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

by H. G. Swift

The Postmaster-General’s treatment of this particular case, and his attitude towards the postmen’s agitation at this period, may seem strangely in contrast with the indulgence shown towards the letter-sorters. But it has to be remembered that with the latter body there was never any attempt to force the right of public meeting before the rule was relaxed; and besides, they experienced little indulgence at Mr. Raikes’s hands till some time after the period of Dredge’s dismissal. It was not till a year after that Mr. Raikes began to mellow in his demeanour towards the sorters’ agitation.

His mellowing and unbending somewhat towards the growing spirit of trades unionism in the Post-Office may perhaps be ascribed to expediency as much as to conviction of its justifiableness. For about this period of 1890 a tidal wave of discontent, it seemed, affected almost every class of public and Government servants, and threatened to sweep them off their feet. The spirit of restlessness and discontent not only affected the police, the telegraphists, the sorters, and the postmen, but it even made itself felt to some extent in the army. Mr. Raikes had to realise that he was facing a very delicate and difficult problem, and though he did not take kindly to his lesson at first, he squared his shoulders and faced it manfully and tactfully when he saw the cloud about to burst. It was his duty to play his own game from the departmental side of the board, and his move consisted in keeping the discontented bodies apart at any hazards, and this by his tact and good judgment he succeeded in doing. He was sorry that he was compelled to dismiss Dredge, and perhaps foresaw the consequences. There was immediately a strong feeling manifested among the postmen; for Dredge was popular; and though the blow caused them to retire for a moment to get their wind, they came up in stronger fighting trim than ever. It was this dismissal really that led up to the formation of the ill-starred but, for a time, formidable Postmen’s Union. Dredge’s dismissal was interpreted into a direct attack on the postmen’s right of combination, and the Chief Office men, who hitherto had been rather lukewarm towards the agitation led by him, now as a matter of principle formed square with the Districts. It was decided to form a General Postmen’s Union, but it was ill managed on misunderstanding from the start.

In the early part of 1890 the discontent born of a long period of neglect and refusal to consider their moderate demands reached an acute and critical stage. The necessity for some sort of an organisation of postmen was beginning to be recognised among them, and it was then decided to start the Postmen’s Union. A request privately made by the postmen themselves to several prominent labour leaders was the means of bringing it into existence. The Postmen’s Union, doomed to run an exciting career ending in disaster and failure, was hatched under the wing of the well-meaning but in this case misguided Labour Union leadership. Mr. John Burns, with the laurels of the dock strike fresh upon him, had some little time previously offered his services to form and conduct a Postmen’s Union; and had his offer been accepted at the time, it is more than probable that his good sense and tact would have averted one of the most lamentable catastrophes that ever sullied the pages of labour’s history. If it was necessary to form the Postmen’s Union at all, it was as necessary to place the leadership in strong, sensible hands. It was not so, however; and the opportunity of accepting Mr. John Burns as leader was lost. And it was lost only because it was feared that Mr. John Burns would want to exercise a too autocratic sway. Better, perhaps, had it been so; for, as will be seen, they rushed from one extreme to the other. They threw over a born and trained labour leader and accepted the dictates of a weak imitator.

The representations made to the Labour Union were to the effect that postmen as a body and all postal employés were in a helpless and disorganised condition; that they dared not take the initiative for fear of instant dismissal. These representations were accepted, and a meeting was speedily called on a Sunday, the meeting-place being Clerkenwell Green. This meeting was called by means of a manifesto published in the Saturday’s Star. There the Postmen’s Union was publicly inaugurated, its principal sponsors being Messrs. Mahon, Chambers, and Henderson. All postal employés were invited to join the organisation. The executive, consisting of Mr. Mahon and the other gentlemen mentioned, announced that their only desire was to establish the new postal association on a proper basis, and that when this consummation was effected they would be willing to leave the postmen to manage their own affairs.

The restrictions as regarded public meetings had already been considerably relaxed by Mr. Raikes, and from being strictly prohibited were now allowed under certain conditions. The conditions imposed by Mr. Raikes were:—

“That notice be given to the local Post-Office authority that such a meeting was to be held, and where it was proposed to hold it. That the meeting be confined to Post-Office servants only who are directly interested in the matters to be discussed. That an official shorthand writer be present if required by the authorities.”

