THE STRIKE.

Clutha Leader, Volume XL, Issue 45, 5 December 1913, Page 9

THE STRIKE.

CONDITIONS IN WELLINGTON.

jsEW UNIONS FLOURISHING

f WELLINGTON, Dec. 2. • The new Waterside Workers' Union Low has a membership of over 1700. Of i-4csc about 200 arc working at sea i«niporarilv and an equal number hay* [ to their country homes so i "tint 1300 arc- available fc.-r >vork on the Wharves. It is said that nearly VAX) Ambers of the old union have joined ■ '. the new body and arc at work. Tin? new Drivers' Union "is now '2W strong. Seventy members enrolled toaiv half of whom belonged to the old i union. Many of the vacancies winch ! occurred among the employees of the 1 carrying firms have now been filled.. the f employers being bound to give prefeVi jnce to members of the new organuaiton. . , i Tin? Charitable Aid Board is already ■ feeling the effects of the strike. The broad distributed is now double the ! nuantitv usually given in relief, and the demand upon other articles given to the needv poor has also greatly increased. Sufficient labor is available to man the stokehold of the Home liner Opawa. and it is expected that the vessel will get away to-morrow. COAL CARGOES. WELLINGTON, Dec. 2. Two more cargoes of coal, totalling tbout 15,000 tons, will leave on their Tovage to New Zealand within a few days. This coal is coming from Calcutta and is described as being a very fair quality gas-producing coal. It. is due in Wellington about the middle oi January. The 15,000 tons of Transvaal coal which is already on the way to Wellington was allotted to purchasers bv the Defence Committee some days ago. Already orders have been received for a large portion of the Calcutta shipment.

POSITION AT AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, Dec. 2. The position at Auckland remains unaltered so far as the strike is concerned. Work oh the waterfront proceeds as it nothing had happened, and but for the fa:t that there are not sufficient seamen oi; firemen to man the coastal and inter-colouial boats, and that there is a shortage in the ranks of more skilled and experienced carters, conditions would be just the same as ordinary times.

On the waterfront to : day progress oi work was considerably hindered bv rainy weather. During yesterday afternoon and to-day there have been a large number of applications from members oi the old "Waterside "Workers' Ui»jon for vrark on the wharves. Each applicant fur work is required to give particulars of his last employment, and the reason why lie left. A'fter three days he is Iml'lotcd for by members of the new union. With last night's and to-day's figures the total number oi applicants is now over 200.

A wireless message from the Maheno states that the steamer will not reach Auckland till 7 a.m. to-morrow. RAILWAY SERVANTS' ATTITUDE. AUCKLAND, Dec. 2. The attitude of the railway servants at Auckland towards the .strike has been defined. On Saturday evening a requisition signed bv 49 members was made to the Secretary, asking that a Silvia] meeting .should be held to discii:s the matter. About 70 members w. re present. Propositions were made that a levy should be struck and volunt:uy subscriptions collected for contribution to the strike fund, but this was Inst by 60 votes to eight. A motion expressing sympathy with the strike ivas also defeated, only a few members voting for it. It was decided that if necessary assistance should be given to those members of the Amalgamated Soeiety of Railway Servants at Lvtteltuii and Tiniaru who have been rendered ulle owing to lack of work on the wharves.

LYTTELTON AND CHRiSTCHURCH. WORK ON THE WATERFRONT. CHRISTCHURCH. Dec 2. Matters in .Lyttelton to-dav were ap-.iui uneventful, and work proceeded <m tho waterfront uninterruptedly. 'llie Norwegian steamer Titania, which arnved yesterday from Bunbury, was berthed. The Titania is a turret deck stumer, and is loaded with about ",- 000-000 million feet of iarrah. She tra* to start discharging this afternoon. The Corinthic is making steady propress with tho discharging yf her cargo. p.i> will l)o ready to sail on Saturday for Auckland. Gisbornc, and Wellington to complete loading before sailing to London. She will take a record shipment of butter .and cheese from •"'ow Zealand to London. There reKißins only a small quantity of ironwork to be landed from the'Rimntaka to complete her discharge. The vessel trill sail on Thursday ■ for Bluff and Wellington to complete loading. Tho hotelkeepers of Lyttelton are moving m the direction of getting hotel: reopened this week. The latest call of the Canterbury Stivers' Union to its members to stand solid" by the union and cease tfork appears to have fallen to a large extent upon deaf ears. Employers of drivers in the city reported this morning that there was no lack of men offering. At the railway goods shed Matters were as busy as ever, and the wty Council's drivers remained unaffected.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS COLLAPSE CHRISTCHTJRCH, Dec. 2. ine proceedings against members of we Strike Committee eollapsed. The Parties were brought before Mr Bishop, j'lo magistrate, to hoar an application w leave to prosecute under section 11 ;'• tne Librl Act, 1910. They appeared «' ore him singly, represented by coun- *''>• and the eases wei-e taken in oil a in')l' I '- !C - .Mr Stringer, K.C., represented iienifonaant, but the name was not '■bM'n.'-jed. After hearing the state,n ™ts of parties to llio effect that they "'■f". 1: «t personally responsible for the P>j ication or preparation of the ofparagraph," tie magistrate de™nr;d to make an order for a prosecu-l-»i. ')'),„ Strike, Committer says the Paraph does not represent its' opin--1011 > and its publication is regretted.

