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General Council to call a strike of all our members against the abrogation of agreements and the imposition of wage-cuts''. There was general disappointment reported the paper that Nelson had not been called out there and then.
Meanwhile the Burnley strike was solidifying. A crowd of 2,000 - 3,000 strong gathered in the Bishop House mill area and broke the Police cordon reported the Nelson Leader, that more mills were closing and that Spencer's Queen's mill closed in the afternoon and then the crowd moved on to Marles mill. Brierfield mill near Burnley was the next target. Out of a workforce of some 1,100 there was said to be about 700 knobsticks inside. Mass picketing commenced so in the interest of law and order', the employer stopped the factory. There were seven arrests. The Burnley union had from 60 - 100 pickets positioned at the various factories and police from Manchester and Liverpool were sent in, just in case they were needed. Knobsticks were followed to their homes. The Nelson press reported on 21st August that there was another demonstration converging on Nelson to press Nelson to support a county strike. A procession from Burnley to Nelson led by the communists was about 1,250 strong, but passing through thickly lined streets had grown to 3,000. Police stopped the march at the boundary, when the demonstration, led by a band, couldnt be allowed through. It was broken up and Mr. Page Arnot, says the report, proceeded on to Nelson where he spoke at a meeting there. Page Arnot was living in Burnley at the time, where from his vast experience especially in the general strike and amongst the miners he was able to give the benefit of his knowledge to the struggling cotton workers. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist party. Meanwhile the special meeting of the Amalgamation assembled in Manchester on 3rd August. Outside the hall was a deputation of workers who had been sent from a mass meeting carrying posters in favour of Nelson's efforts. They sent in a message asking if one of their number could say a few words but were refused. Jim and Amy Hargreaves pushed into the foyer of the hall to speak to the reporters and make their presence felt, but were sent out.
Despite the fact that it was a requisition meeting, the Central Committee claimed the right to place before the delegates the results of the negotiations With the employers to date, which had resulted in the proposal that if the latter would reduce their wage cuts demand to about 1/4 � in the �, then they, the unions, would accent the same, but were not prepared to go any further. They also requested the reinstatement of operatives and security of agreements. Nelsons resolution then came up for discussion, strangely enough without comment from the delegates as to the Central Committees proposals to the employers. The debate lasted for 3 � hours, but the C.C. won the day on its proposal to adjourn the meeting and leave the matter in their hands, only carried by a majority of seven votes. The Nelson spokesman made it clear that they wanted action to maintain the status quo whilst the C.C. were willing to negotiate a wage cut.
The press were now jubilantly reporting that no county strike would now take place but during further joint meetings the employers were adamant that they would not reduce their wage demand below 2/1d in the � and would not budge on the question of re-instatement. How could they reinstate asked one employer, when we are pressing a more looms system. Thus; delegates at the 11th of August Amalgamation meeting were told that negotiations were at an end and offers towards a settlement withdrawn. It was a fight now for what was considered to be in the best interests of the members said the C.C. namely the full price list, 48-hour week, re-instatement and the sanctity of agreements. Nelson pressed for immediate strike action, but it was delayed until the Northern Counties T.T. Federation could be consulted, the voting being 94-55. At the meeting of the latter body it was decided after hesitancy that there would be a withdrawal of labour unless the employers were more reasonable It was reported in the Blackburn press on the 20th August that the Burnley Strike Relief Committee distributed a leaflet outside the Blackburn meeting that your discussions and decisions are being closely watched by every worker in Lancashire.. you will be judged by all trade unionists on the basis of your action. Your task is quite clear, endorse the call for an all county strike and see that the call is put into immediate operation.... if any other decision is arrived at, make no mistake, every worker will see that you are assisting the employers to break the Burnley strike. Before the county strike on 27th August, workers in Preston and Haslingden were called out a week before by their union along with those in Earby.
