For some years after the decline of the agitation of 1872-74 the letter-carriers were practically quiescent. There was a prolonged hiatus, not of contentment exactly, but of unvoiced discontent, a restless slumber, with but an occasional turning and a muttering in their sleep. It was not till 1887 that the letter-carriers again woke to the full realisation that they were being overburdened with an accumulation of old and new grievances, and that the time had come to prepare for another effort. There was the usual recrudescence of grumblings and a groping in the semi-darkness, the usual repetition of unrecorded back-stair and back-room meetings, some misunderstanding as to exactly what they wanted, and which way they should turn to get their grievances redressed. They had the disadvantage of being split up into a number of sections and classes, and there was the danger from the outset of their being disunited by internal jealousies. It is the man that makes the movement as much as the movement makes the man. There were a number of ready champions of the general cause, but when they came to take stock of the claims of each it was found there was only one man who could be followed with confidence. This was a young fellow named Dredge, known familiarly to most of the London letter-carriers as Tom Dredge. He was a good speaker, with a hearty, bluff manner, and he gave the idea of a fighter who could carry his point and would not flinch. Dredge set about organising the letter-carriers at his own office at the North-Western District Office, and gradually extended the sphere of his operations to the other districts. In this he was ably assisted by two or three fellow-postmen acting as delegates from their various centres. The first meeting of any importance, and the one which mainly decided their future action, was held at Tolmer’s Square Institute, Drummond Street, N.W., on July 23, 1887. Dredge was the central figure and the principal speaker; and from that night the agitation extended to the whole of the London district postmen, and embraced a considerable number of the suburban men. The first item on the programme of the new agitation, of course, was the preparation of a petition setting forth their claims. These were to include limitation of working day to eight hours, necessity of increased pay, extra duty to be paid for according to wages; the granting of boots for all postmen, and lighter clothing for summer wear; equality for all postmen in London; the resumption of the title of “letter-carrier” in lieu of “postman”; earlier maximum pay; a minimum of 18s. a week for all second-class postmen; the abolition of the collection and delivery of parcels by London postmen; and several other good things, including a better pension scheme.