SANE UNIONISM

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 135, 4 December 1929, Page 13

SANE UNIONISM

APPEAL TO SEAMEN

DANGER OF COMMUNISM

(By Telegraph;) (Special to "Thß Evening Post.")

AUCKLAND, This Day. The seamen in New Zealand work under much better conditions than their fellows in Australia, according to Mr. Robert F. 8011, overseas representative of the British Seamen's Union, who returned to Auckland by the Maunganui after a short visit to the Commonwealth. . I Efforts were being made to crush the! Socialist section of the Australian Seamen's Union, Mr. Bell said, but there remained much work to be done by! sane unionists for the protection of their organisation.

"Australian seamen are- gradually learning that sane methods are surest " Mr. Bell continued. "The fact that many of them are out of work is one ot the factors that is bringing the men to their senses and making them realise the necessity of being reasonable in: then- demands. The Seamen's Union is making a determined effort to stabilise conditions, but antagonistic and unscrupulous methods adopted by the minority Socialist section are causing considerable trouble. This section has been a centre of disaffection in Australia, and has caused untold harm. The I men who comprise it call themselves | Communists, but the majority of them have less idea of the meaning of Commumsm than the most conservative capitalist. They are selfists; they are working for their own individual ends all the time, and not bothering one scrap about others. The minority element is largely composed of disgruntled unemployed. POLICIES OF DESTRUCTION. "I admit that it is hard to obtain work, but no man is "serving any useful purpose if he turns his back on sane unionism, which must bring about contentment, and looks for revolt. They talk plausibly, but with very little logic I have spoken to the most intellectual of them, and while they can speak for hours about policies of destruction, they arc unable to put forward any plan of construction. "New Zealand," continued Mr. Bell appears to be the one green, patch in the seamen's world as yet untouched by any major trouble, but from what I have heard from private sources the activities of these so-called Communists may soon be directed against the Dominion in attempts to bankrupt and break down all sound organisation. If the seamen want to protect their own interests, they will adhere to the principles of sane unionism, and turn a deaf ear to tho flood of insidious propaganda which will be let loose at them. "We are out to combat this influence with nil our resources," Mr. Bell continued. "Our aim is to stabilise the seamen's unions throughout the world, to cultivate a spirit of healthy co-oper-ation, and to encourage interchanges of membership. If we can present a solid front to these agents of destruction our battle is won."

Mr. Bell will remain in Auckland on union business until next -week, and will then leave for Lyttelton to visit members of his family before sailing on his return to London in the first week of January. He is a New Zeaiander by birth, and this is the first visit he has made to his own country for ten years. He is keen to stay here as long as possible.