THE MIDLAND AGREEMENT
So the County strike was now underway. By September 3rd nearly all Blackburn was out, and later four factories were closed by pickets, reported the local press. Some factories in Darwen did not at first stop work. Mr. Naesmith went down there to get the factories solid, mass pickets were in action and there were seven arrests. Later more factories stopped in the town. The small town of Rishton was solid whilst Jim was leading mass pickets in his own area. The local press reported mass picketing at Sough mill, Earby and at Dotcliffe mill, Kelbrook. Foot and mounted police were much in evidence. An eye witness reported that Jim managed to dodge down a side-road and so evaded the police although there were two arrests. At Long-Ing shed in his hometown there was much police harassment of which the local council complained to the Yorkshire police headquarters whose reply was that it is common knowledge that on the day in question there was organised a very large crowd in the vicinity of Long-ing shed, for the purpose of intimidation and molesting certain people who had exercised their legal prerogative in going to work. They found it necessary to draw their batons, and the local police was quite insufficient to deal with it''.
''The response to the appeal for withdrawal of labour was remarkably loyal writes Edwin Hopwood in his book The History of the Weavers Amalgamation, pp. 109-10, particularly in N.E. Lancashire. So successful was the stoppage that it surprised a very large number of observers who had been watching the trend of events, and who did not think it was possible, in a time of industrial depression, for successful action to be taken by an operatives organisation. South Lancashire seemed to be the weak link, where, reported the 'Blackburn Times of 3rd September, there was a resistance to strike. There were the usual reds under the bed scares, when the same local paper, a week later, reported a reply by Luke Bates to a local employer using the scare that the workers were of a high character and that Russia with her two and three shift system and her vigorous policy of repressing minorities etc. was, with funds belonging to the Third International, able to subsidise unrest all over the world. She had concerned herself about the destruction of the Lancashire cotton industry .... the people who were demonstrating in the market places were merely tools in the hands of able and subtle men.
In the early days of the strike, the Nelson Labour party organised a mass demonstration primarily against the means test, the local paper reported that at its head runs the big Silken banner of the Social Democratic Federation whilst smaller banners demanded reinstatement for all weavers, Union pay for all striker, no talks on wage cuts, 'This is a grand national government, 1914 heroes, 1932 zeroes. The rest of the procession the paper reports was brought up by members of the rank-and-file strike committee who had been debarred by the organisers from taking part.
THE FEEDING OF STRIKERS
Edwin Hopwood gives the information in his book (pg 10) that at the Newcastle T.U.C. that year, efforts were made which produced some �12,000 in cash and all in all supplied over 256,000 food parcels worth 2/9d each and made into parcels worth 3/7d by the C.W.S. Money and footwear were also given from other union sources. It was distributed by the local unions. The local press on 2nd September gave the information that in Nelson a food centre was operating from William Street where about 250 were fed daily. It was organised by the Workers International Relief, the prime mover being the Communist Party. Walter Pilling remembers that the local council provided the rooms and ovens. Food and cash was collected from the local shopkeepers and Co-op. Colne made similar efforts, and the W.I.R. held a meeting where Jim, Rose Smith and Ernie Regan spoke, the latter lived in Burnley and had been N.E. Lancashire organiser of the C.P. for many years, his wife Eva, who was a weaver, played a leading part for many years in the movements of the day. Evelyn Howley remembers that there was then planned the opening of a small food kitchen. Evelyn had just entered the movement and joined the Communist party and as a cotton worker and union member was kept busy with the work it entailed. Her husband Jack was to join the ranks of the International Brigade a few years later.
But the largest food kitchen came from the efforts of the Labour party which, led by Bill Whittaker who was its secretary, made an all out effort and were able to serve 200-300 meals a day. Cannon Dempsey of Colne helped by gifts of money and goods. After the strike says Bill, the smaller body of the W.I.R. merged with the larger one of the Labour party and formed a Children's breakfast committee whereby breakfasts were supplied daily to needy children. Bill, who was a textile worker, became a member of the Communist party and has served the movement and working class well.
