DAIRY COMPANIES MAKE LEVY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XL, Issue 13258, 17 December 1913, Page 3

DAIRY COMPANIES MAKE LEVY.

(Per Press Association.) PALMERSTON N., this day. A meeting of twelve dairy companies m the Manawatu decided to make a levy of one-eighth of a penny per lb on October butter returns for the Wellingto: i Defence Committee, towards the cost of boarding wharf laborers during the early part of the strike. Hearty thanks were also conveyed to the Committee for tha manner m which the port had been kept open. CHRISTCHURCH, this day. Rumors of a strike settlement have been current m the cit\' and port to-day. but no information wa. to hand up till noon. The election result has heartened the strikers a great deal, but the desire for a settlement, is as keen as it has l.e^n m Lyttelton from the 'first, and the men seem to feel that the time ip now opportune. ' . Meanwhile the strike camp is still growing. Arrangements are being made on a- large scale- by the strikers for Christmas celebrations. The strikers' children will have Christmas trees. Additional specials left Lyttelton to-' day. WELLINGTON, last night, The Federation of Labor conference sat all day again to-day, and is expected to last "till to-morrow evening. No information is permitted to escape as to the doings of the conference. ;. Representatives of the seamen and shipowners met to-day, but negotiations are not yet concluded, though an announcement of the result is expected tomorrow. Laracy, secretary of the Shearers' AsBociation, reoeived telegraphed advice to-day that men refused to work at one North Canterbury station because it was alleged that the owner acted lately as a special constable. The Rimutaka's departure for London to-njght was delayed by rain. The vessel, which is the fifth to leave for Home since the strike began, is now % m the stream. At the Magistrate's Court to-day Fanny Pool, licensee of the Empire hotel. Daniel Buckley, licensee of the Foresters' Arms hotel, and J. J. Firth, license of the City hotel, were charged with liaviujr disobeyed orders issued for closing hotels during the strike disturbances. Counsel for the defence questioned the validity of the orders, and decision was reserved m oach case. THAMES, last night. It is expected that the ordinary steamer traffic from Thames, to Auckland will be resumed this week. The steamer fervice was resumed after the strike hold-up tri-weekly instead of the usual daily service run, and caused considerable " inconvenience. Household commodities are now at a normal price, except coal supplies, which are scarce. Coal is retailed at 6s 6d a sack, or nearly £4 per ton. as agains* the usual price" of 52s ' a ton. The shortage of steam coal has necessitated mining companies reducing hands, and, with the Talisman mine closed down and the recent Waihi strike, the Christmas trade is not expected to be phenomenal. AUCKLAND, last night. About a fortnight ago the Auckland Tramways Union met to consider the question" of giving financial assistance to the watersiders. coal miners, and other men on strike,' and it was then decided that the sum of £200 should be donated out of the Union funds. Now it transpires that the £200 cannot be legally handed over to the strikers. Tho whole position m connection with <h° voting of the £200 is to be considered at meetings of the union to be ca'led tomorrow. SYDNEY, December 16. Matters along the waterfront to-day were unchanged. Tbe unionist!?' conference has not received further information from New Zealand ,, and has adjourned till to-mor-jlrow. Free labor i« working the cargo of the Ihumata and Canada Cape. The employees of the Union Box,' Co. are still maintaining that the Ihumata timber is "black." Tlie Makura and Tofua got coal at Newcastle, and are 1 returning to Sydney. On Wednesday morning the Makura sails for Vancouver, via Auckland, and on Thursday the Maunganui returns to Wellington. > (Received December 17. 10.30 a.m.) SYDNEY. Dec. 17. Wharf laborers have decided not to work the Maunganui. (Special to Herald.) DUNEDIN, this day. Since the strike began 318 a arbitrationists -have been ' employed at Dunedin, 21 of whom joined ships as seamen or firemen. Another 30 have now returned to the country, making the present total roll number 267. In the past 15 working days 6750 tons of cargo has been loaded and 1430 tons discharged at the' Dunedin wharves. Comparatively little overtime has been worked. It is unoffi-J cially stated tjiat one of the obstacles to the resumption of duty by. the seamen and firemen is the existence of the arbitration union started m Auckland. It is alleged that if the shipping com-j panics would guarantee not to recognise that new union the way to a general settlement , would be opened. Some of the men go so far as to question the legality of this northern union. They say that the notice required by the Act to be given to the old union after negotiation was not given, and that if the point wero pressed m a' court of law the northern union would not have a leg to stand on. Another report, given for what it is worth, is that the shippine companies have virtually if not for 7 mally decided to wipe out all broken agreements ajid wrecked understandings, and to start the New Year with a definite pronouncement that every man before signing on must be a member of an arbitration union. On what may be regarded as truafcwoi'thy information, It is reported that when the coal mines of New Zealand are opened m January one of the conditions will be that all the men' returning to work must join under the Arbitration Act. The mines will not be reopened unless they comply with this condition. If there is any hesitancy the mines will be manned one at a time as the hands come forward. This will apply to all the mines m the Dominion. A Wairarapa paper has been shown a letter addressed by the wife of one of the Wellington strikers to a friend m Masterton, In which an appeal is made for financial assistance, The woman states that the head of the house has done nothing for six or seven weeks; that bread is 4£d per loaf; that it is impossible to buy coal ; that her family is m a shocking condition ; and that one cannot realise the destitution m the homes of the workers. That the members of the old Watersiders* Union are not a happy family was made apparent by the proceedings at one of their meetings at Wellington last week (states a correspondent). Outsiders were, of course, not admitted, but everyone who passed along the street knew that pretty serious trouble was brewing. Storms of hoots broke out at frequent intervals, and it was quite evident that someone was having a particularly bad time. The "solidparity" of the strikers is not at all what the strike controllers say it is, and theTe are many members of the old union who have been speaking plainly about the position. From these it is learned that considerable strife has arisen between two prominent officials of the union, nnd the names they call each other at the meetings are more emphatic than polite. It is stated that one official has repeatedly told the union that the "game is up" and that the sooner they confess themselves beaten the better. Tbe iwrea-ringly large numbers of

