W. WARWICK REPORTS
1913
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
Extracted and adapted from
A.S.L.E.F. Organising Secretary W. Warwick's report
JANUARY 1913
page 15
On arriving on Monday morning I found awaiting me a request to attend a delegate meeting of London, Brighton & South Coast Railway locomotivemen, at Brighton, I attended to this and found these men had been successful in obtaining some slight improvements in their conditions of service at the hands of the directors, but there was still one or two matters left over to be dealt with by and through the locomotive superintendent. Various matters were discussed and arrangements made for future action with an open door.
On the Sunday I attended a meetings of our New Cross Branch, called for the-purpose of discussing and clearing up some misunderstandings that had crept in and were making themselves felt in the shape of a few backsliders. I am pleased to say that after some straight and plain talk, what had appeared as mountains, became simple molehills, and in the end most of those present deter- mined to again stand to their guns and do what they could to build up their own Society.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
FEBRUARY 1913
Extracted and adapted from
A.S.L.E.F. Organising Secretary W. Warwick's report
report on his visit to the Newhaven Branch meeting,
on Sunday, 1st December, 1912
page 64
The following morning, Sunday 1st December 1912, I was a stir be times in order to leave for Newhaven, where an open meeting was called in the afternoon to hear reports from two
delegates, who, with others, had waited on the directors of the London, Brighton and South
Coast Railway. The concessions granted compare favourably with what have been granted by other companies, but the question is : what have we to compare with ? On the strength of the promise by the Government after August, 1911, that they would be allowed to recoup
themselves from the pockets of the public for concessions granted, the railway companies
have doled out a few meagre improvements, amounting in some instances to one shilling per
week, or two pence per day—just on a par with what any shopkeeper would think of offering his errand boy—an insult to a body of men like the footplate and motormen of this country.
Then each railway company has been very careful not to out-do the others in these
extravagant concessions, or do anything which could in any way be construed into a
precedent, at the same time taking care to so jumble up conditions, wages, &c, that no two
companies' men are receiving anything like the same remuneration for the same services
performed. Of course, the astute official knows this gives him a fine trump card up his sleeve, so to speak, and while the men are content to approach them as .particular companies they can always ring the changes on that card by asking the very innocent question: "What other company's men are there that are better paid than you are ? " But to come back to the
Newhaven meeting. I took the chair, and the delegates gave their report, which, as before
said, was satisfactory by comparison. But there was one or two present who soon made it
clear by their questions that with them it was not a question of whether the new conditions
were satisfactory or not; they were present to show their disapproval of the manner in which
they had been obtained, viz., by and through members of the Associated Society. Needless to say, these were the men who had pinned their faith to an all-grade society. As chairman, I did not attempt to stifle discussion, but allowed all the latitude possible, using both argument and diplomacy to try and get at the why and wherefore. But I found these men at Newhaven were not a bit more intelligent on these matters than others I have met; and so I failed to get anything more from them than the fact that they couldn't leave the shed unless the signalman turned the points, and they couldn't shunt the train unless there was a shunter present. I have been wondering ever since what that had to do with the concessions and the way they were obtained.
However, I am pleased to say there are only one or two at Newhaven whose education has
been neglected, and I hope the little branch I have opened there will soon bring them up-to-
date.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
Extracted and adapted from
A.S.L.E.F. Organising Secretary W. Warwick's report
MARCH 1913
page 117
The following day I attended the annual dinner of our Battersea Branch. Our old and esteemed friend, Brother J. Bliss, occupied the chair, and a few friends from other branches were present. After dinner the evening was spent in harmony and the usual speeches. The chairman moved the toast of the evening : " The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen," and your humble replied. Brother Stevenson, E.C. member for the district, had promised to be present, but on that date had been summoned, with the rest of the Executive Committee, to the north, to deal with the famous Driver Knox case.