The Blackburn press reported that on 17th September a lorry load of food arrived in the town from Birmingham sent by the Workers International Relief, and that after a meeting on the market square the feed was taken to the Communist Party headquarters prior to its distribution. There were sacks of potatoes, fresh vegetables, crates of bread and packets of tea and sugar, which were thankfully accepted as a gesture of solidarity, which with other efforts for relief and such like helped to put heart in the struggle.
Behind the scenes many meetings were on hand involving the Ministry of Labour which finally resulted in the Midland Agreement. Sittings lasted from 13th September to the 24th, under the chairmanship of F. W. Leggett the Chief Conciliation Officer. The Northern Counties T.T. Federation conducted negotiations for the operatives. The re-establishment of collective bargaining, maintenance of agreements machinery, wages and re-instatement comprised the agenda. Even when these discussions were taking place the 17th September Amalgamation meeting reported complaints from some delegates that some South Lancashire districts such as Whitworth, Rochdale, Oldham, Ashton and others were not showing the solidarity required and that Bell and Nuttall should be expelled from the Central Committee. When the negotiators produced the results of their deliberations, which gave 1) A wage cut of 1/8 � in the �; 2) no firm guarantee of re-instatement but that good will should be shown; 3) there was to be early negotiations to finalise the more looms, system. On wages, both sides split the difference between their previous offers of wage cuts of 2/1d in the � from the employers and � � from the union.
At a special Amalgamation meeting on 27th September the agreement was accepted by a 97 - 53 vote after some bitter discussion lasting 2 � hours. Outside the meeting-place were assembled members of the Cotton Workers Solidarity Movement who confronted the delegates with dont sign calls. Nelson pressed for a ballot and received much support as the voting showed in their opposition to the terms.
Weavers' officers were besieged by callers, reported the Blackburn Times', asking about their re-instatement. Many became, part of the permanent unemployed. In N.E. Lancashire most of the Blackburn factories restarted on Wednesday the 28th September and nine mills in Darwen had already restarted before the strike ended, which caused some dispute with the then union secretary.
There was great bitterness in Nelson when a 28th September union meeting in the Imperial ballroom, which overflowed into the Palace cinema and the Weavers hall, and after a resolution protesting at the decision to return to work the following day which was Thursday. This was received with much booing and thousands left the meeting determined not to start, reported the local press. The local employers immediately forwarded a letter to the union claiming a definite breach of agreement, and that the mills would now re-open on the following Monday. Burnley on the whole, returned the same time as Nelson. The small town of Earby returned after there had been a meeting between union and employers on the question of re-instatement. Jim with the Earby strike committee had long since decided on the principle of one back all back. Jack Pilkington remembers this was adhered to, and the local press reported that the terms of re-instatement would be carried out by all firms locally. But there was no doubt about the bitter feeling throughout the County against the Midland Agreement, and this on top of the unrest in the card and spinning sections who had balloted overwhelmingly for strike action. Nelson union had met with some half dozen other union districts reported the local press and a resolution of protest was made. Press reports gave the main details of the Communist Party leaflet which suggested that not only union committees should come together but the rank and file from union and factory. As Nelson was the centre of the unrest in N.E. Lancashire, there is much information over the following weeks as to the results. The first week in October, reported a union members' meeting in the Palace theatre where a resolution was passed to withdraw from the Weavers Amalgamation and from the Northern Counties T.T. Federation and which the Committee and all militants opposed. The latter were pressing Nelson to call a broad conference for the purpose of discussing the Midland Agreement and how to fight it but this was not taken up by the platform. It was then decided to take a ballot on the question if staying in the Amalgamation or not.
Later, a further leaflet issued by the local Communist Party opposed a split within the union but asked is our magnificent strike to be betrayed by the union leaders? This is a burning question. we came out on strike after Burnley and Earby had led the way, our strike had aroused the admiration of the whole working class, it strongly influenced the ballot of the spinners and card room workers... but the leaders of both the weavers and the spinners have prevented united action.. we must have the final word. All that has been done against us in the Midland Hotel, our standing firm can undo. Insist
Upon a ballot vote on the terms of the Midland Agreement. The Nelson ballot resulted (in round figures) 6,000 for staying in the Amalgamation and 3.000 against.
