Chapter M: Thompson (2)

Those lodges who object to the pit drawing coal 11 hours per day,
ought to bear in mind that a reduction to 10 hours is a very serious
curtailment in the drawing or producing powers of the pit, and as
such only tends to lessen the power of owners to pay good wages. The
profits arising from the produce of any article are up to a given
quantity consumed in paying current expenses; and, therefore, the
more the produce is restricted, the less means are there at command
wherewith to pay all classes of workmen. The disadvantages arising
from the operation of the new Mines Act must necessarily tell heavily
on the mine owners in the two Northern Counties, where the
double-shift system is worked, and it would be an act of
imprudence--not to say injustice--and materially militate against our
own interests, to increase drawbacks beyond an absolutely necessary
point. We would, therefore, strongly urge on all our associated
collieries to allow the employers (1) to work their pits 11 hours per
day, where they can find men or boys to keep them going that time,
without, of course, infringing the law, relative to boys under 16
years of age. And (2) to allow boys to be sent home on one or more
days, so as to make up six nine-hour shifts in the week. By this plan
no workman can lose, while the boys would materially gain thereby.

We have so far worked successfully, but that success has been
greatly, if not altogether, owing to the caution we have exercised,
and the general reasonableness of our requests, having at all times a
respect for the right, while we have tried to bring into active
operation the duties of capitalists. Let us not then mar that success
by an imprudent or forward act of ours, particularly at a time when a
change which must tell very severely on the interests of mine owners,
and which, moreover, is of our own seeking, is just being introduced
amongst us, and from which boys at least must gain immense
advantages.

By order of the Committee,
Wm. Crawford, _Secretary_.

Offices--16 North Road, Durham.
_Jan. 20th, 1873._

While these questions were claiming and received the attention of Mr Crawford and his colleagues a foul attack was made upon him by G. ("General") Jackson of Nettlesworth. He published a number of letters, which were not very choice in language, but prolific in the lowest form of abuse. He spoke of "that fellow Crawford," "that bully" who was feathering his nest by defrauding. This went on until the Executive came to the defence of Mr Crawford. They published a circular, pointing out the false charges which had been made, and that Jackson was a member of the Committee during the period in which he alleged the misappropriation of money had taken place. They reminded him of the neglect of duty implied in his not exposing such things before, and ended the circular by saying: "Further this Committee begs respectfully to say that they have the greatest esteem for their secretary, Mr Crawford, and are fully convinced that he has always acted in harmony with the highest principles of moral rectitude."

On Thursday, 8th of May, the first of the pioneers who crossed the border line, "Tommy" Ramsey, died at the house of his brother at Blaydon at the age of sixty-two. He was buried in the cemetery at Blaydon on Monday, the 12th. The number of people attending his funeral was a proof of the high esteem in which he was held. According to the account there were fifty of the Trimdon miners, where he worked last, present, while from collieries around Durham large numbers also attended. The procession was headed by the Blaydon Main banner. We have made a note about him, as one of the leaders, but we may add a few words from an obituary which was published at the time of his death.

"Old Tommy," as his brother miners of every degree loved to call him, was chiefly known to the pitmen at large as a Unionist. With a face furrowed with care and the hardships of his laborious calling, and scarred by many an accident in the pits, he was never afraid to stand up before his brethren and agitate for that amelioration in the condition of the working pitmen which has at length been conceded. His style of oratory, if it were not strictly grammatical, was gifted with a warmth of expression that told forcibly on his hearers of his own class, and his perfect knowledge of the one subject he engaged upon--the danger and the excessive toil of the miner's life--caused him to be held in respect by masters and men alike. In every movement that had for its object the freedom from the bondage the miner was held in, Ramsey was always to the front, and none mourned in bygone years more sincerely than he did the failure to establish on a firm and lasting basis the Union, by which alone he maintained were they likely to obtain their rights as workmen. When the present Association was started, amongst the dozen delegates or so who assembled at the Market Hall, Durham, bent if they could on forming a union, was "Old Tommy"; and there he attended every meeting, when to be identified as a delegate was to almost sign his own death warrant so far as employment was concerned. "Men and brothers," he said, addressing a public meeting near Thornley a few weeks after the Association was formed, "I've been a Unionist all my days, and with the help of God I will remain one to the end of the chapter."

At the Council meeting held on 31st May we have the first mention of a hall for the use of the Association, with offices and agents' houses. After a lengthy discussion the project was endorsed, the money to be taken from the general funds, and the Executive were appointed a Building Committee. The Committee immediately commenced operations by purchasing a block of houses known as Monks Buildings, the site of the Hall and houses, and offering a premium of £25 for the best design for hall and offices. This was won by Mr T. Oliver, Architect, of Newcastle.

