any
time since the Union was inaugurated and had saved L138 18s. 9-1/2d. The
Council meeting was a very successful one. I again set to work with
great earnestness, but with impaired health and broken spirit.
I devoted a deal of time to Lancashire during the first month of the
year. The Trade Union Congress held at Newport, Mon., in September 1912
elected me on the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress.
That was the second time the agricultural labourers had had a seat on
the Parliamentary Committee. Mr. Joseph Arch was the first
representative. During the year 1913 we made rapid progress in
Lancashire, but it soon became evident that we were in for some trouble
in that county, and in consequence I had in the early spring to devote
all my time to it. I soon found that the varying elements were prominent
and that I had quite a different type of man to deal with to what I had
in Norfolk. They were very near the great industrial centres and had
caught some of their spirit. I did my best to keep them calm, took every
course possible to get into touch with the farmers, and succeeded in
getting one interview at which the Union was represented by the
president and myself. We tried to effect a settlement but failed, and on
June 20th the strike took place, continuing until July 8th. The men's
demands were to cease work at 1 p.m. on Saturday, 6d. an hour overtime
pay, and a minimum wage of 24s. per week and recognition of the Union.
By the second day of the strike we had just 2,000 men out. The men,
however, displayed great determination and solidity, and obtained a rise
of 2s. per week, 6d. an hour overtime and the working week to cease at 2
p.m. on Saturday. This was the first time in the history of agricultural
labourers that they had obtained a reduction in the hours of labour.
At the commencement of the dispute I issued an appeal to the various
Trade Unions and other friends, and the response was magnificent. I
received something like L788. Mr. Noel Buxton sent a cheque for L100,
and through this response we only had to spend about L500 of the
Union's funds, although the strike and other expenses connected with it
cost L1,250. At the conclusion of the strike my old complaint returned
again worse than ever and my nervous breakdown was complete. I felt
there was no other course open for me but to resign, for I could carry
on no further, and the Union had developed so rapidly that it was now
beyond me. I came therefore to the conclusion that it would be better
for the movement for younger men to take control. I had succeeded in
getting what I had been fighting to obtain for years, namely the
Saturday half-holiday.
On my return home I placed my resignation in the hands of the Executive.
They would not accept it at the time, but gave me a month's rest. But at
the end of the month I had to give up all hope, and the committee
accepted the resignation with deep regret and allowed me to do what
organizing I felt able to do. I moved into a private house in Fakenham
with my wife's niece, Mrs. Kernick, who on the death of my wife came to
live with me and look after me. During the winter I picked up a bit and
was able to do some organizing work.
In 1914 I was appointed by the Lord Chancellor a Justice of the Peace
for the County of Norfolk.
I also took some meetings for the National Land Campaign Committee,
ceasing to receive any salary from the Union at my own request. In
August the Great War commenced. I, like most of the Labour leaders, felt
it my duty to do what I could to help the nation in the hour of need. I
believed then, and I believe still, that Germany was bent on obtaining a
world-wide military domination; I felt it my duty to put the Nation's
interest before any other consideration. Not that I believed in war, for
war to me is a crime of the deepest dye against humanity.
The Burston School Strike is one of the most interesting and peculiar
disputes I have taken part in. Here was I compelled to take sides
against one of the committee of the County Council of which I was a
member during the latter part of 1913 and the beginning of 1914. The
Burston School teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Higdon, for some reason had a
difference with the Managers, and as I read the particulars I came to
the belief that there was some other reason for the Managers' action.
An inquiry that was held on February 23 and 29, 1914, as to the charges
that the Chairman of the Managers' brought against the teachers showed
that they were of a trifling nature and never ought to have been
brought. I also thought, and still think, the decision come to inflicted
a punishment upon the teachers far more severe than the case deserved,
even if the charges were true, which I did not believe, and to me their
dismissal which took place on March 31, 1914, was a clear case of
victimization and I felt it my duty to support them. Soon after their
dismissal the children all struck and refused to attend the Council
School. Summonses were issued against the parents for neglecting to send
their children to school. A large meeting was held on the green on the
Sunday after the parents were convicted at Diss, which was attended by
nearly two thousand people, and a resolution of protest was passed
requesting that a public inquiry be held. I attended and gave an
address. The meeting was conducted on strictly religious lines, and I
took for my text "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbour."
