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meeting amongst ourselves after the Conference closes to-day. The question now before the meeting is that we adjourn until 10 o'clock on Monday morning. Captain Highman : I should like to ask Mr. McLean, before we separate, if I understood him to say that the Mercantile Marine Officers' Association was no longer in existence ? Hon. Mr. McLean: I did not say it was not in existence; I said it would be "up in the moon." Captain Highman : This new Masters' Association is the recognised thing in your estimation, as it really emanated from the Union Steamship Company, and you foster it. I distinctly understood you to say that the old association was no longer in existence. It was doubtful if you referred to the association you successfully quashed five or six years ago or this one formed this year. Hon. Mr. McLean : It was this one, and it has pretty well quashed itself. Captain Highman : And in your speech you make the statement that you had no objection whatever to the Officers' Association. Hon. Mr. McLean : And I have not. Captain Highman : At the beginning of your speech you led us to believe you had no vindictive spirit or anything of that sort, or wished to raise the ire of any one or tread on any one's toes. It now remains for me to give an emphatic denial to the statement that the association is quashed. It is in existence, and there are a number of members now who are out of their ships, but are staunch and true to the association, and do not mean to let it be quashed as you suggest. At 4.30 p.m. the Conference adjourned till 10 o'clock on Monday, the 6th October.

Monday, 6th October, 1890. The Conference assembled at 10 o'clock a.m. Present: Mr. Ansell, Mr. Avery, Mr. Boase, Mr. Browett, Mr. P. Brown, Mr. Cornish, Mr. Dobson, Mr. Elvines, Mr. D. P. Fisher (Chairman), Mr. J. Graham, Captain Highman, Mr. Hoban, Mr. Hutcheson, Mr. Lomas, Mr. Meyer, the Hon. G, McLean, Mr. J. A. Millar, Mr. F. C. Millar, Mr. T. L. Mills, Mr. Mudge, Mr. Parker, Mr. Sandford, Mr. E. Seymour, Mr. Tees, Mr. Williams, Mr. Winter. The Chairman reported that the delegates appointed at the previous meeting had met the Hon. Mr. McLean, but that no agreement had been come to. The following basis of agreement submitted by the delegates to Mr. McLean was then read: —(1.) The delegates agree to submit to their principals a basis of settlement, conditionally upon the Hon. G. McLean pursuing a similar course, as follows : (2.) That all competent hands at present in the employ of the Union Steamship Company be. admitted to the unions without ballot, upon payment of the entrance-fee. (3.) That the Union Steamship Company undertake to recognise the Mercantile Marine Officers' Association, and the Seamen's Union undertake to recognise the new Shipmasters' Association, without prejudice to either body, and membership of either body be considered for mutual recognition. (4.) That all persons dismissed or called out shall be reinstated. (5.) That in future none but union men shall be employed where the rules of any union so provide, except under exceptional circumstances to be hereinafter agreed upon. (6.) That a bond be agreed upon between both parties guaranteeing that no strike or lock-out shall take place for one year, or such other period as may be agreed upon. Hon. Mr. McLean: We have threshed this out a good deal among ourselves. This basis of settlement was given to me on the understanding that it was to be kept secret among ourselves, so I did not make any written reply. When I came here I thought it was not to be made use of. Still, I have given my sanction to its being made use of. As I have prepared no written reply, I will give you my reasons why I cannot accept it. The reason is because it goes back exactly to where we started from. We have pledged ourselves to those men whom we have taken into our employment that, come what may, they will remain in our employment without let or hindrance, and without compulsion to join any union. We have given them a pledge to that effect. I have make it clear to everybody that whatever may come we will stick to the men at present in our employment. To accept these proposals would be, in my opinion, simply throwing them over, and that is a thing we cannot do. Here is another reason : This completely puts us in the position of compelling all our men to join the union. That is the sum and substance of it. It looks, on the face of it, as if it were not so, but if we take the disguise off it it means that we must compel the men either to join the unions or leave the ships. That is a condition we cannot accept. Therefore, as you are determined to stick to the principle that non-union and union men shall not work together, there is little use discussing the matter any further and prolonging the Conference, for if there is that determination it is simply leading people to think there would be a chance of settlement when there could be no settlement. I may say at once that I could not venture to submit such a proposal as this to the shipowners. I came for the purpose of meeting you all here, and lam very glad I have met you ; whatever may come of it we have exchanged ideas. As far as the Union Company is concerned, whatever may come of this, we are able to man our ships and to sail them. But even if we get the upper hand, the directors of the Union Company are big-hearted men, and will be generous even should they gain a complete victory. We have taken up a position from the beginning that probably makes things a little more difficult for us now, for, because of the fairness with which we have gone along, we have nothing to give you for anything you may have to give. If we had taken up the position at first that we would not have any of these men back, then perhaps we might have had something to give away. The men went from us themselves—of their own accord ; we paid them up to the day they went, whether it was a legal obligation or not. We have replaced them by other men, and by running our steamers have provided two thousand men with good wages and good living. I know there is some difficulty in confessing a fault; there always is a difficulty about that; but when a man confesses his fault and does it in a handsome way, generally there is some reason to think that there is a chance of coming to settlement. Now, I believe that something good