The Express.
London, England, 1850-08-21 00:00:00

MEETING OF THE DRIVERS.

Last evening the late drivers and firemen of this
eorhpenr met at the usual plat
Mr. HOPE, the Ghanian, said : Fellow-workmen.
Rue the meeting of last n;ght, our attention time
been ailed to as advertisement from the directors sr
the Buten Condos Railway, which is said to be published
" To provost misapprehmesioo by the public as to the pod-
don of the engine drivers and firemen lately is the employ-
ment of U. Entern Counties Ra.lway Company." The
directors, after mistime that they reserve the exprenien of
their epinion on the subject anal Thunday ant, when they
are to meat the @berth, proceed to lave their " statement
of facts." They tint allude to the appoiontreat of Mr. J. V.
Oooeh, the locomotive superintendent of this railway oa the
fled of last mouth, and then proceed to state that on Mon-
day, the 12 b instant, a deputation from the engine driven
sad fin men desired to as seine of the directors, and was'
received by Mr. Ellis, when they presented a memorial
complaining of Mr. (bosh, sad Mach a ..ncluded by stating
that they had unanimously determined to leave on the 18th
of Alger, unless Mr. Gooch was removed from being their
loannotsve anperiatendent of the line. The advertisement
further states that the board had no knowledge of any dis-
agreement eliding between the driven and lir Ooccb, and
that the driven had neither complained individually nor col-
lectively. sod that this was the fret Wised= they had
gives. NJW if this statement were suffered to go forth un-
explained, an inference very prejudici 1 to oar waded sad
interests might not unreasonably be drawn, but every short
ffi ezplaselon will suce to set the matter in its true light.
!immediately urn Mr. Gooch's a. pointment, he proceeded
without any previous intimatios, to levy fines under the sir-
euntetanc^s we have already explained, and the reason why
we did not wooer appeal to the beard was, that Mr. Clooth
directed that say complaint should be nude directly to him-
,. lf, and prohibited our complaining to any other party on
pain of instant dismissal. Not, tin-refute, until the last mo-
ment did we make any appeal to the board, when we found
all than :et of rano from Mr. Gooch was hopeless. This,
therefore, accounts for oar delaying until the 12th inst. the
sending a deputation to the board. Having made this ex-
planation for the purpose of showing that oar conduct was
not influenced by any fitful or momentary reefing, we most
minim:ly admit that Mr. Ellie expressed lineal( kindly to.
wards us, but did not seem to believe, as we thiright, that we
had any just cause of complaint. We thanked him, bat
did not, as the advertisement states, express ourselves satis-
fied, and ear resignatio, s were soon afterwards ant in, as
we found that Mr. Gooch wee resolved in pursuing the un-
just system if fines of which we bad unanimously com-
plained, and which we as unanimously felt to he so oppres-
sive. It is with meet that I hear a report km been circu-
lated to the effect that the old drivers had put soft soap in
the tender of one of the eagisee, so as to impede its safe
working under the reeently employed engine driver. As you
are aware the only engine that is stated to have received the
soft soap was one from Colchester, at which station the ad
engine driver received from the locomotive ikons* &written
stemma that he lad left his engirt* in good working order.
Hating stab this statistic, I will now proceed to report