Engines and Men/Chapter 17

by John R. Raynes

Chapter XVII

 

Food Control—Compulsory Military Service—The Man Power Bill—N.U.R. and Craft Unions—A Libel Action—War Time Problems—Demand for Railway Nationalisation—The Sliding Scale—Death of the President—A Ministry of Labour.

 

Mr. Runciman had announced the appointment of a Food Controller in November of 1915, and Lord Devonport was the first holder of that office. Meat, bread, and sugar came under strict control, and a voluntary system of rationing was launched, allowing 4 lbs, of bread or flour, 24 lbs, of meat and ¾ lb, of sugar for each person weekly. On February 3rd of 1917 the Corn Production Act was introduced, and on April 4th the Government assumed complete control of all food stuffs. Lord Rhondda became Controller on June 15th, and by September maximum prices with splendid profit margins had been fixed. Sugar cards came into operation on January 1st, 1918, and after Lord Rhondda's death all householders had their coupon books to secure rations of meat, tea, lard, butter, or margarine. This scarcity of food and strict rationing caused great difficulty to locomotivemen. The inferior dark bread had no keeping qualities, and to buy food in strange towns was an awkward matter. Rationing, therefore, had to receive the special consideration of the Society, as real hardships were imposed upon the members. Stamina was reduced at a period of unexampled strain upon the railways. England was the storehouse of money and munitions for the Allies, and the railways

 

The Assistant Secretary's Room at Head Office.

were the vital channel. Yet drivers and firemen went hungry under rationing, and never were provided for in the way they ought to have been, although the Society got certain increases made for them.

Another phase of life in war-time which affected the entire community, and locomotivemen in particular, was military service. By November of 1915 we were getting to the last phase of voluntary recruiting, under which every man was expected to wear his khaki armlet, and there were house-to-house visits to rake men out. There were starred and unstarred men in industry, and late in 1915 we had the introduction of Conscription. Lord Derby's group system had closed on December 12th, and on January 5th of 1916 the Government introduced the Bill imposing compulsory service on single men, the Labour Party remaining in the Coalition by the decision of the Bristol Conference on January 28th, the day after Conscription had passed all its stages and come into operation. The great roll up of the youth of the nation had begun, and on May 2nd compulsion for all men of military age was introduced by Mr. Asquith, who had himself made the poetical speech about "Conscript me no married man nor widow's son." Under compulsory military service we had medical panels rapidly passing men, and local tribunals hearing many thousands of appeals against service. Conscientious Objectors were interned, and throughout 1916 and 1917 Military Service Acts tightened their grip until every man below 45 years of age was in contact with the barracks, and carried a wallet full of cards and forms.

Mr. Lloyd George became Prime Minister on December 7th of 1916, and a Man Power Bill was introduced to transfer men of all sorts anywhere for war production. Industrial conscription was plainly hinted at by Mr. Henderson, then a Cabinet Minister, and a world of Alec Gordon's, and similar secret agents, had arisen. All these facts had an intimate relation to the railways and our Society. By appeals and some amount of pressure, exemptions were secured for the General Secretary and the organisers of military age, and the Executive was constantly at work to protect the rank and file. Organisers found a new duty in acting as advocates against military service on behalf of men in exceptional circumstances, and Mr. Mason, who had only started on March 1st of 1916, was claimed, but liberated by the military authorities. There was trouble on the G.N.R. over an award of Judge Parry in regard to the promotion of men, and on February 14th Messrs. Moore, Hunter and Wild met the representatives of the Board of Trade in London on this matter, which was eventually settled in a satisfactory manner. The Craft Union Conference had assumed considerable importance after the T.U.C. debate referred to, and the Executive resolved:—

"That in future meetings of the Federation of Railway Craft Unions our representatives take every opportunity of upholding our claim, in conjunction with the claims of recognised craft unions, to have the absolute right to enrol as members the whole of the locomotivemen employed on the railways of the United Kingdom, and further, until the N.U.R. recognise our claim we make every effort possible to educate the representatives of the craft unions on our past efforts on behalf of those who are represented by our organisation from the period of its establishment."

The N.U.R. so far abandoned its industrial unionism idea as to make an offer to the craft unions not to enrol in the N.U.R. in future those railway craftsmen who have served an apprenticeship or have worked at their trade for five years. In passing I wish to make particular reference to this all-grades policy, and to say how much I deplore what I regard as the thoughtless and mistaken reasoning of the younger school of National Guildsmen in this matter. There is abundant room for a big and embracive National Union of Railwaymen, but it should not be an octopus king to rope in special and exceptional grades like:—

1.—Locomotive footplatemen.

