ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 10010, 16 July 1879, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE OAMARU MAIL. Sir, —Hoping that I am not intruding upon your valuable space, I beg you to insert these few lines. lam surprised to see that in these hard times the merchants of Oamaru are so little interested in the livelihood of our resident stevedores. Strange, yes, hardly explicable to me, I see at the present time, when Oamaru is so much advanced in shipping, that still vesselsfbring their stevedores from other ports, such as Lyttelton and Port Chalmers. Now, I think it anything but right that the stevedores of our own harbor should have to do the labor, and the outsiders, or intruders from other ports as we may call them, should have the money and that such should be done through, captains of vessels not being made aware of the fact that really good stevedores, both in practice and knowledge, live in our town. I am certain our merchants must be aware, by many examples, and by the reports of ail masters of vessels that landed here lately, that they have got their work done more stevedore-like and more rapidly by Oamaru men than by strangers. It stands to reason that it should be so. They know the rules of the harbor, they know the authorities to whom to apply in case of any stoppage, and, as the captain of the Celestial Queen said, " They know how to handle a bag," when require!. Now, not to my own advantage, but for the good of all working classes, I mean to ask our merchants to make masters of vessels acquainted with our capable stevedores ; for I am certain that there are stevedores here now who used to teach the newchums from Lyttelton and Port Chalmers their business twelve and fourteen years ago.—l am, &c., Working Men's Friend.