The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-09-14 00:00:00

THE STOURBOIDGE OBSERVER.

Ines, but with the understanding that nothing
of the sort should occur again. There were
some noble men amongst those at Camden, and
he would ark those present not to condemn
them, and see them carried down. The Is, he
believed, was to be paid in twelve weelv, that
was Id per week; but he would ask those pre-
sent to let the Camden know that a like occur-
rence should not take place again.
The Chairman then introduced Mr. Vincent
to the meeting.
Mr. Vincent, who, on rising, was received with
great cheering, said: Mr.f.Chairman, Vice, and
Gentlemen, believe ine it is with very great plea-
sure I stand before my Stourbridge friends to.
night, and upon a question that I have long en-
deavoured to secure, and that is one grand am-
algamation of all classes of railway servants,
and I take it that in this room assembled not
only are assembled one class, but all classes of
railway men endeavouring to procure one univer-
sal good, and that is a fair day's wage for a fair
day's work, sad the day that God himself gave
to be a day of rest to do as you please with. If
your employers compel you to work on that spe-
cial day you should have special pay for the
same--(hear, hear). They engage you to work
on that day and they get special profit, and while
they obtain special profit you ehouldlobtain your
special portion of that profit. You will never
be able to obtain that portion individually. You
know that as well as I can toll you. When you
have made individual complaints you have cried
out time and often, that it is time something
were done. You have said, " I have been work-
ing this, or I have been working that or the
other, and something ought to be done." You.
have said that individually, but individually
speaking you have never been able to get it.
Why Because you applied singly, and you
were only one. I think myself it is time some-
thing was done. The speaker hero related an
instance where a man would by sneaking and
fawning get a situation over the head of a bet.
ter man who was too honourable to do such dirty
work, but he said that sort of business would
not exist much longer, because there was an
amalgamation coming on foot that should see all
people justified in obtaining that which they
legitimately worked for. In continuing, the
speaker said: I am glad to say that the time is
rapidly approaching when the whole of the men
from the inspector down to the platelayers will
be joined together in one grand and glorious am-
algamation. We have already in our little so-
ciety—l say little society because we are only
tlO,OOO strong, and that is nothing to compare
with the hundreds of thousands we have yet to
get in. In addressing you, my friends at Stour-
bridge, it is the same sort of thing that I have
addressed to 50 times as many as are hero pre-
sent, and in different parts of the country, but
it comes to the same thing. It is that you gen-
tlemen of Stourbridge should look upon the in-
terests of the society as you look upon your own
interests. Look as well to the welfare of other
people as you do to your own; that is what I
may lay down as the grand work of the Stour-
bridge railway men. It is the same with people
who are, we will say, tolerably well to do. They
pay their rent and pay their way, and then if
they have a penny or a shilling to spare they
give it some charity, or whatever it may be ; but
there is this grand prospect which was given to
us in the beginning, and which will last as long
as the world lasts, " Look at home," and when I
put that term to it I take all here assembled as
one man. " Look at home ;" that is make Stour.
bridge a model lodge, but above all I would have
Stourbridge get up in an independent spirit that
all of us undoubtedly wish. If you found your-
selves rather incapable of making any demands
with the little money you have you would apply
to the Executive Council for support. You
would then have to wait for a certain time before
you had any reply. I am coming now to the
point that I wish more closely to bear upon your
minds, and that is that various parts of the so-
ciety should be divided into districts, so as to
take off a great deal of the matters that are
under the consideration of the Executive Coun-
cil. lam here as a visitor and g may say as a
delegate from Birmingham to tell you this, that
we are something like 1,100 strong in Birming-
ham, and as a representative from that body and
ultimately to be general manager of the district,
that should the Stourbridge branch want any
assistance they would only have to send to Bir-
mingham, instead of sending to the Executive.
, Council, and they would get compensation. A
railway servant's life was not a pleasant one by
any moans, and ho is not always paid for what
he does. I will give you an instance of this. A
man works 6 days and a half a week, and when
he goes to the pay table he is paid for the six
days and not for the half day. Now this may
be the case at Stourbridge, and when matters
are settled in Birmingham they would then see I
that a man got paid for the work he did. We I
would have it done in this manner. A represen.
tative from Stourbridge should send a letter
from their department to Birmingham, and say
