THE STRIKE.

Clutha Leader, Volume XL, Issue 45, 5 December 1913, Page 3

THE STRIKE.

WORK AT WELLINGTON. PROTECTION OF THE MEN. WELLINGTON, Dec. 3. With fine weather to-day good work was accomplished on the wharves. The new Waterside Workers' Union is now nearly 1800 strong. . The Muritai this morning, but has not started unloading. -During the day a new stokehold crew for the Opawa signed on, and the vessel left for London this afternoon. The Union Company has been advised that the Waipori left Newcastle yesterday with a full carro of coal, which will be used for bunkering boats and maintaining the coastal %nd ferry'services. Statements are current that cases are known in which old waterside workers anxious to return to work are intimidated and prevented from doing fo by the attention of" strike pickets. Already special patrols have been detailed to protect the homes of men who have gone back to work and are afraid of molestation.

SETTLEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS WELLINGTON, Dec. 3.

A meeting of the Trades Council tonight discussed the industrial position, and appointed a committee to draw up recommendations for a' settlement of the strike. These proposals will be submitted to a mass meeting of all unionists next Sunday.

Peter Fraser, secretary of the, Social who was ordered to find securities to keep the peace for 12 months, was released to-day. the necessary bonds being anproved. Geo. Bailey, who had to find similar sureties (totalling i£6oo). was released yesterday.

SHEARERS WILL NOT COME OUT WELLINGTON, Dec. 3.

Mr Laracy, secretary of the New Zealand Shearers' Association, states that there is no likelihood of the shearers coming out. Members of the union had responded well to the. levy in support of the strikers. 'MESSAGES TO AUSTRALIA. WELLINGTON. Dee. 3.

Tlio. Employers' Federation to-night despatched the following cable messages to Hon. W A. Holtnan. Premier. Sydney: "Wellington Employers' Fede atioii and Citizens' Defence Committee desire to give an emuhatic denial to the statement of the Federation of Labor representatives that the employers of the Dominion are opposed to organised Maimr, and wish to assure you that on the contrary they are encouraging and supporting the registration of "workers' nii'ons under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. They desire to impress upon vour Government that as all cargo is being handled by arbitration unionists there is absolutely no reason why Austral'an union'sts should refuse to work New Zealand ships at Sydney or elsewhere, or to precipitate the crisis indicated in to-day's cables as being imminent. That being the ease, it is hoped that you will use every endeavor to have the embargo on New Zealand vessels removed without delay. The committee will gladly sir—W vou w ; th anv information on request beinn made." From the chairman to Mr Hughes, M.P., Sydney:—''Employers' Defence Committee desires to emphatically contradict the Federation of Labor's representatives' statement that the NewZealand employers are opposed to organised Labor. The fact that all earno i« being handled bv arbitration unionists should corn-hue Labor leaders that no reason exists for 'industrial cris'-s which cables indicate as imminent in Australia.—Foster (chairman)."

APPEAL FOR ARBITRATION. CABLE FROM AUSTRALIA. WELLINGTON. Dec. 2. I'ollowing i s a summary of the cable sent to the Defence Committee front Mr Hushes (who was Attorney-General in the Fisher Ministry in Australia and is president of the Transport Workers' Feds-ration) in reply to Mr Foster's; cable:— " I /'So far as your cable deals with the ! history and development of the dispute it i.s unnecessary to comment thereon beyond the remark that your statement is in conflict with that furnished to the (■(inference by the Labor Federation. No useful purpose can be served by attempting to deal with the matter'from this standpoint, therefore a conference representing: over 200,000 unionists was called together for the express purpose of dealing with this trouble and faced the situation as it exists to-day, one whkh threatens to assume alarming proportions. With those, if any there aio. who desire a continuance of the industr'al turmoil we have absolutely no sympathy. We believe in unionism and ail that unionism stands for. We believe in the settlement of industrial disputes by arbitration, so to your contention that there ;6 no dispute and that there is nothing left to Sir Joshua Williams or any other arbitrator and that the Federation of Labor cannot be recognised and is to be destroyed we cannot for one moment assent. The federation contains thousands of the best workmen in New Zealand and we cannot consent to their destruction. \\ho is to blame for the present situation we do not presume to say. Wg are faced with the situation.' It is none of our creating. Peace is not to be obtained by saying there is nothing to arbitrate about or fulminations against the Federation of Labor. There is a dispute and there is something to arbitiate about. Until this point is settled to talk of industrial peace is to live m a fool's paradise. In the best; interests of all parties we consider that the present state of affaire ought not to be allowed to continue. We therefore recommend that the whole matter be referred t 0 Sir Joshua Williams or another arbitrator acceptable to both parties, his decision to be final on all points, including the employment of labor, and the conference on behalf of the unionists of Australia pledges itself to loyally abide by the result of such arbitration and as from the date of application of the arbitrator to resume normal working conditions in the New Zealand transport trade. 'lt recommends Jhat the Federation of Labor should similarly pledge itself in any case. We do so in the hope that this proposal will commend itself to you and the people of New Zealand. We fully recognise that very strong feeling exists, but we make an appealto reason and an appeal to both sides to cept it without delay." COMMITTEE'S STATEMENT. WELLINGTON, Dec. 3. Defence Committee, adhering to its former stand, states that in consequence of the disregard in the past of the binding force of agreements and the frequent distinct utterances of members of the Federation of Labor that if agreements m Ws% UMujtsbU