The other important question was the eleven hours' drawing of coals. The system received general condemnation. At the conclusion of the consideration a very long resolution was adopted. It set forth that when the Mines Act came into operation the workmen did not think it right to curtail the producing powers of the pits, and they, therefore, fell in with the views of the owners. Having tried the system they had no hesitation in pronouncing it an utter failure on the following grounds:--

"1. Because of the great difficulty, if not impossibility, of working
the pits full time on both the first and last hour of the day, thus
inflicting a positive injustice on large bodies of men. We have the
testimony of Lindsay Wood, Esq., in his evidence before the Coal
Committee that the system of eleven hours' work entails great danger
on the boys going and coming out of the mine while the pit is at full
work. We regret to say that this system has already borne fruit in
the slaughter of one or more boys in going and coming out of the mine
during the day. This being so we now find ourselves compelled to make
an emphatic appeal to the mine owners of the county to work their
pits only ten hours per diem in order to obviate both this injustice
and danger."

As I have said, it will not assist the history we have on hand if we dwell upon the whole series of our galas, and therefore we will only make a reference to the second one in the series. It was held on Saturday, the 14th of June, and the gathering was larger than the year prior. There were three platforms. The chairmen were J. Cowen, J. Laverick, and J. Fowler. The speakers outside were P. Casey, Yorkshire; A. M'Donald, Scotland; B. Pickard, Yorkshire; Lloyd Jones, London; J. Shepherd, Cleveland; T. Burt, Northumberland; and R. Fynes, Blyth, with the addition of the Executive Committee. The speeches need not be referred to beyond the references by Mr Crawford, as indicating the progress of the Association during the year. They had added 5000 to their numbers, bringing the membership up to 40,000, and they had increased their funds from £12,000 to £34,000. They had proved their leading principle was amicability. "That principle had been not to get a thing because they had the power, but first of all to ask the question was it right that they ought to have it."

The ordinary Council meeting was held in the Town Hall on July 26th. It is important because of the attempt that was made to censure Mr Crawford. For some weeks a personal controversy had been taking place between Mr E. Rhymer and Mr Crawford. Mr Rhymer had complained that, although the miners had invited him to the demonstration, yet Mr Crawford had stood in his way. This was denied very strongly, and some very curious epithets were applied to him (Mr Crawford) for making the statement. At the Council a resolution was on the programme from Ushaw Moor as follows:--

"That Mr Crawford receive three months' notice from next delegates'
meeting, for his behaviour to E. Rhymer and also the Bearpark men."

In a note he sent out with the programme he said "he was prepared to account for all he had done in open day, and after that, if the Association was so minded, he was prepared to leave them not in three months, but in three days or three hours." The result of the discussion was the withdrawal of the Ushaw Moor resolution and the carrying of one from Hetton which not only exonerated him, but expressed their high approval of his conduct and work in the county.

On the 4th of October a Council meeting was held. The object of the meeting was to consider the advisability of applying for a twenty per cent. advance. In the end the resolution was carried, and Mr Crawford was instructed to arrange for a meeting with the employers. This meeting was held on October 17th, but was refused by the owners, and in refusing they intimated that, as the state of trade was, they would shortly be making a claim for a reduction. The refusal was reported to a special Council, when the deputation was again instructed to meet the employers. The second meeting was held on November 14th. After the question had been discussed the following resolution was handed the deputation:--

"This Association cannot accede to the application of the Durham
Miners' Association for an advance in wages, but is prepared to refer
to arbitration the question of whether since the last settlement of
wages in February 1873 there has been such a change in the condition
of the Durham coal trade as to call for an alteration in the wages
now paid, and if so whether by way of advance or reduction and the
amount in either case."

This offer was discussed at a Council meeting, when the arbitration was agreed to; but the submission was disapproved of, and the Executive Committee instructed to draw up a counter proposal, to be submitted to a subsequent meeting for approval.

Another meeting with the employers was held on Friday, the 12th of December. At the conclusion of the meeting the employers intimated that they would send their decision to Mr Crawford. On the 13th a Council meeting was held. A letter was read from the employers, in which they objected to accede to the request of the workmen for an alteration of the submission they had proposed. After a further discussion the following resolution was proposed:--

"Having fully considered the objections of the employers to our
suggested basis for arbitration we fail to see the soundness of such
objections. Nevertheless in order that no difficulties may arise in
carrying out this matter, we are willing to alter that basis by
leaving the question entirely open. Allowing both parties to bring
forward all reliant matter which may bear upon their respective
positions, leaving it to the arbitrator to say whether any advance
ought to be given and that the Durham Coal Owners' Association be
urgently requested to consider this matter on the earliest day
possible."

There are two matters which deserve a brief notice here, although not essentially part of the Association. These were the Royal Commission to inquire into the coal supply and the causes of the high prices, and the rise of the Franchise Association. The former of these was appointed on 21st February 1873 by the following resolution of the House of Commons:--

"That a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the causes of
the present dearness and duration of coal, and report thereon to the
House."

