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Castleacre,

July 5, 1910.

J. T. Willis, Esq.,

Secretary, Farmers' Federation,

Sheringham.

Dear Sir,

As I stated in my speech on Friday last at St. Faith's, in replying to the correspondence in the Daily Press, we are quite willing to enter into negotiations with the Executive of your Federation re the dispute in the St. Faith's and Trunch districts, and would quite willingly accept Mr. J. H. Bugden as chairman of a conference, and, in case the parties not agreeing or not being able to come to terms, we would be willing to submit the whole case to an arbitrator, to be named and appointed by the joint members of the organizations assembled. Or, if the employers in each affected district prefer it, we would be willing to have an equal number of the employers and an equal number of the employees with the Secretaries of the Federation and the Labourers' Union to be members of the conference to represent the two organizations. Each labourer to meet without prejudice. Of course, if your Executive and the employers fall in with this suggestion other preliminaries can easily be arranged. An early reply would greatly oblige,

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) George Edwards.

P.S. – If you reply to-morrow, Wednesday, please direct your letter to the address below,

Visiting Committee Board Room, County Asylum,

Thorpe, Norwich

I ought to say I was absolutely unable to get my Executive together to discuss the dispute further before the regular quarterly meeting, which was not until July 30th. I wrote this letter entirely on my own responsibility, irrespective of what they might say in reference to my action, but I felt the responsibility too great to let an opportunity pass that might bring peace.

On July 9th I received the following reply from the Secretary of the Farmers' Federation: —

Sheringham,

July 9, 1910.

Dear Sir,

I placed your letter of the 5th inst. before the Executive Council of the Farmers' Federation at their meeting to-day, and they regret they are unable to see that any good would result from a conference with representatives of the Labourers' Union. The Farmers' Federation has no dispute with the Labourers' Union, the present trouble being one between five or six employers and their labourers. All that the Farmers' Federation is doing is to assist its members in resisting the demands made upon them by the labourers who were in their employ.

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) J. T. Willis.

George Edwards, Esq.,

Secretary,

Eastern Counties Agricultural Labourers'

and Small Holders' Union.

To that letter I sent the following reply: —

Gresham,

July 11, 1910.

J. T. Willis, Esq.,

Secretary, Farmers' Federation,

Sheringham.

Dear Sir,

Yours of the 9th inst. to hand, and I very much regret that the Executive Council of the Farmers' Federation could not see their way to accept the offer of this Union to meet in conference with a view of bringing about a settlement of the St. Faith's and Trunch districts disputes. It must be obvious to them, as they are supporting their members in the dispute, that they are an interested party in the dispute in just the same way as the Labourers' Union is by giving support to its members. It would have been a wise and humane policy for the two organizations to meet and endeavour to bring about a settlement. We having made the offer and not for the first time, and the Federation have refused it, now the onus must rest on the Farmers' Federation, whatever may be the evils arising out of their refusal. There would have been no lowering of the prestige of either of the societies had they met in conference. But your Executive seems to ignore entirely the last paragraph in my letter where I offered on behalf of the men for an equal number of the men to meet an equal number of the employers and only the secretaries of the two organizations to attend the conference of the employers and their men. By your making no mention of this part of my letter I take it that that offer is rejected too. Such being the case, there the question must rest so far as we are concerned, and we must leave the public to judge which side has acted in the most conciliatory spirit.

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) George Edwards.

This ended all efforts for a settlement so far as I was concerned. All future efforts would have to be left to others. If the men had to go down then I would go down with them, but I would go down fighting. I ought to say also that Sir Ailwyn Fellowes, now Lord Ailwyn, expressed a willingness to intervene if both parties agreed. I at once on behalf of the men agreed, but the Farmers' Federation refused. And so the dispute continued and, as the weeks went by, the relationship became more strained. I think I can say never was there a Labour dispute when so many efforts at securing a settlement were made by the men's leaders as I made on this occasion, and never a leader's efforts thwarted by the employers' organizations as mine were by the Farmers' Federation. It seemed that they could not bring themselves to see that the days of autocratic methods of dealing with their men were fast passing away and that the days of collective bargaining were rapidly approaching. They constantly kept the old parrot cry, "I always did do as I liked with my men, why can't I now?" Happily there is a better spirit existing now. Both sides do meet together now and discuss these problems, but it is a sad reflection that it took a great war to bring about this long-desired change.

