IDLE SHIPPING

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12194, 20 July 1925, Page 7

IDLE SHIPPING

AUSTRALIAN INTER-STATE TRADE AT A STANDSTILL VITAL CONFERENCE TO-MORROW RIVERINA’S GANGWAY CUT TO PREVENT CREW LEAVING SHIP By Telegraph.—Press Association—Copyright. (Received July 19, 5.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, July 19. Pending Tuesday’s conference there are no developments in the shipping strike. The whole inter-State trade is now practically at a standstill, but the coastal services are being maintained by free labour. SYDNEY, July 18. The restoration of the coastal shipping services is assured, as the result of the response received by the shipowners to the call for volunteer crews. Already ( several coasters have been dispatched. dhe men are all qualified seamen and firemen, most of whom have been out of employment for a long time. Some are British seamen, who were forced out of work because the local union refused to allow them to enter its ranks on their arrival in Australia. The loading is being done by the Watersiders’ Federation. Discussions regarding the possibility of the State Governments running an inter-State shipping line are proceeding, according to a statement by Mr Lang, Premier of New South Wales. He added that West Australian l Labour, which is so vitally concerned m shipping matters, is eager for the adoption of the proposal. , „ , HOBART, July 18. The Riverma sailed for Sydney with a crew five men short. Just before her departure it was discovered that three firemen were missing. Officers and engineers scoured the city arid suburbs in motor-cabs, searching for the absentees. They found one, and took him aboard. Then, to prevent the remainder of the crew leaving the ship, the gangway was cut away with axes, and officers and stewards cast off the lines, the crew refusing to touch a rope MELBOURNE, July 19. Mr E. J. Holloway, secretary of the Trades Hall Council, states that both owners and seamen are prepared for a settlement. He believes that guarantees will be given at Tuesday’s conference that the unionists will make no further trouble. The Navigation Act Amendment Bill, to permit the use of oversea vessels in the inter-State trade, has passed all stages in the Federal Parliament.