This Committee examined a large number of witnesses, including all classes connected with the coal trade. The following is a portion of their report:--

"1. Considering the great extent of the coal fields in Great Britain,
the number of collieries at work, and the variety of coals produced,
which though primarily used for particular purposes, will, at certain
prices, be used for others, your Committee, notwithstanding
intermittent and startling fluctuations in price due to temporary
causes, do not believe that any combination either of employers or
workmen can by artificial means succeed in permanently affecting the
ordinary results of the relations of demand and supply in adjusting
the quantity of coal produced to the demand, or can permanently
affect the price resulting from the state of the market; nor do your
Committee believe that the interference of Parliament with the course
of industry and trade in coal could produce any useful or beneficial
result to the public beyond what has been arrived at in recent
legislation, namely, the prevention of injury to the health and
morals of young children and young persons, and the prevention of
accidents from wilful neglect of recognised precautions.

"2. Much evidence has however been given to show the great increase
in the rate of wages, and the earnings of the working miners; but
whilst it is true that in some cases the earnings have enormously
increased, and have been improvidently spent, your Committee conclude
that in general the condition of the workmen has been much improved,
and that the rise in the rate of wages has not, under the exceptional
circumstances, been unreasonable, nor been unattended with
considerable benefit to the workers; indeed in some cases the workmen
have preferred improving the conditions under which they work to
increasing the amount of their wages in money.

"3. It is clearly shown that the real order of events has been the
rise in the price of iron, the rise in the price of coal, and the
rise in the rate of wages. The increased payment per ton for labour
employed in getting the coal cannot therefore be considered as the
primary cause of the large increase in the price of coal; a rise in
wages followed upon rather than preceded a rise in the price of coal.
To the extent to which increased rates of wages have induced workmen
to labour for a shorter number of hours than heretofore, resulting in
a reduced output per man, a higher payment for labour has contributed
indirectly in an important degree to maintain the high price of coal,
but having regard to the great danger to which coal miners are
exposed, and the character of their labour, the average rate of wages
in collieries has not been more than sufficient to attract the
requisite labour to the mine. The workmen, like all others connected
with coal mining, should only regard their present earnings as a
temporary profit, which may, at no distant day, approach towards
former rates."

With respect to the Franchise Association, during the year there was a strong agitation in favour of an extension of the Franchise to the householders in the county, as such had been done by the Act of 1868 to those in the borough. The spirit of reform found ready response in the minds of the Durham miners, and a very active Association was formed. Although incidental to the labour organisation, and with a voluntary contribution, it was managed by the leading men in that Association. The names found prominently in one are found in the other. A Council meeting of the Miners' Association was held in November of this year, at which it was proposed that Mr Crawford should be nominated for one of the county divisions, and the matter was remitted to the Franchise Association. There were but two of these divisions at that time--the North and South, each having two members. There was a General Election in prospect, and it was deemed advisable to run Mr Crawford as a Liberal candidate. To anticipate a little, he was duly put forward on Wednesday, the 28th of January 1874. His candidature was publicly announced, but on Friday, the 30th, at a meeting of the ex-Committee, he withdrew. His aim in so doing was to avoid a division of the Liberal forces. There were two Tories in the field and three Liberals, and it was highly necessary that this should be avoided. This decision was reported to a Council held on the 31st. There was a general consensus of opinion that he had acted wisely, although the delegates regretted the necessity. Some of them had brought money--as much as £30 in one instance--towards the election expenses. A resolution was adopted which had for its object the formation of an election fund with the view to strengthen the hands of the Franchise Association, and it was agreed that whenever there was a vacancy in the county, where there was a chance of success, he should be at once brought forward.

1874

The first Reduction--Co-operative Colliery--The Strike of 1874--The
Wheatley Hill Revolt and Evictions--Second Reduction--First
Arbitration

We finished 1873 with a demand for an advance and a difference as to the submission for a reference to arbitration. During the interval the trade had declined to such an extent that the employers sent a claim for a reduction, and thus the young Society was beginning to find itself entering its first dark cloud of depression. Up to that moment the booming times arising out of the Franco-Prussian War had been with it, but now the relapse which generally follows a fever in trade had set in, and the demand for coals had fallen off seriously; and whereas a month or two previously they had expected another advance, it was felt by Mr Crawford and his colleagues that it would not be possible to stave off a reduction.

Before coming to the consideration of the first reduction let us, for the sake of chronological order, note one or two matters of some importance. The first of these is the demand for men being trained before being left to themselves in a mine. At the Council meeting held on Saturday, 21st March, the following resolution was carried:--

"We have again to protest against the introduction of strangers into
our mines--men to whom mining with all its dangers is thoroughly
unknown, whereby the limbs and lives of other men are constantly
endangered. We therefore emphatically ask the owners to put such men
under the care of some practical miner for a period of not less than
six months, who will be responsible for any danger arising from such
person's ignorance of mines."

Another point worthy of note was the resolve to join in the movement to form a co-operative mining company. At the Council meeting on 4th April it was resolved:

"That we take £5000 out of the General Fund, and invest it in the
Co-operative Mining Co., as we believe productive co-operation to be
the only solution to the many difficulties that exist between
Capital and Labour."