After this meeting and after seeing the devotion of the people to the
teachers and having satisfied myself that the teachers and the parents
of the children were fighting a just battle, I decided that I would do
my best to champion their cause. I will say, as I look back at the fight
I have made on their behalf, I am satisfied I never championed a more
righteous cause during my long public life. I was sure, however, at the
commencement of the struggle that I should have to fight almost
single-handed so far as the County Council was concerned, for I had at
that time only one Labour colleague on the Council, and that was my
esteemed friend Mr. W. B. Taylor.
I should like to say that I never have accused any of my colleagues on
the Council or on the Education Committee of being actuated by any
spirit of unfairness or with any spirit of political or religious
prejudice.
I have always contended that they acted in what, in their judgment, were
the best interests of the education of the children; but I have always
contended, and do to-day, that they allowed themselves to be biassed by
the political prejudice of one or two of the Managers, and that was what
I set myself out to fight. My first effort on the Council was to move
that the Education Committee be requested to hold a public inquiry. On
this being put to the vote only my colleague and I voted for the motion.
My next effort on the teachers' behalf was to move that the Education
Committee be asked to reinstate the teachers for the period of the war,
in order that peace and concord might prevail in the village. On this
occasion I warned the Council that unless something in the direction of
peace was done, the whole great Trade Union movement would take the
matter up, and then they would probably have another school built. My
warning, however, was unheeded and the resolution was lost. This time I
received a little more support, and Mr. W. B. Taylor, Mr. Coe, Mr. Day
and Mr. Pollard voted with me. This brought public sympathy to the
teachers. Many of the Trade Union leaders took the matter up, a
subscription list was opened, hundreds of pounds were subscribed, a new
school was built, which is called the Burston Strike School, and it
stands there as a monument of what the subscribers believed to be a
great fight for religious and political freedom. I have never regretted
the part I took in this great fight. I am, however, satisfied that had
the County Council taken my advice at the time most of this
unpleasantness might have been avoided.
CHAPTER XVI
THE GREAT WAR
On August 4, 1914, the Great War commenced and, as stated, I came to the
conclusion, like most of the other Labour leaders, that according to the
information I had at my disposal we had no other alternative but to
enter the war. I felt that it was a struggle for our very existence;
further, that we were fighting to overcome one of the greatest curses to
humanity, namely the wicked spirit of militarism. I therefore decided to
put what appeared to me at the time the nation's interest before any
other consideration. I spoke at a good many recruiting meetings in the
early stages of the war. So far did I carry my patriotism that some of
my friends began to be rather nervous about me for fear I should carry
it too far, but they need not have been, for I never deviated one iota
in my views on the Labour questions nor was there any fear that I should
ever leave the cause to which I had devoted all my life. I took,
however, the view that it would be the poor that would be the first to
suffer, should we be defeated or should the enemy succeed in starving
us, as the following letter I wrote to the women of the country will
testify. It appeared in the _Eastern Daily Press_:--
To the working-women of Norfolk, the wives and mothers and sisters
of our brave boys who are now so gallantly fighting for their
country in France and Belgium and other parts of the world.
I feel constrained to make an appeal to you in the hour of our
national danger to consider seriously the gravity of the situation
and what it would mean to this country, especially the working
classes, should Germany and her confederates win this war.
Everything that is dear in our English life will be destroyed; all
our hopes for improvements in our national life will be blighted;
the working classes will be thrown back into far worse conditions
than they were one hundred years ago; all our liberties so hardly
won for us by our forefathers will be lost.
I ask you to consider for one moment what has taken place in
Belgian and French towns and villages. The homes of the poor have
been destroyed by fire and sword. Old men and women have been
murdered in cold blood, women and children outraged and killed,
mothers separated from their children and wives from their
husbands, not knowing whether they are dead or alive. What these
poor people have suffered is a small thing in comparison to what
would happen to us should our enemies ever reach these shores, and
they will unless we are able to defeat and destroy the cruel and
barbarous military power of Germany. Do you wish your daughters to
be outraged, your children slaughtered? Would you like to see our
veterans of industry murdered, our homes burnt and our towns made
desolate? No, I know you would not. No women are more devoted to
their homes and loving to their children than the women of Norfolk.