strikers socking work on the wharves shows that the rank and file have lost confidence m. their leaders. Some very favorable comment was made at the meeting of the Opotiki Borough Council on the unwavering stand taken by the Mayor of Auckland (Mr C. J. Parr), and the chairman of the Auckland Harbor Board (Mr Gunson) during the recent industrial turmoil, and tho splendid work done by the "specials" m opening the port and restoring law and order m the Queen city was also the subject of eulogistic references. On tho motion of the Mayor (Mr F. J. Short) it was unanimously decided to write thanking Mr Parr and Mr Gunson for their public-spirited attitude, and also to officially thank the chairman of the Farmers' Union and the chairman of the Citizens' Defence League for the generous accorded by their respective organisations. Tlie Napier Telegraph of yesterday stated : "All of Messrs Richardson's fleet of steamers are engaged as usual ] to-day for the first time since the men on the Ripple left their ship some time ago. In all about AO seamen engaged on local boat's went on strike, but about 15 of those belonged to Wellington, and have long since returned home. Of tha other 25 fifteen have since returned to work, and there are ptill ten idle. It is . believed that the activity of a recently ! appointed "picket" is responsive for I all the local men not returning to tJieir I ships. The vacancies were filled by seamen who applied for positions from I Auckland and elsewhere, j It is stated on excellent authority that j the seamen at present engaged on j Messrs Richardson's different boats have taken the initial steps to form a new ! union of local seamen. The organisation I will be registered under the Arbitration j Act as .oon a-s possible, but that cannot ; be for some days yet. 1 A CONTRADICTION. j Mr P. H. Kelly was asked this afterI noon if it was true, as set out m a wire, ! that the local seamen were still remain - , ing "solid to the strike." Mr Kelly said such a statement was absolutely wrong, a majority of the local men hay- . ing returned te work."