At the same Council a copy of the owners' request for a reduction was read. It conveyed the decision of their full meeting: "That the state of the Durham Coal Trade imperatively calls for a reduction of twenty per cent. in all colliery wages, both above and below ground, to take effect from the 18th of next month." A meeting was held between the two Associations on the 16th of April, when the employers stated the reasons for their demand. They held "(1) that there was no connection between profit and wages, and the workmen had, therefore, no legitimate right to interfere in such a matter; (2) that trade was vastly more dull, and prices materially less, than was supposed; (3) that in various parts of our own country and also in Germany, reductions had taken place, in the latter 25 per cent., and having to compete in the same markets with firms and districts so brought down, they had no choice but to enforce the reduction."

This was brought before a Council meeting on April 25th, but the delegates refused to discuss it then, and referred the question to a special meeting to be held on the 29th. Steps were taken to prepare for a stop should a reduction take place, and men were arranged to visit various districts. Those going to Ireland and Scotland had £30 each. The owners had in the meantime given notice at certain collieries, and the workmen were told to remain at their own collieries. On the 27th the Executive Committee issued the following circular:--

April
27th, 1874.

Fellow Workmen,--According to arrangement, Messrs Patterson,
Wilkinson and Crawford, saw Messrs Burt and Nixon yesterday, and from
information received it appears that the 10 per cent., or a reduction
from 50 to 40, has to affect ALL, both above and below ground.

We cannot but call your attention to our present position. The
adjoining county, much more compact than ours, and many years older
in organisation,--two elements of strength and power,--have just
accepted a reduction of wages. Miners, immediately south of us,--West
Yorkshire,--have expressed their willingness to accept a reduction of
12½ per cent. on wages all round. This, however, the owners
refused to accept. They seek a reduction of 25 per cent., and the
matter is, therefore, going to arbitration. With these facts before
us, is it possible that we can, at the present time, by any means,
which we might adopt, altogether stave off a reduction, more or less,
without referring it to arbitration, in some way or other? We will
not attempt to point out all the terrible effects which must arise
from anything like a general strike. Many of you experimentally know
the direful effect and heartrending destitution which has arisen from
partial strikes amongst ourselves. Suppose a general stop now ensues,
what are the probabilities of success? Can we make our efforts
successful? Suppose we should strike against a receding market, and a
surplus number of men, and lose, what would be the consequences?
These are questions worthy your earnest consideration, because on
them depend your WEAL or WOE for years to come.

We have to-day very fully thought over the matter, and considering
everything, we think it wise, if not absolutely necessary, to make
some advances, with a view to a settlement of this important
question. We, therefore, strongly advise that an offer of 10 per
cent. reduction be made to the owners; and should they refuse this,
let the whole matter go to arbitration. If arbitration be offered and
accepted, we would suggest the appointment of two men on both sides,
and let these four men find a basis or starting-point for
arbitration. Should they fail to agree as to what such basis ought to
be, let the matter go to an umpire, appointed by the four
arbitrators.

Let no one regard this as in the slightest degree dictatorial. We
have too much respect for your collective judgment to attempt
anything of the kind. But we think it our duty to point out that, if
not careful, we may drift amongst shoals and quicksands, which may
endanger the very existence of our Association. And if this should
come to pass, we need not name--not our probable, but certain
condition, for years to come.

On the 29th of April the special Council was held, which approved of the Committee's circular by offering a reduction of ten per cent. This decision was conveyed by telegram to Mr Bunning, the employers' secretary. No sooner was it known in the county than a general protest was made, not only by the miners, but by the mechanics and enginemen. They objected to being included in the reduction. These bodies held meetings in Durham on the race-course on May 2nd, and passed resolutions not to accept any reduction. The spirit of revolt was rampant in the county amongst the members of the Miners' Association. Meetings to protest against it were held throughout the county. Circulars were sent out by District Councils, in which the Executive Committee was held up to ridicule. To these the agents replied, boldly pointing out the danger of the course which was being adopted and the disaster which would assuredly follow if more moderate action were not taken. Some of the members of the Executive Committee were found amongst the protestors and the loudest in their condemnation of Mr Crawford, who came in for a large share of abuse. It was calculated that at one of those meetings in Houghton there were 10,000 people present. On May 5th the coal owners held a meeting. The resolutions dealt mainly with the action of the enginemen. From these the employers offered to accept five per cent. if acceded promptly, but no man should be allowed to work for less reduction than that offer. During the owners' meeting a telegram was read from Mr Crawford as follows:--

"For reasons previously given both to the Standing Committee and full
meeting of owners, we shall begin on Monday to work five days per
week or pits be laid idle on Saturday, so far as the working and
drawing of coal is concerned."

To that telegram the owners sent the following reply:--

"The Provisional Committee give notice to the Durham Miners'
Association that unless the Owners' Association receive before the
end of the week a satisfactory assurance that collieries will
continue to work the same number of days per fortnight, as
heretofore, they will advise the Coal Owners' Association to insist
upon the full twenty per cent.--first demanded; such demand only
having been withdrawn on the condition that no change whatever was to
be made in the usual mode of working."

On the 7th of May a Council meeting was held, when the ten per cent. was under consideration. By a majority of 15 the delegates decided in favour of the ten per cent., 112 voting for it and 97 against. This brought the dispute to an end so far as the wages were concerned.

