SHIPS WITHOUT CREWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18247, 14 November 1922, Page 8

SHIPS WITHOUT CREWS.

SCENE ON THE WATERFRONT.

A STUDY IN OONTBASTS.

SILENCE AT COASTAL WHARVES.

The wharves of the port ai'e by no means Jdle. There is the clamour of cranes and winches where ocean liners lie But the port has lost much of its distinctive character because the craft of the mosquito fleet, and so many of the larger coastal vessels, hang lifeless at their moorings. On Mondays, in normal times, the wharves resound with the bustle of loading the little vessels, so useful and cssontial along coasts where long harbour reaches and tidal creeks provide the waterways for an immense area of agricultural and pastoral districts remote from railways. The press of horse and motor traffic makes some parts of the waterfront the liveliest spots in tho city. A tremendous trade centres there. Supplies of hundreds of small communities are there accumulated. Thousands of farmers depend upon this service for their daily needs just as they depend upon the return service for the transport of the produce of their land—the produce upon which the whole economic structure of the country rests. As these busy Mondays wear to their close the small craft begin to leave their berths. Ship after ship swings out, and with an expedition that is in striking contrast to the slow and ponderous movements of the liners bound for distant places of the earth they sol; out upon their trades. The port is "up and doing." The distribution of goods goes ahead. The city keeps faith with the country. The Process of Exchange Hampered. The vivid imagination rises above the merely commercial aspect. It pictures tho -vessels churning up the mud aloug the shallow reaches, past bush-clad hills, swamp, and crag, to crazy little jetties in lonesome places where the inevitable two-horse waggons wait to take delivery of the manifold needs of the farmhouse and the farm. The last stage of the journey has been reached. The goods may have been gathered originally around the seven seas—fabrics from England, imElemcnts from America, jute bags from ndia, phosphates from the Islands, tea from Ceylon. They are reaching the consumer, and the consumer, in exchange, brings butter andi cheese and fruit, flax and timber and wool. Yesterday thorn was hardly anv traffic about the wharves where the small boats berth. Because of human limitations and human irresponsibility the servico had been stopped. Supplies had been cut off from the coastal places. Painters and carpenters pottered about a number of the silent boats which in places lay two abreast along wharves which, without industry, represent so much iron and concrete. Here and there lay a larger vessel apparently, with dead furnaces, emphasising the depressing meaning of the scene.

And while one surveyed it the echo of cheering camo to the ea.r. Waterside workers, deprived d? work by the seamen who "signed off," had been listening to a politician's recipe for the making of a new world. And meantime dozens of idle boats lay within sight, representing wtiste and loss and the piling up of trouble. Centres of " Activities." Three of the humblest vessels were working. A gang of four men were putting cargo into the hold of one, the Oti mai. The Tuhoe was the scene of what was tremendous activity in this fttmo sphere of idleness. She was discharging pigs—live pigs. The pigs grunted and Squealed in dismay as the winch wound up the crate from'the hold,, and the single horse in the shafts of the single cart on the wharf evinced his sore displeasure. He seemed to be considering the question of taking his > load of "grunters" down a steep place into the sea. Certainly ho would have had a clear run. The Motu was also at work, but the best that she could produce from her hold was a sling of barrels—empty barrels. The Mght suggested that somewhere there is likely to be a severe drought. Further, the tiniest steamer, which did not even boast a name, but had only a number, was making a great fuss with steam spouting from her side just below her bulwarks, which had a home-made appearance, Some rusty tins and a. basket or two indicated that fishing was her occupation, but she may have had an idea of becoming a freighter. Three Waggons and a Motor-Lorry. But it was left to the Oneroa to cut the best figure of all. Three horse waggons and a motor-lorry tended her, and the quantity and miscellaneous chararW >f the cargo awaiting loading were sufficient to give tho most modest boat a very high idea of her own importance. There were empty cream cans and chaff, a case of wine and a roll of barbed wire. There were bags of potatoes and two tanks and a brown paper parcel and cement and a piece of machinery. The Oneroa had a gang of two men putting freight into her. * The surprising feature of the tour of the waterfront was the absenco of seamen. Beside the launches at the end of Queen s Wharf there was a group of young men who appeared to be keeping a keen watch upon the Flirt and her sister craft, but nowhere else was an\ other evidence of what might have heen piqueting. Unlike most landsmen who have gone on x stnke, or, to uso the present term, "signed.off," the seamen, ap patently have ho desire to return to tfie scene of their labours to enjoy the idle scene or to indulge in regrets Being sl£lL Til rrapS't apS ' * he y have left to gratify a taste for agricultural pursuitsare di VH gardens or doing odd jobs, or maybe they are Jiving upon the proceeds of their old av.ard

LABGUB AND THE COURT. MR. BLOODWORTH'S VIEWS. CHALLENGE BY EMPLOYERS. Commenting on the statement made by the Mayor of Auckland, in the course of which he asked trade union leaders to say whether they value and desire the Arbitration Court and the present industrial system, Mr. T. Bloodworth said he did not value and desire the present industrial system. The Arbitration Oourt ww a part of,that system, and as such was accepted. As to the present dispute, it should be remembered that it was the employers who brought the matter before the Court It had been suggested that Labour leaders should nso their influence with the seaman to g»»t. the dispute settled. "So far " said Mr. Bloodworth, "the dispute has not come before other unions, and although we all regret very much that the trouble has arisen, it would be nothing short of presumption if we were to interfere in an affair which the seamen are quite well able to look after for themselves.

To say that) the action of the seamen is a challenge to the community is quite wrong," he added. " The challenge came* from the shipowners. The seamen have merely accepted the challenge. I do not suggest that employers generally should use their influence with the shipowners to get them to withdraw their challenge, and thus save the community from further inconvenience, but it would be quite as proper for them to do so as it would bo for us to try and influence the seamen."