Commonplace 166 George & The Fight For What's Right In Which He Did Not Participate. PART ONE
1888 was a significant year in British history. For George, it marked the year his first wife died in poverty largely caused by his tight-fisted neglect of her. Sadly, the year's date always be associated in pop culture with the murders committed in the autumn, by the alleged serial killer, Jack the Ripper. However, a less mythological but far more interesting event took place that summer: the Bryant and May Match Girls' Strike. It marked a pivotal moment for the rights of all workers and their struggle for fair treatment from the millionaire owners who ran their factories under sweat shop conditions click. A small group of young women made a stand against the unfair working practices, risking their livelihoods, their potential to find re-employment, and the wellbeing of their families - a truly heroic piece of activism.
George was sceptical that poverty could be addressed and a fairer system could replace the exploitation of the masses. In fact, his claim to 'aristocratic' sensibilities relied on the majority of the human race being classified as inferior - if the masses (his 'Demos') ever got organised enough to crawl out of that position then where would that leave him? He derided attempts by middle class 'do-gooders' who, in order to fight injustice aligned their sympathies with the poor. He had been incensed at designer, Pre-Raphaelite member and political activist William Morris' appearance in court following the meetings that followed the Black Monday demonstrations in February 1886. Morris had been arrested for obstruction of the police who used maximum force and violence to break up a crowd of demonstrators. If ever there was a case for George proving how dislocated he was from the spirit of the times, and then the enormity of his hypocrisy, this is it. His sympathies were not with either side but he was outraged at someone of Morris' social class being in court at all. This, from the man who had been to prison for a series of petty thefts, crimes of a particularly mealy-mouthed calibre, as he was stealing from his peers when their backs were turned and their coats were left unattended. Morris was campaigning for workers' rights to fair pay, humane working conditions and education for children. As American Joe Hill click proved in 1915, you have to organise if you want to fight injustice click, and Morris threw his considerable talents and his money into passing on that information.
The Bryant and May match factory was situated in the London borough of Bow, home to the legendary 'Bow Bells' click. It was once the largest factory in Britain, covering 3 acres, and in 1861 had been acquired as a group of defunct factories and workshops earmarked for redevelopment. It was turned into a purpose-built facility that manufactured the latest in safety match technology. It's difficult to appreciate how important the humble match was to everyday life in those days, but as all candles, gas-lighting, open fires, water heating, cooking and all smoking required a naked flame, the importance of matches can be seen as a priority. A safety match - one that didn't spontaneously combust in your pocket under the influence of any sort of friction - also saved lives and stopped all manner of explosions. Take a look at this click to wonder at the technology and science of it all.
Conditions in such factories were abysmal and the chemicals used were a threat to the health of the workforce. The girls were striking not just for fair pay and reasonable working conditions. They were also campaigning to stop the use of phosphorous in the production process which gave them bone tumours and permanently damaged skin tissue, disfiguring them for life. There was no legal right to compensation for work-related illness in those days and girls of twelve could be permanently disabled and forced into the workhouse because of the effects of exposure to phosphorous, and workers were financially penalised for being too sick to work fast and were often sacked for illness caused by the environmental conditions. And, of course, the girls were paid a lot less than the men.
Dear Lady they have been trying to get the poor girls to say that it is all lies that has been printed and trying to make us sign papers that it is all lies; dear Lady nobody knows what it is we have put up with and we will not sign them. We thank you very much for the kindness you have shown to us. My dear Lady we hope you will not get into any trouble on our behalf as what you have spoken is quite true.
One of Besant's greatest strengths was her skill at public speaking. Beatrice Webb said that she was the only woman I have ever known who is a real orator, who has the gift of public persuasion. Tom Mann click, one of the unsung heroes of civil rights in the UK, said: The first time I heard Mrs. Besant was in Birmingham, about 1875. The only women speakers I had heard before this were of mediocre quality. Mrs. Besant transfixed me; her superb control of voice, her whole-souled devotion to the cause she was advocating, her love of the down-trodden, and her appeal on behalf of a sound education for all children, created such an impression upon me, that I quietly, but firmly, resolved that I would ascertain more correctly the why and wherefore of her creed.
