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EXILES REPATRIATED

•THE MANUKA'S PASSENGERS COMPLAINTS OF NEGLECT PROOFS OF DISTRESS After periods of exile varying from & few weeks to several months, some three hundred New Zealanders returned yesterday from Sydney by the Manuka. Tho slup had ten lying out in tho stream in the rain and wind for hours, during which time the passengers must have had' a wretched time on board, but in spite of tho inhospitable reception arranged for them by the weather, they all looked extremely glad to land on the soil of New Zealand again. Those resident here were met by friends' and relatives, and there wore shouts of recognition, and cheers of gladness, from both the shore and tho ship as tho Manuka drew into berth. When the ship was actually tied up friends rushed to the side to exchange words of greeting and inquiry, and once or twice, from a few places along tho tide came the cry, "Where's Ru;?ell?" It is evident from what the passengers have had to soy already that they will yet have some few things to fay to Mr. Russell and about Mr. Russell and the Government. It was quite evident that all the passengers returning were not New Zealanders, and it was equally evident that somo at least of them had not been "stranded." Somo among the men bore unmistakably the marks of wealth and ease, and the assurance of good possessions. They were iu a minority. The passengers, who had come through a hard time, looked tho part on close scrutiny. The bulk of them repelled any inquiry about tho expedience they had had. Beyond a word or two lo the effect that it had been "pretty notten," they would have nothing to say. Some would tell of the troubles and anxiety they had goue through in their daily visits lo the office of the Union Company at times'when there seemed to be hope of a steamer, hut none of them cared to discuss How they liad stood tho siege. It seemed to be evident enough that the subject was olio on which they did not care to dwell. Statement by Mr. Batt. Among the passengers to return was Air. E. A. Batt, who lias been chairman of tho committee of stranded New Zealanders in Sydney since thev have been organised. Mr. Batt was asked first of all as to tho truth of the allegations of distress .among the exiles, which allega-' tions have been denied in substance by the Government on the authority of the Government Agent in Sydney, Mr. Blow. "My committee and myself," said Mr. Batt, "have been able to know the ctae of every person who would speak of his distress, but there were many who were much too proud to tell of their plight, and they went on suffering until we "discovered them by other means, and gave I hem relief. In the first place it should bo knonTi that this .relief given by the Government Agent in Sydney is only a loan. In every case the person receiving money from Mr. Blow has had to sign an 1.0. U. for. repayment of the. money. Mr. Blow took up the attitude (liiftn# the fir-it four to six week? of our detention that it was his Dart to hand oiit ns little money as possible. He told most people to go and get work, and by other means put them off and discouraged them from coming aga.in for relief of I heir distress, lie did everything to discourage' people from' coming to him for money. We_ had / to begin this agitation wifh the New Zealand Government, to get. them to act iu a more generous spirit. The effect of our agi.lntion is to be seen in the fact that while during flic first two months of detention he paid out approximately .£2OO, and after OUT pressure was felt during the last month that wo were there he paid out another .£2OO. This is sufficient proof -that distress existed, because altogether during the three months up till the time that we left the Government Agent had paid out ,£IOO. The Embargo, "We have, of course, repeatedly charged the Government with neglectin;' to provide proper quarantine accommodation, and we say that this was ths whole and sole reason why we were kept in Sydney. That is proved by the influenza figures. At the time the embargo was imposed—the (second iveqk in April—She deaths recorded in the metropolitan area of Sydney averaged 15 or 20 per day. The death-rate continued at about this average for some four weeks, and then Nt declined to as low as three a day.,. This rate was continued for some weeks, but still the embargo was kept on. But for the few weeks prior to our leaving the death-rate in Sydney averaged 50 per day, the highest rate recorded in the Commonwealth during the whole course of the epidemic. I ask Mr. Russell why has he repatriated us when the disease is at its very worst in Sydney? "Another 'point I' should like to men-, tion is that tho New Zealnnd Government, illegally in the first instance, instructed the Union Steam Ship Company not to bring any passengers at all from Australia'. I cabled Messrs. Bell, Gully, Bell and Myers for an opinion on this action of the Government, and was advised that it was illegal, and this I told tho Government by cablegram and letter. Still they maintained the embargo, but later withdrew the illegal instruction, and warned the Union C'ompSiiy that if passengers were brought across, the ship bringing them would be liable to indefinite quarantine. Presumably this was due to the_ fact that there was no available quarantine accom. modation into which the passengers could be put. No Classification. "When it appeared that there might be some prospect of getting some of us home the Government cabled to Mr.< Blow instructing him to classify tho stranded people in ten classes, according to tliflr necessities, the purpose of this classification being that the most .necessitous cases might be brought first. The list was all prepared, showing 300 of the stranded New Zealanders, lyid it was arranged that these people should be booked by the Moeraki. But a fortnight before we sailed, and before the sale of berths had been'commenced, the. Government cabled to Mr. Blow and to the Union Company cancelling all the classifications, and allowed the > Union Comnany to bring whom they liked. The result is that in the 300 passengers by tlii" ship are included a large ndmber of theatrical people, tourists, and business men from Australia. A largo number of New Zealanders were shut out from this ship. As nearly as I' ran tell there are approximately ISO bona-fide New Zealanders still held in Sydney.