2.—Clerical workers.

3.—Engineering craftsmen.

They have no ground of defence for poaching on those three occupations, and the masses of verbiage produced by the N.U.R. in regard to those three grades amount only to excuses and to no sound reason. The A.S.R.S. was not more ridiculous in 1890 than was the N.U.R. in 1921, when it sought to run the cause of skilled engineers at Doncaster, some of whom were pleased to resort to fourpence halfpenny trade unionism, while their colleagues in the same shop were paying two and three shillings weekly to the A.E.U. There ought to be no talk of fusion or federation of forces of any kind until the N.U.R. has re-modelled itself on sounder lines, and has handed over the strictly craft members to the craft organisation. Then a very sound and most effective Federation would be constructed, and years of mutual sniping would be ended. I notice that at Rugby and Nuneaton, in March of 1917, Mr. Bromley went a long way towards a permanent basis, and although his suggestions were generous beyond the limit, there was no response from Mr. Thomas, and the silly pretence goes on that they speak for locomotivemen. A study of railway history has convinced me that the N.U.R. is on right lines except for the three grades mentioned, and those three it must surrender if it professes the interests of railwaymen and hopes for industrial control.

By 1917 there were 32 unions in the Railway Shops Organisation Committee, which had been formed in 1915, but a number of these unions are now in the A.E.U. It was at this period that Mr. Thomas saw fit to enter an action for libel against Mr. Bromley, and another against Mr. Moore, and to bring great unions into legal warfare in a period of war complexity. The action was heard before Mr. Justice Darling and a special jury on April 17th, and subsequent dates of 1917. Counsel engaged were Mr. J. F. P. Rawlinson, K.C., M.P., Sir Hugh Fraser, Mr. Edmund Browne, and Mr. J. Rowland Thomas, for the plaintiffs, and Mr. J. A. Compston, K.C., and Mr. R. A. Shepherd for the defendants. The action turned upon speeches by Mr. Bromley at Newport and Liverpool, for which Mr. Thomas demanded an apology and withdrawal. This Mr. Bromley declined to give, holding that the statements were true in substance and in fact. Reading over the mass of evidence and pleading now, it looks about as important as the Bardell v. Pickwick breach of promise action, but it was all very expensive and harmful. The jury found that Messrs. Moore, Cooke, Gamble, and Bromley did conspire together to slander and libel Messrs. Thomas, Bellamy, Lowth, Hudson, and others, and they returned verdicts for damages in various amounts ranging from £150 to £25. Then, after the damages had been apportioned and costs discussed, Mr. Justice Darling remarked:—

"My view with regard to damages, as Mr. Compston said, I think quite fairly, in his address to the jury, is that all this arose out of an attempt by the plaintiffs to smash the smaller union."

The Executive decided to appeal against the verdict as to conspiracy, and the appeal was successful, the charge of conspiracy being disproved.

The Executive met in the following week, and gave Mr. Bromley a holiday from April 23rd to May 14th, as he was seriously run down by the strain of it all.

The Executive had scarcely got away from that long sitting in April of 1917, when they had to be recalled on the question of enlistment of railwaymen, and the scheme of substitution put forward by the Army Council and agreed to by the Railway Executive, who explained that the Army Council had demanded the release of 20 per cent. of the men under 41 years of age employed by the Railway Companies. After negotiation, this demand had been reduced to ten per cent. of the men under 31, irrespective of whether married or single, and that category "A" men should be released before category "B" men, and in order to fall in with the demands of the Army Council, the companies proposed to cancel the previous scheme of release and to substitute the following:-

1.—The youngest unmarried men, under the age of 31, and fit for foreign service, to go first.

2.—If there are no single men under the age of 31 available, the married men under the age of 31, with the fewest children under 14, to be selected.

3.—After all single and married men under 31 have been exhausted, the youngest single men between the ages of 31 and 41, and fit for foreign service, should be released, and afterwards the married men between the ages of 31 and 41 with the fewest children.

To facilitate the release of Class "A" men, those of military Classes "B" and "C." or other employees unfitted for military service, may be transferred from one station to another, to act as substitutes for Class "A" men.

This would have enabled the companies to release many Class "A" men from the engines, and to substitute for them Classes "B" and "C" men from any other grade. The Executive therefore objected, and immediately got into touch with the Railway Executive. On May 4th of 1917 the Railway Executive Committee replied that:—

"You may rest assured that no men who are not employed in the Locomotive Department will be put on as enginemen or firemen on railway engines, and the contention that any such departure in locomotive work would be taken as a direct violation of the railway truce is not therefore understood."