One of her lasting contributions to rights for women was her support of contraception. She rightly believed women could never achieve freedom from dependence on men if they remained victims of their biology. In 1877, along with Charles Bradlaugh (he who affirmed and did not swear a religious Parliamentary oath) Besant published a book by American Charles Knowlton click that included a chapter on post-coital contraception. For this, they were charged with actions likely to deprave or corrupt those whose minds are open to immoral influences. Part of the Besant/Bradlaugh defence was We think it more moral to prevent conception of children than, after they are born, to murder them by want of food, air and clothing. George's view was children should not be born at all because they were little more than a financial burden and an encumbrance to their parents.
George wrote about the match girls' strike (Collected Letters Vol 3, pages 222-3). The editors dismissively and wrongly attribute the strike to disgruntled employees resenting being asked to improve productivity when they say When Bryant and May, a firm of match-makers, required its workwomen to handle matchwood in a new and more efficient manner, a girl was dismissed and more than 1,200 women went out on strike. You don't really expect sympathy for Demos (or 100% historical accuracy!) from the usual suspects, do you haha. If you read the newspaper account from July 8th 1888 below you will something more accurate.
Anyhoo, the editorial footnote reports that George went off to attend a strike meeting, and he writes about it, and includes his less than well-informed and impartial version of events in his Scrapbook:
Meeting on Mile End Waste, Sund June (wrong: it was actually July, so possibly an indication he wrote the entry later - when he redacted much of his autobiography) 8th '88, on occasion of strike of 1500 girls at Bryant and May's - Mrs Besant chief speaker, white dress, lace round shoulders, red velveteen cap, something like Tam o' Shanter. Strike caused by dismissal of girls who had given Mrs B information about unjust fines, &c. Principal point of her speech is to announce that she cannot undertake to support the strikers, 'Why do I take this interest in you? Because I belong to the middle class which defrauds you, because I am comfortable and you are in misery, because I am eloquent and you are inarticulate, &c. This is sarcasm and not a direct quote, with George doing his thing about how fate decrees misery and the middle class play at politics for their own ends and always pointlessly. Surely, as she was supporting the strikers, her quoted words, if true, are ironic. In his Diary, he says:
Cunningham Graham. (George gets the spelling wrong or editors' do a typo?? George gets it right in his Diary.) Good-looking; oval face; thin nose; dark bushy hair, brushed all back; red moustache, turning up wildly & red peaked beard. Gesticulates with right arm, generally elevating forefinger, & making show of his gold links. (George, jealous?) Has a Mephistophelean smile now & then; dramatic pauses; affects rude speech; abuses the working men to their faces; often crosses his arms in an attitude. Altogether, the high-tragedian of the socialist platform. George definitely seems jealous of this cove. Wonder why? click
Man whose name I don't know. seems to be educated; young, heavy features, but fairly good-looking, black hair in great abundance. Wears a filthy soft-felt hat, with brim turned down, no collar, but a neck-cloth, & rough-looking. Picturesque altogether.
Not many girls present. Chief point in those I saw was their wearing the most wonderful hats, or else no hat at all. The hat is often of intense colour - blue or scarlet velveteen, & with an enormous feather, also of brilliant colour. rest of clothing very poor. The bare-headed ones have hair hanging over forehead. Showed very little interest in the meeting. Perhaps the colourful hats were to cover over the hair loss caused to the girls at work by having to carry heavy boxes on their heads?
In his Diary for July 8th 1888 George repeats the essence of the Scrapbook entry, and proving what a spineless little man he could be. He writes that he attended the Mile End demo in the morning then went to lunch in Holborn, then went in the evening to another meeting of the strike supporters in Regent's Park. At both meetings, he gave a donation of a shilling: ...rather. I'm afraid, because I was ashamed to give nothing, in my bourgeois costume. He couldn't even have the courage of his indifference!
From these accounts it's clear George has nothing but scorn for both the workers and those trying to help them. He spoke to none of them, and was more concerned with their appearance than what they had to say - very Daily Mail! So, what was the point of him attending? He had no 'horse in the race' as he didn't care what happened to the women who endured the conditions in the factory, and he is dismissive of the speakers - he has nothing but derision for Cunninghame Graham in particular, which is typical of his tendency to slag off anyone from middle class origins who had sympathy for the poor - Cunninghame Graham had already done more to help the world than George would ever do. Hair and hats figure prominently - again, very Daily Mail! And what of the strange suggestion Ms Besant wasn't supporting the strikers? She was, and had been since writing a piece about them in The Link on June 23rd click. So, this is George speaking, not Annie Besant. He was cynically putting words into her mouth, but making it look like he is quoting her. The girls responded positively to Ms Besant at the initial meeting back in June from where she garnered her information for the article, and this is why they contacted her when they were ready to strike, Initially, Ms Besant was alarmed because the girls were making themselves wage-less by coming out on strike. However, she defended their claims and the full force of popular opinion agreed with her. Below is a piece from the Reynold's Newspaper published on Sunday, July 8th 1888, as found in this excellent place click. Now, George was usually obsessed with weather reporting, so it's odd that he doesn't mention the rain. Maybe he left before the end of the meeting? In his diary, he reports he went of to lunch in Holborn.
