DEPUTATION OF SEAMEN.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 12274, 11 October 1910, Page 2

DEPUTATION OF SEAMEN.

{Per Press Association.)

WELLINGTON, this day. The balance of the lengthy list of resolutions passed by the Seamen's Union Conference, which sat m Wellington re-, cently, were laid before the Minister of Marine. Tho deputation had interviewed the Minister the previous Monday, when the discussion, Rafter occupying a couple of hours, was '-'adjourned;, owing to other demands on the: Ministers time. The deputation included ft number of the Conference delegates. It was m troduced by Mr G. Lamenson, M.P., and was accompanied by Messrs D. McLaren and E. H. Clark/ Ms.P. Among, the requests put forw|frd were the foi- 1 lowing : Abolition 'of -the extended har- 1 bor limits' ' at -Auckland ; amendment of i the law relating to sickness of seamen,! with provision ,for the discharge of incapacitated men by the ship under certain specified circumstances; improvement m the administration of the section of the Act which requires payment of -an additional week's wages after the date of recovery from sickness ; an amended definition of "deserter" to exclude a man who misses his shin m a genuine way; a change for the better m the practice relating to the forfeiture of deserters* effects ; strict adherence to tho j duties of each man included m the man-' ning scale, so that none should be called upon to , do work other than that he signed on for; provision that all vessels licensed to carry passengers, be required to carry thoroughly competent crows ; an amendment to provide that the mas- > ter, officer, or engineer who assaults any person belonging to a shin at any time, at sea or m port, should be liable to aj penalty of £20, or imprisonment for six I months. . • The Minister remarked that this last' request seemed hardly necessary, as the j. Shipping Act covered such offences, if committed on ,the ; high seas, and the. Police Offences Act came into operation ; m. the case of assault.in/port. On be- ' ing assured that men were frequently "logged" for offences m port, he remarked that this was unlawful inside the three-mile limit. In such cases the men could invoke the aid of the Police Offences Act. He quite agreed that the law should operate m both directions fairly and equally. With a plea for fairer treatment, tho spokesmen of the deputation urged the Minister to remove from office the Wellington Superintendent of Mercantile. Marine, alleging that the latter was' "absolutely : biassed against the men and ' m favor of the shipowners." Instances were given, of alleged rnalad'ninistration ; of the law on the Superintendent's part, and it was stated enigmatically that "the seamen had absolutely no confidence m him. The MlnisterYwas further urged to bring all Staterowhed vessels within : the Arbitration Act/' iind also to make provision for a Dominion award m the ; case of seamen, whose position was a; -very peculiar one. Mr Millar remarked that he proposed : to provide for the making of a Dominion j aAvard m cases where the Arbitration Court was satisfied it would be desirable. The deputation had raised many important points, to which he would devote careful consideration, and if he 'could possibly do anything for the seamen/he would be only too glad, as he knew the hardships of their life. It would be as well to remember that conditions might bo greatly altered m the near future by the use of oil fuel on steamers. He knew, for instance, that it was only a want of assurance of the, .permanency of the New Zealand oilfields that now prevented action' being taken m this direc-, tion by companies trading, around the coasts here, and he was. afraid that very j shortly they would be face to face with •> a very serious problem as far - as coal consumption was concerned. The discussion with the deputation had shown him the necessity of arriving at uniformity between the ' shipping laws of the Commonwealth and New Zealand. Without giving up anyt^ng that had been attained here, he was v satisfied that it was desirable to ' bring our laws as closely into line with others as possible. The allegations made against the Wellington Superintendent of Mercantile Marine were very serious, and he would have the fullest investigation made. He desired all his o'fficer,B' to bo • absolutely fair m tho administration qf the law, ahd would make, it -quite plain m this particular instance.