The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-17 00:00:00

/r

PRICIe 4d.
STAMPED sd.

The StrUe of the Engine-Drivers en the

Noah Easteriilway.

The strike still continues, and the railway com-
pany are every day getting more confidence that
they will soon be able to supply the places of the
malcontents. The men boast of the ample support
they are receiving, which they say is cheerfully
given. Communications promising them aid come
in from all quarters. The following is a copy of an
important notice sent by the Midland delegates to
one of the chief officers of the Midland Company :
" We have been requested by the Midland tneu,
and enginemen and firemen of other companies, to
ask if you or the Board of Directors are aware that
Mr. is using his best endeavours to supply the
North-Eastern Company with engine and firemen ;
and positive cases have come under our notice of his
success off the Midland. Also, in every shape and
way, we hear he is assisting them to get through
this unhappy disaster—which they have by tyranny
and oppression brought down upon themselves. If
this course of action is not at once withdrawn,
.we cannot answer for the Midland enginemen or
firemen, who will positively join the great body
of our own calling throughout the coun-
try, and by a united movement (the precise
character of which is now under contemplation)
bring this unhappy and unfair struggle to a close."
The Leeds Branch Society has received an inti-
mation that the following circular has been sent all
over the country by the committee of the Engine-
drivers and Firemen's United Society :
" 13, Brydges-street, Strand, W.C., April 15.

"Dear Sir,—ln order to sustain the North-
Eastern men during their present struggle, the
Central Committee have decided that a general
weekly levy be made of 3s. upon each driver, and
2s. upon each fireman. You will therefore please
to call a meeting of your branch immediately, and
take steps to carry the resolution of the Central
Committee into effect.—l am, &c.,
" J. OSBORNE PUTLEY, General Secretary,
pro T. Taylor." _ _

The great event of yesterday was the hearing be-
fore the Leeds magistrates of the charge of leaving
work without notice, preferred on Monday and ad-
journed until yesterday. At twelve o'clock the in-
vestigation began in a crowded court, and before
several magistrates who attended specially for the
purpoie. Mr. Ferns, solicitor for the cOmplainants,
opened the case at some length ; and Mr. Roberts,
' of Manchester, appeared for the defendants.
The case of a• driver, named John Binns, was
taken first. He had on Wednesday last been
driving between Leeds and Ilkley, and during the
day he returned. to Leeds, pulled the fire out of his
engine, and left it useless. Mr. Ferns said that
Binns on being remonstrated with by Mr. John-
stone, the locomotive superintendent, mid that he
did not intend to work any more, that he was a
union man, and must do as the union directed, and
that as they were out he should be out too. Mr.
.Johnstone asked him if he had any complaint to
make, and he said " No, but they have at Darlington ;
faith has not been kept with the men there." The
defendant had been in the service of the company
since 1849. At that time his wages were 2s. Gd.,
and now they are something like 7s. a day. Mr.
Johnstone, Mr. Ferns said, would prove the hiring,
and, in fact, it could scarcely be disputed with re-
spect to a man who had been employed since 1849.
The agreement was a verbal one, and being for a
month's and not for a twelvemonth's notice, no writ-
ing or stamp was required. The defendant's admis-
sion that such were the terms would be proved.
The ninth general regulation was to the effect that
no servant be allowed to absent himself from
any duty without permission from his superior
officer, nor quit the service of the company except
after giving the required notice; in case he quit
without notice:his wages to be forfeited, and he
be liable to be prosecuted for breach of con-
tract ; station-masters, engine-drivers, and fire-
men to give one mouth's notice, and other servants
two weeks' notice. By leaving the service of the
company, this man and the rest had entailed on the
company immense injury, and given great annoy-
ance to the public. The company felt it their duty
to defend their rights, as the men had a right to
stand up for theirs. Recently the men bad conceded
to them alterations of time and increased wages.
There were met fairly, and were so well satisfied
then that they entered the service again. But on
Wednesday night last, at 12 o'clock, a number of
them informed the superintendent that there was a
conspiracy to stop the whole of the working of the
line from point to point next morning, in order to
drive the company into an acceptance of their terms,
be they what they might. He must, however, do
the men credit—he was bound to do it, and he had
been requested to do it,—not a disrespectful word or
gesture was used by any of the men towards Mr.
Johnstone. Mr. Ferns then proceeded to call wit-
nesses. The first was—
Mr. Johnstone, who proved that the terms agreed
upon in 1849 were a month's notice on either side.
He said when Binns told him he should work no
more till they got the matter settled, he said he made
himself liable to be sent to prison. Defendant to
that replied, " There are so many of us, you can't
send us all to prison."
Cross-examined by Mr. Roberts, Mr. Johnstone
said the men had not complained to him that they
had worked 21 hours at a stretch. The defendant
drove the Harrogate exprese. The men had never
complained that they did not see their children from
Sunday to Sunday. He never heard of such a
grievance before the men struck. He had lately
received a written document from Mr. Fletcher, one
of the officials, which stipulated that the work
should be 10 hours a day. He did not recollect that
any special agreement was made in 1855.
Mr. Hugill, on of the company's managers, pro-
duced a book which contained Binns' signature to
the agreement he made in 1849.
Mr. Roberts addressed the jury at great length,
contending that the dispute was virtually at an end,
for the men only wanted what other railway com-
panies had cheerfully granted. He contended that on
various grounds the magistrates had no jurisdiction,
and was proceeding to call witnesses to prove that
the agreement with the Darlington men had been
broken, when the court ruled that that would be
irrelevant.

The magistrates then retired, and after some time
they decided that there had been a valid contract
between the defendant and the North Eastern Com-
pany, and that the defendant had no reasonable cause
for breaking it. They were of opinion that they had
jurisdiction, and convicted the defendant of the
offence. They reserved the punishment to follow,
in the hope that the dispute would soon be at an
end; and, in the hope that it would be a means of
effecting a reconciliation, they adjourned this and
all the other cases to the 22d May.

There is no alteration in the position of affairs as
regards the northern section of the railway. The
managers are getting their traffic restored as rapidly
as they can. Several of the drivers who turned out
have applied to be set on again, but they have been
absolutely refused until after a meeting of the direc-
tors on Wednesday. As they aresat present advised,
the managers are disinclined to have any thing more to
do with them. All the engine-drivers on strike at the
Tyne Docks have received notice to quit their houses
in a week. More goods trains were run yesterday,
and there was an increase in the quantity of mine-
rals sent to the Tyne Docks and to the iron works
on the Tees.

THE FIRE BRIGADE ACT.—At the Session-house,
Westminster, a number of persons wero summoned under
the Fire Brigade Act, by the Metropolitan Board of Works,
for fires occurring on their premises. The lion. Mr. Pon-
sonby presided. The fines wore from Is. to .£lls. In some
cases the Engine Brigade were refused admittance to the
premises on which the fires occurred.