Sheffield Daily Telegraph – Tuesday 02 February 1904

Denaby Strike Case

The Action Against The Miners’ Association

Evidence Of Intimidation

Opening Of The Defence

In the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice yesterday, before Mr. Justice Lawrance and a special jury, the hearing was again resumed of the action brought by the Denaby and Cadeby Main Collieries (Limited) against the Yorkshire Miners’ Association and Mr. Benjamin Pickard, M.P., and other officials of the Association, to recover £150,000 damages for conspiracy and unlawful combination for inducing workmen not to enter into contracts, and also for inducing them to break their lawful contracts. The Association denied any unlawful act, and said if any were committed the association was not liable. Mr. George Croggs, Mr. Joseph Smith, and Mr. Enoch Kaye pleaded that they were the trustees for the Association, and were prepared to submit to any order the Court might make. Mr. Benjamin Pickard, M.P., Mr. John Wadsworth, Mr. William Parrott, Mr. John Fritz, and Mr. Fred Hall admitted that they were officials of the Association, and denied that any unlawful acts were committed, or that the plaintiffs suffered any damage. Mr. John Nolan and Mr. Henry Humphries put in no defence.

Mr. Eldon Bankes, K.C., Mr. Montagu Lush, K.C., and Mr. Cantley, M.P., appeared for the plaintiffs; Mr. Rufus Isaacs, K.C., Mr. Danckwerts, K.C., and Mr. Lockins represented the Yorkshire Miners’ Association; and Mr. Atherley Jones, K.C., M.P., Mr. Samuel Evans, K.C., M.P., and Mr. Compton represented Mr. Benjamin Pickard, M.P., and the other defendants.

William Gill, a dataller employed at the Denaby Main Colliery, was the first witness called. He said he did not have to be called on Sunday, June 29th, before he started for work. He intended to go on the night shift, and in the middle of the highway he met Benjamin Raybold and John Nolan. The latter spoke to him, and asked where he was going. Witness replied that he was going to work. Nolan then said there had been a meeting that morning, and it had been settled that the wheels were to be stopped. He added that they had been there at six o’clock, and had stopped the six o’clock shift, and had now come down to stop the one o’clock shift.

Witness replied that if that were so it was no use his going any further. He turned round, and emptied his bottle, and said he was going home again.

Mr. Bankes: Did you go again after that?—No.
Why?—Because they stopped us. They were there night and morning.
Were you willing to go to work?—Yes.
Did you know Nolan?—Yes.

His Lordship: Was Nolan a collier?
Mr. Bankes: I am told he is a dayman, and works in the stalls in the employment of the colliery. (To witness): Do you know whether Nolan occupied any position on the committee?—Yes.

Mr. Bankes, at this stage, said he would like to call his Lordship’s attention to an oversight about the question of the open ballot. They would remember that when he was going to call evidence about the way in which the ballot was taken, and his Lordship would not admit it because it was not in the particulars. He had since searched the particulars, and had found that they had given particulars, and now he desired to call evidence as to the way the open ballot was taken.

Mr. Jones submitted that the fact of this being in the particulars did not, in the smallest degree, affect the objection which had been taken by his learned friend, Mr. Isaacs. What Mr. Bankes wanted was in some way to call evidence that the ballot was improperly taken. Of course, it would be perfectly proper to give evidence about the ballot, but there was no allegation about it in the particulars. If there had been they would have been found to have provided material showing that it had been properly taken.

His Lordship intimated that he was going to admit the evidence.

Mr. Danckwerts supported what his learned friend, Mr. Jones, had said.

His Lordship said they had better get on with the evidence.

Men Who Were Molested

Paul Beggs said he had been working at the Cadeby Pit for seven or eight weeks before the strike commenced. He remembered going to work on Monday, June 30, and he saw a crowd of men and women at the corner of Kilner’s Bridge. They included Brog, Collier, and several others. The jury intimated that they could not hear the witness.

His Lordship (to witness): Speak a little louder—as though you were at the Denaby mine. (Laughter.)

Witness said the men were at the side of the roadway. It was about half-past five in the morning. The men said they were going to stop the wheels until terms had been arrived at. Witness did not go to work that day. He signed on again on the 24th July, and from that date to August he went to his work day by day down to the time of July 24.

Mr. Lockins: What happened as you went to work after July 24?
Mr. Danckwerts: I object, my Lord.
His Lordship said the evidence had better be heard.

Mr. Lush: What happened to you several days before you left off work?
Witness: They shouted “black legs” and “rotten pigs.”

Was there a large crowd?—The street was lined.
Were they going anything besides shouting?—They were thumping tin cans, and had got sheep’s heads on sticks.
Was anything done to anyone that you saw?—On August 13 a man named Westlake was hit with a hard substance on the side of the head.
Did you see any of the committee-men there then?—I saw Brog, Collier, Dickenson, and Hurst, and Philip Humphries.