This was a very important assurance from the Railway Executive, for it affected not only the going but the returning of footplatemen, and it furnished a striking little example of the importance of direct and exclusive representation of locomotive workers.

Messrs. W. W. Cooke (Vice-President) and Barton Wild had been in Ireland, negotiating a war bonus for Irish locomotivemen, and had been able to sign an agreement for an increase of war bonus by the following amounts:-

Employees, 18 years of age and upwards, 5s. additional; employees under 18 years, except boys engaged since January 1st, 1915, at rates of pay which exceed 6s. or more the rates usually paid to boys occupying similar positions, 2s. weekly. One-sixth of this bonus was to be added to the rates of pay for Sunday duty.

Some very unfair methods were adopted by the companies for releasing men for the Army, and the Society had to intervene continuously to preserve fair play in that respect. Methods of compulsion had been adopted to get men into the Railway Operating Division, and several managers had to be interviewed to get the process reversed. There was Conciliation Board discussion, made more difficult by a rather "dog in the manger" attitude of the N.U.R. There was the ever-rising cost of living, on which the Society led the way in a demand for efforts at reduction and restraint by the Cabinet. There was the 1916 discussion of the National Programme, and the request of the Executive that members, branches, delegates, and Conciliation Board officials should concentrate upon the eight hour day, with 7s. minimum per day for enginemen and motormen, 4s. 6d. for firemen, and 3s. 6d, for cleaners.

There were air raids and alarms by night, with stations and trains in gross darkness, and the Easter riots of 1916 in Dublin, when grants had to be made to our members there for losses involved. These, and other problems concerning overwork and a high death rate, and continual losses in battle, had to be dealt with. The Society was entering its busiest and greatest era. Compensation had to be secured for members injured in munition works explosions, ghastly tragedies never reported because of D.O.R.A. In 1916 Mr. Wixson resigned from the Executive, just when members were re-electing him, and the seat had to be declared vacant. Mr. W. Gamble for the Midland District, Mr. J. Healey for the North Midland, and Mr. J. Hunter for Lancashire, were re-elected. Mr. W. J. R. Squance, of Llanelly, was elected to succeed Mr. Wixson, The new Executive decided in 1917 to nominate Mr. John Bromley for the Executive of the Labour Party, a post to which he was elected by the Scarborough Conference in 1920. It also decided to table the following resolutions, which are significant of the new spirit of trade unionism:—

1.—To press for the Nationalisation of Railways, and to obtain by legislation complete control of the railways for the people, as having regard to the admitted success of public control of railways, this Conference again expresses the belief that railway nationalisation would be most advantageous to the community. Further, we consider that the appointment of an Advisory Committee (partly composed of representatives from the employees) and a Minister of Railways responsible to Parliament, is necessary to ensure the success of the undertaking, and to guarantee that the interests of the community and railway employees will be adequately protected.

Moreover, in view of the fact that the present Industrial Truce is responsible for withholding from railwaymen generally higher wages and better conditions of service, we consider it essential in the public interest that the future cost of their improved conditions shall be calculated, and the amount thereof deducted from the purchase price of railways, should the transfer of railways from private to national ownership become an accomplished fact.

2.—To give effect to the foregoing resolution, a Committee of three representatives from the Labour Party E.C., with three representatives (one each from the AS.L.E. & F., the Railway Clerks, and the N.U.R.), be appointed, with six representatives from the Railway Nationalisation Society, to consider and draft the necessary procedure to be taken to retain the railways under the control of the Government at the end of the war, and to formulate a scheme to bring about complete Nationalisation and State ownership of the railways, to be worked in the interests of the whole of the people, instead of private monopoly.

These resolutions proved to be the forerunner, not only of an important debate, but of an important change of policy in regard to railway administration. The Ministry of Transport is now in being, and the history of the change will go on after this book is out. Partial railway control has already come and is dealt with later, but full democratic railway control is undoubtedly coming.

Correspondence was re-opened in 1916 on the sliding scale question, and as the General Managers remained indifferent, a telegram was sent to Sir Guy Granet which expedited matters. An early meeting was promised and arranged, and Mr. Potter wrote on October 26th, arranging to meet a sub-committee on Thursday, November 2nd. Messrs. Hunter, Wride, Stevenson, Oxlade, Wild, and the General Secretary were appointed the sub-committee for the purpose.