The ballot forms issued by the union had included a statement from the committee which said We cannot fight alone, and we cannot fight the Midland Agreement on our own .. our great weakness in the past has been the craft unions, all having a constitution and policy of their own.... Nelson is needed in the Amalgamation to fight the leaders - we dont need another Amalgamation, but unity in one The ballot is more important because the spinners and card room workers have repudiated their own leadership... and have learnt the lessons of the weavers strike ... the ballot in Nelson can be made the beginning of real unity.... that is why we want a 100% vote in favour for use for the calling of a conference of delegates to organise the fight for unity. The local press, 4th November, stated that Communists were busy distributing thousands of circulars to smash the Midland Agreement. No wonder there is such a demand for a break-away. But let us think, is this the best way.... it will split our forces. Delegates from Burnley, Colne, Earby, Bacup, Clitheroe and Padiham also voted against the Agreement and thousands in other places had no chance of expressing their opinion... and the leaflet again stressed the calling of a conference led by Nelson. But after all the efforts the matter seems to have rested and no conference appears to have been called.
THE MORE LOOMS AGREEMENT
The more looms agreement terms arising from the decisions of the Midland Agreement were negotiated in December, and Mr. Leggett was again brought in. The final terms being, a wage of 41 shillings for standard cloths woven by a weaver4 of average ability, if earnings fell below 90% of that figure then a joint investigation could be made. As well as reduced loom speeds, there was to be larger weft packages. There was to be a minimum fall-back wage of 28 shillings a week but the employers reserved the right to lift warps out, and so, in practice, the fall back wage could be avoided, with the affected workers being put on the dole.
A somewhat similar draft, arising from previous union and employers negotiations had been rejected earlier in March by the Weavers Amalgamation by a 93 � 73 vote, despite the Central Committees proposal for its acceptance. Again, in December, they argued for its acceptance not because of the employers but because of the action of the workers themselves who were already working on the system. The negotiating committee it said had been working with two pistols at its head, one from the employers and the other from the economic circumstances of our own people. How could the Amalgamation avoid the system, it was the best that could be got in the position they were placed. Although Nelson pressed for a ballot it was rejected and a card vote gave 104 � 40 for accepting the terms. There was strong feeling at this meeting against the Northern Counties T.T. Federation who had negotiated the award. The card room and spinning workers although voting overwhelmingly for strike action were to get their cuts in December.
Since 1928, the Weaver's Amalgamation paid out in benefits about �700,000 which together with the union districts amounted to �1 � million. This was for disputes connected with the more looms system and wages. Allen Butt in his book 'The (short) History of British Trade Unionism pp 127-8 quotes, the preceding conflicts in Lancashire were entirely eclipsed by the weavers, strike in the summer of 1932, whose battles to pull out knobsticks and mass marches from town to town to close down all mills, recalled the insurrectionary General strike of 1842; despite police violence and repeated gaolings under the 1927 Act, the Weavers fought on to the end of September when the final enforcement of wage cuts and the more looms system left the cotton industry seething.
Altogether, the year had been a hectic one for Jim as well as others, and as shown, there was much police harassment. Martha Kershaw remembers Jim one evening speaking on Jepp Hill in his home town, where the police were as usual milling around. He had not long been released from Armley gaol, and whilst in there had learned verses from a book of Shelleys he had borrowed, namely, The Masque of' Anarchy, the last part of which he recited to the large crowd; Rise like lions after slumber, in unvanquishable numbers, shake your chains to earth like dew, which in sleep has fallen on you, Ye are many they are few. So enthusiastic were the crowd that evening that they escorted him home en-masse. At another meeting at the same place and with the police still harassing, Jim was the first of two speakers and whilst the chairman was announcing the second speaker, Jim was spirited away and she never saw him again that evening. She also remembers during the hard times that Jim put up in his home a destitute elderly man for a week or two to keep him from being sent to the workhouse. He failed in the end, as the workhouse in those years claimed its victims.
