THE SEAMEN'S UNION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9139, 22 August 1888, Page 5

THE SEAMEN'S UNION.

BALLOT OF THE MEN.

THE QUESTIONS SUBMITTED.

SUBSIDISING THE AUCKLAND

COMPANIES.

COMBINATION OF EMPLOYERS. [press association.] Sydney, August 21. A ballot is being taken of the various

seamen's unions throughout Australia to decide the following questions : — 1. Whether there should be a general strike ?

2. If the matters at issue shall be settled by arbitration 1 3. Whether the subsidy to the Jubilee Company shall be continued ? 4. Whether the Seamen's Union shall withdraw altogether from the struggle ? The local union have decided to send a further sum to assist the Jubilee Steamship Company of Auckland, and the Shipowners' Association will continue their subsidy to the Northern Steamship Company.,

It is believed that efforts are being made by the shipowners and colliery proprietors to amalgamate with other capitalists with the view of resisting future undue demands of labour organisations.

A UNIONIST VIEW. We take the following from the Sydney Morning Herald : — The dispute between the Seamen's Union and the Shipowners' Association has not developed any new phase since the departure of the Mariposa. The men are now taking a review of the recent proceedings, and not a few have come to the conclusion that matters have been carried a little too far by the representatives of the Union. What the feeling of some of the Union men is may be gathered from the following statement, which was made to a representative of the Sydney Morning Herald by a prominent member of the body. t He said : —" My opinion is this : that a mistake has been made. Things have been pushed too far. Ihave no doubt upon this point that Capt. Hayward did make a promise that the Chinamen should be sent adrift. The exact terms of his promise I am not prepared to state, but that he did make a promise to the effect that I state I am confident. Well, he having made that promise, the Union should have waited to see what came of it. That was not done. It seems to me that Mr. Davis, the secretary to the Union, was anxious to gain a little popularity, and so it came to pass that matters were pushed on, and the attempt made to force Captain Hay ward into submitting to the will of the Union. The result proves the folly of the course taken. It is hard to say when the matter in dispute by the Union will be brought to a crisis, but something definite will be known next Saturday. Why I fix on next Saturday is because that is the day when the Newcastle miners will decide upon the course that they shall take. There is a hope among us that the question may be settled without a strike. If it is not, it will be a serious matter for us. Serious in this way : that if they strike the Union men will have to support them. We are in a measure bound by the action of the coal miners. You will have to be careful how you put it; but this you may take for granted, that Mr. Davis has in some way got the Union mixed up with the affairs of the miners, and we, if we are to stick to a promise, will have to abide by the decision of the miners. I will not go so far as to say that Mr. Davis absolutely pledged the Union to go out on strike if the miners did so, but this I will say, that if we are to act the part of men we shall be compelled to closely identify ourselves with the miners, whatever they may do. 1, for one, hope the miners will not take the extreme course. It is thought by some that if the miners give the 14 days' notice, the masters will see that it will be useless to light, and an amicable settlement may then be effected. I hope it may. Think of what the result would bo if the miners should strike and the Seamen's Union do the same.* Stagnation would follow in many branches of trade, and the shipping trade of the coast would be brought to almost a complete block. It would mean ruin to some, suffering and hardship to many, and a blow to the trade of the colony generally, from which we might never recover. There is a chance that in such an event some of the trade now bringing money to the colony might leave us never to return again. These and many other things should be considered by the men before they take so extreme a course as that which some seem so anxious to bring about. To sum up the situation briefly, I may say that unless wiser counsels prevail than those of late, a strike among the members of the Seamen's Union seems to be not far distant.