By the assertion of the right of public meeting and demonstration it was thought to force the Postmaster-General to his knees. But it was not to be. If it was thought that what had been done by Booth in the case of the famous Cannon Street Hotel and Exeter Hall meetings might again be done by means of an outside professional agitator, they were mistaken. True, the earlier public demonstrations were in defiance of official rules and prohibitions; but these were demonstrations of a united postal service, of a movement to which scores of the public men of the day had given their countenance; and Booth and his followers adopted such a means as the only alternative to holding cooped-up meetings on the official premises. That was in 1873, and this was in 1890. Circumstances and conditions had considerably altered since that period, and the right of free public meeting was already for all workable purposes an accomplished fact. Instead of continuing as it started, with the purpose of securing those material benefits to which postmen were entitled, the Postmen’s Union very imprudently demanded that their grievances should be laid before the Postmaster-General by Mr. Mahon, their secretary, personally. As they ought to have anticipated, this request was refused or ignored; and it was then that they determined to publicly assert their right to open-air demonstration. Their meeting-place was again Clerkenwell Green. From there they fired their shell into St Martin’s-le-Grand. The response was prompt, and a number of men who had made themselves conspicuous, or whose names were secretly reported, were suspended, and had to be maintained by the funds. The postmen’s leader sought to open negotiations with St. Martin’s-le-Grand, and wrote to the Postmaster-General that the men who had attended the prohibited meeting would apologise on conditions. The conditions that Mr. Mahon wished to impose were that all restriction on the right of public meeting should be withdrawn; that the suspended men should be reinstated after tendering their apology; that the Postmaster-General should immediately obtain the sanction of the Treasury to increase the pay of both established and unestablished postmen, and that the permanently-employed auxiliary staff should be placed on the establishment. Mr. Raikes replied, but refused to recognise Mr. Mahon as the postmen’s representative. It was decided to further assert the right of public meeting, and a monster Hyde Park demonstration was organised for Sunday, June 19. The postmen in mufti turned up in considerable numbers with their friends; Mr. Mahon and some others made some strong utterances. An official note-taker, attending by official instruction, was recognised and rather roughly handled. In consequence of this meeting, and the disturbance that ensued, another thirteen men were next day suspended from duty.