PART THE SEAMEN PLAYED.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1939, 23 December 1913, Page 6

PART THE SEAMEN PLAYED.

REJOINDER TO FEDERATION.

BY MR. BELCHER. SOME, FLAT CONTRADICTION, v (By Tolegrojih.—Pr«s Associotioß.)'-^! Ounedin, December 2'2 S Iu au interview to-dav. Mr. W: Bel-' clter (secretary of tho Dunedin branch of tho Seamen's Union) spoke on somo ])liases of tho striko and the ■ seamen connected .therewith. Mr. Belcher said that tho oldor.'sca-. men wero involuntary, strikers and passive resistors. Owing to the stoppage of work on the wharves they had had no alternative but. to Jeave'their vessels in accordance with legal notice' given them by the shipowners. ; ' "Wo can only abide by tho agreement which was comc to in Wellington," said Mr. Belcher, "which stipulates that, whero it is possible, men who had ■ been thrown out of employment will resume work ill the vessels which they loft. Of course, this will he a father difficult matter to adjust owing to tho fact that many of tho men have gone from ono place to another, and tho vessels -which they wero discharged from liavo been scattered all over Australasia. It must necessarily take somo time, therefore, beforo matters, simmer down into the old groove.. That Wellington Tslegram. ■" Referring to .a Press Association telegram from Wellington wherein Mr.' Hicke.v (secretary of the United Federation of Labour) was credited with' saying that it was lack of information regarding tho seamen's likelihood to return'to work that had prevented ..the strike from being called oif several days ago, Mr. Belcher quoted tho report of Mr. F. C. Smith, one of tho Dunedin delegates to tho Seamen's Conference." Mr. Smith absolutely denied tho accuracy of Mr. Hiekoy's: statement that it was lack of information regarding tho seamen's likelihood to return to work that had prevented tho strike from being called off several days ago. As to that statement made by Mr. Hickey ■in his official capacity as secretary of the Federation of Labour," said Mr. Smith, "it must bo given an emphatic denial in order to disabuse tho public mind of tho inference that the seamen wero acting, in • discord from ether organisations connected with ".lie trouble. Not only was tho Fedcrafion of Labour awaro of the fact that the seamen's delegates wero iii' communication with tho shipowners.' and that certain term?; had been set before the'm for settlement, but it Was also known to tho officials of the Federation on December 14. As a matter of fact, on December IS the Federation of Labour delegates, by 13 votes to u, decided to call tho strike off." "It is hard to conjecture, or realise," continued Mr. Belcher, "why in tho case of tho waterside workers, with tho inside information which they had in their possession from other quarters, certain steps were not taken. Whether tho statement published in tho telegram from Wellington lias been. . officially given or not, no "ono fceems to know, but it is alleged in certain quarters that tho seamen and firemen, by agreeing to return to work, have Men tho cause of tho collapse of the struggle. As tho Seamen's Union was not affiliated to tlio Uijitcd Federation of Labour tlio seamen wero placed in a different position from that of tho watersio-.-workers and miners, and thoy liavo shown by their actions that the white feather was never displayed until it was that all hope of a win was impossible, and that thero wero signs of. dejection in tho ranks of the Federation itself. That body, according to Press reports, gave specific instructions to tho various unions affiliated with it to return to work, and it was publicly stated that, so long ias tho seamen held out tlio Federation would bo ablo to win. .

"All recent events seem to point in a totally different direction, and it is not altogether fair to saddle tho responsibility on tho Seamen's Union. Members of the. latter body pondered long and carefully over tho position, and, by an overwhelming majority, decided to return to work. Judging from tho Wellington telegram, and tho vote taken at a largo meeting theto as to whether the strike should bo declared off, it would, appear that the watersido workers had onl.v been waiting, and wero apparently anxious for a lead to bo given from some-" where to onablo them to mako a fresh start. A Little Stage Thunder. "Of course," went on Mr. Belcher, "the seamen, and perhaps all other organisations involved, feel it very keenly to bo compelled to resumes work under the auspices of Alio Conciliation and Arbitration Act. Previous expericneo of that tribunal lias shown to a largo extent that it is almost impossible to got a fair hearing and a modicum of justice. For theso reasons several of the largest and most powerful organisations tho Dominion came to tho conclusion to cancel their registration; Now that they have, by force of circumstances, been driven liack to tlies Arbitration Cours, it is to bo trusted that, should they havo to. appeal to that tribunal, more consideration will Lo shown to them in future than has been done in the past."