AUSTRALIAN POSITION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1920, 1 December 1913, Page 9

AUSTRALIAN POSITION.

UNION doNGRESS IN SYDNEY. WELLINGTON STEAMERS DELAYED. MORE MEETINGS TO-DAY. By Tiile'g rn ph—Press 'Associotion— Copyright (liec. November 30, u.G p.m.) .November 30. Que of the most representative unionist gatherings held in Sydney for many years, met .yesterday at tho headquarters of i t]ie,.!j>cnnicii's Union, to discuss the. position 011 tho waterfront. Among the' representatives wcro the Federated Seamen's 'Upion' of Australasia, Iho AVacerside Workers' Federation, tho Coai Lumpers' Union, tho Northern an.l Southern Colliery Employees' Unions, the. Australasian Society of Engineo's, the Federated Furniture Trade, tho Australasian AVorkers' Union of Amalgamated Itailway, Tramway Service, and Itaihvay AVorkers' Workers, tho General Labourers' Association, tho Merchant Service ,{3uild of Australasia, and the Australasian Federation of Labour. The' meeting, -commenced at eleven in tho. riiorjiing, "iMr. AV, M. Hughes being jrcsideniof thq proceedings, which wcro conducted with .the greatest sccrccy. The meeting adjourned at six o'clock in the evening, until. Monday morning, when the Seameu's Union will also meet.

MORE-SHIPS HELD UP. .ULLAIAROA NOT YET AAV AY. ' ' (Kcc. "November 30, 5.5 p.m.) 1 ' Sydney, November 30. The latest additions to tho list of vessols held'up' are tho Aorangiand the Ulimartia, iVhich wcro advertised to ; ail yesterday, for Wellington. The Ulimaro;i has 350 .passengers booked. Tho ship painters and 'dockers have taken"la'iiand be refusing to dock the Makura.'. This led to the calling of a meeting of, tho Iron Trado AVorkers' Federation for to-morrow,-to consider tho,attitude to be adopted by all afQliattidJ.iirppjis. Tofua's bananas nearly caused trou'jlo at tlio Darling Harbour goods yards 'on' Thursday. . .On .Friday the Tof\yi's v .bananas .were classified as "bli'qk" and tho Queensland's as but as both ivero' arriving at the', fail way yards simultaneously, the jmt know which was which. Consequently., tho meu wcro halfinclined to take action without consulting;..the officials : of tho union. However,' of the officials prevented 'precipitate, action. .Tho men aro determined „to stand by tho resolution of the Federation of Labour regarding "blaclc" goods.

..'-MRI W. M. HUGHES AT THE ' HELM. ' v • i i — HIS' tIEW OF'THE SITUATION. .' Sydney, November 28. Mr. W. -Ml. Hughes, M.P., who was Attorney-General in the lato Fisher Ministry) acting In his capacity as' president, of ..the .Transporters' Federation, has' summoned a meeting of tho federation, also a'' conference of the Federation of the'iAustralian Workers' Union, and, tlio' Labour Federation. as' to whether ho thought tho troubla would spread, he replied: . "I-would.-not like'to say, but there is ~'.always, tlior danger thai' l an -industrial "'fire, ,onco alight, '"•'Ho .. ,wi(s/.showma cable message reporting tho'New Zealand Employers' Defence ~Committee7 s 'reply to the Federation of Labour's offer to accept Sir ■ Joshua Williams's arbitration, in which the employers: decline to rtcogniso tho federation or any}'third party, and stating that they will deal only with Arbitratidn unions.!' Mr. Hughes said: "If that:is really tho attitude of tlio.employers,' I' Rm very sorry indeed. A policy, of' sweet reasonableness was certainly tho inpst desirable, nnd quite apart from the rights' or wrongs of the original dispute, of which I knoiv nothing, here is "an elFo'rt bona fide mado for a settlement by peaceful'means by arbitration, with an assurance by responsible leaders that'whatever the decision' the moii would .loyally abide thereby. In face of this', it is difficult to undorstanu the attitude of tlio •Employers' Defence Committeo. However, I decline to 'believe that the emplovers have rejected this proposal of tho men."

AORANCI LEAVES SYDNEY, MANNED BY 'A SCRATCH GREW. , (Rce. December 1, 0.35 a.m.) . i Sydney, Noiember 30. the Aorangi got away,at 2 o'clock this afternoon with a scratch crew.' Her regular crew refused to tako the vessel out,, and'it is stated that they thus committed a breach of their agreement. I'lie Ulimaroa is tied up awaiting the result of tho conference of the Seamen's Union tofmorroiy regarding their attitudo to this vessel. It is understood that it tho crew finally refuse to man her, no-attempt'will bo made to raiso a scratch crow. " ■There aro ■ apparently ' two' parties among the- unionists. 0110 ccnsiders it advisable to confine the embargo to tho Union' Company at present, w'hilo tho other contends tho shipping companies are so bound together that to allow any vessel to 'trado fo iSW Zealand would indirectly ahsist '.the ' Union' Company. The Waipori arrived at Newcastle 011 Saturday from Hawke's Bay for coal. The coal trimmers boycotted tlio vessel, but it is expected to get her away early 011 Tuesday, short loaded.

■ FARMERS JO.'FARMERS." ' ' MOVE FOR CO-OPERATION. ~ , Sydney, November 28. Mr. Campbell, .general secretary of the iVw feouth Wales Farmers' and betters Association, has received the following cablegram from Mr Jack secretary of tho I'armors' Union Wellington :—"Call your association approach the Government, 'aiid ur"e tho importance of maintaining steamer conJiect'ion with New Zealand by guaranteeing protection. to worker's !oadin<cargo." 1 : '

Mr. Holman, the State Premier, being absent, the cable message was'subinitted to Mr. Cann .(the Treasurer) who said: ''The position is very much in the nature oli a problem, particularly at present. All 'I can say is that we, as a (iovernment, arc r.worn to maintain tho law as 1 occasion arises, and we shall' certainly do our best in that direction.''