THE LABOR CONFERENCE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 8789, 4 October 1890, Page 2

THE LABOR CONFERENCE.

ThaConferen/rSK&^S,. siderablelencth on the general Ration ° . »momsm, and contended that the Union Company deliberately associated themselves with a combination in Anatralia whose avowed intention it was to crush umomsts. The ferae solution of the labor difceulty was to federate, so as to form a Council of the two cla&es.^fci could meet and arrive all a settlement 0 £ any disputes arising. -. '" c Tbeflon, George M'i<eaD aaH fcefiad nothing to compiain oi with weard to the sP^esmade by the repw^entaTi^ % the other side, and so fat everything connected with the Conference had been earned out in &.feir spirit. He defeK the abseace of representstivea of the tw f^l associations, and pointed oat \V^ the P'esent strikethat had. brought theso assoei a H onß into eJcistenTer )J Kefernng: ta the action or the ShipTnW Assocation in Australia he remffltte Conference that they had not Sd» Onger till attacked. They had eitCto be reined or defend them£ei«B. H«rKad everything to say in favor of turioniain, and if it were manafied in the right way it would undoubtedly hsve the effect of ameliorating the condition ot the working classes bat in the present instant tn| umoaa had ridden the high horsekm* gone too far. Was it, he ask«Ljnd£. oions for the men, when they knew tte Shipmasters' Association were Jesißr money every day, to pxess their claims; to say nothing of their having brought them down oa the owner? JiKeva clap of thnn.der? During the- present . stroag-le an attempt had bein made to pnt ! the tnion Company in a corner, and although he personally was a peaceable mam. he was apt going to sit atfil and see that done. He declared that since the strike, the company were getting the flaw* df the young men of New Zealand into the boats. Plenty of officers. «»&/ ££i ■'. stewards were coming back, and he challenged Mr Millar to taka. the embar^off theaeamen and firemeifeand thoaembn Sw no ti m 6 fc geU in g fc^k to service of the. company. The Union, Company never iuj*& a finger to crash; the onwns, anct even before the unions, were, formed their employe's were treated) ta the best possible manner. He thonchfc the great fault in connection with the present trouble lay in the fact that tho | Union Company had. not been brought face to face with th.» difficulty before ex. treme measures wero resorted to, as some, meana might have been adopted to avoid it. He wraia ask what earthly eoeik there was fa mixing all other trades uo in, % dispute wfciob, in the first instajace hao^ arisen between the seamen and the Union, Company ? It seemed very haid that so. Jgany men ahooid become involved in the dispute. In conclusion hs again challenged the Maritime Conncil to take the embargo off tho. men on strike, and it would then W seen how many of them wonld ha glad to retnra to the company. Tfce Conference adjonrned at noon tHI 2.30t ' .

AFTERNOON SITTING. The Conference resumed at 2.30k. Mr Winter spoke a few woids in explanation of the action of 'the KaiAway Servants' Society's executive in regard to. affiliating with the Maritime Council and in regard to the dismissal of the men afc Lyttelton. He said that if the Commissioners had listened to the pleadings of the, executive they wonld never have W«ered the railway men to do the work of the wharf men who had gone out on strike. Mr Millar said ho wished to reply to some of Mr Mason's statements. -Mr M'Lean had implied that the wharf laborers at Sydney -were primarily re spoosible for the present strike, but he (Me Millar) denied that that was so ¥<Z M'ltfan bad also stated that 2s 3d X toft Kad been paid to the wharf law!*!! tor handling cargo, bat he should iS have said that they were paid. '-'as. W„? lOJd.; The etatement that the offiL™ had always been fairly dealt with Cg.*? Shipowners' Associate could eLfflr v£ refuted, and in anppjosl: of thk Mr Milfe, stated the circumstances which hanhmTJ when the Oflwaa' Ansoeiatiouw afE"! abont five years ago. The offieewT 6 ™ supposed to receive £15 per moniK^! uttEe end of the mo n thm an^ 2s V nt were called into the office and nrSl»S em refund «a o* the amount or riv» »T& *. a biUets, This was bat w£Zg£S*J>*ma«y iniusHces that »«tf B§3&£*£ »en, Mr M'Lean's statement «.^ Il' wioas were taking the manal-iS**-.* ll^ the boats out of tie VnU^^^ 06 ?*' hands was . | very wild onKaSS!?? 1 * generally admitted th.at «iei?nfif» n ** pany was one of tt«v! J n £ v mon Comcerns in the 1 , «»" been obta^ed WdStaSSLSS?^ labor was employed tt« UU€o ' wTll, but toe colKy Sth^'? 11 '? xfeMa-^edi Ro back wiUx hfa sa^ff- yw ?? ldoev * r ness, while many of. them' the WB»any. Sr •\H? M » S I positirely deny flils. ■ MhWiJter,. Well, I am p»S to , give the na.m«a ofi tb« men I nfettoF ■ .;

Mr M'Lean said that Mr Millar had "been making several very rash statements, many of them without the slightest fonndation, and he must therefore refuse to take any notice of such statements by Mr Millar in future.

Mr Millar, continuing his remarks, referred to the fact of Captain Edwin holding office in the new Officers' Association, and said it was scandalous that an officer of the Government should hold office in a partisan association such as the Officers' Association. Touching ou the question of free labor, he said that members of the unions had uo right to sacrifice themselves to non-union laborers, for the latter were certainly in the minority, trad they ought therefore to bow to the majority. He believed that the dispule could be settled to-morrow, but in order to_ do so the company must admit the principle that every society was entitled to enter into any affiliation it chose. If this point were conceded he believed that the trouble would be over to-morrow. He suggested that in order to put matters into a practical form, three or four of the delegates should talk over the situation with Mr M'Lean as soon as they adjonrned for the day, and see whether there was a probably of coming to a settlement.

Mr M'Lean said he certainly could not concede one point raised by Mr Millar, and that was the right of the Marine Officers' Association to affiliate. He regarded that association as being practically defunct, and superseded by the new association.

After some discussion Mr F. Meyer moved that a deputation consisting of Messrs "Winter, Brown, Sandford, Millar, Fisher, and Loraas should confer with Mr M'Lean for the purpose of arriving at some arrangement, and report as early as possible.

- This was seconded by Mr Elvine, and carried.

Captain Highman wished to correct a statement made by Mr M'Lean. The Mercantile Marine" Officers' Association was not defunct, as stated by that gentleman, and many of the officers now oat on strike were prepared to stand by the eld association in preference to the new one 3 , which really emanated from the Union Company. The Conference then adjenrned till Monday at 10 a.m. Mr M'Lean will confer with the delegates to-morrow morning.