CHAPTER XIII
DEFEAT

The committee at their quarterly meeting held at Cozens' Temperance Hotel, at King's Lynn, on Saturday, July 30th, decided, on the motion of Mr. Winfrey, to move the office of the Union from Gresham to Fakenham, if a suitable house could be found, and they appointed Mr. Robert Green and myself a sub-committee to secure one if possible. This we did after a good deal of correspondence. We first agreed on one on a seven years' lease in Walsall Terrace, Queen's Road, Fakenham, at a rental of £17 per annum and rates; but before the agreement could be signed and the lease drawn up, it transpired that the house was let to another man without the knowledge of the house agent. Then a Mr. Philips of Fakenham offered us Wensum House at Hempton, near Fakenham, at a rental of £20 per annum. This we accepted and took on a seven years' lease. This was a ten-roomed house with two large attics. The two front rooms were very large. One of the front rooms was taken as an office, and it was a very fine and suitable room at that time, and quite large enough to be used as a board room for the committee. The committee also decided that I should pay them the same rent as I paid my landlord for my cottage and garden at Gresham, namely £5 per year. The moving from my village caused me a good deal of pain, but I knew I must bow to the inevitable, for the Union had outgrown my little bedroom. I did, however, love my garden and my little cottage, small as it was. I cultivated my garden as a relief early in the morning when at home to occupy my mind from the worries of my official duties. I always managed so that I had some kind of vegetable all the year round. I was very fond of vegetable marrow and used to grow a very fine kind. We ate some as vegetables, the rest we could cut and keep and my wife would make what we called in our agricultural labourer's phrase, "million pies." My wife, too, was very fond of fowls, and we kept just enough to produce a few eggs for our own use. To my little cottage my dear wife and myself were devoted. In fact, I was as proud of it as any duke is of his palace. We had two downstair rooms, the front room 12 ft. by 14 ft., its height about 6 ft. 8 in., the back kitchen which we used to live in most of our time 9 ft. by 7 ft. There was a little cooking-stove in it and a perpetual oven in the wall in which my wife did most of her baking. The front room floor she covered with cocoanut matting and put a nice paper on the walls, and there were plenty of pictures and my bookshelf at one corner full of books, of which I am so proud. As we both looked at this little cottage home, which had so many sweet memories, one can understand how unwilling we were to leave it. Further, I was living there amongst my own fellow agricultural labourers, and the environments and surroundings were so dear to me as to be part of myself.

I was also Superintendent of the Primitive Methodist Sunday-school, Society Steward and Circuit Steward of the Sheringham and Holt Primitive Methodist Circuit. To take me from it all was a wrench indeed, and I don't believe my dear wife ever did settle down to the change.

In moving into a town and a bigger house I knew I should be lifted out of my natural environment, which was no small matter now that I had reached sixty years of age. Besides, I was moving many miles from the spot which was so sacred to me, namely the village churchyard of Aylmerton, where I had buried my aged mother some eleven years before. But the movement that I had so successfully launched and for whose success or failure I was responsible I felt had a greater claim than any other earthly consideration, so I braced myself up to the inevitable. Those memories of the past are still, however, sweet to me, and, if I had my choice, I think I would prefer to go back to them again. On October 11, 1910, I moved from Gresham to Wensum House, Hempton, near Fakenham, with all unforeseen events to face which I think I have done bravely.

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.

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: —

Mr. Arnett on receiving the result at once wrote to Mr. Leadbeater and received the following letters: —

St. Faith's, Norwich.

December 3, 1910.

Dear Mr. Arnett,

I had a long interview with Mr. W. W. Cook last night, and with slight reservations he is willing to take the men back again at the old rate of wages. We discussed matters very fully, and finally I think Mr. Cook is prepared to deal very fairly with the men. Of course there will be certain sore places for a time, but he will not be vindictive. The modus operandi of closing the strike will require great care. The Federation men will have to be cleared away in a proper way and our own men will have to be prepared to take their places at the most convenient time. This will require delicate handling, and I hope any statement made before the matter is closed will be well guarded. I sincerely hope you will be able to bring the issue to a satisfactory conclusion. I believe this is a chance, and in any way I can help you I hope you will let me know and I will gladly assist. Kindest regards,

Sincerely yours,

(Signed) H. Leadbeater.

