A history of postal agitation from fifty years ago till the present day

by H. G. Swift

On the following Monday a prominent representative of trades unionism in Liverpool waited on the committee and offered to pay all expenses if they would raise an action at law against Mr. Frank Ives Scudamore for having suspended the leaders of their movement, as the trade unionists of Liverpool were of the opinion that such suspensions were illegal. A sum of £1000 was freely mentioned, and it was stated that they were anxious to see the matter tested. This offer to defray the expenses of the prosecution was the result of a discussion on the question that arose at the Trades Union Congress at Nottingham. It was definitely proposed to prosecute Mr. Scudamore not only for illegally suspending members of a trades union, but for illegally suppressing their telegrams, and also wilfully delaying press messages. The Trades Union Congress would assist financially.

On the day before the strike a telegram was forwarded from Manchester to the Daily News, intended for insertion as a press item, from one of the staff in relation to the suspension of the leaders there. The stoppage of this telegram by the authorities aroused the strongest indignation of the Daily News, and next day it commented in no measured terms on the “arbitrary and unjustifiable conduct of the London authorities.” It was described as an attempt to establish a Russian censorship over news. Delays of telegraphic communications were frequent within this brief period, and to conciliate the public on the point the Post-Office Secretary was afterwards publicly admonished with a wink by the Postmaster-General.

The press of the kingdom vigorously protested against the action of the Post-Office Secretary, whose excuse was that he was compelled to do so in order to prevent what he termed the mutiny from spreading. This, however, did not stop the complaints in the House of Commons; and at last the Postmaster-General, Mr. Monsell, stated that Mr. Scudamore had to be officially censured for his action. This was considered the first gain of the despised telegraph employé in the House of Commons.

On the same day that this offer was made, it was announced that the postmaster had been informed by one of their representatives that if all the men who had struck were allowed to return without prejudice, the strike would terminate. But the postmaster, in reply, stated that no terms from the disaffected clerks themselves would be accepted; and none would be allowed to resume unless they signed an officially-prepared form, expressing regret for insubordination and begging to be allowed to resume duty on the terms of Mr. Scudamore’s notice. At a meeting of the Liverpool men, held at the Clock the same evening, this announcement from the Liverpool postmaster was received with hisses and dissent.

The day following a circular was issued to the strikers, signed by Mr. Scudamore, which was to the effect that they were to be recorded as being dismissed.

The department, in deciding on taking this simultaneous step at a certain hour on one day, had made what preparations were possible at so short a notice; but, as was only to be expected, the public service suffered accordingly for many days to come. Men with a knowledge of telegraphy were not so easy to obtain, as those who knew their work were appraised by the remaining companies at a somewhat higher value than the Government chose to put upon them. Consequently the men who were engaged to fill the places of those dismissed constituted a various and motley crowd for the most part, and in some cases actually had to learn their work as they went along. The natural result of so many immature telegraphists being put to the work was a complete wrecking of telegraphic communication for days afterwards. The men who were recruited from London principally were, however, little to blame, either for the breakdown in the service or for the part they were made to play. For the most part they were complete strangers to each other; men picked up from almost every walk in life; many of them had known privation, and were glad of a berth under any conditions. It was therefore not greatly surprising that they knew as little of esprit de corps as they knew of telegraphy when first engaged.

What had really happened in London when the Postmaster-General and his advisers decided on a preconcerted signal to the postmasters of the provincial towns, was this: The class of pseudo-telegraphists already described, having been engaged some weeks before and put through a painful course of self-tuition, were at the end of that time regarded as having matriculated sufficiently for the purpose for which they were principally wanted. Then they were each in turn asked if they would care to be transferred to some provincial town, Liverpool, Manchester, or wherever it might be. All objections and demurs if any were immediately met by the offer to pay all expenses. One at a time they were called into a room at the Chief Office in Telegraph Street, and told to prepare at a few hours’ notice to be sent where their services were most required. The question of railway fares, and wives and children, and removal of home belongings was peremptorily brushed aside. They had only to name an approximate amount as covering all expenses, and, to their pleased astonishment, that sum was placed before them. The Controller’s clerk was a few feet away presiding over an open box of gold, and on each of these poor seedy fellows being asked to name his amount, it was given him with no more trouble than obtaining his signature. It is not to be wondered at that the men were so easily tempted. If they were guilty of what in trade-union parlance is known as “blacklegging,” then their offence was a venial one, inasmuch as they were not in a position to realise to the full what was being enacted.

The telegraphists’ strike would probably have proved a greater success, from their own point of view, but for this temptation. And it was this reflection that occasioned the somewhat strained feeling between London and the provinces for some years following the incident.

The strike collapsed owing to the difficulties in rendering their organisation complete before such a drastic step was taken, and their unpreparedness to meet the prompt and decisive action of the department. The contemplated attitude of the telegraphists was known to the authorities long before it was definitely taken up by the men; their every move was anticipated. It was therefore, and considering all things, not to be wondered at that they found themselves outmanœuvred at the finish. That the department should have so completely squelched the movement in the manner it did was a matter for congratulation from a public point of view. But it must not be forgotten that all the legitimate appeals made by the telegraphists had produced no result but bitterness and disappointment; while the very means adopted by the authorities to avert such a contingency went far to precipitate it.