SEAMEN AND OWNERS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1341, 19 January 1912, Page 5

SEAMEN AND OWNERS.

THE CONFERENCEMAY FINISH TO-DAY. PREFERENCE GRANTED. The conference of shipowners and delegates from the Federated Seamen's Union met yesterday morning, and continued sitting until about 5.30 last evening. Mr. P. Hally presided, and, as at the previous conference, all the proceedings were in camera. This was the resumption of the conference held some two months ago. At the lirst conforonco most of the points at issue between the parties wore discussed, and the work of the. delegates at this meeting is now lighter. Yesterday the ground was traversed again, and it is expected by most of those at the conference that an agreement will bo reached to-night. When the conference last sat the first question raised was that of preference to unionists, and the raising of it threatened to create a deadlock. The men Tcl'used to go on any farther until it was granted, ami, finally, after a day of deliberation, the owners pgrced to a clause granting more complete proforenco than is ever incorporated in an Arbitration Court award. . * Then the conference did not in the end come to a final agreement, but decided upon a provisional temporary agreement and itdjo'irnd. The preference clause was incorporated into thu agreement that was signed, but there was also incorporated n elaiiscr "This agreement is without prejadice to either side. . . ." There seems to have been some misunderstanding as to the effect these words were to have, for when tho conference opened yesterday, it was at once clear that the owners considered that the question of preference was still open to be discussed, and also clear that the men considered that it had Ucsn finally settled. This gave rise to lively discussion, which lasted until about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Then the employers gave in, and tho preference clause agreed upon previously- was accepted. Then the conference set to work'to discuss and consider other details, amongst thorn the case of small river-limit vessels and small boats generally. Some of the owners of these vessels are desirous of being excluded from tho operation of the agreement, if such is arrived at, but their request to that effect was not favourably received. Nothing very definite was decided, but a good deal of ground was broken. Freights Must Be Raised. In conversation with a reporter yesterday, one of the representatives of a small shipping company had a little to say about What the recent rises in wages may mean. "We in turn will have to bleed tho public," he said, "and if we can't do that wo will have to sell np. We have not been making large profits iip till now, and we must increase rates if wo are to carry on at all. The two big companies'can very easilypass the charges on, but the smaller companies, some of which are in competition with railways, are not so happily placed. And then we have also to consider, 'Will the trade stand it?' "We have already increased rates a little, and we shall increase them a little more after this,' but some trades certainly will not stand higher'freights.; Take, for instance, the timber trade of New Ztfalapd —what is the reason for all this Oregon pine being imported, and used against New Zealand timber? It is the high cost of handling timber here. The loading and unloading of timber entails heavy expenditure for labour, and the result is that freights have to be kept so high that the trade is easily open to foreign competition. But the union representatives at these conferences will not consider anv of theso things. • .They say simply, 'This is what we wont,' and it Kenis to me they are going to get it."