The points were discussed and the evidence given, and the representatives of the men entertained high hopes of the matter being speedily settled in their favour. “Waiting to hear the verdict” became a watchword and a commonplace saying among the men for several weeks, and few seriously doubted what that verdict would be. On March 25, 1890, the report of the committee was issued, and it was then found, greatly to the surprise and disappointment of all, that the decision was against them on every single point. There was a feeling that they had been betrayed; but this speedily gave way to a new hope that Mr. Raikes, after all, intended to compensate them for the disappointment sustained; for, in the meantime, the Postmaster-General had offered a still further compromise to the general spirit of discontent by instituting a departmental Committee of Inquiry to inquire fully into the quality of postal duties. The new hope that had inspired them became clouded with much uncertainty during the next few weeks; but a general meeting of the men decided to await the result a reasonable time before taking further action. The verdict of the Luminous Committee was taken strong exception to by the general body of the force as being inconclusive and unconvincing. The official verdict, so far as the Fawcett scheme was concerned, had gone against them certainly, but they had lost nothing but the verdict. They lost neither courage in themselves nor hope for the future. They had pursued an ideal that had eluded their grasp, but it had enticed them into pastures they might never have explored. It had taught them how to organise; it had taught them self-reliance, and gave them a better appreciation of their own value as public servants. Their pursuit of the Fawcett scheme ideal, while it had given them some acquaintance with the difficulties to be faced, had taught them how to surmount those difficulties. It had inspired them with a new and a stronger ambition to better the conditions of postal life; and it had been the means of discovering to themselves that in their two leaders, Clery and Williams, they had two officers of more than ordinary ability, and to whom they could confidently look for ultimate victory. They had lost the verdict, but this much they had gained, and more. If nothing more substantial had been gained from the Postmaster-General, they had at least secured his respect and even his goodwill, and that respect they reciprocated. At first, unwilling to consider their claims, Mr. Raikes had come to realise that they were deadly in earnest, and were not easy to refuse. And they had reason to think that from this realisation had sprung the conviction that, after all, they had grievances which, at any cost, would have to be remedied.