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

by H. G. Swift

Overcrowded and enthusiastic as was the meeting, nothing more serious occurred than some damage to a few sorting-tables and the unanimous passing, amidst the wildest excitement, of the all-important resolution. Williams was in the chair, and in his measured, cold, metallic fashion, as a lecturer of the Hunterian Society might, with scalpel in hand, deliver a clinical lecture on nerve tissues and their ramifications, he once more pulled the Fawcett scheme thread from thread.

The sorters were by this time pretty well acquainted with the pros and cons of the Fawcett scheme in its application to themselves. The proposition, therefore, that they now petition the Postmaster-General in connection with the unfulfilled conditions of the Fawcett scheme required but little argument to convince them of the desirability of doing so speedily. The second, and perhaps the more important resolution of the two, that they now combine on trades-union lines for purposes of mutual benefit, they were equally agreed on. Both resolutions were carried unanimously, and it was also resolved that the Fawcett Scheme Committee should be forthwith dissolved, and that its members should become the provisional executive of the new organisation, to be called the “London Sorting Clerks’ Association.” The immediate outcome of this great meeting was that a monster petition, embodying the points of former petitions, was signed by the whole of the London sorting force.

The Postmaster-General almost immediately this time consented to receive a deputation of the aggrieved men at an early date. The well-worn facts were once more refurbished, and the necessary preparations were made to recite before him the thrice-told tale. The deputation almost expected to find themselves confronted by an austere, frowning official, ready to trip them up and to limit them both in points and minutes. But to their agreeable surprise the ogre they had come to storm in his castle turned out to be a gentleman who treated them with studied courtesy, who immediately put them at their ease, telling them to feel quite at home and to sit down with him, so that they might reason together and settle the matter in dispute amicably and without prejudice. The various points were urged at length by each speaker, Mr. Raikes meanwhile listening patiently and taking voluminous notes. At the conclusion he turned to Clery, who was in the deputation, and pleasantly remarked, “Now perhaps Mr. Clery will sum up.” Nothing loth, Clery did promptly and briefly. He said the sorters had not got the missing portion of the Fawcett scheme, and they should never be contented or happy till they got it, and he suggested that it should be referred to a small committee of public men, who might satisfactorily solve the difficult problem and interpret the scheme to every one’s satisfaction. Mr. Raikes smiled and responded, “That is a very luminous suggestion, Mr. Clery, and I will talk it over with the Secretary. In the meantime, although from your point of view your contention appears a very just one, I must say I do not read this scheme as you do.” “Then,” said Clery, “it resolves itself into a literary exercise.” There was some merriment expressed, and joined in by Mr. Raikes. The Postmaster-General further assured them that he deeply sympathised with them in their disappointment that he did not read the scheme as they did; but it appeared to him nevertheless that there was a substantial equality between them and the telegraphists, who were supposed to be so much better off. Entering more fully on the ground of his difference with them, he pleaded that Mr. Fawcett’s intentions could not be assumed by them, inasmuch as the language in which they were couched was of such an ambiguous character. Second, that the interpretation which the permanent authorities put upon the more important passages was directly opposite to that which the deputation claimed to be their true meaning. Third, that at the time the Fawcett scheme was formulated the authorities and Mr. Fawcett understood each other, and that the arrangements at present in existence were exactly what the late Mr. Fawcett desired to see.

The deputation withdrew naturally disappointed in their quest, but none the less impressed with the surprising difference between their first picture of him and the man personally.

Following on this deputation yet another meeting within the precincts of the General Post-Office building was asked for and official permission obtained; and on January 16, 1890, the combined sorting force met, again two thousand strong. The temper and enthusiasm of this monster gathering was if anything more pronounced than the last, curiosity running high as to the result of the recent meeting between their leaders and the Postmaster-General. J. H. Williams and W. E. Clery were the moving spirits of the platform, and the men looked to them as the heralds of good tidings. It was resolved that the sorting force express their regret that while the Postmaster-General seemed to consider their view a justifiable one and sympathised with them in their disappointment, he was not prepared to immediately carry into effect that which had been for so long withheld from them. He was also reminded of the “luminous suggestion” of a “three-cornered committee” of public men. It was decided to request that official permission be granted for holding a further meeting in a more convenient place, so that public men could be invited. Further, it was definitely decided to form an organisation on trades-union lines.

The want of an official organ for the interchange of ideas among the members and for the advocacy of accepted principles among the letter-sorting staff was at this time beginning to be strongly felt. Clery, seeing the necessity which the new movement had created, now determined to supply the deficiency. At his own risk he started a small journal, the Post. The first number appeared February 8, 1890, and was an unpretentious, pamphlet-like little print of eight pages, sold at a penny weekly. Clery himself was not only editor, but almost the sole contributor; as few dared to join in the risk of “writing for the press,” and the fact is to be commented on only because of the surprising amount of work and responsibility he saddled himself with at this period. Besides performing his ordinary eight hours’ duty at the General Post-Office, and his association as an officer with the Fawcett Scheme Committee, and the efficient discharge of all the detail work which such an office entailed, he was an industrious contributor to the public press, a prolific writer of fiction, and a playwright of some little repute. Under a nom de plume which afterwards became well known, he found an entrance into the pages of the Gentleman’s Magazine, and found himself, among other things, special dramatic correspondent of the Morning Advertiser—no mean attainments, it will be confessed, remembering his years and the hampering conditions under which he worked. The Post appeared, but it was predicted by many that its life would be short, as, if it did not die of ill-nutrition on the part of its patrons, the Postmaster-General would undoubtedly strangle it with red-tape. But Mr. Raikes, though he could not have been wholly oblivious to the daring innovation in postal journalism, did not in any way attempt to burke it, and for a considerable period it was allowed to be sold and circulated within the precincts of the Post-Office. Clery himself was prepared to defend his action if called on to do so, and stoutly maintained that before the authorities could legitimately question his right to act as the editor of a Service paper, they would have to institute a new regulation.