"I have made it clear to tho Prime Minister bv letter, and also 'by cable messages, that at the first meeting of New Zealanders in Sydney after the sailing of the Moeraki without passengers, we at once affirmed the principle that the New Zealand Government was justified in taking all reasonable n cans necessary to prevent a recurrence of the disease in New Zealand, and in all our limitation wo have never departed from that principle. I .want to emphasise this fact, 1 localise I understand that a great number of the New Zealand public are under tho impression that ihe Ctovernnent lias been right in keeping lis out, and that wo havo been wrong in wishing to return to New Zealand end endanger the community. About Distress, ' "Wo all resented very keenly the opinion cxpressod by Mr. Busscll, which opinion was cabled to the Australian papers, that, there was no distress among the Now Zealanders. That was absolutely wrong. Out of sopic GOO mixed people, principally working people, is it possible that they could all 6tand a scige of tlireo months without, some distress? The suggestion is ridiculous on the faco of it. I should like to say Hint the people of Sydney were very good anil very sympathetic to us, showing i;s somo practical sympathy. We received from persons who wished to remain anonymous cheques for as much ns .020, 4MO, and X's. Wirtli Brothers gave a benefit entertainment three weoks' ago In help to relievo the distress This show netted ,£G3. Wo had disbursed up till the time of our lea\ing about .Will nut of '.ho .CIOO wo had in hand, leaving the balance to be expended by the committee. There, was plenty of need for Ibis extrn assistance. Tho Government assistance has never been anything like adequate. It has never exceeded Ks. a week. The

averago has been about 20s. a week. No one could live in Sydney at this time oil 6uch u:i allowanca as even 2os, a week. Mr. liussell ha'a denied that there was ally need for people to pawn their jewellery. Well, 1 was chairman of the committee, Mr. Russell was Here "n New Zealand, and Mr. Blow lws always taken up the attitude that lie should pay out no more than he could not help paying out. I have seen myself scores of pawn tickets held by Now Zealanders for articles they had pawned in their extremity, and I have helped people out of my own pocket to recover from pawn articles of jewellery which they prized. * Still Going lo Agitate. "The general consensus of opinion freely expressed at our meetings was that the Minister of Health has 1:9 right, to hold his position any longer 111 view of the injustice 110 has inflicted on us, and the muddle he has made of flic whole quarantine arrangement. "Wo aro still going to agitate on behalf of those remaining in AustraJia._Up till to-day. so funis we know, the Government has not done cue single thing to help us to get back. This ship was not brought over for us by the Government. It cnmc over in the ordinary waj, and we have had fo take our chances. Al'i the money that lias been disbursed by the Government Agent i.ns been by way of loan, and the money has to to paid back." DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE PAWN TICKETS PRODUCED. Absolute proof of the statement that passengers had been reduced to the extremity of pawning jewellery was given by tho production of pawn tickets. One man, wearing still the clothes of a man in comfortable circumstances, had nan to pawn his gold watch and chain, and then his diamond ring, until at. last lie had to pocket his pride, and go to the Government Agent for aid. This gentleman spoke of his> experience as ton wretched ■ to bear thinking about Yet another man, also well-to-do, a. farmer in the, Auckland district, foundhimself in sore straits, although he had plenty of money available 111 New Zealand "if ho had been able to arrange to have it sent to him. He produced the proofs of this statement. A dole of 20s. a week was not of any use to him. lio had come from Homo on his return to this country, and none of Ins credentials availed him in Ins search for an advance from any bank or business house. He had with him a valuable violin, an instrument mudh prized because it iad been in the family for some time, and he at length obtained an advance of ,£lO by parting with this treasure, which ho values at several times..that. sum. lie also would have nothing to say about his experiences in other ways. He said ttia he had not thought it possible that 110 should suffer the misery, inconvenience, and '-humiliation that lie had come through in the past few months since his money had run' short. I m not so voung as I used to lie," he said, and really believe that this experience has .cut a few years off my life. As mav be readily understood those proofs of' hardship actually suffered are difficult to obtain rxcept from people personally known to tho questioner. As Mr. Batt 'points out in his statement, probably the worst hardship of all was suffered by people who would not ask for aid, or admit their own staie-of need. Now that it is over they will, for similar reasons, keep the' recital of their expcrienees for the ears of their families and friends. TWELVE WEEKS 7 "DETENTION . A TRYING EXPERIENCE. Mr G. N. Baggett, assistant librarian at the Free Public Library, left Wellington 011 -March 22 for a month's holiday in Australia, and returned yesterday by the Manuka, declaring that the worry attendant upon his enforced detention in Sydney had aged him.by ten years. "It is nil very well for you people over hero to make light of our trouble,- he said, "but the strain of hanging about the Union Steam Ship Company's office and tho office of the Seamen's Union j day ,after dav would wear anyone out." "You Vee," he" continued, "110 one .could get away from Sydney, and go somewhere oil a trip—not even for a week-end at Narrabeen—because there was always held out to up a prospect of getting away, and we had to be examined for three consecutive days before the vessel sailed, by tho medical au.thorities to prevent, as far as possible, influonza patients getting on board. I personally underwent examination sixteen times,' until I became known to the girl as one of the most persistent of the exiles.' I, was taking no chance. 1 wanted to get back. "On one occasion we asspmbled a complete crew, from captain to cabin boy, and thought that our troubles were at Inst at an end, but when we got going it was only to find that if the steamer left with a volunteer crew (for the Moeraki in this case) the Seamen's Union would declare tho steamer and her cargo 'black,' and 110 one would touch her at this ejid. ' So away went our hopessmashed again. On one bccasion we were so worked u.p that we marched in procession, over a hundred strong, through Sydney to the offico of the Seamen's "Union" in Suffolk Street, singing "Ake, Alee, ICia Kalia.' People wondered what tho quaint procession was, but the excitement died down when they knew it was only a procession of New Zealanders who could not get home. The union secretary addressed us, and faid that they would allow the ship to be worked back to New Zealand if all the cargo 'was put ashore again, but that provision was so unfair and ridiculous that we, none of "11s, would agree to such extreme action. We pointed out, too, that it would be extremely uncomfortable to sail in an empty ship. He advised filling her up with water—tho tanks, I suppose, he meant. "Then tho Admiralty' was approached to ?eo if a crew from TI.M.S'. Australia and Sydney could not bo spared to bring the Moeraki over, but that idea fell through on tho union statin? that if that were done tho cargo would 'bo declared 'black.'