But such was Jims humanity, It was in December of that year when Jim was fined �1 for collecting, as Evelyn Howley recalls, for the Ryhope miners, Durham, who were on strike. In court he asked why couldnt he collect when the Salvation Army was allowed? Some of the miners down from Ryhope collected money by singing in the local working men's clubs, remembers Evelyn.
Earlier in 1932 Jim had contested the local elections and of course made his comments on the more loons' system. Dealing with the rating system Jim stated I am in favour of a reduction in rates and so are the other candidates, but the difference between them and me is that as a communist I want lower rates for the workers and the higher rates for the rich.... I would go further and say that the workers should not be burdened with rates at all''. He received 266 votes.
Although it was claimed that the Midland Agreement would now guarantee collective agreements and collective bargaining, this did not prove to be so and there were complaints that on the question of re-instatement of operatives there was not much good will in evidence. This was especially so in Burnley which had still, as was shown in the April 1933 Amalgamation meeting, 1,300 on the union books with lesser amounts in other districts, all of which was draining the unions funds. Barnoldswick delegates were in a bitter mood, they had a two shift system they hadn't been able to stop. [At] Clough mill their local employers [association] secretary was running his mill on reduced wages... last week another large firm called their operatives together in regard to a further wage cut... this week another large firm did the sane. So many were the complaints that the leaders decided to call a meeting in the Palace cinema, Barnoldswick where some top leaders of the Amalgamation spoke. The leaflet advertising the meeting said ''This meeting is called to give the reasons why Barnoldswick should adopt the more looms system. It was intended to show the employers as well as the workers that the unions were keen to enforce the 1932 Agreements. Later a ballot was taken in the town resulting in 1319 to enforce Agreements and 1013 against, with 470 neutral. With these figures before us we could not recommend strike action, and the only conclusion we could reach is that the more looms system should be scrapped was the report at the local quarterly meeting of July. But the months ahead would show that the system had come to stay.
The Clough mill strike began in September 1933. It was in August that Jim started to hold factory gate meetings because of the many complaints of underpaying at that firm. There was a double shift system at the factory, which had been frowned upon by the union which had expelled all those workers operating it. After agitation by Jim the night shift struck, so the union brought out the day shift a week later. A strike committee was formed which met in the union offices. Relief was fought for and collections taken throughout the town. The local press reported on September 9th a mass meeting at Butt's Top from which a deputation was sent to the Relieving Officer protesting strongly at the refusal to pay some young workers relief who had been given tickets for the workhouse. This effort resulted in the youngsters getting their rights. The strike committee organised hikes and social events, and there was a good spirit. Negotiations then went on between union and employers and eventually the strike was won and Jack Pilkington reported that some workers being underpaid received as much as 38 weeks back-pay. The double shift system was also stopped.
THE SKIPTON BY-ELECTION
The National Conservative member for the Skipton Division had died whilst in South Africa and so caused a by-election. To everyones surprise Jim was fielded as the fourth candidate. Mr. Rushton had headed several marches to the West Riding County authorities with the object of promoting work schemes for the unemployed, and also to bring about an increase in public assistance benefits'', ''Two years ago'', the local press report went on, Mr. Rushton made a tour of the Soviet Industrial centres as a delegate from the Manchester area organisation (of the Communist party) and gave reports of his local election contests as well as the general election contest in 1931 in Burnley. Ernie Woolley at a local meeting was chosen as his election agent, who during the unemployment struggles of the earlier thirties had served six months in Preston gaol. Jim was reported as conducting a very active campaign, speaking at some 10 meetings a day. Harry Pollitt came to speak in the constituency as well as Saklavata. The former pinpointed the war danger as the main issue of the contest, and explained how the capitalist system led to war. The war industries were fully employed he pointed out. This meeting was held in the Skipton Town Hall and by all accounts it was a packed meeting. Another speaker during the election was Maurice Ferguson, from Bradford, who in the early 1920s had been the Lancashire District organiser of the Communist party. With his wife Lily who had been a cotton worker, they both gave unstinted service to the movement. They both knew Jim well.
