B.S. MAORI HELD UP.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1639, 4 January 1913, Page 6

B.S. MAORI HELD UP.

FIREMEN REFUSB TO WOR Eor . EXTRAORDINARY DEMANDS. i is ..■.-'■•"'.-■'■• : . : — - • ■'. ' me, TRAVELLERS INCONVENIr?" ::''-. ■ , -ENCEa'iad -.'■ ; _• nß i: i EXTRA STEAMERS PUT ON. All. ';■■ :".'.'. . — ..: 13! 'The firemen, trimmers, and greasers ih? board the Union Company's,ferry stcaD -ho. Maori - yesterday refused to. work on • tch vessel, and she was consequently una ike to leave port last.evening on'her us ■ x 7, rlin . to Lyttelton. The number of n bit concerned was 27 and these comprised ing whole of the engine-room. 'staff with 1 >ne exception of the engineers. These 27 n rt- ; were/responsible for upsetting the ■' •ill rnngements' of over ?(id intending p | er sengers who had,- booked . by the ves' ae,- A Part, from this inconvenience to i ny general public, the Union Company « .-.'j. snippers oi suffered material i— : "; of tho'Trouble. ;. ... f cause of the,trouble-was tt -re. the men havo taken exception to a Pn sr-. Association message sent out from W to iinglpu on New ieai-'s Day and appei ; n {. ing in various newspapers. o» /..'^o^siage,-as -it .appeared in t vr'K ytte y <, ' u ' T ,JL, r mes " and' Christchur it ; lress - on January 2, was as follows:- ,°, ■' iiA, Press Association telegram from Ik; Weihngton/.siatai that tho trip to Pic--111 .ton. by tho Union Company's steamer ij Maori yesterday morning was auanuoued, owing to a deinana by the fire- .- men tor3os.' lor the^trip.' The com«T." . Pany. refuseu to,entertain "the claim. :e, _.'As a matter of fact the reason for ti it.; Maori not making, the excursion to Pi id ,™, 11 . aU(I bac k was the state of the weathc •i- j-hw tact^appeared.in^Tue Doiiision. -j "When .■the .firemen saw the-Press-Ass ?,v elation-,.message "in the Christchun 6 papers they'resented it. ' -' '• ,0 , . before the Maori left Lvtteltx io tor.VVeUmgton on Thursday evening ti ,_, firemen intimated to Captain Aldwell thi ~- on the-arrival of the vessel at Wellin ■ton they.would leave the,ship unless thi : were, put right in tho eyes of the publ -•,over,tho abandonment of the Pictou e' ;■ ;cnirsion. Canfain Aldwell'snggwted i ,-, the men that they, should suspend fu 10 ther action in the matter until 'inijuirii h had been made in Wellington. *. ";";";Stateinonts,,by Officials. ;' •e . On,•ar'riyal-:ih | port yesterday;. Captai - Aldwell stated, to . press ' representativt „ -that.there wasnotthe slightest objeotio : on the'part.of.tho men to.take the Maoi d to .Pictoii and back.; There fwere no di 3 mands;made by the crew, and they, wer 7 in. no way responsible for the abandoi h ment of thetrip. Captain Aldwell als added thut : during the Christmas and Nei ,-. Year .holidays the Maori had been'ru; without the slightest.hitch, and also tha r- the crew, had not caused the slightest is d .;..-, ; • i. "Mr. >W. T." Young, secretary of tho Sea 0 men's Union, who was present at the tim p Captain Aldwell made the above state '. meat/endorsed it, and added: "Of course 3 : there ,; tfas ■' no truth ' ■■. whateve ■ in,'the-v.statement . telegraphed b -■ the'..-:.Press, Assodiation, that''th' . trip to Picton, had been abandoned'on ac . count; of the firemen demanding 30s. 1 . day,; nor.didi'any such statement appeal m the Wellington papers'. They gave thi 3 correct'arid, only, cause—bad weather.. .; r v -put myself-at once in communication witj i the'Prcss Association, and thero' lcarnet ■ that" .the; ■ statement ■ complained of hnc originated in Wellington, and had beei , .sent out.to various papers; but I was ng sured that a.message would be sent oul J- to suohpapers as had published the statement explaining that the abandonment ol . the .excursion to.pictonwas in no way dus • to ; any action whatsoever on the part o'i the. crew' of the Maori." ; .Demands by-the Mori. ;',-■ ! '"■' Howdver,;a't 9 a.m. yestorday tho'fire- , men, trimmors.'and greasers were still de- \ termined to 1 carry out, their original in- '. tention,;and 'ststed.that thoy.'wanted a public apology-in-the press for the state- :■ ments made, filename of the man respon--1 sible for sending out .