The strike, if it could be called such, was of the most desultory kind, there being a division as to the acceptance of the ten per cent. reduction. It is generally known as the "Week's Strike"; but even the Executive were in ignorance of the time off, and sent out a slip asking the lodges to tell them "what number of days they were off, when they stopped, and when they resumed work and the reasons why they were off." The returns show that there were none off more than a week. None of them were entitled to strike pay seeing that a colliery had to be off a fortnight before they could claim. The Executive by their Minute of June 5th, 1874, said the strike commenced on May 8th and ended on the 14th.

The strike being settled generally, all the collieries commenced work except Wheatley Hill, Thornley, and Ludworth. These were in a peculiar position. For some time they had been ten-day collieries, and at Wheatley Hill the hours of stonemen, shifters, and wastemen had been six every day. When the strike ended the Executive Committee sent word out to the county that work should be resumed under the same conditions as obtained before the strike. The workmen at the three collieries claimed they should work the ten days. That position the following Minute of the Executive Committee bears out:--

"We have again had the case of Thornley, Ludworth and Wheatley Hill
brought before us, and beg to give the following statement: As will
be understood by all lodges, before the stop these places were
working ten days under protest. After the settlement of the working
days matter at our Council, the question arose between the manager
and men whether these were ten or eleven day collieries, the men
holding to the former, while the manager held to the latter. On
Friday, May 15th, Mr Bunning telegraphed, stating that the owners
still held these to be eleven-day places. We replied that they had
been working ten days under protest, and that in some way or other
they ought to recommence on the same conditions."

The three collieries, on the strength of the notice to resume work, corroborated by the above Minute, refused to start except as ten-day collieries. The owners offered arbitration, but conditioned it by asking for the men to work eleven days, and suspended the Joint Committee until the case was settled. The letter from Mr Bunning contained the words: "The action of the Thornley etc. men renders the resumption of the Joint Committee impossible," and asked whether the Executive were supporting them or not. The men were willing to go to arbitration, but asked to be allowed to start at the ten days. The Executive ordered them to work on the employers' terms, summoned a representative from each colliery to the Committee, and sent out large deputations to attend meetings. Still the men stood firm. On Monday, June 1st, the evicting of the men from the houses commenced. A very large contingent of "Candymen" were imported, and a force of seventy or eighty policemen, in charge of Superintendent Scott, to maintain order. There never was an occasion where better humour prevailed throughout and where there was so little need of police. It would afford a break in this dry matter-of-fact history if some of the incidents were related: how a Jew who had come to gather his fortnightly instalments wrung his hands, and, Shylock-like, cried about his "monish"; how some of the women were to carry out in arm-chairs, and one of them stuck hat pins in the Candymen, to the hilarity of all but themselves; how once in a while a "Candyman," sick of the work, broke through the crowd, and ran off, chased by the police and the cheers of the crowd; and how the people dwelt in tents for three weeks, having continuous sunshine by day and jollity by night, making a continual round of "picnicking."

We must, however, leave the pleasurable for the historical. The lodge made an attempt at Council to get strike pay on an appeal against the Committee. The merits of the case were with them, but their case was prejudiced by the temper of the delegate, Mr J. Wood. During the discussion of the question some contention rose as to Wood (who could write shorthand) taking notes. Mr Wilkinson (the treasurer) expressed himself in doubt as to Wood's honesty, and the latter struck at the treasurer on the platform--the consequence being the Council decided against, and the men were left to their own resources.

An attempt was made to settle the strike by the Rev. W. Mayor of Thornley. He called upon some of the leading men, and asked them to meet Mr Cooper, the manager, who with Mr Bunning agreed to allow the pit to resume work on the old conditions with regard to the number of days, and that the dispute should be left to the two Associations. The arrangement was come to on the Monday, and on the Tuesday the horses and ponies were sent down, and about 100 men commenced. It then transpired that Mr Cooper objected to three of the leading men, and the men alleged that there had been some reduction in prices. The result was the stoppage again. The dispute was as to the submission for the arbitration. The difference lay in this: the owners wanted the men to start as an eleven-hour colliery, and then arbitrate. The workmen were willing to start as at ten hours, and arbitrate. In the end that was accepted. The arbitrators decided that the men were right in considering their collieries ten-day collieries and refusing to resume work except as such; but they concluded that the collieries should work eleven days, "although at the same time we strongly censure the conduct of Mr Cooper, the manager, throughout the entire struggle." They further awarded that the whole expense of the arbitration should be borne by the owners, thus proving the men to be right in their contention as to starting.

We now come to the second claim for a reduction in wages. On July 17th Mr Crawford read to the Committee a resolution he had received from the employers making a claim for a reduction:

"That the Durham Coal Miners' Association, through Mr Crawford, be
informed that the associated Coal Owners consider that it is
necessary to reduce wages substantially and promptly. That
the amount of such reduction, as well as the date of the
commencement, will be considered by the owners on the 7th day of
August next, and that in the meantime the Association will be ready
to give their best consideration to anything the representatives of
the workmen may desire to lay before it."

