AUSTRALIAN SEAMEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3756, 9 March 1926, Page 15

AUSTRALIAN SEAMEN.

UNION DISSENSION,

SYDNEY. February 26. Internal dissension, arising mainly out o# the handling of the recent strike of British seamen, has marked the affairs of the Aus< tralian Seamen’s UnioD since the end of 1925. There is bitter war being waged between two factions, and curiously these factions are led by those erstwhile partner* in one of the greatest constitutional fights in Australia’s history, Messrs Walsh and Johannsen. So frequently have their names been coupled in seamens' affairs that it was thought by the general public with no inside knowledge that they were as inseparable in adversity and prosperity alike. as tbe Siamese twins. But apparently this is nob so. According to the best authority, the split between the two men started when they were incarcerated on Garden Island, Sydney, during the hearing in the High' Court of their appeal against deportation. At all events, it wa9 oot long after their release that Johannsen began casting black! suspicion on Walsh and some of Walsh's cronies concerning the handling’ of tho Victorian branch’s finances The Nevf South Wales branch appointed Johannsen as head of a committee to investigate financial matters. The Victorian. officials urged by Walsh, who had hurried over from Sydnoy. resolutely refused to hand over the books.

The climax came in Sydney on Tuesday. A. stopwork meeting of seamen was held and ended in disorder, with Walsh and Johannsen excitedly gesticulating at each other. Johannsen made a speech lasting for an hour and 20 minutes, charging Walsh,' who is genera! president. Raeburn (general secretary), and the Victorian branch officials with sabotage of the Sydney committee's investigations. Proposing a vote of noconfidence, he alleged that they had boert slack in their duty, that the Sydney committee had been hindered in its work, and that £1072 of the union’s funds was missing. Mr Raeburn gave these allegations tho li® direct, and alter many brotherly pleasantries had boen bandied, the chief actors found themselves talking mainly to themselves about themselves and the meeting faded away While this happy little function was being staged in Sydney the Victorian branch was engaged in similar scrubbing of dirty linen at Melbourne. There one member who had been appointed to investigate financial matters reported that a member of the union whom he found to be involved in discoveries he made had slashed him with * knife. When this man’s name was disclosed ho hotly denied the charge, ond hurriedly left the room, alleging that Communists and the I.W.W. were framing charges against him. The discoveries are stated to indicate forgery of the union’s coupons, allegedly printed in the city to tho order of a woll-known member of the union. O'Neill, assistant secretary of the union, disclosed that a detective had been at work on the matter, and stated that if it was shown that forgod tickets hod beeD used, prosecutions would he launched. Tho half-yearly statement of the New South Wales branch of tho union shows that the branch was £337 woiss off than at the beginning of the half year, and that rosult was only obtained after “borrowing” £74 from the British Seamen’s Relief Fund. There was a decrease in the branch’s revenue of £604. The British Seamen’s Relief Fund totalled £2803. All this money was banked with the funds of the Sydney branch, and “owing to the reduction in branch revenues” it was drawn on to the extent of £74. The outgoings under the hoad “wages” amounted to £897 for the halfyoar. The legal expenses for the same period aggregated £1073.