But during all my moving troubles I had still the strike troubles to bear and the propaganda work of the Union, and no extra help allowed. My assistant Mr. Thomas Thacker had resigned in August through ill health, and his successor, Mr. James Coe, could not take up his duties until after harvest. No sooner had I settled down in my new office, nicely fitted up, than I saw I had great troubles to face which would cause me greater worries than ever I had been called upon to bear, for the strike continued as fiercely as ever, and I could see a crisis coming which I knew would be either the making or the undoing of the Union. At the conclusion of the harvest in the third week in September I met all the men on strike in both districts who had lost their harvest through the strike and paid them the whole harvest wages which they would have received had they been at work. So no one man suffered the loss of one penny through the strike. Such a thing no Union had ever done before.
During the quarter from July to October we had some few little disputes over the harvest wages, at Swanton, Morley and Litcham, in which Mr. Arnett, a member of the Executive, and myself were able to effect a satisfactory settlement. On November 19, 1910, a most important meeting of the Executive was held at Cozens' Temperance Hotel. There were present Mr. George Nicholls, Mr. Richard Winfrey, Messrs. George Edwards, J. Arnett, T. Giles, A. Gidney, W. Codling, A. Petch and J. Stibbons. I presented my financial statement and quarterly report, which read as follows:—
In presenting you with my fifteenth quarterly report I am sorry to report for the first time a considerable decrease in our accumulated capital due to the prolonged dispute in the St. Faith's and Trunch districts. We have enrolled during the quarter 1,048 members. Our contributions have been £348 17s. 8d., which is £82 13s. more than the previous quarter and is the highest on record. We have held during the quarter fourteen camp meetings, which were all well attended. The collections taken have been devoted to paying the expenses of the meeting, and the balances have been given to a special lock-out fund for men with large families.
The dispute at St. Faith's and Trunch still continues at a very heavy cost. We paid to the men from June 30th to September 30th at St. Faith's £683 14s. 9d., Trunch £9 5s., Swanton Morley £9, Litcham £3 0s. 5d., Castleacre 10s., Pulham 5s. Total amount of strike pay during the quarter £705 15s. 2d., a sum for such a purpose we must all deeply regret. We can, however, congratulate ourselves on the fact that we have done more for our members in the time we have been in existence than any other labour union has ever done in so short a time. I feel, however, that we must now consider the next step to take. The St. Faith's strike has entered upon its twenty-sixth week. I have done all I can to bring the dispute to a peaceful and honourable conclusion, but have failed. The St. Faith's strike is costing £35 per week. I have appealed to the Board of Trade and clearly pointed out the miserably low wages paid to the agricultural labourers in Norfolk, and asked the President of the Board to intervene. He has, however, refused to do so. The next step I should advise the committee to take is to ask the members to express their views by ballot and at the same time point out to them the seriousness of the situation. Great care, however, must be taken in the matter, or we shall lose a great deal of the ground we have gained. The special effect the strike has had on the Union in Norfolk is that it has prevented the farmers reducing the labourers' wages from 13s. to 12s. per week during the autumn. We have appeared to the farmers to be a great deal stronger than we really are. And I do not consider the money we have spent in the dispute has been spent in vain and, further, it has created a lively interest in the Union. I wish to point out that the trouble at Litcham and Swanton Morley would have taken a very serious turn had it not have been for the firm stand your Emergency Committee took. The dispute at Trunch still continues, but several of the men have found work with other employers. There is some little trouble arisen in one of our branches over a very difficult matter. The branch asks the Executive to support the case. Another little trouble has arisen at Felthorpe, which after very close investigation I am supporting, and I ask for your endorsement. In closing my report I wish to say we have received enormous support from our Norwich friends, both morally and financially, and great thanks are due to them from the committee. I feel I ought not to close this report without mentioning the fact that Mr. Herbert Day, our Vice-President, has been untiring in helping the men out on strike. He nobly came forward when they were shamefully persecuted and fined a sum amounting to £68 16s. and paid this himself. I hope the criticism and the discussion on this report and the position of the Union will enable us to come out of this crisis successfully. I also wish to report that I attended the Trade Union Congress held at Sheffield in September and moved the following resolution as instructed by the General Council:—
"That it be an instruction to the Parliamentary Committee to take steps to get the agricultural labourers included in the Trades Board Act of 1909."
The committee endorsed my report. Mr. Arnett also reported that he had received some communications from Mr. Leadbeater, a schoolmaster at St. Faith's, offering to negotiate with the farmers with a view to bringing the dispute to an end if the Executive wished.
It was resolved that Mr. Arnett be empowered to ask Mr. Leadbeater to negotiate with the employers at St. Faith's with a view to their taking the men back at 13s. per week, the wage which the men struck against.
To this I strongly objected, contending that the committee had no right to authorize anyone to negotiate with the employers on such terms until the members of the Union had given them the power to do so. I at once found I was up against my Executive. I also could plainly see that the Union was about to pass through a most severe crisis, and without great care the movement for which I had worked so hard for the last four years would be smashed. The committee also decided that a ballot of the members should be taken and the resolution should be sent to all the branches. It was also resolved that as soon as I received the ballot papers from the branches, if the majority were in favour of the resolution, I should at once inform Mr. Arnett of the result, and that I should instruct Mr. Arnett to ask Mr. Leadbeater to make arrangement with the employers to take the men back on the old terms, namely 13s. per week and the hours of labour as before. Thus it will be seen all through nothing was in the circular about the terms. The committee decided without even meeting to discuss the ballot that the strike was to be closed and the men sent back on the old terms. As I look back at this proceeding I am not surprised that there was serious trouble, but I am surprised that the whole movement did not collapse. I am sorry to have to recount this, but I feel in writing my life-story and of the whole facts of the progress of this movement which I founded and the vicissitudes through which it had to pass, the whole facts should be made known. Further, most of it is a matter of history now.
The resolution and ballot the committee themselves drew up and instructed the President and myself to sign. This read as follows:—
To the Secretary of the..............Branch.
Most Urgent.
Sir,
Please call a special meeting of your branch not later than Saturday November 26th to consider the strike at St. Faith's. The Members of that branch last May asked their employers for 1s. per week rise and for their working week to finish at one o'clock on Saturdays, which was equal to shortening their hours of labour three hours per week. The employers refused to grant either of these requests. A strike ensued which has lasted just on six months and has cost the Union over £900, which your committee consider a most serious matter. We had hoped the dispute would have been brought to a peaceful and honourable settlement. We consider the time has now come when you ought to have the seriousness of the situation placed before you, for you to decide by your vote whether the committee shall not try to bring the dispute to an honourable conclusion. You must call a special and urgent meeting and put the following resolution to the meeting, sending us the result. Please write the number of votes for and against on your ballot paper signed on behalf of the committee.
(Signed) George Nicholls, President.
George Edwards, Secretary.Resolution.
That in the opinion of this Branch the Executive Committee of this Union should immediately take steps to bring the St. Faith's strike to an honourable conclusion.
Number of votes. For Against ——
| Number of votes. | |
| For | |
| Against | |
| —— |
I received the ballot papers back from all of the branches by November 29th. On counting them, I at once sent the result to Mr. Arnett as instructed by the committee. The result was as follows for closing the strike as per resolution:—