SAILORS PROTEST

Hokitika Guardian, 25 October 1933, Page 5

SAILORS PROTEST

DIOMEDE TROUBLE . SEVERAL GRIEVANCES ALLEGED, , U*er' Press Association Copyright .) CHRISTCHURCH, October 24. ie , Trouble occurred :with some ,of the, il crew of the Dioniede at Lyt’tleton on d Monday afternoon, and a- demonstrae. tion was made.‘“.The':Red Flag” was n sung. The demonstrators were all NeiV, Zealand, ratings pn tho ship, e The alleged grievances, which are| e said to be- the,, cause,; were ■ the receno - tightening . up; oij .their' conditions. gen--51 orally, and the ■ curtailment of extra - leave, which tlie-crew was expecting . on Labour Day.-p ir . • r The men due for leave were expecti ing to get aivay front .the' ship at ono o’clock, and when no parade for the ! . liberty . men was 'called, they cornI inenccd to .make a mild ■ demonstration, i No significance is "attached to the singing .of .-, ‘ ‘The . Red - frlag,”, ; whichl was merely expressing disapproval! over , the loss of leave. , ; The. men were eventually given leave at 3 p.m. ‘ A A’’A A; The personnel of the Diomode is composed of mixed Impemi ratings and New Zealand- -ratings, and the demonstrators were all New Zealand men. A' ; A A ' To-day the New- Zealand ratings were paraded before. Captain Cosmo Graham, who addressed them, explaining why their leave had been reduced. , To a repre&niativ’c.bf the press tonight the Captain, said -that the rffair was veiCy trivial;, and.; hundreds of visitors were admitted .to .the ship Ln- - - mediately afterwards. “AFFAIR IS VERY; TRIVIAL.” CAPTAIN GRAHAM’S COMMENT. CHRISTCHURCH, October 25. Interviewed regarding .the singing of the “Red tFlagil Hy. some' of the. New Zealand ratings, Captain Cosmo Graham said ! “The affair“is very trivial.” The' Diomede had brijy'Hdently c-chi-pleted ,refij:tiijg, and. it .was because of the necessity of pushipg'on with certain .work in view of, the' insrectipn, that the men were kept at work for two hours in the at'terndon on Liibour DayAA; ‘v;;,;’ 1 .. A No extra, leave Jjad-hgen promised, but. the leave ‘menvhad' been given an hour and. a,;, jdalf Pxtca.-'To, show; lioW; little importance wfc&i attached' to the occurrence, some’ hundreds' of 1 visitors pdmitted'.to tlje ’ ship immediately afterwards. , ' When the dioniede i ■wgg ...commission- > ed a few months-, ago; - he told .the crew that any man could obtain access to him at any. time to. state a grievance, or any other personal matter. That rule was still in-force. He- jiad. had the Now • Zealand ratings parstclgdA 1 him yesterday morning,, c.nd had not e-.en reprimanded .them: He'stated to them, that l lie and most 'of- the officers wore guests of'New Zealand, having come out from'-England'to give New. Zealand ratings the ’ beiiefi fc~of .-llieir'; experience, and as guests,. they...were';entitled to courteous treatment:, A, A > . _ “One request I did make,” s aid the captain, “was that, if they must sing that good old tune 1 to which the words of the “Red Flag” are written, they should sing if. in the. original German words, which are so much .finer than the English The Diomede sailed this morning for Akaroa, as arranged, to meet the flagship Dunedin, A ~.. ; v L.A