BRITISH SEAMEN AND A VOTE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3118, 23 June 1917, Page 6

BRITISH SEAMEN AND A VOTE

Sir,—ln your issue of yesterday, a cablecram sot forth that the British seamen had endorsed the action of their executive in preventing Messrs. MaeDonald and Jowett (Labour delegates) from leaving England for tho International Labour Congress at Stockholm, and that , tho endorsement was carried by a' million Totes-rwhich would mean (since 200,000 •are credited wilh haviug voted against the endorsement) that 1,200,000 voted for it, making a total of 1,100,000 voting. 'Now, I find it stated in both the Labour iYear Book (1916) »nd Hazoll's Annual '(1917) that tho totaj number of porsons employed in vessels bdongiDg to tho United Kingdom was 292,057 in 1913—tho latest year for which the figures are available. Of these- 46,8(3 were Lascaid

and Asiatics, and 32,639 were classed as "foreigners." In 1914, tho membership of tho National Seamen and Firoinon's Union was 83,950; that of the British Seafarers' Union 10,025; and that of tho National Union of Ship's Stewards, Cooks, Butchorg, and Bakers 18,203. Only the members of the National iSeanien and Firemen's Union would be entitled to vote, and how the cable peoplo managed to convert the 83,950 members of this union into nearly a millioa and a half romains to bo explained. Tho cablegram states that the voting was by ballot It is unnecessary to point out that a ballot of all the seamen could not possibly bo taken in the few days covered by tho cabled statement. Doesn't this incident Co to demonstrate tho utter unreliability of the cablegrams?—T u, etc.. H. E. HOLLAND.