The next evening I attended our Battersea Branch meeting with the same object in view, while several matters of interest were discussed and dealt with. This brought us up to within a day of two of Christmas, which was the quietest, from a Society standpoint, that it has been my lot to experience.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
APRIL 1913
page 162
Extracted and adapted from
A.S.L.E.F Organising Secretary W.Warwick’s report
The next day (Thursday 30th January) I was called to Brighton to attend an inquest on one of our cleaner members (Bro F. Lower) who had met with a fatal accident in the locomotive shed at that place In this case no one saw exactly how it occurred, but it was conjectured that he had attempted to do a good turn in assisting to couple up a tender, and had got pinched.
The verdict was “accidental death" A distressing feature of the case was the fact that our
brother was to some extent the support of his mother, while a redeeming feature was the fact
that he was a member of our Society, and the matter for compensation for the mother was at
once placed in the hands of a solicitor, who is carrying it through on her behalf.
On returning home I visited our Battersea Branch secretary, and afterwards journeyed to Crystal Palace Station in connection with a mishap which occurred there on the previous Sunday, and in which a member of our Battersea Branch was concerned.
The same day I should have been at Brighton, attending a delegate meeting, but owing to the above was unable to full fill that engagement. The next day I visited Battersea on important business.
The following day (Monday 10th February) I attended at London Bridge with the London,
Brighton, and South Coast Railway delegation, which was seeking an interview with the
general manager re an important matter affecting the whole of the firemen on that line ; the
whole matter turned out very satisfactorily, an interview being granted to your humble as
well as the delegation In the end, an order which had been issued increasing the work and responsibility of the firemen was withdrawn.
The same evening I attended an open meeting at Battersea, at which reports were given and an address by myself. The next day I attended a Board of Trade inquiry at Wimbledon, and also a delegate meeting at Brighton.
The next day I attended a Board of Trade inquiry held by Colonel Von Donop, at Crystal Palace Station, re the matter mentioned above, as affecting a member of our Battersea Branch, but I realise my space is more than full for this month, an address by myself.
The next day (Tuesday 11th February) I attended a Board of Trade inquiry at Wimbledon, and also a delegate meeting at Brighton. The inquiry was as to the cause of injury to a shunter In this case again our men came out without blame. which has been one of the busiest, and so further comment must stand over for our next.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
MAY 1913
page 218
Extracted from A.S.L.E.F.
Organising Secretary W. Warwick’s report
Immediately following the Board of Trade inquiry at the Crystal Palace Station, our member concerned was discharged by the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway, but the matter was at once taken in hand by petition for his reinstatement.
On the Saturday (15th February) I received a wire asking me to attend an inquest at West Worthing, near Brighton. On arriving at that place I found it was being held at Goring-on-Sea, a station further on; however, I managed to get there, and found it to be a case where a member of our Brighton Branch had, unfortunately, run over a young man at an occupation crossing ; it was a somewhat mysterious case, and after going throughly into the evidence produced the jury returned a verdict of suicide.
The following day (Wednesday 19th February) I attended a Board of Trade inquiry at
Brighton re a fatal accident to one of our cleaner members mentioned in my last report; Mr.
Main conducted the same, and although he could attach no blame to the men concerned, he
was not quite satisfied that the instructions for shed shunting had been properly carried out.
Here let me again call the attention of our members to the fact that these instructions are, or
should be posted in every shed, and are very explicit; also that the Board of Trade is very
particular as to the carding out of same, and therefore our men would be well advised to
carry them out to the letter, regardless of the time taken, as it is to these instructions the
officials and the Board of Trade Inspectors refer when anything occurs.
The next day I attended a delegate meeting at Brighton re the electrification and other business. The following day I was occupied at the desk, while the next day I attended at Battersea re important Society matters. On the Saturday I again visited Battersea, and on Sunday (2nd March) visited Brighton with a view to attending the branch meeting, where some important business was transacted. During the week I attended at London Bridge to assist the locomotive delegation of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway.
