THE POSITION AT WESTPORT.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14854, 20 December 1913, Page 11

THE POSITION AT WESTPORT.

NEW WATERS-DEES' UNION. _: - (PRBSS ASaOCiAXIOrf TEL-GIUM/) WESTPORT, December/19. V Although members of the Strike Com-? mittee had said a great deal about not* allowing tho port to bo re-opened, it* was found to-day whon the port was. actually opened that not the s_ght_rt*K. sign of hostility was made; as a mat-* ter of fact, the strikers were conspicu-, ous by their absence, the majority/of. them evidontlv realising by this time, if they had not done it previously, that hostile speeches were really, a huge game of bluff. ' The new Watersiders' Union is now. one hundred strong, and it is. understood it has closed its list for the time being. Any others desiring to enter the ; union must furnish their names* find . submit to a ballot, and preference of employment is to be given in the order of joining the new union. Notice has been given to the old watersiders to vacate the shed in which they have hitherto held their meetings. • Twenty-six police arrived from Wellington to-day, and citizens have been actively enrolling as "specials," but so far there has been no occasion for their services.

Tho Government steamer Hfnemoa took in bunker coal to-day, also coal ' for tho lighthouses, and 6ome for the . Railway Department—all by arbitration labour, and without the least molestation. The vessel is leaving on-the. mornings tide. 7'The pubb'c are waiting to see the next movo at tho mines, where it ia said there is a very strong undercurrent in. favour of coming under the Ar- . nitration Act, and bo ending the strike. Numerous letters to the daily Press right from tho ranks of labour, and strongly condemnatory of the Federation of Labour, give indications of tho trond of sentiment among those 1 ' hitherto" either willingly or unwillinglyf allied to that body.

There is a growing impression hera*-. that if tho Federation docs not sneedih.l call tho strike off, tho miners will takefr* - the initiative themselves.