Witness added that he saw the committee-men about on several occasions.

Were they doing anything at all to stop these shouts and driving?—No; they never seemed to bother.

Witness said he was present at a meeting on July 15, when Mr. Wadsworth was there. He heard this gentleman speak, and he also saw him give out the ballot.

Mr. Danckwerts objected to this evidence.

Mr. Lush: This evidence is to identify the whole of the occurrences of what was done with officials of the Union.

Mr. Danckwerts: This was a ballot of a branch, not of the Union.

Witness said Brog and several other members of the committee distributed ballot papers.

Mr. Jones rose to object to this matter being gone into.

His Lordship: I have already said that we would go into it. I said so half an hour ago. I don’t know whether I can speak any plainer than that.

Witness said Brog sat at the table when the ballot was taken. As the men filed up they were given a paper which they filled up, and dropped into a box.

Cross-examined by Mr. Jones, witness said he was working on August 19. He saw some of the committee-men in the street. There were a great many women and children, and everyone was shouting about the men who were going to their work.

Mr. Danckwerts asked whether on the occasion of the ballot a man could go where he liked to mark his paper.
Witness: Yes.
Did anyone compel them to fill it up at the table?—They were what you may say compelled to fill it up there.

Henry Watkinson said he was a driver at the Denaby pit. He got as far as the railway crossing, when he met Nolan, who said, “We have decided to stop the wheels; we get more money.” Witness said, “I suppose we will have to go back.” Nolan then said, “Yes, you will have to go back home.” Witness turned round, and emptied his bottle, and went back. There were between 11 and 11 men there who had been spoken to.

When Nolan said he would have to go home it seemed like a threat.

Were you willing to go to work?—Yes.

Witness said the men who had been at work leaving the pit. He saw a large number of men and women, and calling them “blacklegs.” They were carrying black sheep’s heads on tins.

Benjamin Leadbetter, a dataller, who worked at the Cadeby pit, said he had not been working on Sunday, 29th July; he did not hear anything. On Sunday evening, and on Monday, the men assembled at Kilner’s Bridge, and they had to come by the canal side. He did not meet anybody that morning, and when he got home he found the pit was stopped. He continued working at the pit until two days before they stopped. During that time Brog, as members of the committee, and said witness wanted throwing into the “cut”; they had been working.

“Why did you stop?”—Because I was afraid to go any more.

“What was it that made you afraid?”—Because they kept threatening me.

“Who do you mean by them?”—I don’t know their names.

Witness added that when he was coming over Pitt Hill he could see crowds in the roads. He did not go home by the roads, but went by the canal side.

Cross-examined by Mr. Isaacs, witness said there was a good deal of excitement, and he did not care to go among the crowds.

Mr. Isaacs: You kept the water between you and them? (Laughter.)

Witness saw the notices which were put up on August 19 about stopping the pits.

John Hill said he worked at the Cadeby pit as a pony driver. When they struck work he was ill. One day he saw John Cairns at the father’s eating office. He said he wanted him to come out with him.

Mr. Lush: Did they say anything to you when you passed?
Witness: Yes.
What did they say?

Mr. Isaacs objected.

His Lordship thought the evidence could be admitted.

Continuing, witness said Cairns asked him whether he had got a cigarette, and witness replied that he had not got one. Cairns then said, “If you go to work again we shall check you in some nice way.”

Witness said he was a large number of people on the roads who shouted “No road for blacklegs.” He saw Nolan there, Hurst, Phil Humphries, Dickenson, and others. He was struck in the back by half a brick, and had to go to a doctor.

“Does that seem better did you go to work again?”—Yes, a day or two afterwards.

The Judge And “Playing Hamlet”

Witness said the crowd subsequently started smashing windows, and “playing Hamlet.” (Laughter.)

Mr. Lush: Who played Hamlet? (Laughter.)

His Lordship: It is a north-country expression, though they more often use “one-horse.” (Laughter.)

Cross-examined, witness said when he was hit with the brick he summoned young Cairns, and afterwards his mother. They were bound over to keep the peace.

Mr. Isaacs said the summonses against them were dismissed.

Francis George Westlake said he was on his way to work at the Cadeby Colliery on Monday, June 30, when he met several men who said there had been a stoppage, and told him not to go to work. But witness went on his way. When he returned he saw a crowd which was “slightly threatening.” He went to the ballot meeting on 15th July, at Casey’s, a committee-man, gave him a ballot paper. There was not the slightest secrecy about it, though to his mind a ballot should be secret.

On the next day witness signed on, and worked until 13th August. Both in going and coming he was several times interfered with.