-the news,) and a ■ telegraphed correction sent to all papors !in which the 'news appeared. Those werii the only conditions on which, they would go.to sea. Between' that time and noon . they had evidently changed their minds again. l -When Mr..Young again interviewed them;'the' men 6tated'that they wanted a written apology from the Press Association representative in Wellington. .This, it; was demanded, should bo in their hands,by'noon. 'This is'stated to have been thefirst intimation tho secretary, of tho.nnion of this new condi■ti6h.'.- r '-..'., , .',-'■'• •'.'■■:.' - ■'-.-. V.The promises made -in: regard to the first demands were.carried' out and every endeavour was made to get fhe men to go back.to work. .This they absolutely refused to do, because the written apology had not: been received at noon, At 3. p.m. the apology:requested was in the hands of- Mr,. Young and was shown to the men. Prior .to this, the men were uddifessed by responsible people and. tho reason of the mistake was explained fully to them. Mr. Young, Mr. Kennedy (manager of the Union Company's local branch), and the press agent did their best to get. over the difficulty, but tho men would not listen to reason.. -Inthe vicinity of the' Government ship, ping office a vote was taken as to whether work should bo resumed or not, and a- majority yoted.in favour of "downing tools.' . The whole of the men then went intg the, shipping office and asked to be ,paid off,, , . . . Appeals by Owners and Union. Later on, when it was seen that the men were fully, determined not to go to sea Mr.;; Young called them together and addressed them. He said: "Men, I am going to-address you as your official representative, of. the union.'l am going to speak.toyou as man to man, and sneak Plainly, iho attitude you have adopted to-day is ono in which yoii are alienating public sympathy-the thing we want. As an ,of the union I ur?e you most strongly to take tho Maori to Lyttel.ton to-night. , You are perpetrating a strike. There aro over 500 passengers booked by the Maori for Lytteltoh to-night and you should return to work, and take them- down. The "Union Company is not .responsible, for this, and they should be considered.-'. -You have 'received the apology you have asked for, and I ask you to;return to work... At the beginning.of .the holidays I gave instructions to the chief engineer of tho Maori to give instructions to . his junior .engineers not to pin-prick tho men, and theso instructions havo been carried out. Everything has worked smoothly, and there has been no. hitch." "When Mr, Young had finished, Mr.'W. A; Kennedy, manager of ,the Union Company's local branch,', addressed themen, aiul urged them to-return to work. He stated that tho trouble was .not between the company and the men, 'and also that tho Union Company, was not against the' Seamen's Union. "In fact," ho said, "the Union Company welcomed the formation, of tho union, and would do what they could to help the union along." Mr. ' Kennedy went on to say that the general public had to be kept faith with, and that was what tho Union Company was trying to do. Ho urged the men to go backhand take the ship out, otherwise he.was of tho opinion that the public would havo no sympathy with the men in tho present instanco. "You havo got all you asked for," Mr. Kennedy naid in conclusion; "so why not reconsider jour action and go baok to work." The Ship to be Blocked. At the' conclusion of these addresses the spokesman for tho men said: "Wo will take a vote as to whether wo will reconsider the question, or whether we will Remain out." \ Oh tho veto being pnt, thero was a unanimous show of hands against going back, and there the matter ended, and the Maori Tomained tied up to tho wharf. Anxious Crowds. When the-final decision of tho'men was made known ' tho local officials of the Union Company made all haste to complete arrangements for getting the Maori's passengers away south last evening by other vessels. Instructions wero promptly issued to get the West Coast trador AraUiira ready for sea, Tho Taraw«ro, .which