Mr. John Hunter, President of the Society, had signed the award of September, 1916, but his strength had been severely tried by the ordeal of negotiations. He went to London as a member of the sub-committee just mentioned, but was taken ill there on November 3rd, and returned home to Southport on November 4th. On the 6th he was removed to a nursing home suffering from plural pneumonia, and he died on November 21st. He virtually died in harness, leaving the Society when it specially needed the advice and genial optimism which he possessed. The funeral on November 26th was attended by Mr. Geo. Moore (in the unavoidable absence of the General Secretary), Mr. W. W. Cooke for the Executive, Mr. I. Gregory for the organisers, Mr. J. C. Branson for the L. & Y. Delegation Board, and Mr. R. Scott, formerly of the Executive, who travelled from Ayr to attend the last rites of an esteemed colleague. There were members from many branches, and from N.U.R. branches too. At the graveside Mr. Moore delivered an address of tribute to a departed friend, one who was an example of worth and work to all. A very large number of wreaths from all parts of the country testified to the widespread sympathy with Mrs. Hunter and her family in their loss. They included beautiful wreaths from Mr. and Mrs. Bromley, from the Executive Council, from the L. & Y. Delegation Board, and from many branches. John Hunter was a native of Edinburgh, coming with his parents to Lancashire as a child. He had joined the A.S.L.E. & F. in 1898, transferring from the A.S.R.S., became Southport Branch Secretary 1901 to 1904, and was a Conciliation Board leader 1907 to 1916. In 1910 he became Chairman of the L. & Y. Loco. Delegation Board, and was elected to the E.C. of the Society in the same year. In 1914 he was elected President, and continued in office to the end of a life devoted to his colleagues. A Memorial Fund, for which Mr. Moore acted as secretary, raised over £350 very soon. Some of this was invested with the Society at 4 per cent., Mrs. Hunter receiving £l per week.

Mr. Geo. Wride was elected President for the year 1917, with Mr. Worthy Cooke as Vice-President, and Mr. Cooke took the place of Mr. Hunter on the Negotiating Sub-Committee, destined to bear all the storm of the next three vital years. On December 5th of 1916 the General Secretary had written to Mr. Thomas:—

I have to-day received a letter in which Mr. Potter says the General Managers of Railways are not prepared to recommend the matter (the suggested sliding scale). I shall be pleased to know what are your opinions of the position before pursuing the matter any further.

Permit me to congratulate you on your election to the position of General Secretary of your organisation.

Yours faithfully,

John Bromley.

No reply having been received, Mr. Bromley wired on January 1st, 1917:—

"My Executive desire to press the question of sliding scale, and will be pleased to know the decision of your Executive, with a view to joint action in the matter, as decided at our meeting November 3rd, when joint demand was agreed upon."

In reply Mr. Thomas promised to lay that telegram before his Committee "at their meeting in March next."

On January 2nd Mr. Bromley wrote again: "My Committee expressed their regret that your telegram conveys the impression that the question of the sliding scale may be deferred until your Executive Meeting in March. We are of opinion this should be dealt with at once, and we request that the N.U.R. Sub-Committee should be called to deal with it."

Attention was given to a tabulation of all departures from pre-war conditions, and concurrently with it the claim for an automatic sliding scale was advanced a step. Nothing was heard from Unity House between January 5th and March 14th, when Mr. Thomas wrote: "This matter was discussed by my Executive at their last meeting, and I was instructed to inform you that as the proposals for a sliding scale had been rejected by the railway companies, they had decided to make other proposals to meet the situation."

The objection of the companies was that a guaranteed sliding scale would be too expensive, and an example for other workers to follow. It has been mistakenly criticised and deprecated since by some people, but it was an advance that took much winning, and the Society led the way all the time to the victory.

A Ministry of Labour had been established, and it asked for the co-operation of the Society in making it successful and effective in preventing disputes during the national crisis. The Executive appreciated the appointment of a Ministry of Labour, but regretted its very limited powers, and demanded that the Labour Party in Parliament and the Trade Union Congress should press to make the Office a real one. The first letter to the Ministry from the Society referred to the serious difficulty experienced by men sent away unexpectedly, and unable to obtain food owing to early shop closing and rationing. The Labour Ministry replied that it was a matter for the Railway Executive, and that Committee replied that it was not a matter for them!

The Society was next appealed to for assistance in the release of drivers for military service, and the Committee resolved that the difficulty might be overcome by returning to the R.O.D. those locomotivemen engaged on other military duties, and by the institution of a volunteer civilian railway service in France, which would receive the support of the locomotivemen of the United Kingdom.

I think we are now ready to face the big issues of 1917.