Further reports during this campaign imparted the information Mr. Rushton spoke to the farmers on the cattle mart in Skipton following the Tory candidate, and addressed his listeners as ''working farmers. It was a lively meeting by all accounts and many questions were asked especially as to the farming position in the Soviet Union and the ownership of land. Asked about the crisis in Britain Jim replied that the best brains of capitalist universities had been enlisted but the problem hadnt been solved because the present system had no soul above the scramble for profits". He dealt also with the problem of India during his campaign and advocated self-government and the withdrawal of the British troops.
Asked on one occasion how the money would be raised for his contest he replied that house to house collections were underway and they were doing quite well and that money would be loaned from friends and paid back as soon as possible. Nomination day, 3rd November saw the candidates assembled outside the offices of the Receiving Officer but Jim, whilst acknowledging the greetings of the other two candidates would not shake hands with them "because the election was not a game but a serious fight. It would seen he had entered the contest in a bitter mood, feeling as he did the sad plight of the cotton workers suffering the means test, wage cuts and unemployment.
He had also remembered that Mr J P Davies, Labour candidate, a nice enough man of himself, had in September 1932 (as reported in the Craven Herald) stated that We now stand at the edge of what might become an industrial tragedy.. negotiations have broken down on wages and re-instatement.. it was absolutely vital that every trades unionist should be loyal to his union and then trade unions would be loyal to them. Both sides seem to have realised that a strike might easily bring a serious and permanent curtailment of the industry. Faced with this a settlement must surely be made, and he was afraid that the workers must meet the views of the owners concerning wage cuts.
One tense moment was when the election agent Ernie Woolley arrived with the nomination fee and was found to be �10 short and had to leave but was back in time to hand in the full amount. Jim received 704 votes and optimistic as ever in his after-the-poll speech said that the real victory had taken place a week earlier when the deposit needed to allow a candidate to stand ''in this democratic country of ours, had been raised, and that despite having no election machinery and so short a time he had visited most villages. There was only one meeting he did not attend and that was where his car broke down. Earlier in the year Jim had contested the local election and received 318 votes. He claimed it was a vote on the issue of the means test, and the more looms system as well as the issue of workers being summoned for rate arrears. He opposed any attacks on co-operatives in the form of taxation and warned against the rise of fascism and the war danger, emphasising the need for a socialist system of society.
Ramsay MacDonald, during the election, sent a message of support to the Tory candidate, who later won.
It was in July 1933 that Jim led a march of unemployed to the West Riding County Authorities starting from Barnoldswick to Skipton with a Todmorden contingent and adding to their number en-route. A Barnoldswick Labour councillor, Frank Watson was also one of the marchers. Harry Kershaw, one of Jims right-hand men during this event, remembers it well. On arriving in Dewsbury, Ben Turner (later to be Sir Ben Turner) and a Yorkshire textile leader, met them and also helped in providing food and sleeping accommodation for the night. There was n crowd of 2,000 to welcome them, many of whom were unemployed miners.
One incident remembered was when some ''trouble makers wanted to throw bricks through windows and make a scene but they were hauled before the march committee and kept in order. Harry Kershaw was a cotton worker who worked with Jim during these early years and later, especially within the union, gave years of service.
The demands of the march were for work schemes, restoration of relief schemes, milk and meals at school for all needy children where family income does not exceed the relief scales of the County Council as at present. The authorities paid the fares of the marchers for the return journey. So far as the relief schemes were concerned, two surveyors were sent to examine a prospective stretch of road from the Coates to Ghyll but it was much later before it was built and too late to provide the work which would have relieved the chronic unemployment of those early years.
