The British State Telegraphs / A Study of the Problem of a Large Body of Civil Servants in a Democracy

by Hugo Richard Meyer

Disfranchisement of Civil Servants Suggested

“Another fact which Members ought not to overlook was the political pressure which was far too frequently exercised by Civil Servants upon those who also represented them.” [“Hear, hear.”] “That was a great and growing danger. It was chiefly in London that this pressure was brought to bear…. He would give an instance of the way in which these Civil Servants spoke of the expediency of political pressure. At one of the great meetings which had been held, a speaker said there were 8,000 postmen in London, and that he hoped every one would have his name upon the register [of voters], so that at election times they could exercise their influence upon candidates and advocate the cause of higher wages. He was of the opinion that political pressure ought not to be brought to bear in that way.” [“Hear, hear.”] “Ordinary workmen could not exercise the same power, but Civil Servants could, and, whether their agitation succeeded or not, their position was secure, so that it was a case of ‘Heads, I win; tails, I don’t lose’…. Before the Royal Commission [of 1888], which had inquired into the Civil Service establishments, evidence was given with regard to the way in which pressure was brought to bear in certain constituencies upon Members, and he thought that the almost unanimous feeling of the Commission was that, if this state of things continued, it would be necessary to disfranchise the Civil Service.” [“Hear, hear.”][179]

Sir Albert Rollit replied: “They had to acknowledge a very sympathetic speech from the Secretary to the Treasury. Perhaps if some honorable Members went to the Treasury in regard to this matter, accompanied by one person who might represent practically the views which were entertained by those concerned, the matter might be further gone into. He begged leave to withdraw his Amendment.”

The Secretary to the Treasury replied: “There was no objection on the part of the Treasury to hearing communications from Members of Parliament on the subject, but with regard to officials of the Post Office coming to the Treasury, he should not like to give any pledge without first consulting with the Postmaster General.”

The Norfolk-Hanbury Committee

Shortly afterward the Postmaster General, the Duke of Norfolk, and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mr. Hanbury, constituted themselves a Committee to investigate the grievances that the Tweedmouth Committee had left unredressed. All Members of the House of Commons were invited to attend the meetings of the Norfolk-Hanbury Committee, and to take part in examining the witnesses. Sir Albert Rollit presented the case of the Post Office employees. The Norfolk-Hanbury Committee recommended further concessions involving an additional outlay of $400,000 a year; and the Treasury accepted the recommendations.

The Report of the Postmaster General for the year 1897-98 stated that the concessions granted would entail a total increase of expenditure of $1,940,000 a year. The Duke of Norfolk concluded his reference to the foregoing episodes with the words: “Since that time I have declined, and I shall continue to decline, to allow decisions which have been considered by the Tweedmouth Committee, and which have been revised by Mr. Hanbury and myself, to be reopened. It is my belief that those decisions have been liberal, but whether they are liberal or not, it is for the interest of all parties that it should be understood that they are final.”

In April, 1900, Mr. R. W. Hanbury, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, stated the concessions granted by the Tweedmouth and Norfolk-Hanbury Committees were costing $2,200,000 a year. In April, 1901, Mr. Austen Chamberlain, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said they were costing $2,500,000 a year; and in April, 1903, he stated that they were costing $3,000,000 a year.[180] Those figures related to the combined postal and telegraph service. So far as the latter service alone is concerned, the average expenses on account of wages and salaries rose steadily from 11.54 cents per telegram in 1895-96, to 13.02 cents in 1902-03, under an increase in the number of messages from 79,423,000 in 1895-96, to 92,471,000 in 1902-03. In 1905-06, the average in question rose to 14.29 cents, partly in consequence of the increases in wages made in response to the demands of the Civil Servants, partly in consequence of the drop in the number of telegrams to 89,478,000—as a result of the growing competition from the telephone.

In 1895-96 the receipts of the Telegraph Department proper exceeded the operating expenses by $646,000; in 1900-01, the operating expenses exceeded the receipts by $34,000; in 1903-04 the deficit rose to $1,505,000, and in 1904-05 it was $917,000. In 1905-06, the gross revenue exceeded the operating expenses by $63,500.[181]