DREDGEMEN FOR CHILI

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14280, 31 July 1908, Page 2

DREDGEMEN FOR CHILI

A TIMELY WARNING. WORTHLESS CONTRACTS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, July 30. The Minister of Mines has received, through his Excellency the Governor, the following letter from Mr C. A. Milliard, British Vice-consul at Punta Arenas, Chili: "May 16, 1908. "Sir,—l have the honour to bring the following facts to your notice. During tho past fow years there have been contracted in New Zealand, in Diinedin chiefly, a jiumber of young men as winchmen and <h'e<lgetttasters for the gold dredges in this country. These men have been induced to sign by various firms. , Amongst others that have been brought to my notice are Messrs (tnd —, who are, I have no doubt, respectable firms, 'l'ho latter I know myself to be so, and the men once tidied in. New Zealand have' been sent out here under tho impression that they wero signed in a legal, manner, ; •and' that their contract oould ,bfe sued upon, or in any other way enforced as might bo neoessary. It is needless for me ■ to point out to you, sir, that this contract, which is perfectly good in Now Zealand, is not worth the paper it is written on in Chili unless it Ims been legalised in this country. This has not been done in one single case, because in every, oase ■ that I can trace the lawyers who drew up the contract in Dunedin told the men that they were legally engaged, and I should say, from many years' experience of New ; Zealand lawyers, that they did not know themselves lhat in othc# oounlries the methods were not the same as in New Zealand. In one of these contracts it says - . ' The wages shall be £4- 10s per week,' without specifying how many working . hours go to a week, or any other details as to overtime, etc. Directly the lawyers here, saw tho contract they said the men , must work 10 hours per day for six days in a week, as the usual number of working horn's in this country is 10 hours per day. I have had a good deal of trouble to effect an arrangement of this one mistake. I have had different men applying to mo during the last fow days who were signed on contract by Messrs . And now that their contract is broken they have no legal redress, and are bound , to take what t,hey can get. A short time ago I had from a different firm three men, who had been dismissed without mil ice, owing to the bad rot-urns of the dredges. These men could not sue, as their contracts had not. been legalised, and. of course, the dredec-owners would not consent to the legalisation when they wanted to ge.t. rid of their contract meh. I had to advise them to take what they could - get. There are also at tho present moment some six or eight men brought out hci'e, and they have not received any wages for more than three months, and are,At present almost destitute and wailing for some recognition which has been promised thorn. "I slate these facts, sir, in order that you may be in a position to stop these young men from coming to this oountrv for the folloi vinsT season, which will begin in : about four months' timi\ Al the present ' time the whole of the Chilian lawyers are ' muking fun of these contracts, which arc

continually brought up in tho courts, and it is very galling for the British peoplo living here."