P. & O. STEAMERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2921, 9 March 1910, Page 53

P. & O. STEAMERS.

COLOURED AND CHEAP LABOUR. ALLEGED UNFAIR COMPETITION. NEW ZEALAND'S MARITIME POWER THREATENED. (From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, March 4. The call of the P. and 0. Company's steamers at New Zealand, which has just been celebrated with a flourish of trumpets, is likely before long to be engaging the serious attention of the labour unions, the intercolonial shipping companies, and even the members of Parliament. The main cause of the trouble will be the employment of black labour by the P. and 0. Company, and the fact that it pays a lower rate of wages than the Union Steam Ship Company and. the Huddart-Parker Company, which have to work under awards of the Arbitration Court.

From inquiries made during the past few days 1 gather that the position is a very interesting, though somewhat complicated, one, with possibilities of farreaching importance. The P. and 0. Company has already begun to cut into the intercolonial trade, and the question arises, Can the intercolonial companies, the bulk of whose expenditure in purely local, afford to be penalised by having to conform to colonial acts and regulations while vessels registered in England, or even in foreign countries, are in so great a measure exempt from the operation of such laws and regulations ? It is admitted that the P. and O. Company charges a higher rate than the local companies for its first class passages between Sydney and Auckland, but its second class fares are the same as the Union and Huddart-Parker first class . fares. The bigger boats are therefore sure to attract a considerable section of the intercolonial passenger traffic. So far as is ascertainable, the Malwa, on her recent trip, took 87 first class and 31 second class passengers from Sydney and a few passengers (about nine) from Fremantle on her outward trip. She carried 38 passengers all told for Australia, in addition to the 64 who had booked for London. On these figures it is estimated that no less than £IBOO in passage-money was diverted from the intercolonial steamers. The immediate effect upon the Union Comnany and Huddart-Parker Company is, therefore, very considerable, and will no doubt be more seriously felt when the sailings of the P. and 0. and other direct companies are increased, as it stands to reason that if vessels owned outside Australasia can operate in the ( intercolonial trade, unrestnicted by the regulations as to wages, manning, etc., fixed by Australasian laws, which are mandatory upon locally-registered steamers, the shipnimv trade between Australia and New Zealand must eventually be in the hands of companies registered outside of New Zealaiv 1 and in this case the officers, engineer,-: seamen, firemen, and stewards will not, be resident here, and the Dominion will thus be deprived of the benefit of the local expenditure by them of the bulk of their wages. Further than this, there is the not the remote oossibility that locallyregistered shipping will be driven out of the country, or be confined solely to the coastal business, which, as the extension of the railways goes on, may become a diminishing quantity. If this should eventuate, it may reasonably be expected that in the course of a decade or two New Zealand, instead of having a maritime population of its own, with ships owned and manned locally, will be served in the intercolonial trade by English and foreign vessels, possibly also by German and French steamers. As one authority put it to me this afternoon, the advent

of the P. and 0., therefore, in the intercolonial trade is a matter that affects not merely the interests of the Union Company or the Huddart-Parker Company and their sea employees, but also New Zealanders as a whole, as, while it may be contended that so long- as the services between Australia and New Zealand are maintained it does not matter whether New Zealanders or others are employed in connection therewith, it surely must, in view of our isolated position, be a matter of considerable importance that the steamships serving New Zealand should be owned and manned by New Zealanders. The decision of the Supreme Court as to the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Court in fixing conditions of employment of seamen employed in and beyond New Zealand by companies or firms registered in and out of the Dominion is fully reported in volume 7 of New Zealand Awards, pages 729 to 755, and from this it will be noted that the court was practically unanimous in agreeing that the Arbitration Court has jurisdiction so far as companies domiciled in New Zealand are concerned, but that it has no jurisdiction over ships owned or registered outside of New Zealand, and in this connection it is worthy of note that the locally-owned Aparima, which carries a coolie crew, while engaged in the CalcuttaNew Zealand trade, made one trip between Sydney and Fiji, and, under the decision of the Supreme Court referred to above, she was forced to carry a white crew, in addition to the Lascars, for this particular voyage. Although, as pointed out by the judges of the Supreme Court, New Zealand has no power to enforce its laws on ships owned out-side of the Dominion, there may be other methods of securing equality of opportunity for New Zealand shipping, possibly by charging higher light and port dues to ships engaged in the intercolonial trade which are employing coloured labour and which are not paying the local rate of wages. The matter is certainly one of considerable importance, and is sure to lead to considerable discussion.