to them they will be broken in future, it is obvious that the employers cannot now enter into negotiations • with the federation in; future. Members of/ihe new arbitration union have beenvpromised preference and the fullest protection in consideration and the employers will on no account weaken '.on that point. Finally, the employers consider that no agreements will be satisfactory except under the Arbitration Act. An extended reply will be sent to Mr Hughes after all the employers' associations have conferred. . INTIMIDATION REPORTED. WELLINGTON. Dec. 3. Further cases of intimidation to prevent men returning to work are reported. Some patrols of '•specials" had a number of cases to attend to. AT LYTTELTON. CHRISTCHURCH, Dec. 3. The weather was cold and wintry at Lyttelton to-day, with heavy showers of driving rain. Most of the steamers were working. The Marero finished discharginpr about four o'clock when she sailed for Dunedin. Away from the waterfront the only event of importance was the opening of the hotels at nine o'clock for the first time since Monday, November 24. MORE COURT CASES. CHRISTCHtJRCH, Dec. 3. the Police Court Henry Davis, D years ot age, and Leonard Rowan, a youth, were charged with insulting behaviour to special constables last week. Two "specials"' stated that Davis and Rowan shouted "scabs" and laughed offensively. Davin denied the accusation. Mr Alpers, counsel "for the accused, protested that Davis had been arrested on a warrant instead of being summoned and ha : ] been taken to the station with criminals. , ' The justices fined accused £2/ in default a week's imprisonment. Rowan denied the accusation against uTm, and produced five witnesses who slated "that he liau not called alter the ".specials." He was fined £3. WORK AT AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND. Dee. 3.

Ift fine weather to-day work on the wharves was pushed forward rapidly. Tho most important movement was the arrival of the Maheno. The departure of the vessel on the return passage has been postponed till 5 p.m. to-morrow. An interesting position has arisen regarding the admission of members to the new union. Last night a meetingof the union was held, and five men" farmers from Tauranga, with high recommendations from a prominent citizen, applied for admission, but the voting was against admitting them. Two ol the men had been waiting on the Monowai, expecting to be admitted without any troub'e. They were verv much disappointed. MEETING OF SEAMEN. DUNEDIN, Dec. b\ A meting of tho Dunedin Seamen's I nioii ua-: Held this afternoon to coupler the position of the branch in regard to tht* present trouble. About 170 members were present. Thu president oi tho executive (Mr Murdoch McKens:ie) presided. Messrs Mac-hie. and Jaek (reproseiiting the Auckland branch of the I inon) and J. Baker and J. Shepherd (W elfington delegates) addressed the meeting, giving , a . detailed account oi tlie operations m their centres. This met with the general approval of the meeting. A proposal to" take a secret ballot on the qiusfeon of whether they should resume work was overwhelmingly defeated by tho meeting, only 17 voting in favor of the proposal on a show of hands. A discussion ensued on the methods of the Federation of Labor, which were generally condemned. The action of tho Auckland, branch, whose members still adhere to the telegram to the Dunedin branch advising it to ignore Mr Belcher, was also condemned.

