In the preceding chapter the narrative was brought down to the appointment in 1895, of the so-called Tweedmouth Committee.169 That Committee consisted of Lord Tweedmouth, Lord Privy Seal and a Member of the Cabinet; Sir F. Mowatt, Permanent Secretary of the Treasury; Sir A. Godley, Under Secretary of State for India; Mr. Spence Walpole, Permanent Secretary of the Post Office; and Mr. Llewellyn Smith, of the Labor Department of the Board of Trade.

In the “Terms of Reference to the Committee on Post Office Establishments,” the Postmaster General included this paragraph: “In conducting this inquiry, I can have no doubt you will recollect that the Post Office is a great Revenue Department; and that, in the words of the Select Committee on Revenue Departments Estimates in 1888, it ‘is most likely to continue to be conducted satisfactorily, if it should also continue to be conducted with a view to profit, as one of the Revenue yielding Departments of the State.’”170

Before the Tweedmouth Committee Mr. Lewin Hill, who, as Assistant Secretary General Post Office, was the executive officer who had general charge of all the postal and telegraph employees outside of London, testified as follows: “My own view is that the time has come for telling the postmen, in common with the members of the rest of the manipulative staff [the telegraphists] in answer to their demand for a general rise of wages, that the Post Office Department is satisfied that the wages already paid are in excess of the market value of their services; that this being so, no general addition to pay will be given, and that if the staff are dissatisfied, and can do better for themselves outside the Post Office, they are, as they know, at perfect liberty to seek employment elsewhere.” The Chairman, Lord Tweedmouth, asked Mr. Hill: “Do you think there is any other particular class of employment which is comparable with that of the postmen [and telegraphists]?” Mr. Hill replied: “I thought of railway servants, whose work in many ways resembles the work of our employees. If they have not the same permanence [of tenure] as our own people have, they have continuous employment so long as they are efficient, but our people have continuous employment whether they are efficient or not…. In that respect all of us in the Postal Service stand in a unique position, from top to bottom our men are certain as long as they conduct themselves reasonably well to retain their maximum pay down to the last day they remain in the Service, and whatever their class may be, whether postmen, or sorting clerks, or telegraphists, or officers of higher grade, they continue, failing misconduct, to rise to the maximum pay of their class, quite regardless of whether they are worth the higher pay that they get from year to year.” The only concession that Mr. Hill was willing to recommend was, that in the larger towns the time required for postmen and telegraphists to rise from the minimum scale of pay to the maximum be reduced from 13 years to 6 years.171

Mr. J. C. Badcock, Controller of the Metropolitan Postal Service other than the Service in the London Central Post Office, and Mr. H. C. Fischer, Controller of the London Central Post Office, joined in Mr. Lewin Hill’s recommendation. Mr. Fischer added that the London telegraphists should be given better chances of passing from the second class to the first class than they had enjoyed in the last three or four years,172 and that the pay of the London senior telegraphists, who were a kind of assistants to the assistant superintendents, ought to be raised above the existing scale of $950.

Mr. C. H. Kerry, Postmaster at Stoke-on-Trent, stated that if the Post Office Department “was willing to act, not only the part of the model employer, but of an exceptionally liberal employer; and it was thought after all that had been done for the staff so recently, that still a little further should be done,” the Department might reduce from 13 years to 5 years the period that it took the rank and file to pass from the minimum salary of their class to the maximum salary. But there was no necessity of doing anything for any one, “on a general consideration of the pay given elsewhere to persons performing duties requiring about the same amount of intelligence.” There was “absolutely no justification” for increasing the existing maximum of pay.

Mr. Kerry had entered the Post Office telegraph service in 1870, after having served with the Electric and International Company from 1854 to 1870. He said: “The speed at which the telegraphists had to work present, that is the speed per man,173 because the telegraph companies kept only enough force for the minimum work, and when the work increased you had to catch that up by increased effort…. As a previous witness said, one of the laws of the service is that there must be no delay, but I think there is a well understood law, also, that there must be no confusion, and the arrangements made are now such that the maximum of work, as a rule, can be dealt with without undue pressure…. From 1870 to 1889, I was constantly in the Telegraph branch and witnessing from day to day, and almost from hour to hour, the work which the telegraphists performed….”174

