checked those branches, notably on the M.S & L., which yearned to lay the facts before the Select Committee.
On November 15th of 1891 it was proposed by C. Woodhead, and seconded by J. Hawksley, "That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable that an amicable understanding should, if possible, be arrived at by the enginemen and firemen and the locomotive superintendents of our various railways, and with that object in view, our General Secretary write to Sir Henry Oakley. Secretary of the Railway Association, asking him if he would give the matter his kind consideration, and, if possible, for him to arrange for a deputation from our Society to meet either himself (Sir Henry) or the Committee of the Railway Association, with a view to arriving at a fair regulation of hours of duty, etc. We would prefer to discuss the matter with our employers, rather than have to resort to State interference."
Then, provided that Sir Henry was good enough to receive them. Messrs. Sunter, Dickinson, and Rushworth were appointed a deputation to lay the National Programme before him. Well, after Taff Vale and Scotland, I expected to find no fruit of the enterprise, and there was none. Fines, suspensions, and mean little penalties went on, and State interference had to come at last, sixteen years later, to curb the companies. I am not overlooking the fact that only two years later Parliament conferred certain powers on the Board of Trade to interfere in the matter of regulating hours of labour on the railways, but it meant very little indeed, and sweated conditions continued for twenty years later.
The Committee itself dealt with two sections of railway workers:
1.-Those occupying fixed posts of duty, like signalmen, shunters, platelayers, and porters.
2.-Drivers, firemen, and guards.
The Committee heard certain evidence, and declined to recommend any legal day, but left to the companies the arrangement of hours and discipline, although "they must be induced by the Board of Trade to confine the hours of railwaymen within reasonable limits."
