AUSTRALASIAN FEDERATION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1921, 2 December 1913, Page 7

AUSTRALASIAN FEDERATION.

A UNION ARGUMENT. DOMINION CARGO "BLACK." Recently tlio Australasian Federation if Labour wrote to th'o Commonwealth

Primo Minister asking that vessels with cargo handled in Wellington should bo prevented from coming to Australia in order that the spread of the Now Zealand strike to the Commonwealth should bo obviated. Tho Prime Minister, in tho course of hfs reply, intimated that ho would like a clearer explanation of tho desires of tho federation. The secretary of tho federation (Mr. W. Kosser) on November IS wrote again to Mr. Cook, and, after saying that tho federation desired industrial pence, he proceeded as follows: — "In New Zealand the employers are attempting, through bogus unions, to capture the machinery of tho Arbitration Courts; therefore, tho members of tho Labour Federation of Australasia look upon such members of bogus unions as blacklegs. A resolution stands on tho minute-book o'f the federation that no members shall touch any goods handled by blacklegs. The position, then, is that any boat coming from New Zealand at present, as far as the federation 13 concerned, is 'black.'" | The letter goeJ on to argue that tho Federal Government lias power to stop such vessels from coming to Australian ports, seeing that it has the legal right to stop vessels from bringing smallpox or yellow fever. The-letter concludes as -follows: — \

"Wo contend that your Government sJfoiiltl not assist tlio big shipping combines to depress tho conditions of the workers in New Zealand, but should endorse the action of tho federation, which reflects the opinion of the majority of tho citizens of Australia, who are of opinion that humanity should stand before trade and commerce."