This testimony from Mr. Kerry must be borne in mind when reading the complaints of the Post Office telegraphists that the salaries paid by the Eastern Telegraph [Cable] Company rise to $1,020 a year, whereas the salaries of first class telegraphists in London rise only to $950. The employees of the Eastern Telegraph Company have to work under so much greater pressure than the State telegraphists, that Mr. Fischer, Controller of the London Central Telegraph Office, was able to state: “I have never known a telegraphist in the first class to leave our service for that of any of the [Cable] companies. The cable companies draw very few men from us, and those drawn away as a rule, are young men in the second class who are receiving about $250 or $300, and are attracted by the prospect of an immediate increase of some $150 upon entrance into the service of the cable companies.”175

Those telegraph offices which are not sufficiently important to justify the employment of telegraphists of the first class, are divided into four groups: B, C, D and E. The Tweedmouth Committee recommended that the maximum salary of the telegraphists in the offices of Group E be raised from $8 a week to $8.50: in offices of group D from $8.75 to $9; in offices of group C from $9.50 to $10; and in offices of group B from $10 to $11. It recommended furthermore that all provincial telegraphists should rise automatically and without regard to efficiency, to a salary of not less than $10 a week. Beyond $10 they should not go, unless fully competent. The Committee added that it placed “the efficiency bar at the high figure of $10 a week,176 for the special reason that it may be rigorously enforced, and that all inducements to treat it as a matter of form, liable to be abrogated for the reason of compassion, may be removed.”

As for the telegraphists employed in Metropolitan London, the Tweedmouth Committee recommended that all telegraphists should rise at least to “the efficiency bar” of $560 a year; and that those who could pass the efficiency bar, should rise automatically to $800, the maximum salary of first class telegraphists. In the past, telegraphists in London had been promoted from the second class to the first class, only upon the occurrence of vacancies. In this case, also, the Committee added to its recommendation the words: “This efficiency bar has been placed at the high figure of $560 for the special reason that it may be rigorously enforced, and that all inducements to treat it as a matter of form, liable to be abrogated for reasons of compassion, may be removed.”177

These recommendations the Tweedmouth Committee made in order to meet the complaints advanced by the Post Office employees that the falling off in the rate of increase of the business of the telegraph branch had caused a slackening in the flow of promotion.

The remaining recommendations of the Tweedmouth Committee it is not necessary to enumerate; suffice it to say, that the Postmaster General, the Duke of Norfolk, advised the Government to accept all of the Committee’s recommendations, with the statement that, on the basis of the staff of 1897, the cost of carrying out the recommendations would begin with $695,000 a year, and would rise ultimately to $1,375,000. That estimate related to both branches of the Post Office, the postal branch and the telegraph; no separate estimates were made for the several branches.

The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury accepted the Postmaster General’s recommendations, and directed the Financial Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. R. W. Hanbury, to write as follows to the Postmaster General.

“It has, of course, been necessary for my Lords to consider very carefully proposals involving so large an increase of expenditure in a single Department at one time, and they have duly weighed the reasons which the Committee adduces in support of its conclusions. While many of the proposals appear to be abundantly justified by the considerations put forward, there are others which my Lords would have hesitated to accept on any authority less entitled to respect than that by which they are supported. But, my Lords readily acknowledge the exceptional competence of the Committee to pronounce a judgment on the question which came before it, and the great care with which the inquiry has been conducted. They also note that the conclusions represent the unanimous opinion of the Committee, and that they are, in all cases, endorsed by your Grace. They have therefore decided, in view of the weight of authority by which your recommendations are supported, to accept them as they stand, and they authorize you to give effect to them as from the first of April next. They have adopted this course from a strong desire to do full justice to one of the largest and most important services of the State, and because they feel that the settlement now effected must be accepted as permanently satisfying all reasonable claims on the part of the classes included in its terms. The only condition which my Lords desire to attach to their acceptance of your proposals is that the annual increments of pay should, in all cases, be dependent on the certificate of a superior officer, that the conduct of the recipient during the preceding year has been satisfactory.”

The recommendations of the Tweedmouth Committee went into effect on April 1, 1897. On July 16, 1897, while the House of Commons was in Committee of Supply, Sir Albert K. Rollit moved the reduction of the salary of the Postmaster General by $5,000.178 Sir Albert Rollit said: “The Amendment was intended to reflect upon the report of the Tweedmouth Committee, rather than upon either the Government or the Post Office Department, for he thought more might be done to remedy the abuses which were known [shown?] to exist in the course of the report itself. To speak of the Post Office as a revenue earning machine was, in his opinion, not a full or adequate description. He shared to the full the opinion that its first object was to give facilities to the public rather than merely to earn profits, and also to do justice to its employees…. There were grievances which had not been redressed by the report, and the House had a great deal more to do in that direction. It was no answer to say that the Treasury had appropriated a large sum of $695,000 for that very purpose, for after all, what did the appropriation amount to? It only amounted to a rectification of the inadequacies of the past. It was not in London alone, but throughout the United Kingdom, that something like chronic discontent existed. The complaints were loud and widespread. He did not at all agree as to the propriety of the course intimated [by the telegraphists] by way of notice to the Postmaster General, that if the grievances were not redressed, over-time work at night would be suspended [i. e. the telegraphists would refuse to work over-time in order to compel the Government to redress their grievances]. That was an extreme remedy in cases where the public convenience and service were concerned; but, after all, every man’s labor was his own right, and if there were no disposition to remedy present grievances, even that extreme way of trying to bring about a remedy might possibly have to be resorted to. The Treasury was, of course, a barrier to a good deal. He did not say the heads of a Department did not value as much as he might do pecuniarily the services of those who contributed to the joint effect which he and they made for the public advantage, and if we had a splendid Civil Service in this country, he thought it had one great defect, and that was too glaring disproportion between the salaries of the highest officials and those of the lower, and this proportion might well be redressed.”

Sir Albert Rollit said he could not enumerate all the grievances, he would have to confine himself to the enumeration of the worst ones. He began by endorsing the contention of the telegraphists that everybody should rise automatically to a salary of $1,000 a year. The establishment of the “efficiency bars” he said, “was really a violation of the contract with the telegraph operators, and was a grave and gross injustice to them.” He maintained, also, that the Committee’s recommendation that the payment for Sunday labor be reduced from double rates to a rate and a half was “a material alteration of the contract under which servants entered the Department.” He supported the contention of the State employees that it was a grievance that some of the employees had to take their annual vacation in the winter months. “The postmen had asked that the Christmas boxes [contributions from the public] be abolished, $26 a year being added to the wages as a compromise. Evidence had been given that $1.25 a year was the real value of the Christmas boxes, but the Committee said there should be no solicitation for Christmas boxes, and no compensation for their loss.” “He hoped that a statement of grievances, which were provoking the strongest possible feeling, with disadvantage to the efficiency of the Post Office, would be listened to. He was extremely glad to recognize that the Postmaster General had been willing to receive two deputations—one on June 15, which had not yet been replied to, and one yesterday. But he would urge upon the Department and the Government that the real remedy for this strong and wide discontent was the appointment of an independent Committee, because the decision of such a tribunal composed not of officials, but of practical business men, who would perhaps have more sympathy with men in the lower grades of the service, would be loyally accepted, and thus the public would be advantaged and contentment restored to a service which was of great value to the country.” [“Hear, hear.”]

Mr. R. W. Hanbury, who, as Financial Secretary to the Treasury, represented in the House of Commons the Postmaster General, the Duke of Norfolk, replied: “that throughout the discussion some facts had been more or less left out of sight. Honorable Members ought to recollect, in the first place, that the Tweedmouth Committee gave universal satisfaction when it was appointed. It was then agreed that it was the right kind of Committee; and that the right kind of men were appointed to serve upon it. There was no preponderance of Treasury opinion upon the Committee. In fact, the only Treasury official sitting upon it was Sir Francis Mowatt. There was on it a high representative of the Post Office, and the officials of a Department were not as a rule anxious to cut down the salaries of their subordinates. Their tendency would rather be to recommend an increase in salaries. There was also on the Committee a representative of the Labor Department of the Board of Trade, who was particularly well qualified to give an opinion as to the proportion which the wages of the postal and telegraph employees bore to the wages of persons doing corresponding work outside the Post Office. Therefore the Committee was a very efficient body, and through its recommendations the salaries of the officials had already been increased by $700,000 a year, and the increase would amount to something like $1,250,000 a year in the next few years. The Treasury had accepted every recommendation of the Committee, whose suggestions had been adopted wholesale. There was no ground for complaint, therefore, in that direction.”

“Another fact which Members ought not to overlook was the political pressure which was far too frequently exercised by Civil Servants upon those who also represented them.” [“Hear, hear.”] “That was a great and growing danger. It was chiefly in London that this pressure was brought to bear…. He would give an instance of the way in which these Civil Servants spoke of the expediency of political pressure. At one of the great meetings which had been held, a speaker said there were 8,000 postmen in London, and that he hoped every one would have his name upon the register [of voters], so that at election times they could exercise their influence upon candidates and advocate the cause of higher wages. He was of the opinion that political pressure ought not to be brought to bear in that way.” [“Hear, hear.”] “Ordinary workmen could not exercise the same power, but Civil Servants could, and, whether their agitation succeeded or not, their position was secure, so that it was a case of ‘Heads, I win; tails, I don’t lose’…. Before the Royal Commission [of 1888], which had inquired into the Civil Service establishments, evidence was given with regard to the way in which pressure was brought to bear in certain constituencies upon Members, and he thought that the almost unanimous feeling of the Commission was that, if this state of things continued, it would be necessary to disfranchise the Civil Service.” [“Hear, hear.”]179

Sir Albert Rollit replied: “They had to acknowledge a very sympathetic speech from the Secretary to the Treasury. Perhaps if some honorable Members went to the Treasury in regard to this matter, accompanied by one person who might represent practically the views which were entertained by those concerned, the matter might be further gone into. He begged leave to withdraw his Amendment.”

The Secretary to the Treasury replied: “There was no objection on the part of the Treasury to hearing communications from Members of Parliament on the subject, but with regard to officials of the Post Office coming to the Treasury, he should not like to give any pledge without first consulting with the Postmaster General.”

Shortly afterward the Postmaster General, the Duke of Norfolk, and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mr. Hanbury, constituted themselves a Committee to investigate the grievances that the Tweedmouth Committee had left unredressed. All Members of the House of Commons were invited to attend the meetings of the Norfolk-Hanbury Committee, and to take part in examining the witnesses. Sir Albert Rollit presented the case of the Post Office employees. The Norfolk-Hanbury Committee recommended further concessions involving an additional outlay of $400,000 a year; and the Treasury accepted the recommendations.

The Report of the Postmaster General for the year 1897-98 stated that the concessions granted would entail a total increase of expenditure of $1,940,000 a year. The Duke of Norfolk concluded his reference to the foregoing episodes with the words: “Since that time I have declined, and I shall continue to decline, to allow decisions which have been considered by the Tweedmouth Committee, and which have been revised by Mr. Hanbury and myself, to be reopened. It is my belief that those decisions have been liberal, but whether they are liberal or not, it is for the interest of all parties that it should be understood that they are final.”

In April, 1900, Mr. R. W. Hanbury, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, stated the concessions granted by the Tweedmouth and Norfolk-Hanbury Committees were costing $2,200,000 a year. In April, 1901, Mr. Austen Chamberlain, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said they were costing $2,500,000 a year; and in April, 1903, he stated that they were costing $3,000,000 a year.180 Those figures related to the combined postal and telegraph service. So far as the latter service alone is concerned, the average expenses on account of wages and salaries rose steadily from 11.54 cents per telegram in 1895-96, to 13.02 cents in 1902-03, under an increase in the number of messages from 79,423,000 in 1895-96, to 92,471,000 in 1902-03. In 1905-06, the average in question rose to 14.29 cents, partly in consequence of the increases in wages made in response to the demands of the Civil Servants, partly in consequence of the drop in the number of telegrams to 89,478,000—as a result of the growing competition from the telephone.

In 1895-96 the receipts of the Telegraph Department proper exceeded the operating expenses by $646,000; in 1900-01, the operating expenses exceeded the receipts by $34,000; in 1903-04 the deficit rose to $1,505,000, and in 1904-05 it was $917,000. In 1905-06, the gross revenue exceeded the operating expenses by $63,500.181