President: Mr. George Nicholls, M.P.
Vice-President: Mr. H. A. Day.
Treasurer: Mr. Richard Winfrey, M.P.
General Secretary: Mr. George Edwards, C.C.
Executive Committee: Messrs. Thomas Thacker, W. G. Codling, C. Holman, J. Stibbons, and J. Binder.
It was decided that I should receive no salary until the Union had been running twelve months. My niece, Miss Blanche Corke, was given an honorarium of £2 for her services during the period of the past five months. It was also decided she should receive 7s. per week in the future as assistant secretary.
As soon as this meeting was over I again set out single-handed on a most vigorous campaign, Mr. Thomas Thacker of East Dereham giving valuable aid in his district. By March 31st the balance at the bank stood at £150 10s. 3½d., which represented a saving upon the quarter's working of £104 2s. 10½d. I had enrolled during the quarter 436 members. The entrance fees amounted to £10 18s. 2d., as we only charged 6d. entrance fees and 4d. for youths under eighteen years. This spurred me on to even greater efforts. It was, however, playing very heavily on my health, besides the heavy organizing work. The work at home increased as the Union increased, and I frequently had to sit up nearly all night on my return home at the week-end, as the clerical work at home was more than my niece could do; for, while she was a good writer and fairly good at figures, she, like me, had had no training in book-keeping and we were neither of us clerks, and we had to devise our own methods in keeping the books, which was not the quickest nor yet the best method, and, as I had no organizing help, I was obliged to be from home five whole days.
As I look back on those days and the long hours I had to put in, never having an hour's rest, for I had to seize every moment I could to inform myself on all the current topics of the day, when getting my meals having a book or newspaper in front of me, arousing myself early in the morning and giving myself to the closest study, I often think the then Executive was anything but Trade Unionist. They were not only risking wearing my life out with no remuneration (of which I did not complain), but they were working my niece night and day for the miserable sum of 7s. per week, and they refused to let me have even an assistant organizer until April 27th. Still, I do not regret the sacrifice I made in the interest of humanity.
On April 27th the first meeting of the Executive was held at the Liberal Club, Peterborough, and so fast had the Union grown during the four months that the Executive was obliged to set on an assistant organizer. Mr. Thomas Thacker was appointed until July, at a salary of 25s. per week, but with no guarantee that they would continue the appointment after that date. This showed how cautious the committee were and that they did not intend to waste the members' money.
The appointment of an assistant organizer did not relieve me of any work, for I continued my own organizing work with the same vigour as before, and in addition I had to organize my assistant's work, which also added to the clerical work at home, and the Executive made no effort to give me any assistance at home. By July our contributions had increased from £116 9s. 11d. to £133 0s. 1d. We had enrolled during the quarter 350 members. The entrance fees received for the quarter ending July were £9 15s. 8d. Our balance at the end of July stood at £242 3s. 4d., which was a saving on the quarter of £91 5s. 9d.
The second meeting of the Executive was held at Cozens' Temperance Hotel, King's Lynn, on Saturday, August 3rd, when I presented my second quarterly report as shown above. At this meeting Mr. Day, who had been responsible for my 13s. per week, said that he considered that the Union had got into such a position that he thought it ought to be able to pay its secretary, especially as the Executive was employing a whole-time organizer. It was then decided that I should receive a salary of 23s. per week and travelling and out-of-pocket expenses, and that my niece should continue to receive 7s. per week as assistant secretary. Thus ended my year's work for this Union. During the year I had cycled 6,000 miles, which was over 100 miles per week.
In spite of the hard work and the long weary miles I cycled on lonely roads, often late at night, still it was a pleasant year's work, as I felt I was building up an organization that would accomplish some great things for this long neglected class, and I never felt that I was engaged in a more divine work than I was then doing. I had enrolled during the year 6,379 members. We had taken in contributions during the two quarters we had been officially started £299 10s., and with the £46 7s. 5d. handed over by the Provisional Committee as a balance left over after paying all expenses with £63 7s. in donations from sympathizers, we had saved on the two quarters' working £242 3s. 4d., which I think everyone must admit was no discredit to me after the twelve months most strenuous work I had put in. But the year's work was not without its humorous side. At one crowded meeting I was addressing a man was present who was evidently primed up for his job with plenty of beer. He kept up a running fire of interruption. Some of the women present wrote on a big card: "Here is the fool of the fair who has sold himself to Bung." Then a number of strong young fellows pinned it on his coat and lifted him bodily on to the platform amidst the laughter and jeers of the audience.
At this committee meeting Mr. Thacker was re-engaged at a salary of 25s. per week. Having now been appointed a paid official, I felt that the responsibility resting on me was great, being the chief official of the Union, and, as the committee had decided to meet only once a quarter, they had placed great power into my hands to deal with the various problems such as small disputes, lock-outs, victimization, accident, and all cases needing legal assistance. They also appointed Mr. W. E. Keefe of Norwich the Union's solicitor, before whom I was instructed to put all cases needing legal assistance. This I felt was power and responsibility that ought never to be placed upon one man, especially in an organization that was so rapidly growing, and besides it was making one man an autocrat, which I, as a democrat, strongly objected to. But the Executive were staunch economists and decided to keep the working expenses down to the lowest possible point and they determined it should be so. The one thing they closely scrutinized was the finance. My colleague Mr. Thacker and myself set out in all earnestness, each holding five meetings per week with good results. During the quarter I had several lock-out cases and victimization cases to deal with, which cost the Union several pounds. I also put several cases of accidents into the hands of Mr. Keefe which were successfully dealt with by him. I ought to say here that Mr. Keefe has been a most able and loyal solicitor to the Union. The Executive also decided that I should prepare a quarterly financial statement and present to them at their quarterly meeting and also send it to each branch of the Union.