“And what way?”—We had to pass through a crush, men, women, and children were so far beasts as to act as they were pushed. I don’t know that it was intended to molest me.

His Lordship: No. (Laughter.)

Continuing, witness said on the last time he came home sickness and stones were flying, and he had his head cut open. The crowd came round his house, and witness thought it best to stop at home. A lad came into his garden, and it was a good job for him that witness did not get hold of him.

Cross-examined by Mr. Isaacs, witness said a lad came into his garden with a sheep’s head on a pole, and poked it into his window. He had to walk through the crowd going to and from his work. There were several thousand people there, but in spite of the crowd he got through all right up to the time when he was struck by the piece of wood.

Isaac Weatherley was the last witness. He said he thought it was only an interference to be spoken to.

Re-examined by Mr. Bankes, witness said there could not get along at night until the police cleared the roads.

Joseph White, a deputy at the Denaby Colliery, said he heard nothing of the meeting on July 29. He went to work, and continued to work. He remembered Nolan speaking to him one day in August. Nolan said, “Why don’t you pull some dirt on them and bury them?” Witness said, “Who do you mean?” Nolan replied, “Harrison and Rushforth.”

Cross-examined by Mr. Jones, witness said it was not usual for a deputy to be a member of the Union, though he had been a member before he was a deputy. Nolan had been a friend of his.

“And you did not think that he meant what he said?”—I didn’t do it. (Laughter.)

Re-examined: The “muck” was the rock overlying the coal. If it was pulled on a man it would kill him.

Benjamin Wall, a corporal at Cadeby Pit, said he was at the meeting on July 29, when there were two or three hundred men present. When he came from work on the Monday he saw a group of men at Kilner’s Bridge. They included Messrs. Brog, Hurst, Dickenson, Phil, and Harry Humphries, and Casey, members of the committee. He worked for about a month or five weeks after the pit was closed.

“What happened to you as you came back from your work?”—On the first day I was followed home by a crowd who were hooting and blowing horns, and they stayed there about a quarter of an hour.

“What were they doing?”—They were hooting and shouting “Blackleg,” and “Fetch him out,” and “Fetch him out.” I stayed in my house. (Laughter.)

“How long was this before the pits were closed?”—Two or three days.

Witness did not find it easy to get through the crowds. He went to his work again after the day when the crowd was outside his house. Near Kilner’s Bridge he saw two or three thousand people.

“What were they doing?”—Well, when they got there they had fallen in ranks with the sheep’s heads and horns. We went down the street with the sheep’s heads, and when I got to Whiteslee’s Bank they got me into a house close by, and threw stones, and put sheep’s heads, and tin cans, and stones, and everything into the house.

When he came out of the house he asked a police-constable to see him home, but the officer told him to go down the road by himself. (Laughter.)

Isaac Keeling, a dataller, gave evidence that he did not go to work because he was afraid. He saw the people assault Berry on July 2. He was at the ballot. On the 16th July he signed on at the pit, but he came away with a man named William Pemberton. As the bag dirt question continued, he did not affect him. He did not give notice, and he continued to work till the 15th or 16th day of August. They were accompanied by sheep-head processions, and they were molested in different ways. He was struck with some hard substance, and no more work because he really dared not go any longer.

Cross-examined by Mr. Rufus Isaacs: He did not go to work at all between the 2nd and 15th July. The ballots which had been taken on previous occasions were more secret than the ballot which was taken in the field, and he thought that if there had been a proper ballot there would have been no strike.

Re-examined by Mr. Bankes: They had had a ballot before on the same question, and it was taken on the pit hill.

William Henry Pemberton, a dataller at the Cadeby Colliery, said he was also present when the ballot was taken on the 15th of July, and there was nothing secret about it. When he and others came from Kilner’s Bridge some of the committee men at Kilner’s Bridge, and they were asked by them to come back, and they were not ashamed to go to work against the body of miners. He said no, because the bag dirt question had nothing to do with him. They said that they would have to cease working otherwise they should have to. He thought it was Collier who said that.

Police-sergeant Turner said that in consequence of the resolution of the meeting, held on the Sunday, to stop the wheels at the colliery, the men passed on their way to the pit. He was there continuously up to the time the pits were closed. At the beginning of the strike and following days, he saw a good many men standing at the bridge corner, watching the men going to work. He saw the committee men of the local branch of the union daily. He also saw women going to work, and returning, without actually going.

Things got worse in August, and extra police were drafted into the place. The numbers of men who were going to work lessened up to the 18th. On that day he saw Howden followed by 1,000 or 2,000 men. The roads were lined, knocked down by Terrell, who also assaulted witness, and taken into custody, convicted, and fined.

