No new developments of the railway dispute have taken place
during the week. Mr. Bell's letter to the Railway Companies' Association has not yet been answered, and the preparations for taking the ballot are being rapidly pushed on. But although.there is no sign of weakening On either side, people are beginning to realise more clearly what a general strike would mean, and the pressure of public opinion is undoubtedly being exerted in the direction of conciliation. For ourselves, we adhere to our view that the companies are ill-advised in adopting an absolutely non-possumus attitude on the question of recognition. On the whole, we are induced to believe that the best basis for a compromise is to be found in the Circular, issued in February, 1906, by which the Postmaster-General recognised the Post Office Assoeia- tions as Trade-Unions, with a right of combination and of representation through the representatives of different classes. The Circular meets the most serious objection of the com- panies by stating (1) that the weight which any Associa- tion. carries is largely proportioned to its representative eharacter or knowledge of the question at issue, and (2) that non-Unionists will be treated on the same basis in regard to representations. Finally, the objection as to "divided authority" is met by (3), which retains individual cases, discipline, administration and promotion cases entirely in the hands of the Postmaster-General as single authority. The system has now had eighteen months' trial, and Mr. Sydney Buxton in his speech on the Estimates in May expressed his conviction that it had worked well and led to none but satis- factory results.
Previous page