THE ENABLING BILL
During and after 1933 breaches of Agreements were on the increase and especially so in South Lancashire, and extended now to higher grades of cloth. Hope mill in Darwen was one such mill. Here the local union had brought the mill into dispute and towards the end of November had closed the factory. The firm re-opened in January 1934 when 75% of the looms were being run by knobstick labour, and 160 workers on strike. As there was unrest in some of the other factories the union approached the Weavers Amalgamation for financial assistance so as to strike the town. It was claimed that the main reason for refusal was the financial one as unemployment had caused a depletion in the amount of union dues collected, that support would entail a levy on other districts which they could not afford, and that Darwen itself was in the same position so far as dues payments were concerned. There was a factory strike committee fully behind the union in its endeavours to prevent the more looms system extending to higher grade cloths. One of the strike committee leaflets reported that the local Trades Council had sent out a County appeal for cash to support the strikers. The Communists were also active in this campaign as were the police who came out in force.
During this time, James Nelson of Nelson, the Nelson manufacturer who, since 1931 had operated a more looms system (8 looms) on semi-automatic looms, on fancy cloths, giving the wages and conditions negotiated with the unions had, in March, pressed his case for a further negotiated agreement. This was accepted at the Amalgamation meeting with a majority of about seven votes, and the Central Committee in full agreement. But lo and behold, the employers meanwhile had pressed the C.C. to hold the matter in abeyance because of the joint efforts being conducted for the future legislation in the industry of wages and more looms agreements. So at the April Amalgamation meeting the matter was agreed to be left in abeyance. There were 25 votes against this policy, mainly composing those areas with the higher grade cloth production, who claimed the James Nelson agreement to be a good one. Later, as a result of further joint meetings between all concerned, the Cotton Manufacturers (temporary provisions) Bill was agreed upon in June 1934. The vexed question now was what had to be legalised? The Unions claimed that the existing agreements should become law, but not so the employers, who made a ploy of the fact that a third of the looms in operation were at the present time working on some form of breaches of agreement. By July, a report given to the Amalgamation of the results to date of the joint meeting explaining the real meaning of the proposed terms. This action was condemned by some districts within the Amalgamation but Nelson, in a spirited reply, claimed the right to protect the interests of its members. It asserted that the Central Committee did not faithfully carry out the terms of the ballot as proposed. When charged that the Communists were involved, they said that they and they alone distributed the circular. Communists were of course busy within the villages and towns chalking outside the factory gates VOTE NOW, but the new agreement became law in July 1935 and was the first legalised agreement for cotton workers.
When the full meaning of the terms were felt in the wage packet there was great indignation shown amongst the operatives affected. A leaflet produced by a group of Nelson and Colne weavers and another by workers at Clover Mill showed the extent of their feelings. 'The Uniform list, they claimed, is good enough for us''. A Communist Party local leaflet commented that all Nelson was furious at the cuts. The lightning strike at Spring Bank mill, and the deputations to the union from James nelsons and other factories shows that the workers want action. It suggested the calling of a special Amalgamation meeting to decide the ending of such an Agreement and proposing a one day strike. ''Early this year'' commented the leaflet, the South Wales miners assisted the unemployed and compelled the Government to withdraw cuts in benefits and hold up the unemployed Bill by the threat of a one-day strike in the coalfield However, nothing happened in the cotton areas although pressure was now growing for an immediate wage advance of 15% but it was delayed, and substituted by ''commencing agitation for a wage advance But pressure put on the union Amalgamation leadership resulted in a wages census (July 1936) which showed that average earnings were but �1.11s-5d weekly, made worse by the under-employment and by total unemployment as
well. The workers were poor indeed, and that is putting it mildly. The claim for a wage advance went before the Conciliation Board which met in December and gave a wage increase of about 1/3d in the � (half the amount
asked for) with some percentage additions to the fancier cloths and lists. The employers refused to discuss a minimum wage. This Agreement was legalised in April 1937 and was the first general increase since 1920, since when there had been six wage reductions. From that time wages were slowly to rise, every year during the war and intermittently afterwards.