In August 4,000 and 5,000 people were in the crowd. It was on occasions mounted men were called up. Before the Court were called up. The applications for the eviction orders did not cause much sensation. They did not care anything about it. He maintained that suggestions were going to strike pay, and heard that they were going to give in terms, and afterwards did not go into it.

So far as he could see, some of the men were pleased rather than otherwise. They had been living in their cottages for years, and some of them had got large families, and he suggested that those people did not care about being turned out. He was not unduly friendly to the colliery company.

Constables Harrison and Ruby, who were drafted into the district, bore out this statement of Howden, that he was assaulted first, and said there was no foundation for the suggestion that Howden began the attack.

The plaintiffs’ case was closed.

Mr. Bankes then put in certain books and documents bearing on the case, including the expenditure book of the association, showing that between July 26 and January 23 £13,973 was paid by the Denaby Branch under the heading of lock-out money, and £9,643 by the Cadeby Branch, some of the money having been paid after the decision given in the Courts.

The Case For The Defence

Mr. Isaacs said from the way in which the case had been presented to his Lordship and the jury, he thought there must be an enormous amount of confusion and misconception as to what the rights of the parties were. He was not unmindful of the fact that some of the evidence would more directly give rise to a course of action which was more difficult, and which he would have to deal with again. But a great part of the evidence was utterly beside the question, and he wanted particularly to deal with this matter, and to ask his Lordship for a ruling upon it, so that they might know where they stood.

One of the first points of his learned friend was that there was a strike on the 29th of June, which, according to his view and his (Mr. Isaacs’s), constituted a breach of contract between the men and the employers, and with that part of the case his submission was that he had nothing to do, because the evidence did not in the slightest degree affect the Yorkshire Miners’ Association, for whom he appeared.

Dealing with two periods, one up to the 15th of July, and the other from the 15th of July, he submitted with reference to the first that there was no evidence against the association. This was a very important case, more important in his view than the Taff Vale case, and the question his learned friend raised was that, because members of the committee of the branch or branches of the union at Cadeby and Denaby had taken part in the meetings, and knew what the men were doing, and with their knowledge, to stop the wheels, and because that constituted a breach of contract, inasmuch as the men came out without giving 14 days’ notice when they were compelled to do under the contract, the Association was responsible.

It was submitted that, from beginning to end, the evidence tendered could not amount to anything against the Association, except through the members of the committee. However much the men may have committed a breach of contract by going out without notice after the 14th of July, they were absolutely free men, and being so they were quite entitled to refuse to go back to work just as if there had been no contract.

Though the decision in Howden’s action was adverse to him, he relied upon it, because it showed that the contract was absolutely determined on the 29th of June. All they had got up to the 15th of July was that Humphreys and Nolan were members of the council, being delegates of the Denaby and Cadeby branches, and the Association was not bound by any act of the branch, which was not done under the authority of the Council.

It was a fallacy to say that counsel proceeded to argue against the Council. Counsel proceeded to call attention to Rule 72 of the Rules of the Miners’ Association, which stated that no branch, or portion of a branch, should be allowed to strike or leave off work unless two-thirds decided by a registered ballot that a strike should take place, and a special meeting would have to be called for that purpose. In no case would it be held legal unless three-fourths recorded their votes. The rule showed that the men could do no more. The branch had no authority to do anything outside the rules.

When this notice was taken it had to be sent up to the executive. The submission was that there was not a scintilla of evidence that the association, of any conspiracy, or any illegal act of the persons through whom it was sought to make the association responsible were persons without authority to do any of the acts complained of, assuming, for the purposes of his argument, of course, that Nolan and Humphreys were guilty of the acts.

On the 15th July the result of the meeting was that a ballot should be taken as to whether the men should give notice or not.

Now he really did not care, as it did not make the slightest difference whether they gave the notice before they got their camps or not. The plaintiffs said the men did not go back with the bona fide intention of resuming work.

His Lordship said it was a strike in one way.

Mr. Isaacs said it was so; it was a strike in one way, but not a strike within the rules.

His Lordship: When you read the rules of the Miners’ Association it is clear that it is not one of their objects to give pay to anyone who cares to come out and break their contract.

Mr. Isaacs said a great deal of evidence had been submitted which was wholly immaterial. The point against him was that the men never meant to go back to work in the ordinary sense. They merely went back so as to work their fourteen days’ notice, and then come out and endeavour to redress their grievances in a legal manner.

His Lordship: In other words to obtain the pay.

Mr. Isaacs: That is the point.—Counsel proceeded to say that the matters in dispute between the men and the employers were really trumpery.

His Lordship: Anybody with a grain of common sense could have settled the whole thing in a moment.

Mr. Isaacs had not concluded his speech when the Court adjourned until this morning.