During the same week (weekend Sat 22.3.13) I visited London Bridge and New Cross for the purpose of making inquiries re an accident at the locomotive shed at Brighton.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
JUNE 1913
page 263
Extracted from A.S.L.E.F.
Organising Secretary W. Warwick’s report
I am pleased to say that the accident which happened at the locomotive shed at Brighton, and which I mentioned at the close of my report last month, did not terminate fatally, as was at first reported, and so far I have not been called upon to take any further action in the matter.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
JULY 1913
OPEN MEETING AT LITTLEHAMPTON
Extracted from A.S.L.E.F.
Organising Secretary W. Warwick’s report
page 316
My next move was to meet a sub-committee of London. Brighton and South Coast Railway delegates, and then to Littlehampton for an open meeting on the Sunday (4th May). This is a small locomotive centre, but has sufficient to support a branch, and I hope in the near future to be able to open one there. My experience is that all the small centres on the various companies are coming into line and getting a branch of their own instead of being attached to the branches at the larger centres. This is as it should be, because it puts every centre, no matter how small, in direct communication with the General Office, and not only secures them information at first-hand, but so links the whole of the locomotive-men up that all can be in touch with General Office and each other at the shortest possible notice, and so does away with the weak links in the chain which should bind all together. There is no doubt a good deal of truth in.that saying, viz. : that any chain is only as strong as its weakest link. These small centres have been weak links, but I hope in the near future these weak links, will be removed and new ones forged in their stead, in the shape of a branch of our organization, wherever there is the requisite number of men to carry on the same. I am pleased to say this is nearly an accomplished fact in my district, as I have had the pleasure of opening no less than six such branches this year.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
AUGUST 1913
THE OPENING OF THREE BRIDGES
Extracted from A.S.L.E.F.
Organising Secretary W. Warwick's report
page 370
On the Friday (17th May) I travelled to Three Bridges, another small locomotive centre on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, where we had a few members attached to our Tunbridge Wells Branch The object of my visit was to prepare for an open meeting on the Sunday, with a view to opening a branch Brother Harrison, of Battersea, Brother Worcester, of Horsham, and a few friends from Brighton, attended, and we had a good meeting , Brother Smith, of Brighton, was in the chair Brother Harrison explained the whole matter relating to the business done by the delegation on the electric and other matters I then talked to them on general matters relating to locomotive-men in particular, and at the close we were able to declare the branch open and elect the necessary officers for the time being, with a stipulation that I should visit them when the books arrived, so as to explain matters to the new secretary.
* Three Bridges where members of the Tunbridge Wells before their branch opened.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
AUGUST 1913
Extracted from A.S.L.E.F.
Organising Secretary W. Warwick's report
page 372
On returning to King's Cross I at once made for London Bridge, in order to reach Streatham in time to attend the inquest mentioned above. In this case a painter's labourer engaged in painting a bridge left his work to get a drink of tea, and in doing so lost his life, being knocked down. Our members never saw the poor fellow beforethe accident, and so at the inquest and the Board of Trade inquiry, which I have since attended, the question turned on the look-out man, the irony of the whole thing being that the poor fellow who was killed was supposed to be, at the time, acting as look-out man for the safety of the others. The verdict was " accidental death.”
My next move was to Brighton, for a Board of Trade inquiry and delegate meeting the same day. I attended the Board of Trade inquiry first. In this case, a labourer engaged in emptying an ashpit was very severely injured, in fact it was at first reported that he was dead, but he survived. At the inquiry, our member admitted that his attention had been called to these men in the pit, but after standing there some time, he forgot the circumstance and moved his engine without ascertaining they were clear, a perfectly reasonable thing when we remember the hundred and one things an engineman has to think about these days.
