JAPANESE SHIPS

Hokitika Guardian, 3 February 1931, Page 3

JAPANESE SHIPS

UNION’S OPPOSITION,

•SUBSIDISED \ ESS ELS

WELLINGTON, January 31

Exception is taken by the president . of the Seamen’s Bunion, Mr F. P. Malsh, to the competition of subsidised Japanese shipping in the intercolonial trade. In a statement he made last evening he said the union was looking to the walersiders to remedy the position by refusing to work these vessels. A subsidised Japanese ship, the Brisbane Marti, in scheduled to arrive at Wellington on Sunday. “While thousands of Australian ana New Zealand sailors, firemen, cooks, stewards, officers and engineers are unemployed,” said Mr Walsh, “the Governments of Australia and New Zealand are calmly allowing, highly-sub-sidised cheap labour Japanese vessels to enter into unfair competition with colonial-owned shipping. If they are allowed to capture the trade, it will mean the displacing of a number of New Zealand ships engaged in the intercolonial trade, thereby increasing the unemployed seamen by many hundreds, Through economic circumstances' these displaced seamen will be compelled to enter into competition for work with the watersiders in a market that is already over-flooded with labour. “The Brisbane Ma.ru, which carries intercolonial cargo and mails, is advertised to arrive in Wellington from Melbourne to-morrow. This vessel belongs to one of the lines that are heavily subsidised by the Japanese Government, for the expressed purpose of capturing foreign trade.” SUBSIDY TO SHIPPING. Mr Walsh quotes the following comments on the Japanese Government subsidy to shipping from the British maritime journal, “Fairpla.y,” of October lf> last:— “With the view of assisting shipping and preventing unemployment among sailors, the Japanese Department of Communications lias decided to grant ocean-going tramps a subsidy ol S,(X)f),(X)O yen per annum for the next three years. The vessels to he subsidised must be not older than ten years and of a minimum of 5000 tons; voyages arc to he made from foreign port to foreign port, and the subsidy will be 30 sen per ton for every thousand miles. FOREIGN TRADE. “If. will he seen from the above quotation” said Mr Walsh, “that the Japanese Government has subsidised its shipping companies for entering foreign trade to find employment for the seafaring section of its community, ft can also be seen that they definitely recognise the tieing-up of ships is unavoidable, hut this can he minimised bv an invasion of the foreign market with Hie assistance of a subsidy. Surely it is up to the Australian and - New Zealand . Government to see that I this form of subsidised competition is i not allowed to continue? “If tbe Government wishes.to minimise unemployment and unfair subsidised competition, it lias power to do so under section .l 4 of the Shipping and Seamen Act, 1903, and sections 204 , 205 and 200 of the Customs Law Act, 1908. Japanese maritime law will | not permit British or colonial vessels' to enter their coastwise or intercolonial trade, therefore why should the Governments of Australia and New Zealand extend special privileges to the Japanese lines, whose rates of pay and conditions of employment are very much below the colonial standard. The moneys earned for the owners of these vessels and the wages of their crews arc not put into circulation by purchasing colonial produce. but, on tbe contrary, are spent in Japan and so constitute a direct loss to tbe Dominion.” |

In conclusion, Air Walsh appealed to watersiders to assist the seamen to maintain their wages and conditions of employment. “Tf we are defeated,” In, said, “your .turn will be next. Our fight is your fight and your fight is ours.”