To this request the Executive Committee could not accede, and on 7th August the employers sent another claim for a reduction of twenty per cent. They said "that the best policy to pursue in the exigencies of the trade, and to restore the activity of the coal and iron trades, was for the men to submit to a twenty per cent. reduction." In the event of the workmen not agreeing to such a reduction the owners would be prepared to leave the whole case to the arbitration of any gentleman mutually appointed, each party being left free to produce such evidence as they may think fit and satisfactory, arrangement being made for prompt decision, and for securing the operation of the arbitrator's award from the 29th of this month.

Mr Crawford was instructed by the Executive Committee to inform the employers that, while they did not offer any opinion on the reduction, they would call the attention of the owners to the last portion of their resolution, wherein the date of the reduction was fixed, and said:

"In seeking advances we never yet fixed a date, even when coal was
going up in an unparalleled manner and certainly very much more
rapidly than ever it has come down. Both in March last and now you
wish to fix the date in what seems to us rather an arbitrary manner.
Had we in seeking advances pursued this course, you would have been
more than justified in doing the same thing, but having pursued a
course diametrically opposite, we fail to see the grounds of your
justification for the course you are at present pursuing."

A Council meeting was held on August 22nd, when the first question discussed was the owners' application for the twenty per cent. reduction. The following resolution was carried:--

(1) We cannot see where in the Cleveland, or the Coasting, or other
markets the prices of coal and coke are down sufficiently low to
warrant a further reduction of wages. (2) The stacking of coal and
coke may be made to have--but ought not to have--any very material
effect on the workmen's wages, seeing that, if too much is being
produced, we have no objection to be put on short time, or any other
fair process whereby a reduction of wages can be averted.

We fail to see why the employers ought to seek arbitration. We are
now in the same position which they were in during the last two and a
half years. They were at that time so fully certain that trade would
not give any further advance that arbitration was pointedly refused.
We are now so sure that the present, as compared with past prices of
coal and coke, does not warrant any further reduction, that we think
arbitration is only an unnecessary waste of time and money, causing
no end of annoyance without any good resulting therefrom.

This resolution was sent, accompanied by a demand for fifteen per cent. advance, to the employers, who held a meeting on 28th August, under the presidency of Mr Stobart, for the purpose of considering it and what action they should take. After considerable discussion a resolution was passed to enforce the twenty per cent. reduction and to give the men fourteen days' notice, to expire on the 19th of September, seeing that their claim and arbitration had been refused. The notices were issued in keeping with that resolve, but not to all men alike. The form of notice was as follows:--

On behalf of----Colliery I do hereby give you notice to determine
your existing hiring on the nineteenth day of September eighteen
hundred and seventy-four, and that the wages and prices heretofore
paid at this colliery will from that date be reduced to the rate of
twenty per cent. and that if your service be continued, it must be on
these terms.

In these circumstances the Executive Committee issued a circular and called a special Council. The lodges were asked to send their delegates prepared to discuss and decide upon three questions:

"1. Ought bankmen, horsekeepers, furnacemen, etc., to give in their
notices?

"2. Ought collieries of men (hewers included) who have not received
any notice to give in their notices?

"3. The matter of arbitration."

We will quote a portion or two of the circular. It is very serious and impressive:

"It must be clear to all that we are passing through the most
important crisis which has marked the history of the present
organisation on the need or otherwise of a further reduction; we here
offer no opinion, that being a matter which will take the collective
wisdom of the county to determine. We wish, however, to point out
what seems to us to be one of two ultimatums to the present
unpleasant condition of matters in the county. If a stolid and
unreasoning resistance be persevered in, a strike is inevitable. We
feel certain that nothing can or will prevent a stop. How long such
struggle might continue it is impossible to say. But whether it might
be for a longer or a shorter period an immense amount of suffering
would be entailed. We want you therefore to very carefully consider
the whole matter. View the entire position with an unbiased mind,
not from the standpoint of mere abstract justice, but from that of
probabilities or even possibilities. We are offered arbitration. If
we refuse, the press and public will most assuredly say that our
position is untenable. If we persistently refuse to submit the entire
matter to arbitration, we must prepare to cope with the following
difficulties in conducting a struggle.

"(1) The strongest combination of employers the North of England ever
saw.

"(2) Stacks of coal and coke laid up in every direction of the
county.

"(3) Coal and coke brought from other districts to supply what we may
be short of supplying from our own heaps.

"(4) The press and public opinion would be against us."

The dispute was brought to an amicable settlement by the whole question being referred to open arbitration. By that decision the Association passed out of the era of negotiations into that of arbitration re underground wages. As that was the first step in the path of conciliation it may be useful to give in detail the proceedings. The inquirer after further information may very usefully consult the printed proceedings of the case. There were for arbitrators Mr G. Leeman and Mr D. Dale acting for the owners, and Mr L. Jones and Mr T. Burt for the workmen. The case was conducted by Mr W. Armstrong and Mr L. Wood (now Sir Lindsay Wood) on behalf of the employers. Mr W. Crawford and Mr J. Forman were for the employed. There were with these arbitrators and conductors other gentlemen, whose names we can find no record of either in the press, the owners' books, or in ours.