St. Faith's,

December 5, 1910.

Dear Arnett,

Mr. Cook suggested yesterday that I should write to Mr. Willis, the Federation Secretary, and give him an account of Friday's interview. I am doing so by this post. I think this is a step nearer and may lead to an official recognition and discussion. Mr. Cook also told me yesterday that he was prepared to take on the evening school lads at once, if I send them in to him. What do you say to this? Let me know as soon as you can and then some start can be made. Hoping for the best, believe me to be acting in your best interest,

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) H. Leadbeater.

St. Faith's,

December 13, 1910.

Dear Arnett,

I have received an answer from Mr. Willis, the Federation Secretary, in which he informs me that the local masters will treat with their employees in a most friendly spirit and will at once employ them at the same rate as before. This is from the Executive Council, and I, knowing the feeling of our best farmers, beg to suggest that all pressure should be made to settle the matter at once. I feel sure, if the chance goes by, there will not be another on such good terms as now. This is the climax, and under no consideration will the men receive better terms. I should say if once acted upon there will be practically very few left outside. I think it is far better to keep the two or three left on the Union funds than to keep on a hopeless fight. Believe me, it is a hopeless fight, and I hope for the sake of the Union and the men the end has come and that your Executive can see it. Kindly let me know what your Executive say so that I can report finally the result of my endeavours to bring about a settlement which will give us peace.

With my good wishes,

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) H. Leadbeater.

This was the first stage of the trouble. On receiving these communications from Mr. Arnett I at once summoned the Executive together, and they met on December 17th. A strange thing happened at the committee held on November 19th. Although the committee decided to take this course, they suspended me and my assistant organizer Mr. James Coe for a period during the General Election, and left only my secretary in the office to attend to all correspondence and keep the books. Of course I had to do all correspondence which had all to be sent on to me.

The Executive Committee met at the office of the Union on December 17, 1910, and there were present Mr. H. A. Day (Vice-President), who presided in the absence of the President, Messrs. A. Petch, W. Codling, J. Stibbons, M. Berry, J. Arnett, G. Edwards and T. Thacker.

It soon became evident that the committee would be hopelessly divided on the St. Faith's dispute. I reported the result of the ballot and that I had carried out the instructions given me at the last committee meeting, namely I had sent the result of the ballot on to Mr. Arnett and that I had instructed him to ask Mr. Leadbeater to make arrangements with the employers for the men to go back on the old terms of 13s. per week and the working hours to be as before. I had, therefore, carried out all my instructions in reference to the matter. Mr. Arnett was asked to state what he had done in the matter, and he then read the correspondence he had had with Mr. Leadbeater, and he strongly recommended that the arrangements made by Mr. Leadbeater with the employers be carried out and that the men be instructed to return to work on the employers' terms. Mr. Day then moved and Mr. Berry seconded that the General Secretary be instructed to write and thank Mr. Leadbeater for his kind efforts to bring about a settlement of the St. Faith's strike, but, as the employers had not given any guarantee that they would take all the men back without any further reductions, the present negotiations be brought to an end.

This resolution caused a most heated debate, and there voted for it Mr. Day, W. Colding and Mr. Berry, against Messrs. Arnett, Petch and Stibbons. The chairman gave his casting vote for the resolution and it was adopted.

The Secretary read a letter from the St. Faith's Branch containing a resolution passed by that branch: —

That this branch is of opinion that the resolution sent by the Executive to the branches to vote upon was rather misleading. We ask the Executive to take another clearer ballot of all the members. If the strike shall continue for 14s. per week or go back for 13s. per week, if the employers will give an undertaking to take all the men and lads back at one time, and that a clear financial statement be given with the ballot. Further we are prepared to loyally abide by the wishes of our fellow members.

