responsibility. I have been talking to several of them, and al] admit that our proposal is the best, but they say "it was necessary something should be done, that is why we started it." We have left the rules open, so that when there is a delegate meeting, if the majority of the men think your proposal the best, we are willing to pay into it. I think there can be no question about that matter when it comes to be reasoned over. The matter lies in a nutshell— we want a large sum of money to protect us as enginemen and firemen from the rapacity of our employers, and at once. We cannot afford to wait three or four years, we must wait one year; the larger the sum we pay into it, the sooner will our position be impregnable, and once directors know that we are preparing in reality to defend ourselves, superintendents will think twice before they tum the screw. We shall be pleased to receive any suggestions, and endeavour to meet your views, as we believe they are identical with our own. Even if they are not the same they shall receive our earnest consideration, as you deserve for your energy. Trusting the flame you have lighted in Sheffield may never be extinguished, and that soon enginemen and firemen may take their proper place in the front rank of skilled labour.
Believe me to be, my dear sir,Yours faithfully,Charles H. Perry.
What a very worthy letter by Perry, of Newport, to Ullyott, of Sheffield, to form the foundation of a new Society. It is nicely couched, friendly in tone, and full of hopeful sentiment. These pioneers spent months in quiet branch building, exchanging views, framing basic rules, writing each other, and locking forward to the time when drivers and firemen would be fairly paid, and would be above the fear of dismissal for having dared to make a reasonable request. Delegate meetings were held, and national programmes—very modest things—were talked of in that year 1880. Branches of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen—the same name then as now, were started in 1880 at Sheffield,