something to this effect:—" Dear Sir—l beg to
inform you from information received that John
Jones on the Stourbridge branch has been at
work for 61 days. He has been paid for 6 days
but not for the 6 hours. Why was he not paid
for the 6 hours? Please explain "—laughter).
It is as important that you should be paid for
your six hours, as it is important for them to
make you work six hours. I have great pleasure
in informing you that I had a conversation last
week with a gentleman connected with the West
Western Railway, He told use this, that it was
the wish of the Great Western Railway Company
I that all their onploy4 es who worked overtime
should be paid for it, and that he thought they
I had for some time past been paid for their over-
work, and anything that comes under my notice
where a man has worked overtime and has not
been paid for it, let me know, and I will com-
municate with that gentleman, who VII see that
the man is properly paid—(hear, heal). I was
asked if we should shield a man if he deserved
to be discharged. Mv answer was this, where
you have law, wo will have law, and we will
shield no one that is deserving of censure when
that is proved by law. Inspectors, stationmas. I
ters, engine-drivers, foremen, guards, porters,
platelayers— all sorts of employees have some
time or other been brought into the Courts of I
Law. When something terrible has taken place
on a railway there is a public inquiry, and in nine
cases out of twelve some poor foreman or points.
man, or guard, or any one else is dragged into
the mess. He is placed there alone—alone in
what is called the Court of 'Justice. There is a
groat amount of law in these trials. There were
counsel to represent the company, and counsel
to represent the limbs of the law, and counsel
to represent the friends of those who may be
killed or injured; but there is no one to repro- I
sent the poor railway servant. The poor fellow
stands idiom, looking first on one side and then
on the other, asking, perhaps, in his looks for
mercy, lie sees his wife and children looking
at him with pitiful eyes, and lie sees also the
friends of those who may be killed looking upon
him as though he wore the most damned indi-
vidual that over existed. The judge looks ter-
ribly grim, and asks the poor wretch what he has
to say. The man may say, 'My Lord, eel said
at first I was not guilty; I say so now." Ho is
not allowed to say more. The judge turns and
addresses the jury, who bring him in guilty in
nine cases out of twelve, and he is then sen-
tenced. Now, Mr. Chairman, we want an mai-
enlisted society so that in a court of law when
one gets up and says, I have the honour to re-
present the company," and another gets up and
says," I have the honour to represent my clients,
the public," we want another to get up and say
" lam employed by the Amalgamated Society
to represent the poor railway man, who stands
there for his life or transportation, as the ease
may be --(cheers). I have delivered a lecture
in various towns throughout the country, and if
you can get a hall in Stourbridge, get one, and I
will come and deliver a lecture on "Railway
Work and Railway Servants," and if you cannot
get some influential man in the town to take the
chair I will bring one from Birmingham to take
it. I commenced to lecture In 1871, and.l have
been delivering my lectures every week since
that time, and although I have invited the head
railway men to come and contradict me if they
could, I have never been contradicted yet—
(cheers). If there are any men in this room or
any in the district who have not joined the so-
ciety let me ask them to come in at once, and
not be called "blacklegs." In reference to the
Camden men and the levy, I will say a word or
two in conclusion. I will read you a short ab-
stract from a letter sent to me by Mr. Bass,
M.P., on the subject. He says the Camden men
were wrong in asking for the dismissal of Green-
ish, and they were greatly mistaken in striking.
Mr. Bass does not say that the men should not
have support. I have heard that you have con-
tributed ad per head already to the London men,
and now you are asked for a shilling levy, and
now I ask you are you going to send the le an

well as the 3d. If you send the Is levy now you
are sending £1 I.A lid more than you are asked.
You first of all send 11 is 3d, that is 3.1 per
head for 130 members of your branch, and the
is levy would amount to Iliis. I should ad-
vise von to deduct the Li is 3d, from the
10s, and that would leave £4 lbs 6il. Send.l2o
if you like, it will make no difference to me, but
it is as one of the previous speakers has said,
you are a young society and cannot afford it.
You have been at some expense already, and you
will still have to be at more expense. After
some other remarks, the speaker resumed his
seat amid loud applause.
12A vote of thanks to the Chairman and the
Vice-Chairman, and to Mr. Vincent, closed
the proceedings.

ROWLEY REGIS.
BCALDI.:II To DWI:I.—An inquest WIN held on Wed-
ni.sday. at the Royal Etchaner• Inn, Blackheath, on the
body of nasoutl Law, aged 3 year.. About three weeks
ago the child accidentally toll into • pot of boilitg hot
water, and, although inatautly rescued, the injuries
were so bad that it died taut wtek. Verdict, Accidental
death."