A history of postal agitation from fifty years ago till the present day

At this point it is necessary to go back a number of years to gather in a trailing strand that has yet to be spliced into the body of the narrative. As has already been noted, t...

The seed had germinated; the plant had taken root even in such seemingly stony and barren soil, and was destined within a short while, despite chill winds and frost-bite, to bec...

A REAWAKENING OF THE LETTER-CARRIERS—PETITIONS—DEGRADATION AND DISMISSAL OF THE LEADER—FORMATION OF THE POSTMEN’S UNION—MR. JOHN BURNS—A PLASTER-OF-PARIS CÆSAR—THE INTERVENTION...

REORGANISATION OF THE POSTMEN—THE PROVINCIAL POSTAL CLERKS—GENERAL CONDEMNATION OF THE DISMISSALS—THE NEWCASTLE INTERVIEW—AN M.P. AND THE POSTAL AGITATOR—THE RIGHT OF COMBINATIO...

ASSERTING THE RIGHT OF PUBLIC MEETING—PUBLIC AND PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDS—CONFERENCE OF M.P.’S—THE ORGANS OF THE MOVEMENT—MEETING AT EXETER HALL—A MONSTER PETITION TO PARLIAMENT—EL...

From about 1854 it seems a new class of men were gradually being introduced. By the operation of what was known as the Elcho Scheme, there was a large reduction of the clerical...

At this time, and for long previous, there was no definite eight-hour day officially recognised for the working staff at the General Post-Office. That was a privilege as yet def...

For several years after the introduction of the Fawcett scheme in 1881, the telegraph service had remained in a state of sullen discontent. The formation of the Postal Telegraph...

During the deliberations of the Tweedmouth Committee, the attitude of the service had necessarily for the most part been one of waiting and expectancy. But it was not without it...

As there was a long period of inactivity and stagnation between the period of the cruel dismissals in 1874 and the introduction of the Fawcett scheme, so among the letter-sorter...

Electrical influences had been in the air for some years since the Manchester outburst, but a feeling partly of timidity partly of apathy had prevented section joining with sect...

There was, however, some slight attempt on the part of the letter-carriers to again bring their grievances under notice in 1858 by holding another public meeting in the south-we...

While the history of the letter-sorters’ agitation was progressing towards the point concluding the last chapter, contemporary movements in the service were passing through the...

Through a long course of years the postmen, the letter-sorters, and the telegraphists had cultivated each their fertile patch of ground, and produced a plentiful crop of the thi...

The long continuance of agitation and disaffection in the postal service would seem almost to entitle the public to the belief that the Post-Office is a place where the Englishm...

Lord John Manners had descended from his pedestal of office and returned to the comparative obscurity and inactivity for which his attainments so well fitted him. Before leaving...

Looking at all the circumstances impartially, it must be acknowledged that the late Mr. Raikes had bestowed very substantial benefits on the postal service. In the face of oppos...

Notwithstanding the numerous strong expressions of public opinion evoked by the recent meeting of the 18th November 1873, the Government showed no disposition to meet the modera...

In the meantime, as if to contemptuously show that the agitating sorters could be dispensed with at any time, or their work done by child labour, the authorities, when the halfp...

If Mr. Raikes’ cautious nature made him slow to convince, he nevertheless at last came to realise that the rampant discontent throughout his domain called for some effective rem...

It was scarcely to be expected that, with the spirit of discontent so widespread among every class and section, that discontent would remain altogether dumb and inarticulate. If...

So the wave of discontent gathered force. By 1871 the agitation for better pay, better-adjusted hours of duty, and better prospects had assumed some appearance of an organisatio...

That the spirit of discontent in the Post-Office manifested itself so far back as over half a century ago, will probably somewhat surprise most people outside the postal service...

REORGANISATION OF THE POSTMEN—THE PROVINCIAL POSTAL CLERKS—GENERAL CONDEMNATION OF THE DISMISSALS—THE NEWCASTLE INTERVIEW—AN M.P. AND THE POSTAL AGITATOR—THE RIGHT OF COMBINATIO...

ASSERTING THE RIGHT OF PUBLIC MEETING—PUBLIC AND PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDS—CONFERENCE OF M.P.’S—THE ORGANS OF THE MOVEMENT—MEETING AT EXETER HALL—A MONSTER PETITION TO PARLIAMENT—EL...

A REAWAKENING OF THE LETTER-CARRIERS—PETITIONS—DEGRADATION AND DISMISSAL OF THE LEADER—FORMATION OF THE POSTMEN’S UNION—MR. JOHN BURNS—A PLASTER-OF-PARIS CÆSAR—THE INTERVENTION...

SEVEN YEARS OF STAGNATION—THE POST-OFFICE AND GUTTER JOURNALISM—REVIVAL OF POSTAL JOURNALISM—A CHRISTMAS STRIKE AVERTED—FIRST GLIMPSE OF A NOTABLE AGITATOR—THE PETITION THAT “HE...