Henry Snell click, in his book Men, Movements and
Myself (1936), wrote: In July 1888 the girls
employed at a match factory in the East End of London came out on strike. These
courageous girls had neither funds, organizations, nor leaders, and they
appealed to Mrs. Besant to advise and lead them. It was a wise and most
excellent inspiration. Money was quickly subscribed for their support and,
within a fortnight, the employers considered it prudent to concede their
demands. The number affected was quite small, but the matchgirls' strike had an
influence upon the minds of the workers which entitles it to be regarded as one
of the most important events in the history of labour organisation in any
country.
JOIN ME IN PART TWO TO SEE HOW THE STRIKE PANNED OUT.
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| Weymouth Bay by John Constable 1816 |
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| The Sea From the Heights of Dieppe by Eugene Delacroix 1852 |
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| The Heroic Annie Besant |
The Bryant and May match factory was situated in the London borough of Bow, home to the legendary 'Bow Bells' click. It was once the largest factory in Britain, covering 3 acres, and in 1861 had been acquired as a group of defunct factories and workshops earmarked for redevelopment. It was turned into a purpose-built facility that manufactured the latest in safety match technology. It's difficult to appreciate how important the humble match was to everyday life in those days, but as all candles, gas-lighting, open fires, water heating, cooking and all smoking required a naked flame, the importance of matches can be seen as a priority. A safety match - one that didn't spontaneously combust in your pocket under the influence of any sort of friction - also saved lives and stopped all manner of explosions. Take a look at this click to wonder at the technology and science of it all.
Conditions in such factories were abysmal and the chemicals used were a threat to the health of the workforce. The girls were striking not just for fair pay and reasonable working conditions. They were also campaigning to stop the use of phosphorous in the production process which gave them bone tumours and permanently damaged skin tissue, disfiguring them for life. There was no legal right to compensation for work-related illness in those days and girls of twelve could be permanently disabled and forced into the workhouse because of the effects of exposure to phosphorous, and workers were financially penalised for being too sick to work fast and were often sacked for illness caused by the environmental conditions. And, of course, the girls were paid a lot less than the men.
Annie Besant and her associate, the legendary WT Stead, produced their own weekly newspaper, The Link, between February and December 1888, and ran features on the striking girls. They were outraged at the exploitation of the Bryant and May girls by bosses who paid themselves huge financial dividends off the backs of girls who were so lowly paid they were unable to adequately support themselves, and whose health was so badly affected by the working conditions which prioritised productivity over health and safety. One of the match girls wrote to Annie Besant, c/o The Link:
Dear Lady they have been trying to get the poor girls to say that it is all lies that has been printed and trying to make us sign papers that it is all lies; dear Lady nobody knows what it is we have put up with and we will not sign them. We thank you very much for the kindness you have shown to us. My dear Lady we hope you will not get into any trouble on our behalf as what you have spoken is quite true.
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| WT Stead |
In his own paper, The Pall Mall Gazette, Stead wrote later in July: The story is full of hope for the future, illustrating as it does the immense power that lies in mere publicity. It was the publication of the simple story of the grievances of the match girls in an obscure little halfpenny weekly paper called The Link which did the work.
One of her lasting contributions to rights for women was her support of contraception. She rightly believed women could never achieve freedom from dependence on men if they remained victims of their biology. In 1877, along with Charles Bradlaugh (he who affirmed and did not swear a religious Parliamentary oath) Besant published a book by American Charles Knowlton click that included a chapter on post-coital contraception. For this, they were charged with actions likely to deprave or corrupt those whose minds are open to immoral influences. Part of the Besant/Bradlaugh defence was We think it more moral to prevent conception of children than, after they are born, to murder them by want of food, air and clothing. George's view was children should not be born at all because they were little more than a financial burden and an encumbrance to their parents.
