DOCKERS' STRIKES END.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1194, 1 August 1911, Page 5

DOCKERS' STRIKES END.

» INCREASED WAGES IN LONDON. By Telegraph-Press Association-Copyright London, July 30. The terms of settlement of the London dockers' strike mean an increase of wages to tho amount of .£150,000 annually. Tho strike on the North-east Coast has ended. AMSTERDAM STRUGGLE ENDS. Amsterdam, July 30. The dockers' striko at this port has ended. Wages are to be increased from October 1. • THE STATE AND THE SEAMEN. "The Times" of June 23, in discussing the position with regard to the seamen's strike, said:—"lt is a matter of common knowledge, that for years seamen have been safeguarded by the Slate. Lord Stowell, whon Judge of the Admiralty Court, described them as inopes consilii— in plain. English, men incapable of taking care of themselves. This judicial principal has underlain years of legislation, and is conspicuous in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1874. Though seamen have benefited by this State tutelage in some- ve.spects, it lias tended to incline employers, who have been obliged by the State to tnko various measures for the benefit of their workmen, nut to do anything unless compelled by tho State. Tho regulations as to the scale of provisions, as to accommodation on board ship, as to the advance and payment of wages, are all regulated by statute, so that tho question naturally arise* whethoi this Shite, having gone so far, might not move a .step beyond and endeavour to regulate the rate'of wages in an equitable manner. Rates of wages should, to ho fair, depend on varying circumstances; the character of the employment, its length, climate, tho state of the freight market, and so forth. International factors such as tho rate of wages paid by shipowners of other countries should also bo kept in view. Th? crude method of a so-called international strike cannot have any permanent or beneficial result for seamen. It has also lo be borne in .mind that tho importance of workmen on board ship as" skilled seamen has-much diminished with the increase of steam and the disappearance of small coasters, and this fact renders real union among seamen more difficult, for many seamen are mere casual labourers of poor physique and intelligence."