The danger, however, is very great and it can only be prevented by
everyone doing all that lies in their power to help the nation in
the hour of distress. It is for the protection of our own hearths
and homes that we are engaged in this terrible war, hence the great
call on the manhood of this country. And now the time has arrived
when the womanhood of the nation have to be appealed to, and I am
making a patriotic appeal to you, the women of my own country, to
come forward and help in the present crisis.
In making this appeal to you I am asking you to do a thing which I
had hoped you would never have been asked to do again and which, I
am thankful to say, the improved conditions of labour have made
unnecessary. But the crisis is so great and the danger of losing
all that is sacred and good in our national life is so pronounced,
that I venture to make this appeal to you to offer your services in
cultivating the land in order that as much food can be produced at
home as possible. There will be a great deal of work to do in the
spring, such as hoeing and weeding, getting the land fit for the
turnip crops and many light jobs which hitherto have been done by
men; and, as there is a great shortage of labour, we will see that
fair wages shall be offered to you. One of the first essentials of
life is food, and if this cannot be produced, then a great disaster
is staring us in the face. To prevent this our womenkind are
called to help. I therefore appeal to you in the name of God, who
made you free, and in the interest of your children to help in this
hour of need.
Yours faithfully,
(_Signed_) GEORGE EDWARDS.
FAKENHAM,
_January 3, 1916._
At the passing of the Military Service Act and the setting up of
Tribunals, I with my old friend George Hewitt was asked by the Union to
represent Labour on the Norfolk Appeal Tribunal, which we did. On that
Tribunal we watched very closely the interest of the class we were sent
there to represent. It was, however, a most unpleasant task and one that
I would never undertake again, should the occasion arise, which I hope
never will. Before leaving this matter and the part I took in the war I
would like to say that I am bitterly disappointed at the result of the
war, and it has entirely altered my outlook on war and its causes and
has confirmed in my mind more than ever the opinion that force is no
remedy, and that, unless the nations disarm and men devote their great
inventive and scientific powers in the direction of peace, civilized man
will soon be utterly destroyed.
At the setting up of the Norfolk War Agricultural Committee Mr. G. E.
Hewitt and myself were elected on it to represent Labour. We were
enabled on this committee to do some very useful work. Our business was
to insist that the land be properly cultivated, also to force the
bringing back of land that had been laid down to grass to arable
cultivation. We had also to look after the service men who were
medically unfit for foreign service, and who were transferred to the
land, and to insist that the farmers treated them fairly. Another useful
opportunity presented itself for me to do some work for the people on
the establishment of the Food Control Committee. I was elected a Labour
representative on the Walsingham District Committee and was elected
chairman, a position I held until the committee finished its work. I
think I can claim that, with the assistance of my colleagues, we did
some most useful work and administered the Act fairly between all
classes. We certainly did prevent a great deal of profiteering and
enabled the people to obtain their food on much better terms than they
otherwise would have done.
On the passing of the War Pension Act and the setting up of War Pension
Committees, I was elected on the Norfolk County Committee. I was also
elected on the Walsingham War Pension District Committee and was
appointed its first chairman, which position I held until I was elected
a Member of Parliament, when I resigned in consequence of being unable
to attend its meetings. But I look back upon my work on this authority
with the greatest satisfaction. It was a humane work and a labour of
love. It is the greatest joy of my life to know that I have been able to
do something for these poor widows and children who have been deprived
of their bread-winners when they most needed them, and further, to know
that I have been able to help the poor fellows who have had their health
wrecked through serving their country. During my term of office on this
committee my house was always open to receive these poor fellows who
sought my aid. In fact all classes came to me for help and advice.
It became evident early in the spring of 1915 that the agricultural
labourers were becoming very unsettled and justly so. The war commenced
in August 1914, and with it the cost of living went up by leaps and
bounds, but the labourers' wages never rose a penny piece. At last the
labourers informed the officials of the Union that if we did not move in
the matter they would take the whole question into their own hands. We
appealed to the farmers to meet us in conference and discuss the
question, but they refused to meet us, and at last we had no other
alternative but to issue notices to the farmers for our men to cease
work. One Friday in March there were sent from our office 2,000 notices.
