ENGLISH RAILWAY STRIKE 523 



ciety of Railway Servants, Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, 

 General Railway Workers' Union, and Signalmen's and Pointsmen's Union decided to 

 order a general strike unless in twenty-four hours the companies agreed to meet them 

 and discuss terms. The Companies at once refused to do so, or to admit that the Con- 

 ciliation scheme of 1907 could be thrown over in this way. The leaders of the men on 

 the other hand contended that the spirit, if not the letter, of the agreement of 1907 had 

 never been carried out, and that they must have direct recognition of their unions. 

 Matters were now at a deadlock. However conciliatory the Government might be to 

 Labour, its attitude was necessarily dictated, in the first place by the duty, in the event 

 of a strike, of securing the transport of food and mails, the safety of property, and 

 other public interests threatened, and secondly by its own responsibility for the agree- 

 ment of 1907 which the railway men were openly intending to break. The machinery 

 of the Board of Trade was set to work to try to bring both sides together and to delay 

 the rupture, but meanwhile the companies, who engaged to provide for a restricted 

 service by means of their non-union employes, were guaranteed military protection, 

 and preparations were made for placing soldiers along the lines, at the stations and 

 elsewhere for this purpose* 



On August 1 7th Mr. Asquith had an interview with the men's representatives, and 

 offered a Royal Commission to inquire into the working of the Conciliation Scheme, 

 but at the same time he warned them gravely and firmly that the Government could 

 not allow the railway service of the country to be paralysed. Resenting the tone of 

 his speech, and suspicious of a Royal Commission as simply a means of shelving the 

 whole matter though it was explained too late that Mr. Asquith really meant a 

 Commission of three to sit and report at once they refused this offer and ordered the 

 strike, which began .next day in spite of continued efforts by Mr. Lloyd George (Mr. 

 Asquith having left further action to him) to overcome what seemed to be a misunder- 

 standing. As the result of his explanations to the men's leaders negotiations still went 

 on; a vote of censure on the Government which the Labour Party at first decided to 

 move in the House of Commons was not proceeded with; and instead of Parliament 

 being adjourned on August i8th untilthe autumn session as had been arranged, it was 

 decided to meet again on August 22nd in order to deal with the situation. Meanwhile 

 the strike was in actual operation for practically two whole days and did not terminate 

 till August aoth. On Saturday (igth) however a settlement was effected late at night, 

 as the result of a conference at the Board of Trade between representatives of the 

 companies and the men, Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, Mr. Lloyd George, Mr. Sydney Bux- 

 ton, Sir H. Llewellyn Smith and Mr. G. R. Askwith. It was agreed that a Special 

 Commission should at once investigate the working of the Conciliation Scheme and 

 report quickly what changes were desirable, and that the trade-union leaders should 

 persuade the men to return to work, the strikers being reinstated. . There was some 

 difficulty in certain districts in getting the men to go back at once, but : the crisis was now 

 substantially at an end, victory being claimed for the strikers at a mass-meeting in Hyde 

 Park on Sunday. When Parliament met on the 22nd Mr. Asquith explained what had 

 been done, and gave the names of the Special Commissioners,. Sir David Harrel (Chair- 

 man), Sir Thomas Ratcliffe Ellis, Mr,.C, G. Beale, Mr. A. Henderson, M.P. and Mr. 

 John Burnett; and though Mr. Keir Hardie and a few supporters insisted on a division 

 against adjourning for the parliamentary holiday and attacked the Government for. 

 taking sides against the strikers a charge warmly resented by Mr. Lloyd George, the 

 general feeling was that a bad business was over as well as was possible. 



The Special Commission started work on August 23rd and took evidence from both 

 sides up to October 3rd, its report being issued on October 2oth. It was unanimously 

 recommended that the Conciliation Scheme should be: amended in various ways, the 

 central board being abolished and any differences within the sectional boards being set- 

 tled by an independent chairman chosen from a panel drawn up by the Board of Trade ; 

 Trade Union " recognition "by the companies was not directly conceded the Com- 

 missioners pointed out that the companies could not permit intervention on the subject 