Preparations by this time had been set afoot for the great occasion towards which all the events of the preceding few years had been slowly but surely trending, the formation of a real postal trades-union. There was no attempt at disguising the object and the nature of it; and somewhat to the surprise of the older and more cautious among them, there was no opposition from the authorities. Indeed, the then Controller, Mr. R. C. Tombs, who, it may be mentioned, in his callow youth had himself been an agitator among his own class, seemed only too glad to remove every unnecessary official obstacle. He offered the use of the old disused prison-chapel at the parcel depot at Mount Pleasant for their forthcoming inaugural meeting, and even deputed Clery and Nevill to go there and complete arrangements. But finding it to be scarcely suitable for the purpose, a new difficulty arose. Then it was proposed that the postal authorities hire the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, and for the time being turn it into an official annexe, so as to meet the existing rule that meetings might not be held outside Government buildings. This proposal was actually seriously considered. It was then decided by Mr. Raikes to relax the rule. By showing confidence in the men in this matter, he thought they might be relied on not to abuse the liberty so far accorded them. While still retaining the right to send an official reporter, none was present, though it was generally understood that the proceedings were under the espionage of known spies. It was originally intended to call the new organisation by the name of the “London Sorting Clerks’ Association,” but the title “sorting clerk” being one of the minor points in dispute—it is still in dispute—some official exception was taken to its being used in this connection. It was then decided to rechristen it the “Fawcett Association,” partly because it was a development of the Fawcett Scheme Committee, and partly out of respect to the memory of Professor Henry Fawcett, the benefactor, whose full benefits they were endeavouring to obtain after now eight years.

The new postal trades-union of letter-sorters, the Fawcett Association, was inaugurated February 10, 1890, at the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street. There had been many meetings of postal officials before, indeed much of the history of postal agitation had been made up of meetings either open or illicit; but this was memorable, as it marked an epoch and proclaimed a new departure. It was the first meeting held in public by postal servants since 1866 which had not been proscribed and officially banned. During a previous agitation, that of 1872-74, there had been enormous mass meetings at Cannon Street Hotel and at Exeter Hall, and many public men of weight and influence supported their platforms; nevertheless each of those meetings was held in open defiance of the existing rule, and in spite of the official warnings against them. But now Mr. Raikes had shown his confidence in them by removing the restriction so far as they were concerned. Henceforth they would be free to meet when and where they liked, the only slender link of connection between them and the Post-Office being the presence of the official reporter. And this right to send an official reporter to the public meetings of postal servants was by some regarded as not wholly objectionable, as it had the compensating advantage of providing a ready communication between the departmental chief and themselves. Mr. Raikes had been the first Postmaster-General who had condescended to receive a deputation of lower subordinates for the purpose of discussing points of difference between them and the department. He had also been the first to set aside an old-established rule, and to allow postal servants a fuller liberty to meet in places of their own selection, where they might engage in discussion amidst more congenial surroundings than the Post-Office could offer. Their deliberations were henceforth not to be so cramped, cabined, and confined as they had hitherto, but brought into the freer light of publicity. It was a concession much to be appreciated, and one which set a valuable precedent.

The indefatigable Williams presided; and once more, with lawyer-like precision, he stated the case for the fulfilment of the Fawcett scheme; and the numerous speakers who followed, including Clery, drove home the necessity of forming this association, not only for securing immediate benefits, but for safeguarding the privileges already possessed. The result of this inaugural meeting was that a membership of over a thousand was immediately enrolled, and within a short time the number was more than doubled.

Scarcely to be compared numerically with the former postal trades-union, embracing the letter-carriers and letter-sorters, which was led by Booth, the Fawcett Association was yet to succeed as a movement where the other had failed. The enormous movement of 1872-74, covering so wide a field as it did, and numbering its branches in almost every town throughout the kingdom, with great resources financially and morally, and counting among its sponsors and supporters dozens of the most notable men of the day, after living through a brief and stormy period, had achieved little. The withdrawal of the personal influence of Booth, the organising and the dominating spirit, caused it to shrink and crumble away in decay and disaster. It had spent thousands of pounds one way and another, in expensive mass meetings at Exeter Hall and elsewhere, with their bands of music and colours flying, and public men parading their platforms in pomp; but the agitation had produced little beyond a sensation. The postal servants for whom the movement was begun were left practically just where they were in the beginning. It was an agitation which, while it ran its brief course, filled both the public eye and ear; it bedecked itself with trappings and tinsel; it was magnificent in a way, but directly Booth left it, it was no longer war. He undoubtedly it was mainly who inspired and inflated it; and his withdrawal in a moment of pique following indisposition, left it without a responsible leader, and the fight became a rout. With victory almost within sight, the principal leader withdrew and others followed, and the rank and file of the movement, left to their own resources, abandoned the siege and unaccountably beat a hasty retreat, as if a panic had seized them. The very looseness and wavering in their ranks was an invitation and an encouragement to the official patricians who garrisoned the till now beleaguered citadel of privilege, and directly this was seen the cavalry issued forth and smote them. The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold; and the undisciplined and leaderless organisation had to return captive along the paths of submissiveness and obedience. Hope for the redress of their grievances was abandoned for years to come.