AT WELLINGTON, 15EFORE THE COURT. WELLINGTON, Dec. 2. , -" tha Magistrate's Court to-day Albert Anderson, wharf laborer on hi io ,vas char & ed with (1) on Norerowr 18 taking rart in an unlawful assembly in Manners Street; (2) assault9nAa special constable; (3) on October Va * e :,art in a ™t ° n the Queen's JMiarf; (4) on October 24 assaulting A ijhiir Hardy Kitching. of +i, * ans ' tolla clerk, an employee w tue Harbor Board, gave evidence

that on October SM the gates of the srharf wore closedowing to the strike, ibout 10 o'clock accused went through tho. gate, and turning to the crowd outside exhorted them to come down on to the Defender. A number of men got through before the sates could be closed, and in the rush witness was knocked over. Arthur Hardy Kitching, shipping clerk, said that he was assisting to uiVr load tho and had occasion to go into the ¥ shed. White there a howling mob of ISO men rushed on to his truck. He was .pushed over, and several men began to punch him. Accused struck him several blows in the face. Accused .pleaded not guilty, and was committed to tho finpremo :Court for trial on the indictable charge of taking part in a riot. Counsel entered a plea of guilty % in oonm-ction with the fourth charge, thai of n;;saulting Kitching, and entered a pica lor leniencv on account of his good character, and the fact that he had lost his head for the timo being. "These matters must bo settled by other means than force," commented his Worship in sentencing the accused to one month's imprisonment. He also ordered tho accused to be bound over iu two sureties of £25 each to keep the peace for six months. Tho remaining charges were then proceeded with. Tho evidence of tho prose-

cution was that a special constable wa; accosted in Manners Street by the accused, who asked, "Do you know ""anything about this trouble on the wharf r" The "special" replied in the negative, whereupon the accused caugH' hold of his coat and said. "Come here 1 want to speak to you." With tha' tli a accused struck him and endeavor ed to trip him. The special and a com panion were followed by an, angrj ctowd, which was 6houting, "Let m get at them." Witness was positive as to the identity of the accused. Counsel for the accused here consult-

Ed with his client and at the suggestion ot inspector Eenury, told him that if ho pleaded guilty to the assault the inspector would consider the propriety of withdrawing the moro serious .charge. The accused, however, emphatically denied that lie had been in Manners Street on the occasion in question. He pleaded not guilty and was committed to the Supreme Court for trial on the indictable charge. In his defence of the assault case the accused set up an alibi. When examined by the inspector he was unable, to give the namo of any person with whom he had been in company on the afternoon of the alleged offence. It was possible that he (the accused) had been "so much drunk" that he had been in Manners Street, but he could not recollect it. The magistrate tho accused, fining him £5, with tho alternative of 21 days' imprisonment.

EFFECT IN AUSTRALIA. WHARF LABORERS' DECISION. N.Z. CARGO BOYCOTTED. SYDNEY, Dec. 2. At a mass meeting of wliarf laborers (Mr Hughes presiding) it was decided bv a ma'oritv of 10 to one to continue to boycott cargo to and from New Zealand. • The New Zealand delegates approved of this resolution. Other cargo will be worked, which means that the Union Company's and the Huddart-Parker Company's coastal boats will not be boycotted. The decision embodies the policy framed by the big unionists' conference at to-day's meeting.

NEWCASTLE MINERS. NO INDICATION OF A STRIKE. SYDNEY, Dec. 2. It was rumored at Newcastle to-day that if the Union Company's boats continued to coal there the miners would strike, 'out as far as is ascertainable the miners at present do not intend to participate in the dispute. NEW ZEALAND BOATS. NOT TO BE WORKED. . SYDNEY, Dee. 3. One thousand wharfmen were present at yesterday's "stop-work" meeting, and' all the wharves were idle. The proceedings at times were turbulent and discordant. A large section resented confining the war to New Zealand, desiring a general, strike and threatening further trouble. ANGRY UNIONISTS. SHIPPING LAID UP. SYDNEY, Dec. 3. At an ordinary meeting of the Wharf Laborers' Union to-night Mr Hughes (who was Attorney-General in the Fisher Ministry and is president c; the Transport Workers' Federationj was besieged and importuned by angry unionists after the meeting. Tuoy condemned the decision as contrary to the principles of unionism. As a result of the meeting the Ulimaroa and Riverinu will lie up indefinitely.

The Union Steam Ship Company will despatch vessels to Tasmania and Fiji, and anticipates despatching the Manuka to Wellington en Saturday. "THAT IS NOT UNIONISM!" SYDNEY, Dec. 3. The hecklers of Mr Hughes demand whether if two Union Company boats are alongside, one going to New Zealand and the other to Tasmania, tfoey had to work the latter which meant working with "scabs." They wanted to know if they were not fignting the Union Steam Ship Company. Mr Hughes, replied that they must work every thing excepting vessels to r.nd from New Zealand. They not dealing with companies but with places. The meeting had decided not to work : New Zealand boats and that was all.

Amid hoots the turbulent section declared ''That is not unionism!" One man cried if they had to work with "scabs" there would not be enough bandages in Sydney to tie them up. FUTURE NOT CLEAR. SYDNEY, Dec. 3. The 'Sydney Morning Herald' commenting on the attitude of the turbulent section at the meeting; says, "While the unionists have decided to restrict the area of the disturb;!nee the future is by no meanr, clear." REPLY TO THE EMPLOYERS. SYDNEY, Dec. 2. Hon. W. M. Hughes (Attorney-Gen-eral in the last Federal Ministry and president of the- Transport Workers' Federation), on behalf of the conference of unionists, is issuing a reply to the Employers' Defence Committee'. He recommends that the whole affair be referred to Sir Joshua Williams or. some other acceptable arbitrator, the decision to be final on all -points, including I the employment of liber,