Pivas en route from northern ports to I ■ telton and Dunedin was detained, and Te Anau, which .arrived at Welling trom Picton and Nelson at 7.10 p.m., 1 also ordered to proceed to Lyttelton. V. Long before 8 p.m. tho usual crowd peoplo madoJthcir way down to the whe where the Maori was berthed. The ne had leaked out but slowly, and ma did not know that tho vessel was not sail. When tho news became genera known, all was bustle and confusion a short time. Tho officials of the Uni Company had meu posted at convonh places and intending passengers were rectedto tho other vessels to bo sub; tuted for the Maori. Then tho rush - in. Hundreds of people, laden with b: gage'of all kinds and descriptions, w< on to ' Do «»n.running.off in all directions ler , Soon , tho Arahura was filled and £ backed out from tho wharf with 332 p J* sengers on board, shortly after 8 pirn. mo 8.30 p.m. the Tnrawera, which was berl ml ed at Jervois Quay, had 300 aboard a en , was declared- by. the Customs officials ~ be a full ship. Word:went round, however, that t! -ho vessel was "stuck up" wanting three fi en men, and officials looked troubled. T lr- men , ln question wero soon found ashc IS . and ]omed tho ship and she got away e j,. 0 p.m. ... * he ' A , «'ord of praiso is diie to tho saile U(l and firemen on board tho Te Anaii for t [y. 7 a - v ln which ther acted. For tho nc few weeks the Te Anau has been refic • v g i ° Pftt « cna in Hl « Wellington-Picto ■ ■ Nelson service. She had been ordered « J, a J 1 , nmval . nt^ :Wellington and h crew had lieon -given tho necessary r „f U 7 r ?n notlee .:, When she arr *ed i" PO J- at 7.10 p.m. theso men could have pacb ■ np,and walked ashoro according to tl ae agreement. .... :n . A Volunteer Crew. The position .in regard to the Maor tiremen was explained to the crew j the officers and Mr. Young, and witho exception every man stated that he wou i? ke J : H sI " p to L 3" tto lton. Just wh< ,„;« 0. nau ,Vas °n'tho..point of sailh with Dl passengers on board; a rumoi , .was heard to the. effect that she was is nremah short, and could not go. Th c- proved to-be incorrect. The man ha r. pne ashore, to post a letter, and soon r wrned,; and. the To -Anau got away'' 1 5.50 p.m. , . ■-. * I" During, the time that all this bust n and commotion was taking place tl ;'■ general public was much in evidence! an n remarks regarding the "strike," as it wi ie termed, were heard freely- on all ■ side it Ihe crowds were/very .orderly, and thei ?- were no demonstrations of any kind J. Ifrom the public's.point',of view,' tl 0 situation-was freely' discussed. Eachlitt :- group of people could be heard compkii 0 ing against the high-handed action of tl '-. Maoris firemen, in not considering ti s travelling public- Others were hear prajsing the Union Company for the wa . lnwhich they had got over tho difficult! ,- When the Te Anau.came in a gang < a .stewards-.was. set ,to ..work to 'bring■ pn s -visions from the Maori, and carried 01 n the .work.' with very little loss of Cimi 1 -the whole of the arrangements, whic - iad , to ,V«.«>. .hurriedly made, were'cai a ned out without, a hitch. -: . ... r : , .;■ Men's "Mistake" Admitted." r When spoken to after all the troubl • was over Mr. Young told a reporter tha t he was very' well pleased with the wa - l n which the men on-tho other steamer had behaved under the circumstances. Th _ men on.tho Maori had made a mistak< i 55 1. d flava to pa y for it.accordingly lhe. beamons Union had done its bos , to get them to look at the matter fro'n ; the right point of view, but all effort ; had proved unavailing. Personally, h ■ ■ -was extremely 1 sorry that the trouble hai occurred. The action of the Maori's mci '. would do his union no good. "In fact,' ;. he said,""such actions as T 'these : by th. "men only tend to take public sympath- ! away from tho union." - Mr.yYoung state! ■■ that he P/ woul';'.endeavour to get.a crei ■~. for tho Maor| to-day so that she could'b ■ got away for Ly.ttelton, on Monday night When asked if ho thought that ho wouli experience much difficulty .in obtainm; a- fresh nnder-dock Mr. Y'ouni : would: not say anything at present. ll< stated, howover, that'he would "do hi best." ' --.''■-:, ','-., .