Mr Belcher addressed the meeting and traced the, genesis of the Seamen's Union, which he said had nursed Auckland and Wellington seamen to their present condition. His reward for that had been abuse. Ait ultimatum was received from the Union Steam Ship Company stating that if work were not resumed by Saturday it would take steps to have the vessels manned by tree labor. In this connection Mr Belcher stated he now intended to take a further hand in the fight. He had used all possible means at the conference in Wellington to effect a settlement, but the majority against him had been too strong. It was decided t'.-.at members signing on during the present crisis would be dealt with by the union after the strike war, over.

The meeting, which lasted about two aiid a-half hours, closed with a vote of thanks to the visiting delegates and an unanimous vote 0 f confidence in Mr Belcher.

To-morrow another meeting will be held by the local executive and the four visiting delegates. It is stated on good authority, that the meeting will decide with a view to securing the services of his Honor Sir Joshua Williams as a , r . bitrator on the position which has arisen between the seamen and the company,

GREYMOUTH WATERSIDERS. GREYMOUTH, Dec. 3. 'I no Greyinouth waterside workers held a meeting td-day. Proceedings were extremely lively at times, A secret ballot was .taken, and it was decided by 106 votes to "4tf to remain on strike-. WORKING DUNEDiN WHARVES. D'UNEDIN, Dec. 3. At noon to-day the following vessels were at the wharves—Turakina, Dorset, Mimiro, Victoria, Moeraki, Wnitomo', and Kamo, representing an aggregate of-34,000 tons. All save the Moeraki and Kamo were worked this afternoon. The total strength of the new union is now 163 members. Three of the new unionists are ex-members of the union on strike, and it is stated that a number of the latter, have gone to Lyttelton and Wellington to work. It is understood that some of the workers are desirous of appealing against the decision of Mr Bartholomew requiring the old Strike Committee to find sureties to keep the peace, and that the parties concerned will almost at once discuss the question of whether an appeal is to be made. IN AUSTRALIA. BOYCOTTING OF. VESSELS. ''"'• .'' SYDNEY, Dec. 3. The wharf laborers to-day extended the boycott to all the Union Ctomtriany'i> vessels, mi no labor was available for

■thePaloona and Wakatipu, which, are not engaged in the 'New Zealand trade. This is contrary to. the decision reached yesterday. The discharging of Sydney cargo aboard the Whakatane and Indrapura proceeded, totday. , The Federated Seamen's Union held a meeting to-day, Senator Guthrie presiding. The meeting passed a resolution on the same lines as that of the wharf laborers not to work New Zealand boats. The Australian Workers' Union voted £SOO and the Bricklayers' Union £SO to assist the New Zealand strikers. APPEAL FOR ARBITRATION. SYDNEY, Dec. 3. Hon. W. M. Hughes (president of the Transport Workers' Federation) las received an acknowledgment of his long cable to the Employers' Federation of New' Zealand, stating that it (has been referred to the employers' defence committees throughout the Dominion. In an interview, Mr Hughes said: "We are assuming that our proposition will be accepted in New Zealand, and that will end the trouble here so far as wo are concerned." He 'admitted that he had made a suggestion to the New South Wales Industrial Commissioner, but he was unable to reveal at present what it was. It was decided to cable Hon, W. F. Massey and Sir J. G. Ward asking them to use their influence to get both parties to accept the arbitration proposals. The conference of unionists will resume to-morrow. Hon. J. McGowen (Minister for Labor) says that the Government is watching developments iclosely, but so far had seen no useful opportunity for intervention. CRANE EMPLOYEES JOIN IN. SYDNEY, Dec. 3. The crane employees at Newcastle tonight confirmed the decision not to load the Union Company's steamers. .- •The Melbourne Company's Brisbane was boycotted by t ! i)e trimmers because it was suspected that her destination was New Zealand, though it was stated that the vessel was loading for Melbourne. The crane employees, however, are still filling her. The Wakatiou, which loaded for Launceston, had her coal trimmed by the clerical staff. POSITION SERIOUS. MELBOURNE, Dec. 3. 'llhc wharf laborers' boycott "of New Zealand goods has become serious. The Huddart Parker Company has abandoned the usual "Christmas'pudding" trip and 5000 tons of pudding fruits are lying untouched on the wharves. There has been no boat from New Zealand since November 5. A consignment of cargo for New Zealand is stacked on the wharves. HOME LINER'S ARRIVAL. HOBART, Dec. 3. The Ruahino has advised by wireless til)at she will arrive from London on Thursday night.