It was under the operation of this new rule that the letter-sorters’ organisation was publicly inaugurated at the Memorial Hall on February 10, 1890. But the leader of the Postmen’s Union detected in the second condition imposed by the regulation a direct blow at the right of combination, and an attempt to deprive the postmen of their accepted leadership. It was to test as much as to form the Postmen’s Union that this meeting was called on Clerkenwell Green in June 1890. Mr. Mahon had been one of the sub-organisers of the late dock strike, and on assuming authority over the Postmen’s Union he endeavoured to make himself the accepted mouthpiece of the men’s demands. But whatever qualities of leadership Mr. Mahon may have possessed, he lacked individuality. His personality was certainly not Napoleonic; he could deliver a good address, but there was always a something lacking in the uncommanding figure in the shabby blue serge suit. He was a thin-featured, pale-faced man, with a slight red beard, and pale blue eyes. The postmen, however, wanted an outside leader, and if Mahon was to prove their Messiah of postal labour they were to make the most of him and obediently follow. Nevertheless the members seemed possessed by a fear that they were doing something wrong and might only conduct their affairs in secret; precautions being taken to prevent the identity of members being freely known. Both officers and members were known only by numbers; and adhesive stamps were used to indicate the subscriptions paid; these stamps being supplied to members to affix them to their cards when they felt free from espionage. There was but one exception to this extraordinary secrecy; and that was in the case of Clery, the secretary of the Fawcett Association, who had become a member from sympathy with their objects. He stoutly declined to be known by a number, and advised the Postmen’s Union that they were perfectly within their right in combining openly and without this element of secrecy. He went further, and wrote a pamphlet on the subject of postal combination, which was published by Mr. J. McCartney, a member of the Fawcett Association, and issued from the offices of the Postmen’s Union.

The postmen seemed so determined on following the dictates of the Labour Union, and so enamoured of an outside leader, that for the time Dredge, their quondam secretary, seemed forgotten. The manifesto which had heralded the birth of the Postmen’s Union invited them practically to come and have their grievances redressed by men not in the service, who could not be dismissed for speaking up for them. But the dismissed Dredge could have done all this as fearlessly and as ably as any of the Union leaders had he been invited to—and better for the postmen and better for him had the leadership been at this stage placed in his hands.

The Postmen’s Union had not been called into existence very long before there was a split in the executive, and the postmen were treated to the demoralising spectacle of a double-headed leadership—a Girondist and a Mountain party in miniature. There was a manifesto printed in the Evening News and Post, and signed by Messrs. T. Dredge, Fred Henderson, and W. Chambers, in which they announced that they had dissociated themselves from the rest of the executive. W. E. Clery of the Fawcett Association endeavoured to bring about a rapprochement between the parties, and Mr. Morrison Davidson, the author, was asked to act as arbitrator, to which he agreed. The proposal, however, was not carried out, those remaining on the executive not agreeing to the suggestion. Messrs. Henderson, Chambers, and Dredge were regarded as having seceded from the movement by the publication of the manifesto; but this did not put the matter straight, as, to a very large section of the postmen, Dredge, Henderson, and Chambers were still the leaders of the movement. The books and the funds of the Union were, however, still in the hands of Messrs. Mahon, Donald, and the others, meanwhile maintaining silence about the split in the camp, and quietly but industriously receiving subscriptions and enrolling members. Messrs. Chambers and Henderson set about organising a meeting in Marylebone, to which postmen were invited to hear a true explanation of the situation and the nature of the difference between them and their late colleagues. The meeting was held under the presidency of Mr. Champion, and Mr. John Burns and Mr. Conybeare, M.P., were present. The latter gentleman was at this time treasurer of the Union. Mr. John Burns did not mince matters with anybody, but treated all alike to a helping of strong straight talk and wholesome advice which, if only remembered and followed, would have saved them many bitter regrets. It was on this occasion, after the business of the meeting, that Mr. John Burns definitely allowed it to be known that he would accept a position on their executive, but that they would have to approach him. There was some consideration on the part of some, a further excited meeting, at which Mr. Mahon was present; but it was found neither party could claim the full confidence of the postmen, and so it was decided to submit the matter of the disputed leadership to a commission of inquiry having power to demand all books and correspondence, &c., and to report on the condition of the Union, and the trustworthiness of the executive in power. A general meeting was to be called to hear this report as soon as ready. The commission of inquiry consisted of three, and Clery, of the letter-sorters’ agitation, was elected chairman. There was a deal of recrimination between the parties before the decision of the commission was made known. It was recommended that the Postmen’s Union executive should sever its connection with the Labour Union, but that the executive should consist of nine gentlemen not in the service, and an equal number of postmen. The gentlemen who were to serve on the executive were to include Mr. Mahon as secretary; Mr. Conybeare, M.P., as treasurer; Mr. A. K. Donald; Mr. Bennet Burleigh, the war correspondent and journalist; Mr. John Burns, and Mr. H. H. Champion. But Mr. Mahon and Mr. Donald objected to Mr. Burns and Mr. Champion being on the executive. W. E. Clery and his fellow-commissioners were in favour of these two gentlemen, and only agreed not to press their election out of consideration to the wishes of Messrs. Mahon, Donald, and Binning, who had certainly done a deal of rough work in connection with the Union’s formation. Clery and the rest of the commission had reason afterwards to regret that they had not persisted in their first decision.