-. - A - prominent shipping . ninn . was ap proaehed-and asked for his opinion 0: the;. "sticking, up of the Maori/' "In reply"i he stated: "I have been expecting .this sort of thing to happen for sum , time past,.so it has not.,como as a vorj ; ' great surprise to mo'.' In:my opinion, .tin men of the Maori:have.done'more harre to their union.in one day thau nil thi ; rest of the members put together. Theli actions in this coso have put anaii ir tho union's coffin'. Their action .was '.illegal and quite wrong from the first, Naturally,-' tney resented a -wrong statement being published about them, bul they got what they asked for and should havo been contented with that. I. think this is'only'tho beginning of a big upheaval among the seamen and firemen on ithb.vessols trading round our coasts.": .:."-"■■' The Legal' Position. The legal position of the Maori's firemen is to bo as follows:—According to law, twenty-four hours' notice must be given '6n either side when on agreement is about to be terminated. The notice given to .Captain Aldwell on Thursday night expired bel'oro ,the Maori was soheduled to sail last' evening, but the men Bhould havo kept at work until 5 p.m. Instead of, this, they left the, ship, and are thus liable, to be prosecuted for having' been, absent .from tho ship without leave. In speaking to the men .yesterday, Mr. Young pointed this out, but it did not have any effect. Evidently tho men had made up their minds to abide by their action, and, stuck to their decision. One fireman, who-was a member of another' Union'-Company steamer in port, spoke very strongly against his, mates' actions, and said that no matter what grievance.a man had, ho should consider the public and not stick'a ship up when it suits him. "If I hadn't a job to-day I would go down in the Maori and work myself. I reckon thoso fellows (pointing to the firemen of the Maori) are tally. They don't know what they want, and don't seem to want to know eithor." BRAWL.ON WHARF. ' SOME SEVERE FIGHTING. Anticipating some "fun,"' an unusually large crowd of curious persons wandered down on th*e Queen's Wharf last evening. Trouble was expected with tho firemen on vessels leaving port that evening, and a "what's up" crowd on tho wharf wero watchihg "the unusual." Matters in connection with the departure of the To Anau, Arahura, and Tarawora, af«;,'reported elsewhere. Shortly v aftor eight o'clock, at tho side of the Tahiti, which v:as lying at No. 1 berth south, Queen's Wharf, a stand-up fight took place between one or two of that vessel's officers and two intoxicated firemen. Tho firemen in question were not members of tho crew of the Tahiti, but wero apparently off a Home liner. Tho two firemen attempted to board the Tahiti, with tho intention of presenting liquor to soino of their firemen friends. An engineer,, however, stopped forward, and declined' to allow tho "visitors" to bring the liquor aboard.. Ho even went tho length of politely requesting them to "get nshoro." As it seemed, howover, they were very persistent men, and their persistency led to argument, which culminated in a stand-up hand-to-hand fight. Tho'"visitors" fared badly, but the'engineer in question was unfortunate to receive a blow near his left cyo. For. a few minutes, tho "visitors" appeared to bo slightly dazed, and then they remembered their previous intentions—to get aboard tho ship. Tho attempt was useless. Tho mate—addressing them in a stentorian voice—ordered them ashore, but they w.ould not listen to reason; they loitered and argued, and,. when on the wharf, the officer was subjected to some very offonsivo language. This of course fired the officer, and ho "took-to" things in general. Tho obstructionists fared badly. Blood flowed freely, and one would have thought that this would havo onded all. But no, they kept it up. Wharf labourers UTged them to leavo the wharf, and save furthor trouble. Ono was evidently more wjso than tho other, ns he quietly took his departure. The other remained and continued to argue. Looking over tho side of tho Tahiti were firemen, senmen, and stewards, all interested in tho proceedings. Tho retraining visitor was not content with whf.t he had already received, and ho continued to argue. A.Union Company official advised him to go, but he refused and used certain language. This resulted in blows being struck again. The official and the firemen wero soon "hard at it." This however was the end —tho fireman had apparently had enough of it—and acting upon advice received mournfully took his departure. No policeman was within coll at tho time,