452 History of Inland Transport 



exercise its influence with a view to inducing representatives 

 of the railway companies to meet the other signatories of the 

 August agreement and discuss with them the terms of the 

 report. On November 3 the Prime Minister, Mr Buxton and 

 Sir George Askwith did confer with selected representatives 

 of the companies at 10 Downing Street. No official announce- 

 ment was made as to the result, but this was evidently well 

 indicated by the following statement in " The Times " of 

 November 4 : 



" We understand that the attitude of the directors of the 

 railways of the country collectively is that, while they are 

 prepared to carry out to the full the whole of the recommenda- 

 tions of the Inquiry Commission, they are not prepared to 

 go any further." 



Later in the same day the joint executive committee of the 

 railway unions informed the Press that they had decided to 

 take a ballot of their members the papers to be returnable 

 by December 5 on the question as to whether or not they 

 were prepared to accept the findings of the Royal Commission 

 and, also, " to withdraw their labour in favour of the recog- 

 nition of trade unions and of a programme of all railwaymen," 

 to be agreed upon by members of the joint executive com- 

 mittee. 



Whatever may be the final outcome of all these contro- 

 versies, the position in regard to the troubles both of 1907 

 and 1911 has obviously been most materially, if not, indeed, 

 mainly, influenced by questions of trade union recognition 

 which do not necessarily cast any reflection on the railway 

 service itself, or detract from it as being one of the most im- 

 portant, most popular and most sought after of our national 

 industries. 