The first meeting was held on Tuesday, 13th October, in the Queen's Head Hotel (now the Liberal Club), Newcastle. After a long sitting the case was adjourned until the 15th, when Mr Forman on behalf of the workmen, and because there had not been sufficient time to prepare a reply to the employers' case, asked for an adjournment. Mr Crawford said they had "sat twenty-eight consecutive hours, and never moved the whole of the time." It was therefore decided to adjourn until the 16th. During the discussion Mr Crawford made the request that the owners should produce their books in order that both costs of production and the selling prices of coal might be obtained. The fourth day's proceedings was held on the 19th. The arbitrators met on the 26th in London. Failing to agree, they agreed to refer the question to the Right Hon. Russell Gurney, M.P., whom they met on the 30th in the Abbey Hotel, Malvern. On November 3rd he gave his award. Without giving the whole of the award it will be explained by a quotation from a circular sent out by Mr Crawford: "The reduction is as follows:--At present time our advances amount to 43 per cent. over 1871 prices. This by Mr Gurney's award is reduced to 30. That is a reduction of 9 per cent. on the gross wages and will take effect from Monday, November 2nd."

At that time the attention of the county was turned to the sanitary condition of the mining villages. The Committee took a return in which they asked eleven questions:

"What is the size of your best houses? What size are the rooms, and
how many to a house? Size of single houses? Is there attached to your
houses or on the colliery any private accommodation? Are there any
channels or underground sewers to take away the dirty water and other
refuse made in the houses? Are the houses damp and incompatible with
health, or dry and healthy? Are there many of the members who have
houses of their own? What number of double and single houses have
you? Have you a good or bad supply of water and whence supplied? What
is your school accommodation, national or colliery? Have you a
Mechanics' Institute? Is it colliery or private property? Are there
any gardens to the houses?"

On Saturday, November 7th, the owners made a claim for a reduction from all the men at bank. This was before the Executive Committee. They by resolution expressed their surprise, and their opinion that they had not been treated fairly, as the employers ought to have dealt with the classes now to be affected in the arbitration just concluded. They considered that "such a mode of procedure cannot but have an injurious effect on that good and desirable understanding which has so long existed between the two Associations." The owners gave the surface men notice to terminate their engagement on 12th December. A special Council meeting was called. The questions to be decided were--first, should the Miners' Committee act for the cokemen, seeing those men were forming an association of their own, and over two-thirds of that class had joined it? Of the other classes three questions were asked: "Ought these men to follow Russell Gurney's award? Ought the reduction to be resisted or ought arbitration to be sought?" The Council decided on Saturday, December 5th, that the Cokemen's Association meet the employers themselves, but "that the members of the Joint Committee should meet them on the banksmen, screeners, labourers, etc." The arrangement come to by the Joint Committee was:

"The banking-out men having been generally classed with the
underground men, should in all cases be dealt with strictly according
to the terms of Mr Gurney's award, that is, remain 30 per cent. in
excess of March 1871 and it was recommended that the case of men
earning less than 3s. per diem be left to the consideration of
individual owners."

There are two matters not dealt with in the general statement of this year. These are the appointment of Mr Forman as permanent president on 2nd May and the appointment of the first clerk. The first was Mr A. Hall Shotton; but his stay was short, and he was succeeded by Mr W. Golightly, who was in the office for over thirty-one years.

1875

The third Reduction--Co-operative Colliery--The demand for better
Houses--The fourth Reduction

Early in the year the Association was called upon to face another reduction in wages. The Executive Committee had sent some requests with respect to hewers putting in the foreshifts and working hard places. The owners sent a reply on January 15th refusing the requests, and at the same time saying, such things being asked of them in depressed times were offensive, and would not have to be repeated. In the same letter Mr Crawford was told that the employers had that day "unanimously decided to ask for a reduction in the wages of all men employed about coal mines and that the Standing (Joint) Committee be instructed to discuss the matter of such reductions and the date when it should commence."

To this the Executive Committee replied that they would pass over the question of reduction as it was premature to interfere with it, but they complained of the tone of the letter sent to them, which was very unbecoming, to say the least. They had a perfect right to send the requests. No doubt they were annoying. "But however annoying a request properly made may be, it ought, in keeping with the common courtesies of life, to be denied without imperiousness. It was annoying to them as workmen to receive an application for a reduction."

The response to that reached Mr Crawford on the 30th. It informed him that they (the owners) felt it needful to claim such reduction as will leave the wages of both underground and surface men ten per cent. in excess of 1871, to take effect from the pay ending 13th March. Mr Bunning added: "As it is our usual custom not to carry out a resolution of this nature without first having a consultation with you, I am requested to ask you to make such arrangements with your clients as may enable you to meet our Committee at an early date to decide."

