ABSTRACT
In the autumn of 1898 the leaders of the miners were in the process of forming a new organisation while trying to cope with the debts and the many other difficulties arising from the long struggle they had passed through. The formation of the South Wales Miners Federation signified there would be an end to the old method of wage regulation. The constitution of the new union was similar to that of other miners’ associations. Actually, great pressure was soon to be put upon the owners’ representatives, by “Billy” and other influential colliery proprietors, to adopt the stiffest attitude to the workmen. Meanwhile leaders of the Miners’ Federation were becoming anxious. Their secretary had written about the question of the January conference and had been told by Tom Richards that the Welshmen were not as yet prepared to make a report and that it would be better to postpone it until the February.
