In the evening of the same day a mass meeting was addressed by Mr. W. W. Rutherford, M. P., the head of the firm of Miller, Peel, Hughes and Rutherford, Liverpool. Mr. Rutherford had been Lord Mayor of Liverpool in 1902. He said: "He ventured to think that the great Postal and Telegraph Service was suffering because its position and its grievances had not been made thoroughly intelligible to the general public.... That was not a matter touching a few hundreds of people in a hole and corner of the country, but was one of extreme importance affecting no less than 185,000 people.... The real foes of the employees were the highly paid officials at the head of the Department, who were quite content to draw their salaries and show that the Government was making four or five million pounds sterling[226] out of the public and the Postal Service." Mr. Rutherford's speech recalls to mind the fact that the Australian cousins of the British civil servants have learned to deal with their "foes" by compelling the popular branches of the Australian Parliaments to reduce the salaries of offensive officials, or to drive them out of the Service by means of "fishing" Parliamentary Committees, appointed to report on--and to condemn--the offending officials. On August 14, 1904, the London Branch of the Postal Telegraph Clerks' Association held a meeting, at which Mr. C. H. Garland,[227] the Secretary, spoke of Mr. Thomas Bayley, M. P., as one who "had rendered valuable service to their cause in the House of Commons." The presiding officer, Mr. R. H. Davis, said: "In burking the recommendations of the Committee they could not help feeling that the Post Office authorities had been guilty of a breach of faith. Were they going to take the rebuff lying down? The London Committee were determined to fight the matter harder than ever. By the time Parliament assembled next year, they would have an effective organization at their disposal, and the enemy would feel their pressure very considerably."[228] The Special Conference of the Postal Telegraph Clerks' Association held on September 17, 1904, resolved to hold mass meetings in all the district centres between then and next February [opening of Parliament] to protest against the action of the Postmaster General. The series to conclude with a "monster" demonstration in London immediately before the opening of Parliament.[229] * * * * *