After about the middle of the 1930s, Jims main activities were on the whole confined within the Barnoldswick, Earby, Skipton area. He was elected to the local Co-op. Board of Management and gave years of service. Joining the League of Nations Association, he became a local committee member and was able to take part in the peace ballot of 1935 when 6 � million votes were collected for collective security through the league.
By the mid-1930s when fascist jackboots were parading the streets of Germany, Oswald Mosley had appeared on the British scene, and no less in Lancashire using large halls or cinemas for meetings. He was protected by as many police as there were Blackshirts. His was not a campaign for the low paid cotton workers or for higher unemployment benefits but he did promise pie in the sky once the removal of the Indian tariff of 25% against Lancashire cotton were lifted. (It was 50% against all other countries). Even this would have left Lancashire cotton exports well below the pre-war level. The cotton industry is the only one developed on a large scale in India and even so, British interests skim off a good deal of the profits . The 25% tariff is mainly protective and also partly for revenue purposes imposed by Whitehall as one of the ways of compelling India to pay interest on British loans. So wrote Bill Rust (C.C. member of the Communist Party residing for a short time in the Lancashire area) in his pamphlet Mosley and Lancashire "Prosperity he wrote, cannot be measured by international competition and attempts to destroy the industry of rivals but only by raising the consumptive capacity of the workers and peasants by means of the organisation of production for use and not for profit. .. The answer to Mosley must be very sharp and to the point; "CLEAR OUT''. He gave a warning that what Mosley is advocating is a sharpening of the fight for all the markets of the world, a policy that paves the way to war. Communists and all anti-fascists campaigned in their many ways, and questioned those in leading positions who unfortunately advised against demonstrating against the them and they would go away. Due to the mass opposition of the cotton workers Mosley never was able to get a firm base amongst the Lancashire cotton workers and the war put paid to their further efforts. In Spain, 1938 � 1939 during the Spanish Civil War, when Franco, with the aid of German bombers was fighting his cruel war against the democratic government forces many people were active in the food ships for Spain movements. In many parts of Lancashire, tins of food, clothing and such were collected on the doorstep. In March 1937 the Amalgamation meeting decided after much discussion to make a grant of �500 for a field ambulance to be dispatched to the Government forces. Many of the Amalgamation members showed little appetite for the project. A few months afterwards �50 was also donated to the Milk for Spain fund.
Ever since Jim entered the political arena, mainly before the first and up to the second world war, there was a team of his comrades who played no less a part than himself. To mention only cotton workers, there was Tom Catlow, a Blackburn weaver and mill Rep at Hollinshead Mill, joining the Communist Party before the middle twenties. From Preston there was Hetty Slater (later to be, Fuller) who was a weaver and a member of the weavers committee (her sister Mary served as a nurse in the International Brigade.) In Great Harwood there was Alf Ainsworth and Ted Stott, and although Ted was crippled he played a leading part in events and was a good propagandist.
Burnley in the 1920s gave to us George Fielden who at that time was elected to the weavers committee and Spencer Hudson, both of whom went to live in Blackpool and carried on activities there. Later in the 1930s there was Margaret Storey, a weaver and well-known as a, womans leader especially in the factory. Amy Hargreaves, previously mentioned was a speaker and agitator of great ability and told of the sufferings of the workers in language immediately understood. She had a great following in those years and had all her life had close connections with the Labour movement in the town. She worked with Jim many times, and it was at her house that he received hospitality when standing as candidate in the 1931 general election. Seth Sagar from Nelson was a foundation member of the Communist Party and was many times a member of the union committee. He gave unestimated service until a ripe old age and served on the co-op committee for many years. The very many others mentioned were leaders in their own right. Some were or became organisers and leaders in the unions and factories and such like.
JIM LEAVES BARNOLDSWICK
In the year 1941 the seaside town of Morecambe became Jims new home living in Buxton Street. His son was now living there and the doctor advised Jim to take his wife there because of her health. He immediately found work at the I.C.I. works and later on left to
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