George wrote about the match girls' strike (Collected Letters Vol 3, pages 222-3). The editors dismissively and wrongly attribute the strike to disgruntled employees resenting being asked to improve productivity when they say When Bryant and May, a firm of match-makers, required its workwomen to handle matchwood in a new and more efficient manner, a girl was dismissed and more than 1,200 women went out on strike. You don't really expect sympathy for Demos (or 100% historical accuracy!) from the usual suspects, do you haha. If you read the newspaper account from July 8th 1888 below you will something more accurate.
Anyhoo, the editorial footnote reports that George went off to attend a strike meeting, and he writes about it, and includes his less than well-informed and impartial version of events in his Scrapbook:
Meeting on Mile End Waste, Sund June (wrong: it was actually July, so possibly an indication he wrote the entry later - when he redacted much of his autobiography) 8th '88, on occasion of strike of 1500 girls at Bryant and May's - Mrs Besant chief speaker, white dress, lace round shoulders, red velveteen cap, something like Tam o' Shanter. Strike caused by dismissal of girls who had given Mrs B information about unjust fines, &c. Principal point of her speech is to announce that she cannot undertake to support the strikers, 'Why do I take this interest in you? Because I belong to the middle class which defrauds you, because I am comfortable and you are in misery, because I am eloquent and you are inarticulate, &c. This is sarcasm and not a direct quote, with George doing his thing about how fate decrees misery and the middle class play at politics for their own ends and always pointlessly. Surely, as she was supporting the strikers, her quoted words, if true, are ironic. In his Diary, he says:
Cunningham Graham. (George gets the spelling wrong or editors' do a typo?? George gets it right in his Diary.) Good-looking; oval face; thin nose; dark bushy hair, brushed all back; red moustache, turning up wildly & red peaked beard. Gesticulates with right arm, generally elevating forefinger, & making show of his gold links. (George, jealous?) Has a Mephistophelean smile now & then; dramatic pauses; affects rude speech; abuses the working men to their faces; often crosses his arms in an attitude. Altogether, the high-tragedian of the socialist platform. George definitely seems jealous of this cove. Wonder why? click
Man whose name I don't know. seems to be educated; young, heavy features, but fairly good-looking, black hair in great abundance. Wears a filthy soft-felt hat, with brim turned down, no collar, but a neck-cloth, & rough-looking. Picturesque altogether.
Not many girls present. Chief point in those I saw was their wearing the most wonderful hats, or else no hat at all. The hat is often of intense colour - blue or scarlet velveteen, & with an enormous feather, also of brilliant colour. rest of clothing very poor. The bare-headed ones have hair hanging over forehead. Showed very little interest in the meeting. Perhaps the colourful hats were to cover over the hair loss caused to the girls at work by having to carry heavy boxes on their heads?
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| Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham c 1890 |
From these accounts it's clear George has nothing but scorn for both the workers and those trying to help them. He spoke to none of them, and was more concerned with their appearance than what they had to say - very Daily Mail! So, what was the point of him attending? He had no 'horse in the race' as he didn't care what happened to the women who endured the conditions in the factory, and he is dismissive of the speakers - he has nothing but derision for Cunninghame Graham in particular, which is typical of his tendency to slag off anyone from middle class origins who had sympathy for the poor - Cunninghame Graham had already done more to help the world than George would ever do. Hair and hats figure prominently - again, very Daily Mail! And what of the strange suggestion Ms Besant wasn't supporting the strikers? She was, and had been since writing a piece about them in The Link on June 23rd click. So, this is George speaking, not Annie Besant. He was cynically putting words into her mouth, but making it look like he is quoting her. The girls responded positively to Ms Besant at the initial meeting back in June from where she garnered her information for the article, and this is why they contacted her when they were ready to strike, Initially, Ms Besant was alarmed because the girls were making themselves wage-less by coming out on strike. However, she defended their claims and the full force of popular opinion agreed with her. Below is a piece from the Reynold's Newspaper published on Sunday, July 8th 1888, as found in this excellent place click. Now, George was usually obsessed with weather reporting, so it's odd that he doesn't mention the rain. Maybe he left before the end of the meeting? In his diary, he reports he went of to lunch in Holborn.
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| The real reasons behind the strike. |
JOIN ME IN PART TWO TO SEE HOW THE STRIKE PANNED OUT.
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