The Postmen’s Union was accordingly taken out of the hands of the Labour Union, and its control was taken over by a distinct executive. Mr. Burns and Mr. Champion withdrew their offer of services, and allowed Mr. Mahon to take the helm of the clumsy and ill-fitted vessel that required much clever steering. Those who originally came into the movement only as friendly helpers were now developed into leaders and masters of the new organisation. Mr. Mahon now assumed the part of dictator, and the fact that he was allowed to do so can only be accounted for on the supposition that the other members of the executive, Mr. Bennet Burleigh and Mr. Conybeare and the rest, were paying more attention to their own private business. W. E. Clery meanwhile had used the whole weight of his influence to induce the postmen’s executive, as represented by Mr. Mahon, to switch the organisation on to more constitutional lines of action, but the very attempt at counselling moderation seemed only to have begotten suspicion regarding the honesty of his intentions. Mr. Mahon and a few about him were under the impression that the letter-sorters and the indoor staffs were in duty bound to make common cause with them, and if only their co-operation could be secured the walls of St. Martin’s-le-Grand were bound to fall. Had the indoor staffs of the postal side of the service been induced to join hands, there can be no doubt that such a federation would have proved very troublesome to the authorities. But Clery, who was by this time virtual leader of the sorters’ organisation, seeing that the postmen under their outside leader were determined on pursuing a heroic course and adopting a policy of defiance, steadily set his face against any combination of his class with the Postmen’s Union. Mr. Mahon and many of the postmen themselves thought it would greatly assist them if the indoor classes could be induced to join them, and it was sought to set aside the authority of Clery with his own class by making overtures direct to the sorters. This was done by a printed manifesto, but Clery thought so little of its effect that he contemptuously printed it with a few lines of comment in his own organ, the Post, of June 7, 1890. Yet in spite of this free advertisement there was no response to the appeal of the general secretary of the Postmen’s Union, and, so far as was known, not a single sorter joined. The manifesto was a creditable literary production, for Mr. Mahon could write as well as speak, but the only thing he could boast of having done in a period of eight months was to have formed “a rapidly-growing union with a weekly contribution.” From this declaration it was further gathered that the principal reason for its existing at all was to assert “the right of public meeting and demonstration,” in defiance of an official regulation now so modified as to be no longer regarded as harsh. This was the main point of difference between the postmen’s policy and that of the sorters. The sorters had won the right of public meeting fairly, squarely, and constitutionally, and Mr. Raikes was pleased to acknowledge it; the postmen, as led by their outside leader, asserted the full right of public meeting without restriction and without control from headquarters. It was a very proper thing perhaps, but in the circumstances it was hardly the time of day to demand it. The sorters, by quietly pursuing constitutional methods, were very little behind the postmen in point of outside meeting, only in the one case it was acknowledged as a right and in the other they committed outlawry, and by so doing injured their own case. The Postmaster-General was severely autocratic in rule, yet, when properly approached, he had gone considerably out of the beaten tracks of officialdom in granting the right of public meeting conditionally. Only a little while longer and the last shackle was to be knocked off. Yet this did not suit the postmen’s leader, and his followers were made to think that it could not be accepted by them. They were betrayed into pursuing the ideal of an abstract principle in preference to urging their more useful and legitimate demand for boots and better wages. The boots and other things to which they were as justly entitled were forgotten in the glamour of the right of public demonstration. Instead of making do with the farthing rushlight for the time being, they committed the fatal mistake of running after the will-o’-the-wisp which was to land them in the morass of humiliation and disaster.