Mr. Main was the inspecting officer and had something to say on the matter of proper protection for these men, as it appeared, up to then, no protection had been afforded, other than looking out for themselves. The delegate meeting was held for the purpose of dealing with the latest phase of the electric question, about which there has been a lot of shuffling, twisting of words, sentences, &c, but I think the men are now on the right track to bring this much-discussed and vexed question to a satisfactory issue, and I hope to be able to report, in my next, that the locomotive men have obtained for themselves exclusively the position of Motormen -which is their just due.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
SEPTEMBER 1913
Extracted from A.S.L.E.F.
Organising Secretary W. Warwick's report
page 413
I returned home next day, and again visited the Law Courts, but finding our case was
still a little way down the list, I went on to Battersea, transacted some business there,
and returned in time to hear the argument for and against the company’s liability following day I attended two open meetings at Battersea, and also visited Guy’s Hospital with the intention of seeing a member of our Slade's Green Branch, but was very pleased to find that he had left for a convalescent home.
The two meetings mentioned were for the purpose of fully and finally explaining the position re the electric question, before asking the men to sign a petition asking for a further interview with the directors, and at the same time giving the delegates power to see the matter through on behalf of all the locomotivemen on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway.
I then attended a Board of Trade inquiry at Streatham Common re a fatal accident to a
painter's labourer. I explained this case in my last notes after attending the inquest. Mr.
Armytage was the inspecting officer and his inquiry was directed chiefly to the question
of a look-out man.
The foreman painter said he was acting as look-out man while on the job, and when going away he left the poor fellow who had met his death in that important position. When Mr. Armytage questioned this foreman as to his knowledge of signals it transpired he did not know the front from the back, or the " distant" from the " home "; but that is a matter for the Board of Trade and the company. Our men were in no way to blame.
The following day, Sunday, I attended and addressed open meetings at Horsham and
Brighton, both being fairly well attended.
The meeting at Horsham was in the morning and a few of our brothers accompanied me
from that place to- Brighton. In this, as in many other cases, I put in a fourteen hour
day. However, as I believe some good was achieved at both places I feel compensated.
On Friday, July 14th of 1913, the Acting General Secretary George Moore and Mr. Walter Hudson, M.P., interviewed Lord Bessborough, Chairman of Directors, and the General Manager of the L.B. & S.C. Railway, to demand the front end of the trains on the newly electrified system for locomotivemen exclusively. The men made a firm stand in support of the deputation named, and Lord Bessborough signed the agreement which gave to locomotivemen the exclusive option on the electric motorman's position. The company sought to get six men from the traffic department, who had been trained, accepted for the positions, but the delegates refused to do that. The position carried the steam drivers' rate of wages, and the agreement thus secured formed a precedent, followed later by the L. & N.W. and other electrified lines. On the L. & N.W., too, the agreement included high rent allowances, and a guaranteed week on the average basis of 240 hours for each four weeks.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
OCTOBER 1913
Extracted from A.S.L.E.F.
