The Express.
London, England, 1850-08-22 00:00:00

THE DRIVERS' STRIKE.

Lest evening the men spin met at the George
Stratford, Mr MOPS la the choir.
The CHAIRMAN addressed the men as follows:
Fellow workmen,—Tbe proceeding. of tn.night will be of
the utmost heir-mons to us, nn 9, therefore, I have to en-
treat your eartsculer nnewion to what I have to say. Oir
late employers, nut directors of the Enters Cowen s flew
posy, and Mr Gooch, our late locomotive saperintend, nt,
have publ.shid in the morning papers of to-day the 'sower
whisks the secretary had stated in a previous advertisement,
the board would furnish to the genetics of the proprietors to
be held tomorrow (this day), to the statements we bay*
mode in reference to the treatment received by us from Mr.
Gooch during the fortnight we were ander his control. I
am erutedingly gratified that such an answer has bees
issued, because nearly every oci• of the positions which the
direetors—td course upon the iatormation of Mr. Gooch—
eadeavour to maintain in jsotlfeation of that gentle-
man's conduct, and ins e wiensnation of our pro.
Deeding; is so utterly indefeaaible, so twill 'at
'ensues with facts, so cruelly unjust to us, -as
working saes, sad so *Nardi/11y calculated to ruin oar
sharaeters in the estimation cf than from whom we may,
perhaps. hereafter have to seek employment ; that we abould
indeed be wanting in duty to <tunny., it we, for one me-
meat, t eudtated to tarnish that strong and at:qualified re-
futetioa which, as I shall presently show you, can be eas,ly
and readily given to it. Ti. meanie' poises of the an
put forth by the directors sad Mr. Gooch are, Gran that the
men were not fisted except for cases of accident, which might
have been prevented by care and watchfulness on their part;
meciaelly, that no cases of irreguleri'y in the arrivals of trains
have anion, except where titclu hays been played with the
engines; and thirdly, that he has engaged 77 engine drivers
whose testimonials from their late employers will bear the
closest inquiry. A fourth point requinng notice is a state-
ment that the fines imposed upon the goods engines's& for
arrinag at intermediate stations before time were levied
bemuse by such early arrivals the safety of the drivers
themselves, as well as that of all other trains travelling
over the same part of the line, was at stake. A filth
sad a material point is, Mr. Gooch's asseveration that he
" never had any intention to reduce wages or to increase the
day's work of any mos." Now, fellow-workmen, I shall
proceed to prove, from evidence which I hope will be con-
sidered beyond dispute, that on every one of thew five points
Mr. Gooth's statement of the dieputo is totally and utterly at
variance wi,h facts. I will take the first pilot, viz., Mr.
Geode's denial that he has fined any man for a mishap over
whisk be (tie driver) had no control. Joseph Tinton and
his fireman were fined two days' pay, and suspended two
days and three quarters, ia consequence of the cotter of
the cross-head breaking in three pieces when the driver
was 34 miles on his journey. Mr. Gooch states that the
men admitted to him, is the presence of the fore-
man, that had those par's of the machinery been right
when they examined the lintels at Chelmsford, that
is four miles from the plain where the accident occurred,
the cutter would sot have been broken. In this ease the
quietism Is how the driver was to ascertain whether the
cotter was perfect in all its parts, and whether it was pos-
sible for him to ma that the cotter was sound or not over
the space of five inches where it is thented is the cross-
head, namely, a portion of it which cannot possibly be in-
spotted with tut the cotter being taken out—a thing utterly
=doable while working • train. Another case of fire
is justified by Mr. Gooch le that of James Street and
his fireman. They were fined half a day's day pay each for the
i cage of the pump-clack breaking, which, causing the ball to
work up into the pump, then broke the eccentric strop. alter
the engine bad run seven miles on its joureey. Mr. Gooch
salsa that this arose from the carelessness of the men in not
satistyiag themselves that their engine wee to a proper state ;
and he goes on further to say that these men are In the
shod every third day with their er•lne, during which time
it is strictly their duty to have their engine properly ex-
amined and repaired." Now Mr. Gooch knows very well
that we never received any orders from him to inspect the
decks while its the shed, that it was sot the practice to do
so, and that it is impossible to ray whether the clack is
question was broken before the engine started from Brain-
tree (its terminal station) or while on its journey. The
third ease Is that of Henry Harris and his fireman, who
were fined a quarter of a day's pay for detaining the train
10 minutes, caused by the eccentric sheave slipping, and for
not reporting the same. Mr. Gooch says the man was not
fined for the accident, but for not reporting in Mr. Gooch
is in error. The accident was reported by the driver
to Mr. Ritmo, locomotive foreman at Cambridge. Mr.
Gocch then goes on to state is his letter to the directors
that " the other cuss of fines quoted are for breaking draw
ban of waggons, a circumstance which bi nearly every
instance is the effect of eareliesneu on the part of the men."
This just‘fication by Mr. Gooch of his fining James Nelsen
and hls firemen one day's pay for a drawbar giving way
with a train of 60 Tuggers% and Edward Keay and his
Bream In each for a draw-bar breakinw with a train of
38 loaded waggons is, as I am sure you will perceive, merely
an equivocation. You will remark that he says that the
breaking of 0 draw-bar of a waggon is in nearly every
instance the effect of earelesenets on the put of the men,
but does he man to infer that if is so in every instants, or
did he take the trouble to inquire into the eases to
which I am referring, whsthcr the acciden's arose
from the particular or general carelessness of the
men it (pinion. Is a good and careful driver to be fined.
when a defective draw bar gives way, simply because such
occurrenems generally arise from carelessness t Is such an
indiscriminate mode of VlVl:nag penalties, both upon metal
and serene@ men, the proper, ns for insuring a strict atten-
tion to duties, and for begetting that good feeling between
masters and men without which everybody knows no great
system of management CAR be earn, d on with exactitude
sad mononty ? But Mr. Gooch, iu hie lent, entirely omits
any sedum of the most aggravating ewe of oppression on his
part. He rye, alluding to the cases of the fines sit forth by
the men in their memorial to the directors, " the others
quoted are for breaking draw-bars of waggons." A ro-
Seresse to the published memorial will show that Jobs Thos.
Hope and Joseph Kinnsreley and their firemen were Said
2s. ed. sob, not for a draw-bar breaking, but for the
*otter of a draw-bar breaking with a train of 66 waggons.
Will say 10001110tiVe superintendent In this country—will
eves Mr. Gawk hazard his character by a declaration that
say two drivers, with two engines attached to 66 loaded I
:Farma, with tin greatest care and attention, avoid
aseddest at all times ? Mr. Gooch state* in another
of his letters addressed es the directors that be " imposed
sack limes only that would ant rather as • warning for the
future than as a puniskselint for the offence." What " warn-
ing for the fitters" eoald a fine of hal•-• erowa for breaking
the cotter of a draw-her Mto a Gnaw who had no roWrol
whatever over the starting of the engine by which such
cotter woe broken) Is the Ant pines he fines the a river for
earth that which he could net possibly help doing; and, M
the emoad plan, he Sass the fireman for doing nothing at
all. It is the driver who is sespiasible in much cases, and
10 floe she fines' is neither more nor less thee an act