A special Council meeting was called for the 6th of February to consider whether a deputation should meet the employers; if so, how many and whom they should be. The Council decided that as a deputation the members of the Joint Committee should meet the employers, and Mr Crawford was deputed to go to South Wales to inquire into the condition of things amongst the miners there.

At an adjourned Council held on February 10th it was again considered, and the following resolution carried:--

In looking at the last reduction, and the undue advantage the coal
owners have taken on us in making a call on the bankmen so soon after
the arbitration case, that we in future entertain no more reductions
on one separate class of workmen, without knowing their intentions as
to the rest of the workmen in our Association.

The meeting with the employers took place on 16th February, when six reasons were given by them why the reduction was needed: Many collieries were working at ruinous losses; a terribly increased cost of production; at many collieries the men were restricting their work; a greatly increased number of men were needed; the increased cost owing to the great decrease in the working hours; and the fact that Mr Gurney's award was delayed two months.

The employers again issued notices, but not to all men or all collieries. The Committee immediately called a Council, and drew the attention of the lodges to two resolutions which were passed on April 21st and December 5th, 1874.

That in future when there are notices given for a reduction of wages
throughout the county, and where a colliery or collieries of men do
not get their notices, they be requested to give them in.

Where men who are members of our Association and who have not
received notice should these refuse to give in their notices, their
names be struck from our books and never again re-entered.

In addition to this the Committee issued a circular in which they reviewed the condition of trade, and pointed out that in many districts life and death struggles were taking place. These men were being supported by voluntary contributions from other mining districts and the public. If Durham came out large support would be cut off, and the state here rendered more dangerous. In Northumberland and Cleveland arbitrations were proceeding. There was only two weeks' money in the funds, therefore the best policy was to accept arbitration. Facing these circumstances they advised the acceptance of arbitration. The employers would be compelled to show sufficient reasons for a reduction. If this were not done no umpire would reduce the wages. This advice was accepted at the Council on 8th March, and it was resolved to refer the whole matter to arbitration on the prices and wages ruling at hearing of the last case, that Mr L. Jones and W. Crawford be arbitrators, and the preparing and conducting of the case be left to the Executive Committee. On March 10th they met the employers, and made arrangements for the proceedings and the withdrawal of the notices, and they informed the members that in every case where the workmen had given notices they must at once be withdrawn.

The first meeting on the arbitration case was held on April 15th in the Queen's Head Hotel, Newcastle. The Right Hon. W. E. Forster, M.P., was the umpire. The arbitrators for the employers were Mr W. Armstrong and Mr D. Dale; for the workmen Mr L. Jones and Mr W. Crawford. The case was a dual one, a combination of the Miners' and Cokemen's Associations. The latter agreed to accept the statement made by the employers in the miners' case and then put in a separate reply. The following was the order of the procedure:--The employers stated their case. Then the miners replied on the first day. Second day, the owners' reply to the miners, the miners' rejoinder; the cokemen's reply to the employers, then their reply to the cokemen. The third day's sitting was taken up by the cokemen's rejoinder. The same arbitrators acted in both cases, but Mr Jackson Wilson presented the cokemen's case. The umpire gave his award on the 23rd of April--the reduction being five per cent. from the underground wages and four per cent. from those of the surface men.

At the Council meeting held on May 4th a resolution was carried urging upon the Miners' National Association to use their influence to have established an important Board of Arbitration, such Board to say: "First, what amount of interest ought to be claimed for capital invested in coal-mining operations; secondly, whether or not the books showing the profit and loss accounts of the employers ought to be laid before the Arbitrators in deciding a matter in dispute as to the rise or fall of the wages of their workmen; and thirdly, what portion of the profits ought to go to the capitalist and what portion to the labourer."

The programme for a Council meeting held on 21st August 1875 contained a resolution dealing with the providing of a better class of houses.

"That we appeal to the owners to have better houses right throughout
the county for the members of the Durham Miners' Association, and not
to make such difference between brakesmen and members of the
Association. We believe that one man has the same right to a good
house as another."

In the balance sheet for the first quarter of the year is found an item relating to the Coop Colliery--3100 shares in the Coop Mining Company, £15,500. For some time, and especially during 1874, the idea of a co-operative mine had been agitating the two northern counties. Meetings were held in various parts, addressed chiefly by gentlemen from Northumberland. The idea fell upon good ground in Durham, for from time to time it was found on the Council programme, and, so far as the Association is concerned, bore fruit in the shares mentioned. The fruit was not merely collective, but on every hand those who could took out shares, even to the extent of all their savings. The Committee of management were:

Dr J. H. Rutherford, Chairman.
Mr T. Burt, M.P.
Mr J. Nixon.
Mr R. Young.
Mr J. Brown.
Mr R. Cramon.
Mr W. Crawford.
Mr J. Forman.
Mr W. H. Patterson.
Mr J. Byson.
Mr G. Fryer.
E. Lowther, Secretary.

--all good men, and, if it could have been established, would have been. They were all tried co-operators and ardent believers in productive co-operation. But the enterprise was doomed from the first. The name of the colliery was Monkwood, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire.