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The National Free Labour Association

A Case-Study of Organised Strike-Breaking in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

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The origins of the British Labour Party are many and complex. They have formed the subject of innumerable works of historical scholarship and of journalism, for it is possible to tell the story equally forcefully in terms either of political theory or of personalities. But no matter how much weight may be given to the role of political ideas, and no matter how much importance one may attach to the appearance of the “right” men and women at the “rightrd; time, the crucial part played by the trade-union movement cannot be denied. It was the growing support derived from the trade unions which breathed life into the Labour Representation Committee after 1900, and this in spite of strongly-entrenched hostility from within the trade unions to socialism and all its works. The stages by which the unions became reconciled to, and then enthusiastic supporters of, the Labour Party are well known. Self-interest, not socialism, prompted the unions to support separate labour representation in Parliament. Until January 1901 only 29 per cent of those unions affiliated to the Trades Union Congress had decided to back the Labour Representation Committee. In the space of two years that proportion rose to over 56 per cent.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1976

References

page 309 note 1 Manuscript dedication by Collison, William at the front of a copy of his autobiography, The Apostle of Free Labour (London, 1913)Google Scholar, presented to Sir William Dunn and now in my possession.

page 309 note 2 Clegg, H. A., Fox, A. and A. F. Thompson A History of British Trade Unions since 1889, I: 1889–1910 (Oxford, 1964)Google Scholar; Gregory, R., The Miners and British Politics 1906–1914 (Oxford, 1968).Google Scholar

page 309 note 3 Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., p. 375.

page 310 note 1 Ibid., p. 315.

page 310 note 2 Chronicled ibid., pp. 55–96, 126–78.

page 310 note 3 Ibid., pp. 304–12.

page 310 note 4 Kingsford, P. W., “Labour Relations on the Railways, 1835–75”, in: Journal of Transport History, I (19531954), pp. 6669.Google Scholar

page 311 note 1 Howell, G., Labour Relations Labour Movements and Labour Leaders (London, 1902), p. 449.Google Scholar

page 311 note 2 Mann, Tom and Tillett, Ben, The “New” Trades Unionism (London, 1890), p. 6.Google Scholar

page 311 note 3 Shipton, G., “Trade Unionism, New and Old”, in: Murray's Magazine, VII (1890), p. 728.Google Scholar

page 311 note 4 Shipping Federation, Minutes of Proceedings, 18901891.Google Scholar

page 311 note 5 Ibid., Minutes of meeting of 2 September 1890; and see The Times, 30 08 1890, p. 11Google Scholar; 3 September, p. 5.

page 311 note 6 The Times, 21 10 1890, p. 8Google Scholar; 16 February 1891, p. 7; Nautical Magazine, LX (1891), pp. 426–28.Google Scholar

page 311 note 7 Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., pp. 74–75; Powell, L. H., The Shipping Federation. A History of the First Sixty Years 1890–1950 (London, 1950); pp. 78Google Scholar; Lovell, J., Stevedores and Dockers. A Study of Trade Unionism in the Port of London, 1870–1914 (London, 1969), pp. 123–46.Google Scholar

page 312 note 1 Free Labour Registration Society (Rules) (London, 1868)Google Scholar; Free Labour Gazette, 7 11 1894, p. 2Google Scholar; Bristow, E. J., “The Defence of Liberty and Property in Britain, 1880–1914” (unpublished Yale University Ph.D. thesis, 1970), p. 232.Google Scholar

page 312 note 2 The history of the League is treated in Soldon, N., “Laissez-Faire as Dogma: The Liberty and Property Defence League, 1882–1914”, in: Essays in Anti-Labour History, Ed. by Brown, K. D. (London, 1974). pp. 208–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Bristow, op. cit.

page 312 note 3 Bristow, op. cit., p. 122.

page 313 note 1 Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., pp. 174–75; and see below, p. 331.

page 313 note 2 See Collison, The Apostle of Free Labour, op. cit.

page 313 note 3 Ibid., pp. 27–29; Pall Mall Gazette, 5 October 1889, p. 2.

page 314 note 1 Collison, op. cit., pp. 41–42.

page 314 note 2 Ibid., pp. 43–44. The novel (3 vols; 1870)Google Scholar is a colourful story of trade-union tyranny based heavily on the saga of the “Sheffield outrages” which led to the appointment of the Royal Commission of 1867.

page 314 note 3 Collison, op. cit., pp. 88–89, 91–93.

page 314 note 4 On Chandler and Penrose, see J.C.M. [Manning, J. C.], The National Free Labour Association: Its Foundation, History, and Work (London, 1898), pp. 8891.Google Scholar

page 314 note 5 Collison, op. cit., pp. 93–95.

page 315 note 1 Ibid., pp. 94–95.

page 315 note 2 Rules of the National Free Labour Association (London [1902]), p. 12.Google Scholar

page 315 note 3 Morning Post, 31 10 1893, p. 4Google Scholar; 1 November, p. 5; Evening Standard, 2 11 1893, p. 4Google Scholar; Ludlow, J. M., “The National Free Labour Association”, in: Economic Review, V (1895), p. 112.Google Scholar

page 316 note 1 Collison, op. cit., p. 113.

page 316 note 2 Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., p. 259.

page 316 note 3 Herald, Sunderland, 12 10 1895, p. 2.Google Scholar

page 316 note 4 Free Labour Gazette, January 1895, passim; National Free Labour Association, J. “Havelock” Wilson, M.P. Daylight on his Career (London [1895]), p. 13.Google Scholar

page 316 note 5 Collison, op. cit., pp. 123–38; Free Labour Gazette, April 1896, passim.

page 317 note 1 de Rousiers, P., Le Trade-Unionisme en Angleterre (Paris, 1897), p. 353Google Scholar; The Times, 9 10 1895, p. 11Google Scholar; 10 October, p. 8.

page 317 note 2 The Critic, 2 07 1898, p. 22Google Scholar. On Sennett, see below, pp. 327–28.

page 317 note 3 The Critic, 2 07 1898, pp. 2324Google Scholar. And see Mantoux, P. and Alfassa, M., La Crise du Trade-Unionisme (Paris, 1903), pp. 208–09.Google Scholar

page 317 note 4 Royal Commission on Trade Disputes [Parliamentary Papers, 1906, LVI, Cd 2826], q. 5443.Google Scholar

page 317 note 5 Collison, op. cit., p. 96; Ludlow, loc. cit., p. 116; Free Labour, 15 11 1898, p. 6Google Scholar. Sennett certainly had a police record, see The Critic, 23 07 1898, p. 18Google Scholar; Free Labour Gazette, 07 1895, p. 8.Google Scholar

page 318 note 1 The original title, Free Labour Gazette, was changed to Free Labour in 1896, and to Free Labour Press in 1899.

page 318 note 2 Collison, op. cit., pp. 106–07. Joicey started his political career as a Liberal, but joined the Conservatives in 1931.

page 318 note 3 Free Labour Gazette, 02 1895, p. 5Google Scholar; July, p. 7.

page 318 note 4 Ibid., April, p. 4 (against John Burns); May, pp. 4–6 (against Tillett).

page 318 note 5 Free Labour Press, 8 12 1900, pp. 78Google Scholar; 29 December, pp. 5–6.

page 318 note 6 Pall Mall Gazette, 10 10 1906, p. 7Google Scholar; 11 October, p. 7.

page 319 note 1 Free Labour Press, 13 10 1906, p. 1Google Scholar; 3 November, pp, 4–5; 17 November, pp. 5–6, 8; The Times, 15 11 1906, p. 13.Google Scholar

page 319 note 2 The Times, 17 09 1908, p. 10Google Scholar; 28 October, p. 16. Churchill refused to meet a deputation from the Imperial Industries Club to discuss the matter when he discovered that Collison would be present.

page 319 note 3 Ibid., 16 September 1909, p. 12; 26 October, p. 10; 8 February 1910, p. 6; 14 November, p. 8. The condemnation of labour exchanges was prompted by the news that they were to be run by the Board of Trade's Labour Department, which many employers regarded as monopolised by ex-trade-union officials, ibid., 29 October 1913, p. 5.

page 319 note 4 Ibid., 31 October 1911, p. 10.

page 319 note 5 Alderman, G., The Railway Interest (Leicester, 1973), pp. 158, 168, 315.Google Scholar

page 319 note 6 Saville, J., “Trade Unions and Free Labour: The Background to the Taff Vale Decision”, in: Essays in Labour History, Ed. by Briggs, A. and Saville, J. (London, 1960), p. 338Google Scholar; Royal Commission on Trade Disputes, ibid.; The Times, 1 November 1894, p. 8.

page 320 note 1 Alderman, op. cit., p. 13.

page 320 note 2 Collison, op. cit., p. 278.

page 320 note 3 Collison's autobiography is littered with anti-Jewish sentiments.

page 320 note 4 Free Labour Gazette, 08 1895, pp. 1 and 6Google Scholar; the four were J. W. Benn (St George's-in-the-East), W. H. Dickinson (Stepney), W. C. Steadman (Hammersmith) and W. M. Thompson (Limehouse).

page 320 note 5 Free Labour, 15 02 1897, p. 59.Google Scholar Sinclair won.

page 320 note 6 Ibid., 15 April 1898, p. 6; Leytonstone Express, 9 04 1898, p. 3.Google Scholar

page 320 note 7 Free Labour, 15 03 1899, p. 5Google Scholar; Leytonstone Express, 1 04 1899, p. 2.Google Scholar

page 321 note 1 Free Labour Press, 31 10 1903, pp. 58.Google Scholar

page 321 note 2 Ibid.

page 321 note 3 The Times, 21 10 1902, p. 9.Google Scholar

page 321 note 4 Ibid., 25 October 1904, p. 10; 26 October, p. 4.

page 321 note 5 Ibid., 31 October 1905, p. 11.

page 321 note 6 Ibid., 16 October 1906, p. 7.

page 321 note 7 Ibid., 30 October, p. 14.

page 321 note 8 Ibid., 10 October 1908, p. 4; 27 October, p. 8; 13 September 1910, p. 8; 29 October 1912, p. 10.

page 321 note 9 Ibid., 27 October 1909, p. 20

page 321 note 10 Ibid., 29 October 1907, p. 14. Collison had made a collection of various pieces of ironmongery and stones which, he claimed, trade unions used as methods of “peaceful persuasion”; Ellis denounced this ”museum” as a fraud. Royal Commission on Trade Disputes, ibid.

page 322 note 1 Collison, dealt with the political actions of 1910 in his autobiography, op. cit., pp. 278–87.

page 322 note 2 The Times, 13 10 1897, p. 12.Google Scholar

page 323 note 1 Collison, op. cit, pp. 95, 99–101.

page 323 note 2 The Times, 2 11 1893, p. 6Google Scholar; 22 November, p. 3.

page 323 note 3 Collison, op. cit., pp. 101–02. Collison's father was part of the organisation and no doubt helped to enroll other ex-policemen, Free Labour, 15 September 1897, pp. 117–18. Ex-police officers were evidently much in demand at this time for the supervision of strike-breaking activities: Earl of Wemyss and March, Memories 1818–1912 (2 vols; Edinburgh, 1912), II, p. 224.Google Scholar Ex-army men were especially suited for protection duties, Free Labour Press, 20 05 1895, p. 6.Google Scholar

page 323 note 4 Ibid., 11 April 1903, p. 7; The Times, 9 04 1903, p. 4.Google Scholar

page 323 note 5 Free Labour Press, 7 05 1904, p. 6.Google Scholar

page 323 note 6 Ibid., 2 September 1905, p. 6.

page 324 note 1 Ibid., 21 October, p. 8. J.C.M., op. cit., p. 96; Royal Commission, ibid.

page 324 note 2 Collison, op. cit., p. 95.

page 324 note 3 Free Labour, 15 03 1897, p. 70Google Scholar; Free Labour Press, 7 07 1900, p. 6Google Scholar; The Times, 11 08 1896, p. 10.Google Scholar

page 324 note 4 Free Labour, 15 10 1897, p. 125Google Scholar; 15 November, p. 139.

page 324 note 5 Ibid., 15 November 1898, p. 7.

page 324 note 6 Ibid., 15 July 1897, p. 104. The Times, 9 08 1897, p. 6Google Scholar; 13 September, p. 10; 17 November, p. 6; Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., p. 172.

page 324 note 7 Free Labour Press, 10 08 1901, p. 7Google Scholar; 17 August, pp. 6–7; Collison, op. cit., pp. 184–90.

page 324 note 8 Free Labour Press, 4 10 1902, p. 7Google Scholar; 6 December, pp. 6–7.

page 324 note 9 Ibid., 7 April 1906, p. 4; Railway Times, 1 09 1900, pp. 250–51Google Scholar; Collison, op. cit., pp. 139–57; Alderman, op. cit., p. 168.

page 325 note 1 House of Commons Debates, Fourth Series, CLIV, cc. 1337–40, speech by Bell, Richard, 28 03 1906.Google Scholar

page 325 note 2 Free Labour Press, 13 12 1902, p. 1.Google Scholar

page 325 note 3 Ibid., 4 January 1902, p. 8.

page 325 note 4 Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., pp. 326–63.

page 325 note 5 Free Labour Press, 28 11 1903, p. 5Google Scholar; 29 December, pp. 6–7; 5 March 1904, p. 2.

page 325 note 6 Ibid., 1 April 1905, p. 6; 8 April, p. 7; 17 June, p. 7. The strike collapsed.

page 325 note 7 Alderman, op. cit., pp. 199, 327.

page 326 note 1 Collison, op. cit., pp. 288–93; Daily Graphic, 30 May 1912, p. 4; 31 May, p. 5.

page 326 note 2 Bristow, op. cit., p. 258.

page 326 note 3 House of Commons Debates, Fifth Series, XXXIX, cc. 872–986, 12 06 1912.Google Scholar

page 326 note 4 Powell, op. cit., pp. 8–9.

page 326 note 5 The Critic, 25 06 1898, pp. 2122.Google Scholar

page 326 note 6 Royal Commission, ibid.

page 327 note 1 Morning Post, 19 07 1881, p. 3Google Scholar; The Times, 9 02 1886, p. 6Google Scholar; 9 September 1887, p. 12; The Star, 6 05 1889, p. 3Google Scholar; Brown, B. H., The Tariff Reform Movement in Great Britain 1881–1895 (New York, 1943), pp. 3139Google Scholar; J. Saville, loc. cit., pp. 332–34.

page 327 note 2 Evidence before the Royal Commission on Labour [Parliamentary Papers, 1892, XXXV, C. 6708 V], qq. 8915, 9272–76, 9291–92.Google Scholar

page 327 note 3 The Critic, 9 07 1898, p. 20.Google Scholar

page 327 note 4 Ibid., 23 July, p. 18.

page 327 note 5 The Sun, 17 09 1894, p. 3Google Scholar; 19 September, p. 2. Reynolds's Newspaper (13 05 1894, p. 1Google Scholar; 27 May, p. 1; 3 June, p. 3; 17 June, p. 1) printed lists of subscribers, from which it appears that a total of over £850 was donated. The largest single contribution came from the Central Conservative Association, which, through the party's Chief Agent, Captain Middleton, gave £150. The Shipping Federation's cash contribution was £123.

page 328 note 1 The Critic, 2 07 1898, p. 24.Google Scholar

page 328 note 2 The Sun, 27 09 1894, p. 2Google Scholar; The Times, 26 03 1907, p. 15.Google Scholar

page 328 note 3 Saville, loc. cit., pp. 326–30; Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., pp. 80–81.

page 328 note 4 The Critic, 23 07 1898, p. 18.Google Scholar

page 328 note 5 The Sun, 21 09 1894, p. 2Google Scholar; 25 September, p. 2.

page 328 note 6 As asserted by Saville, loc. cit., p. 339.

page 328 note 7 Alderman, op. cit., pp. 168–69.

page 328 note 8 Ludlow, loc. cit., p. 114.

page 328 note 9 Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway, Proceedings of the Board of Directors, MSL 1/28, minute 16011, 31 May 1895; Taff Vale Railway Directors' Minute Book, TV 1/10, minute 1547, 28 May 1895, British Transport Historical Records, Public Record Office, London.

page 329 note 1 Daily Chronicle, 2 11 1895, p. 9.Google Scholar

page 329 note 2 The Critic, 25 05 1898, pp. 2122.Google Scholar

page 329 note 3 Ibid. The suspicion must remain strong that Collison varied the membership roll, and the theoretical rate of subscription, to suit his publicity needs.

page 329 note 4 Ibid., 18 June 1898, p. 13; 2 July, p. 25.

page 329 note 5 Private information.

page 329 note 6 Alderman, op. cit., p. 167.

page 329 note 7 The Times, 10 10 1899, p. 9.Google Scholar

page 330 note 1 Collison, op. cit., p. 250.

page 330 note 2 Livesey to Collison, 3 October 1899, in Collison, op. cit., p. 244.

page 330 note 3 Livesey, to Sennett, , 29 04 1892, in Reynolds's Newspaper, 13 05 1894, p. 1.Google Scholar

page 330 note 4 Livesey to Collison, 18 September 1903, in Collison, op. cit., pp. 248–50.

page 330 note 5 Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., p. 171.

page 330 note 6 Collison, op. cit., p. 309.

page 330 note 7 Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., p. 173; The Times, 6 09 1897, p. 10.Google Scholar Anger by employers at the passing of the Workmen's Compensation Act, in 1897, was also apparently a factor contributing to the formation of the Free Labour Protection Association, Earl of Wemyss and March, op. cit., II, p. 134.

page 330 note 8 The [Free] Labour Protection Association, The Law Relating to Picketing as laid down by Recent Judgments (London, 1899), p. 14.Google Scholar

page 330 note 9 Bristow, op. cit., p. 234; Ludlow, J. M., “The Labour Protection Association”, in: Economic Review, IX (1899), pp. 244–46Google Scholar. Shaxby's, W. J. famous book The Case Against Picketing (London, 1897)Google Scholar contained at the front the rules of the Free Labour Protection Association; the book was published by Lord Wemyss's Liberty Review Publishing Company, and the author was an official of the Liberty and Property Defence League, Royal Commission on Trade Disputes, q. 3208; Bristow, op. cit., p. 254.

page 331 note 1 Collison, op. cit., p. 309; The Times, 8 09 1897, p. 8.Google Scholar

page 331 note 2 Collison to Wemyss, 5 November 1897, Wemyss Manuscripts, RH 4/40/13, Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh.

page 331 note 3 The Times, 10 01 1898, p. 7.Google Scholar On the activities of the Free Labour Protection Association, see Frederick Millar (secretary) to Wemyss, 29 October and 14 December 1897; Wemyss Manuscripts, ibid., Henry Fielding (secretary of the General Union of Carpenters and Joiners, Blackburn branch) to Wemyss, 18 December 1897, and Millar to Wemyss, 31 December, Wemyss Manuscripts, RH 4/40/14. Millar, who became secretary of the Employers' Parliamentary Council, admitted to the Royal Commission on Trade Disputes in 1904 that the Free Labour Protection Association “does not [now] exist as an active body”, though it was still functioning in 1907, op. cit., qq. 3360, 3416; The Times, 3 01 1907, p. 2.Google Scholar

page 331 note 4 The [Free] Labour Protection Association, Report of Proceedings, 1898 [London, 1898]. p. 7.Google Scholar Browne was also president of the Engineering Employers' Federation, and the formation of both the Free Labour Protection Association and the Employers' Parliamentary Council must clearly be seen against the background of the 1897 engineering lock-out; see the Railway News, 8 January 1898, p. 69, and Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., pp. 173–74.

page 331 note 5 Transport, 23 12 1898, p. 526.Google Scholar

page 331 note 6 Like de Rousiers's party, they came under the auspices of the Musée Social.

page 331 note 7 Mantoux and Alfassa, op. cit.