Organising Secretary W. Warwick's report
page 467
Between August 14th to 23rd I attended to business in connection with our Westminster and Battersea Branches, and also attended two open meetings at Guildford The Battersea matter was an open meeting re the electrification, which it was necessary to hold so that every locomotive-man might have an opportunity of knowing exactly how matters stood,
what was being done, and how far the matter had been carried by the delegates That word electrification is getting burnt into me I have used it so often m the last few months that it’s getting quite commonplace in my reports and letters, and if I am not able to drop it to some extent soon I am afraid our readers will begin to think I've got it on the brain “ so to speak The difficulty is that probably thousands of our readers find it somewhat difficult to fully realize the absolute necessity there is for sticking to this matter just now, and the far reaching effects it is likely to have in the near future, not only on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway locomotive men, but on large numbers of the locomotive men of practically every company in the kingdom more especially on the large numbers of men stationed in and around London To begin with, there are rumours of extensions on practically all the present electric railways, then several of the trunk lines having termini in London are discussing the electrification seriously at their half-yearly meetings I find the chairman of the London and South Western Railway told the shareholders some time ago that the question of the development of the suburban traffic would be taken seriously in hand and he hoped at no distant date the board would be able to tell them what their policy would be in the direction of electrification. It was only a question of careful consideration so as to get the best system. Then the London and North-Western Railway has built a new line—Broad "Street to Watford—which I understand is to be worked by electricity, and will no doubt displace numbers of locomotive-men at both the London and Watford ends. Also, the Midland Railway is bound
by its agreement in taking over the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway to electrify within seven years. That does not necessarily mean that it will be several years before it comes about. It may come about in the next twelve months ; it’s only a question of will it pay ? Once convinced of that and there is no hesitation in scrapping men or machinery. As some one said a little while ago, “we do not hesitate to scrap machinery five years old"; but the worker in his wisdom is content to live under laws three hundred years old. Bearing in mind the above it looks as though the word electrification is likely to be with us more in the near future than it has been in the past. When I said its use had begun to weary me of late I referred to the worry
and unpleasantness which has been going on for some time in the efforts put forth by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railwaymen i:o secure these positions. However, the matter has now reached a climax, and is in the hands of our Executive Committee, and I hope in my next report to be able to inform our readers that for locomotivemen this important question has been settled once for all, because if the London, Brighton and South Coast railwaymen are successful it will mean that the matter is practically settled for other companies’ men, when and wherever electrification comes about.
On Sunday was at Brighton attending what proved to be a momentous delegate meeting of London, Brighton and South Coast Railwaymen, in as much as it was there decided to hand the question of the locomotive-men’s claim to the front end of the train over to our Executive Committee, which met in London on the following Sunday, to deal with the matter. However this body was unable to deal fully with it, as those in authority on that particular railway were scattered over the known world, and could not be got together under a certain time This time was fixed, and before this appears in print a momentous question for locomotive-men will be peaceably settled in their favour.
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
NOVEMBER 1913
Extracted from A.S.L.E.F.
Organising Secretary W. Warwick's report
page 511
I closed my last report with a prophecy that has not been literally fulfilled, which shows how risky it is to assume the role of the prophet. However, I believe it is all a matter of time. In writing of the electric question on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, and the locomotive- men's claim to the front end, I assumed the directors, who, as then stated, were on their holidays, would have been back and dealing with the question in the six weeks which had to elapse before the issue of last Journal, but it has not turned out just that way. At the time of writing they are arranging to meet the men's deputation to again consider the question. As I have before pointed out, it is an important question not only for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway locomotive-men, but for all locomotive-men. I believe other companies' men realise" this and are looking to this settlement as a deciding factor for all. After the delegate meeting at Brighton, mentioned in my last report.
The next day, Sunday, I attended a.meeting of our Executive Committee, held in London, re the electrification matter mentioned above.
On the Friday journeyed to Portsmouth to inquire into and get particulars of an accident to a London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, fireman, a member of that branch. This was another case of insufficient time, or perhaps, rather a want of a proper place and time to do the needful by way of oiling. Our brother was underneath, carrying out this all-important duty on the level while standing in the station. It is what is known as a pull and push job and one coach is taken off in the middle of the day. The shunting engine came on for the purpose of doing this while our brother was underneath for the purpose of facilitating business. There were two shunters present, one hooking the coach while the other hooked on the engine. The one hooking on came out first, and the driver of the shunting engine says he had a signal from him to start, before the other had hooked off, with the result that the motor engine was moved sufficiently far enough to nearly squeeze the life out of our brother who was underneath. Fortunately the brake was hard on and the engine stopped in the nick of time, but not before he had been badly crushed. However, he has got over it fairly well and was at work again when I attended the Board of Trade inquiry a few days ago. Another instance of the unnecessary risks our men are called upon to take in order to save a little delay. The same advice applies here as above. The question is : When will our men act upon it and so abolish these risks ?
LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL
DECEMBER 1913
Extracted from A.S.L.E.F.
Organising Secretary W. Warwick's report
page 557