The next day, when I was at Norwich attending a County Council meeting,
I met Mr. Keith of Egmere, who was a member of the Council, and this
question of notices was discussed, and we both expressed regret that it
was necessary to take this course. Mr. Keith asked me if anything could
be done and said that Mr. H. Overman of Weasenham would like me to meet
about five of the largest farmers at the Royal Hotel that day in
Norwich. I told him that was impossible as I had no official authority
to do such a thing. The President of the Union was not in the city and I
could not get into touch with him. I therefore dared not do such a thing
on my own authority and, further, I could not think of attending such a
conference alone even if I had authority to do so. A few minutes after I
met Mr. H. Overman and he suggested that I should meet the farmers
unofficially and talk the matter over and see if it would not be
possible to do something to get an official conference called during the
next week and if possible prevent a strike. This I agreed to do on
condition that Mr. Herbert Day, Treasurer of the Union, attended with
me, and with the distinct understanding that our meeting should be
absolutely informal and there should be nothing said or done that would
have the least appearance of being official. This was agreed to, and at
3 p.m. Mr. Day and myself met Mr. H. Overman, Mr. Keith, Mr. Lionel
Rodwell, Colonel Groom and Lord Leicester, the Lord Lieutenant of the
County. In the first part of the discussion the farmers complained
bitterly of the action of the Union in issuing notices. I told them I
was not there to discuss the rights or wrongs of the action of the Union
in issuing notices, but to see if something could not be done to get the
two sides together. But I would say this: the Farmers' Federation was
responsible for what had happened, for the Executive of the Union had
asked the Federation to meet us over and over again, but they had
refused to do so. We had, therefore, no other alternative but to take
the course we did, for our men were determined they would have a
readjustment of their wages. But if there was anything I could do, even
at the eleventh hour, to get the two sides together at a conference I
would do it. After this little straight talk the farmers saw the
difficult position we were in and expressed the opinion that the
attitude taken up by the Federation was wrong. I think I ought to say
that none of the farmers present were members of the Federation, but
they were the largest farmers in the county and the most influential and
were almost able to force the issue. They promised that if the Union's
Executive would meet them they would undertake to see that, whatever
agreement was arrived at, it was carried out. With this understanding I
undertook to use my influence with the Executive to have such a
conference held at Fakenham. On my return to Fakenham I informed the
General Secretary of what had happened and asked him to get into touch
with the President and obtain his views on the matter, which he did, and
I think I ought to say that my action was rather severely criticized by
some of the Executive.
But the President put his foot down and was determined that such a
conference should be held. It was arranged to meet the above-named
farmers, with Lord Leicester in the chair, and the following were
appointed to meet them at the Crown Hotel on Thursday in that week: The
President, Mr. W. R. Smith, the vice-president, Mr. George Edwards, the
General Secretary, Mr. R. B. Walker, and Mr. G. E. Hewitt. Mr. Smith put
our case in such a reasonable and forceful way that it was unanswerable
and put in a claim for a 5s. per week increase, bringing the wages up to
L1. On receiving our requests and after some little discussion the
farmers retired, and after some few minutes they returned and made us
the following offer. They would agree to recommend to the farmers a
rise of 3s. per week at once if we would undertake to withdraw our
notices. We withdrew and discussed the farmers' offer, and after some
few minutes' discussion agreed to accept the offer as a compromise, and
undertook on our part to withdraw all our notices. At the same time we
informed the farmers that we considered we were justly entitled to the
5s. per week rise, but for the sake of peace we accepted the compromise.
To-day I rejoice that I was the means of bringing the two sides together
and preventing a terrible dispute. It was also opening up a new chapter
in the history of the Agricultural Industry, for here was collective
bargaining, something that I had been working to obtain for over forty
years. Ever since the Federation has met us every year and our
readjustments have been made in a most friendly manner, and many
differences which would have ended in bitter disputes have been avoided.
I do not think either side would like to go back to the old
individualistic system of bargaining. At least I hope not.