"Things took a different turn when the Manuka came, as she had a New Zealand crew. >Tho Union Company said they would not allow her to sail without a full cargo and a full list of passengers, but, though both were available, there were more delays. Then • she would only take 250 of the exiles, and thero were fifty others whom they wished to accommodate. At last we got aboard on Monday evening last, and at 12.45 i;.m. the Manuka pulled out from the Margaret Street wharf, and proceeded down the harbour. Wo thought that nt last we were off homeland everybody was in high spirits until the steamer dropped anchor in Watson's Bay, just inside the Heads. We found then that the steamer was minus sixteen of her firemen. That, evening some eight or ten firemen were brought off in a launch. They came off waving bottles of beer and singing, 'We're going to take you home!' Anyhow, at G a.m. the next day we heaved anchor and got away.

"Thero was one very sad incident hap-* pened when wo were in Watson's Bay. The doctor was looking over the passengers, and discovered a man (who had four children with him, and was anxious to get back to New Zealand). In answer to the medical officer, the man said ho had not been examined, and when they did examine him ho was found to have tho 'flu,' and ho and his children had' to 1m bundled off tho steamer."

Mr. Baggett confirms what others say ns to the paucity of tho relief afforded bv the Government Agent in Sydney (Mr. Blow). It was said that the Now Zealand Government was prepared to assist all necessitous cases. If that were so cither tiio Government was not awaro of the straits some of tho people wero in or Jlr. Blow interpreted tho Government instructions in his own peculiar wav. For instance, he allowed an Auckland woman and bet four children Ms. a week io live upon—in Sydney. Well, it simply could not.be done. The stories about people pawning their valuables were absolute fact. There was one man.'Who was returning from a trip round the world, who was compelled to pawn a diamond ring and his walch in order to pay his way, and another man. a chemist and expert in soils, was compelled to pawn a valuable violin, worth ,C7O or -£80, for -CIO.

Dr. liiissell, of Auckland (formerly of C'hristchurch), who was sent over by the Government to return with the first passenger steamer, arrived 'by the' Manuka. which was a clean ship. Dr.

Davy, also of Now Zealand, was still iu Sydney. "When I came away," said Mr. BagKett, "there were still eight hundred on the waiting passenger list for New Zenland." GOVERNMENT AID ACTING-PR JME MINISTER IN REPLY. It will be noted that in his statement Mr. Batt says that the Government did nothing to help the New Zealanders to set home. Sir James Allen yesterday contradicted this statement. ' "I can assure you," said Sir James Allen, "that 1 personally made every effort I could to get the Manuka away, and so did the Union Company. More than that, I did everything I could to get the Seamen's Union in Australia io allow the Moeraki to get away. I have also interested myself in procuring the I'rinzessin to bring back New Zealanders. It is quite wrong to say that the New Zealand Government, represented by the Ading-Primo Minister, has not done all it could to secure transport for the stranded Now Zealandors. The Prinzessin is, I hope, in Sydney now taking the balance of the stranded New Zealanders on board. At tho same time she is bringing coal for the railways. This ship has Ir.cn made available to us for this service by the courtesy of tho Shipping Controller, with whom we have been m correspondence."

Sir James Allen said also that the instructions of tho Government to the agent, in Sydney was that •no money should be spared to give relief to all deserving cases of distress among the stranded New Zealanders'.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19190715.2.62

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 249, 15 July 1919, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
3,188

EXILES REPATRIATED Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 249, 15 July 1919, Page 6

EXILES REPATRIATED Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 249, 15 July 1919, Page 6

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