page 332 note 1 Ibid., pp. 325–26. In a slightly different version of this interview, on p. 213, Wemyss is reported as saying “nearly all its funds”.

page 332 note 2 Ibid., p. 316. The articles, under the title “The Crisis in British Industry”, appeared anonymously and were later reprinted, under Pratt's, name, as Trade Unionism and British Industry (London, 1904)Google Scholar; they repeated many of the accusations made against the trade unions at successive National Free Labour Association congresses.

page 332 note 3 Mantoux and Alfassa, op. cit., pp. 214, 326. That The Times' articles originated within the circle of Lord Wemyss is beyond doubt. On 22 February 1902 Millar wrote to the Rhymney Railway board of directors to ask them to buy the book form of the articles; the directors agreed to buy 200 copies. Rhymney Railway Board of Directors Minute Book, RHY 1/8, p. 344, 7 March 1902, British Transport Historical Records.

page 332 note 4 Mantoux and Alfassa, op. cit., pp. 81–82, 182–87.

page 332 note 5 Ibid., pp. 316–17.

page 332 note 6 Ibid., p. 203.

page 333 note 1 There is, apart from the evidence already offered, some qualitative documentation in the Wemyss Manuscripts of a certain formality, even coldness, in the relationship between Collison and Wemyss. In 1906 Millar warned the Earl against having his name connected with the National Free Labour Association, which, he alleged, “has, with good reason, the reputation of being an entirely bogus affair”, Millar to Wemyss, 15 October 1906, RH 4/40/17. I am grateful to the present Earl of Wemyss for permission to reproduce this quotation.

page 333 note 2 Mantoux and Alfassa, op. cit., pp. 212, 215, 321–22; Clegg, Fox and Thompson, op. cit., p. 172.

page 333 note 3 There are no precise figures to indicate the impact the association had upon the outcome of strikes and lock-outs. There is, however, a series of statistics, issued annually by the Labour Department of the Board of Trade (and printed in the Parliamentary Papers), showing the proportion of such disputes settled by “replacement of workpeople” generally. Between 1889 and 1893 inclusive (the years of new unionism) the figure was 15 per cent; 1894–1901, 12 per cent; 1902–05 (the Taff Vale years), 14 per cent; but 1906–13, only 8 per cent.

page 334 note 1 National Free Labour Association, Special Bulletin, “The Workshop Army” (handbill in the possession of the author).

page 334 note 2 The Times, 21 11 1923, p. 18.Google Scholar

page 334 note 3 Ibid., 21 December 1926, p. 9.

page 334 note 4 Ibid., 4 January 1927, p. 12.

page 334 note 5 The Post Office London Directory (1928), p. 1836. The address is interesting. In 1896 the London printing trade called on the services of the association to counter the influence of the London Society of Compositors. A Free Labour Bureau was accordingly opened for the printing and allied trades at 5 Farringdon Avenue, off Fleet Street. In view of Collison's journalistic activities, this may therefore simply have been an accommodation address for the association, J.C.M., op. cit., p. 60. Until June 1899 the association's offices were at 79 Fenchurch Street, Free Labour, 15 04 1899, p. 8.Google Scholar

page 335 note 1 The association is not listed in The Post Office London Directory after 1928.

page 335 note 2 For other organisations dedicated to the supply of blackleg labour, apart from those already mentioned, see Phelps Brown, E. H., The Growth of British Industrial Relations. A Study from the Standpoint of 1906–14 (London, 1959), pp. 166–67Google Scholar; Saville, loc. cit., pp. 326, 330; Royal Commission on Labour, Vol. II [PP, 1892, XXXVI, C. 6795 V], qq. 12162–64, 12487Google Scholar; Vol. III [C. 6795 VIII], pp. 141–47; Royal Commission on Trade Disputes, qq. 4294–314. As late as 1912 a National Society of Free Workers Limited was established in Yorkshire, Railway Times, 28 09 1912, p. 329Google Scholar; 5 July 1913, p. 19.

page 335 note 3 Collison, op. cit., p. 320.

page 336 note 1 Ibid., p. 327.