This, then, was the first real opportunity since the collapse of the previous agitation that had been afforded the men of the sorting force to reassert their liberty to organise. But for the tact and moderation of the Postmaster-General, Mr. Raikes, and had he been less sympathetic towards them, that opportunity might have been still further delayed. That the opportunity would have been sought for or forced ultimately there can be no doubt. The younger men were not to be expected to be intimidated by the warnings issued fifteen or sixteen years before. That was ancient history written on a slate. On top of the grievances left unredressed by Booth’s agitation, others had accumulated; and none but those contented with being born into serfdom could much longer have tolerated or accepted such conditions. But it was due to Mr. Raikes not only that the moment for starting a new movement was brought nearer, but that that movement was made to run along the constitutional and legitimate lines it did. Mr. Raikes, unconsciously perhaps, pointed the road they should take, and by following that direction they found the road travelled to success. However he may have been averse to the introduction of organised trades-unionism in the Post-Office, Mr. Raikes took the sensible view that open and deliberate opposition to the sorters’ agitation at that time of day and in the circumstances would not only give a fillip to it, but probably force it into a less commendable shape. Mr. Raikes was a man of the world, who knew human nature and human impulses as it showed itself in the aggregate. He had his duty to himself, to the department, and the public to consider, and in this instance the just motive of the man was not inconsistent with that of the tactician. It had been conveyed to him that there was a general storm brewing among the telegraphists and the letter-carriers, as well as the sorters, and he was not blind to the necessity, from a departmental point of view, of keeping each organisation distinct and confined to its own ground of operations. He probably knew by this time that the sorters were sufficiently determined to run an organisation of some kind; and failing to prevent it, even if he would, he decided to show some tolerance as the best means of arresting or suppressing what might otherwise become a turbulent spirit among them. It was under these auspices and these conditions that the sorters’ association was inaugurated.