THE SHIPPING TROUBLES.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16423, 17 January 1919, Page 6

THE SHIPPING TROUBLES.

the ferry service

MARAROA NOT AFFECTED. (press association telegram.) "WELLINGTON, January 16. Nothing fresh is reported concerning tho hold-up of the ferry steamer Maori. It is hoped to get her away to-morrow night with men engaged at tho ordinany rate. The Mararoa sailed for Lyttelton tonight at eight o'clock. REVIEW OF THE POSITION. ATTITUDE OF UNION COMPANY. (special to "the press.") WELLINGTON, January IG. The decision of the Union Company not to try to get the Maori out last night was virtually a refusal by tho company to go on paying tho blackmail rato of* £2 a day, which casual men hare been insisting on, at times when at the last moment tho vessel was short of firemen. As a matter of fact, when tho Maori came up here yesterday morning, she had in tho stokehold only three firemen receiving the regular rate of £14 10s per month; the others were receiving either the rate of £1 os por day, or tho extra rate of £2 per day. The ship was eleven" men snort in the afternoon, and it was found to be impossible to engage other men except at the rate of £2 a day. Tho company decided to tie the ship up.' They liavo always ..paid the oxtra rates with tho greatest unwillingness, but have done it in order to keep faith with the pub-

]ic wishing to travel between tho two islands during the greatest tripping season of the year. An endeavour is to be mad© to carry on the ferry service without tho assistance* of these £2 a day men, described on tho water front 'as "Runners. ' SEAMEN'S UNION VIEWPOINT. Thn secretary of the Seamen's Union (Mr W. T. Young), in a statement to the Press to-day, says that the domands for these extra payments of £1 5s or £2 per day have not received the endorsement of the Seamen's Union. The Union, ho said, -would abido bv the agreement made Ho described the "runners 'as selfish individualists. Any member of the union sticking up boats for terms .and conditions beyond those in tho agroement was liable.to he dealt with hv the union. Ho said that some of the men making the dojnandwcre not members' of tho Seamen's Union. H© also declared that officers of ships have offered inducements to men to accept these extra- rates, but this statement is emphatically donied by the Union ComP# n . v - Tn a statement made at a later hour in the day the secretary of the Seamen's Union says that the trouble in getting men for tho Mi\ori is due in the. first place to the bad accommodation in the ship, and, secondly, to tho fact that •firing is a hard job in the Maori. For t,be=e reasons, ho fiays, it has been difficult for five yours to get men for this shin. This statement by Mr Y<wn<r doe!' not explain why it has been difficult to pot men for ot'lior shins. There are men in other ships receiving as ijiuch as £3 per day. ACTION BY ENGINEERS. A complication is introduced by tho engineers. They have for many years had a verv bad timo in the stokeholds of coastal "ships, owing to the vagaries of firemen. If a man comes on board the ship drunk, he is not much ppod for serving tho furnaces, and he is often insubordinate. Tho junior engineers have had to put up with a lot for many years. They have not dared to take firm action lest a ship might be held up indefinitely. They have apparently tired of this state of affairs, and the Institute recently at a meeting considered the "very unsatisfactory con-

duet of firemen " greasers.. and trimmers." The following motion was carried at the meeting: "Engineers to be instructed not to proceed to sea unless two watches of firemen, greasers, trimmers are capable of duty-,- and satisfactory arrangements are made that the men of the two capable watches do the work of incapable men." That decision is likely to lead to some interesting developments. With firemen receiving higher wages. than many engineers, the latt.er _ could not be expected to continue doing a part of the firemen's job much longer. An effort is being made to get the Maori away to-morrow night, but, no more than the ordinary rates will be paid under any circumstances. Firemen have been paid, by these wages, at the rate of about £1000 a yoar, and the oomnany is not going to do it any more. THE BLAME FOR THE TROUBLE. One engineer, referring to the trouble and the causes of it, to-day said that lie believed that if the men at the work were New Zealanders, with

homes horo. and some interests, there would not be half the difficulties now encountered. Most of the men are firemen frcm oversea boats, who have come out here at some time and stayed here, and some of them are foreigners. •The engineer did not say it, but the Teason why it is not possible to got New Zealanders to do the work is that they must go in and serve what amounts to an apprenticeship as trimmers, before they can be firemen, and this, for certain reasons, will not do. If the job could be offered without this apprenticeship, men now aehoro would take the work and the pay. The clause in the late *Mr Millar's Act which provides for this apprenticeship. makes the Firemen's Union practically a close corporation. The Government has power in an emergency to suspend the operation of the clause, and the Union fears this power of the Government. If the Government were to threaten now to suspend the clause, much of the trouble on the coast would cease. Seen by a reporter Vesterday afternoon,, Mr S. K. Sleigh, Christchurch manager of the Union Steam Shin Co., stated that it was incorrect to say that the Union Companv was declining to book passaces by the ferry steanTers; they were being'booked as" usual, subject. of course, to the always existing condition that the ships sailed. "What might have given rise to the rumour was the fact that the Monowai was a full ship for last night, and it was therefore impossible to book more passages by her for that trin, or. for the Saturday night trio to Wellington, It was possible that the Maori would be hero in place of the Monowai to-mor-row, but he could not say for certain. OOLLTER XGATORO HELD UP.

(press association telegram.) / WELLINGTON, January" 16. The Blackball Company's steamer Ngatoro is held up similarly to the Mnori. The firemon are asking 30s a day, which the owners regard as exorbitant. Some of the men who were to have joined failed to put in an appearance. The Ngatoro is to bring coal from Greymouth to bunker the liner Kent, which is now loaded hero for London. The delay is an expensive matter for the Kent.