Mr. Day then moved and Mr. Berry seconded that another ballot be taken of all the members and that they be asked to vote on the following questions: —

1. Shall the men stand out for 14s. per week?

2. Or shall they go back for 13s. per week if all the men and lads are taken back at once?

Further, that the following circulars be sent with ballot papers: —

To the Secretary of the......Branch

Most Urgent! St. Faith's Dispute

Seeing that the words "honourable conclusion" in the first ballot were not clearly understood, we ask you to call another meeting and take a vote of all your members present and let me have the ballot papers back not later than January 1, 1911. I am also instructed to let you know the true position of the Union. We report to you that since the strike commenced at St. Faith's last May we have enrolled nearly 2,000 members. We had in hand on September 30th last over £1,100. Since then we have spent £500 for strikes and general purposes and received about £250, so that we now have about £850 in hand. At this rate of expenditure and income we could continue the strike for another six months certain, that is until next May. We understand that the farmers have often trouble with the imported strike-breakers. The men at St. Faith's are prepared loyally to follow the wishes of their fellow Trade Unionists and either continue to stand out for the 14s. or go back for the 13s., if all can be taken back together. If the vote is in favour of the men going back for the 13s., then the General Secretary be instructed to act on the other resolution.

Signed on behalf of the committee,

Geo. Edwards,

General Secretary.

This was carried by the casting vote of the chairman. At the conclusion of the meeting I at once had this circular printed. It was finished that evening and I sat up all night and addressed the copies ready for post the next Sunday, as I had a religious service to conduct on Sunday. I would not neglect my religious work for anything. The committee also decided by a majority in which I voted that unless guarantees were given by the employers to the satisfaction of the General Secretary and the Union's solicitor, Mr. W. E. Keefe, the strike was to continue.

These decisions of the committee were, however, not allowed to remain unchallenged, for I at once received instructions from the President, Mr. George Nicholls, to call a special meeting of the Executive, which I did for December 28th, and there were present Messrs. George Nicholls, R. Winfrey, George Edwards, J. Arnett, T. Giles, A. P. Petch, J. Stibbons, M. Berry, W. Godling and T. Thacker.

The committee discussed the strike at St. Faith's. The strangest part of the proceeding is that although they had confirmed the minutes of the last meeting without rescinding anything, they at once set about taking steps to ignore what was done at the Executive held on December 17th.

Mr. J. Arnett at once moved, seconded by Mr. J. Stibbons, that Mr. George Nicholls and Mr. Richard Winfrey be instructed to visit St. Faith's and use their endeavours to bring the dispute to a close on the honourable terms mentioned in the first ballot papers and that they have full power to act. Before this was put I pointed out that by the instructions of the meeting held on December 17th I had sent out fresh ballot papers which were not all returned. Further, they had just confirmed what that meeting had done. But they persisted in putting it to the vote, and Messrs. G. Nicholls, R. Winfrey, A. P. Petch, R. Green, J. Arnett and J. Stibbons voted for it. Against it were Messrs. H. A. Day, W. Godling, M. Berry and myself.

After the meeting Mr. Nicholls and Mr. Winfrey proceeded to St. Faith's and interviewed Mr. W. W. Cook and the other employers and came to the following agreement: The employers undertook to take back at once thirty-three out of the seventy-five now on strike at the old rate of wages, viz. 13s. per week and the hours of labour as before. This arrangement left forty-two men for us to support. This was communicated to me, and I at once summoned another meeting of the Executive on Wednesday January 4, 1911. All the committee, with the exception of Mr. Thacker, were present. Mr. Winfrey at once moved and Mr. Stibbons seconded that the seventy-five men now on strike at St. Faith's receive full strike pay up to Friday January 6th, and that the thirty-three men who the employers have agreed to take back be instructed to see their employers and proceed to work on Monday January 9th, and that strike pay be continued to the remainder for the present, and that the committee meet again on January 28th to consider the matter further. Mr. Day moved and Mr. Codling seconded an amendment that a third ballot paper be sent out, stating that Messrs. Nicholls and Winfrey had visited St. Faith's and find that the employers were only willing to take back thirty-three of their employees and that forty-two men would not be taken back. Some might be taken back by degrees. The members should be asked to vote on these points: —

(1) Shall we accept the employers' terms?

(2) Or shall the strike continue and a levy of 1d. per member per week be made to enable the men to be paid without further loss to the Union?

Before the question was put I pointed out to the committee that I had received the result of the second ballot, and I did not see how they could ignore that, for it would be an insult to the members, which I was sure they would deeply resent, and further, how could they accept such terms as the employers offered, when not only were the employers exacting their own terms, but they were not willing to take back more than 40 per cent. of their men? Such a settlement was unheard of in the history of Trades Unionism.