524 



of discipline and management, but some satisfaction was given in this direction by a 

 recommendation that the men should have anybody they wanted (e.g. a Trade Union 

 official and not actually an employe) on the sectional boards as their secretary and 

 advocate. Meanwhile however, though the men were back at work, there was still 

 much unrest, and the Labour party and Trade Union leaders were by no means satis- 

 fied with the result of the Commission. When they accepted its appointment there was 

 a general impression, shared in by the Government, that both sides had agreed to accept 

 its findings, but on the men s side this was now denied, and threats of a renewal of the 

 strike were made unless the companies agreed to specific demands for shorter hours and 

 higher wages on a minimum scale. The union leaders decided to take a ballot in Decem- 

 ber on the question whether the findings of the Commission should be accepted or 

 another strike for " recognition " started; and when the report of the Commission came 

 up for discussion in the House of Commons on November 22nd the situation was still 

 a very difficult one. A resolution was moved by Mr. Lloyd George asking the Govern- 

 ment to bring about a further meeting between the representatives to the agreement 

 of August igth; but this was only carried after a contentious debate displaying obstinacy 

 on both sides, Mr. Ramsay Macdonald insisting that the men had not agreed to accept 

 the Report and that " recognition " was indispensable, while the view of the com- 

 panies was that the Government ought to hold the Report as binding on both parties. 

 It was not till December nth that, after a good deal of diplomacy on the part of the 

 Board of Trade officials, a compromise was arrived at as the result of further conferences. 

 A few days before, the ballot of the members of the unions had been taken, but the 

 result was not made public, and now both parties agreed to accept the Report of the 

 Commission as a basis for modifying the future working of the Conciliation Scheme, 

 the " recognition " of the unions being accepted to the extent of allowing the men to 

 have their Trade- Union Secretary as adviser. Matters were gradually arranged for 

 continuing the conciliation boards on this amended scheme, and various concessions 

 as to wages and hours were also made by the companies, which helped to keep the peace 

 with the unions during 1912; though discontent with their conditions of labour still 

 continued among various classes of workers. 



As regards the strike itself, while in actual operation, the state of the railways during 

 those two or three days was unprecedented. Some 220,000 men altogether, about a 

 third of the workers, were out, and traffic was much restricted, the worst dislocation 

 being in the North of England, round Liverpool and Manchester. Troops were em- 

 ployed freely to guard the lines and give protection against violence, and in consequence 

 there were only certain particularly disturbed districts where serious mischief occurred. 

 On August iQth an attack was made by rioters on a train at Llanelly, and the soldiers 

 had to shoot, two men being killed, while an explosion due to the mob setting fire to some 

 trucks containing gunpowder resulted in five more deaths; and at Liverpool on the isth 

 two men were shot in a riot. The employment of the military was furiously denounced 

 by the Labour agitators, but the intimidation practised against non-unionists and the 

 danger of extended sabotage were such that, on the whole, the comparative peaceable- 

 ness of the stoppage, which occurred in a summer of unexampled heat, was rather re- 

 markable. To a great extent , and particularly on the lines nearer London, this was due 

 to the fact that a large proportion of the union-men who went out (a certain number 

 remaining loyal to the Companies) only did so because they dared not disobey the union 

 orders. 



Simply on the issue as to more generous treatment of the rail way- workers 

 there was a fairly widespread sympathy on the part of the public with the men, ard 

 it was against the method employed by their leaders for asserting their claims that 

 public indignation was aroused. It is too early to estimate whether any substantial 

 success was gained by the strike in improving the position of the men. One definite 

 advantage was however secured for the railway unions as such; their membership before 

 the strike had been steadily declining, and during the subsequent months they were 

 joined by large numbers of men who had previously remained outside. 



