["The Pearling Industry", The West Australian, Thursday 22 April 1915, page 6]
THE PEARLING INDUSTRY
A MASTER PEARLER'S COMPLAINT
CRITICISM FROM BROOME RESENTED.
MR. JAMES CLARK'S POSITION.
The Colonial Secretary yesterday, intimated that he had received from Mr. James Clark, a master pearler resident in Brisbane, a reply to certain criticisms that were levelled against him in a report that appeared in the "West Australian" on March 30 last. The criticisms emanated from Broome. The Minister said the letter, sent to himself in reply to those statements, was as follows:--
"My attention has been directed to an article which appeared in the 'West Australian' on Tuesday, March 30, reflecting on myself and those associated with me in pearling. You, no doubt have read the article. Will you permit me to say that the boats which we propose to work in Australian waters are Australian-built boats, are owned by Australians, and will be worked under the same conditions absolutely as those engaged in the pearling in dustry in Western Australia. The wages paid will be the same. We will have no advantage in any way over those engaged in pearling in Western Australis. The boats we are sending will remain in Western Australia and will not be employed at the Aroe Islands again. Permit me to say, also, that we are not monopolists, and that the foundation of our success originated in Western Australia some 30 years ago. The writer was one of these who went to Western Australia 30 years ago, and whose boats found the shell on the Eighty-mile Beach, which has been worked ever since. I also wish to say that we did not drive any small men out of the business. On the contrary, owing to our being in a stronger position, we have helped small men to obtain larger prices for their shell than they would otherwise obtain. We have been working at the Aroe Islands for ten years, and, during that period, we have held as much as 400 tons of shell from the sales so that the market would not be glutted, and the shell could not be bought at a price that would not leave us a profit. During the last 18 months, as all Broome pearlers should know, I have endeavoured strenuously to form a combination, to enable all the pearlers, including those in Broome, to get higher price for their shell than they ever obtained before. To enable this to be brought about I gave my personal guarantee for £30,000, and, owing to the slump in shell, I may be called upon at any moment to make this guarantee good. I also joined with the buyers in London to buy all the open shell in the market to enable the combination to obtain the price that we had agreed upon as a payable one for our product. Unfortunately for me, the war clause under which my own shell was sold was not inserted in the contract relating to the shell bought from the pearlers at Broome. Therefore, I will sustain a loss of' eight or ten thonsand pounds which have gone into the pockets of Broome pearlers, and which, but for my actions, they would not have had.
"I notice the remarks of Captain Francis, who talks of pioneering. I wish to say that Captain Francis was not known in the pearling business when I helped to pioneer the way with the pearing boats to Western Australia in 1886. Captain Francis says we will pay 50 per cent. less for labour than the Broome pearlers will pay, and that we will be able to victual our crews much cheaper. Both these statements are incorrect. Our crews' wage and food will be the same as those supplied by other pearlers. Captain Francis says the Broome pearlers have to pay a duty of' £4 per ton on rice. We will have to pay the same duty.
"It will be fresh in the minds of your Government that a few months ago the Mayor of Broome wired to you about the great distress existing at Broome and asking for relief. My company offered to relieve a portion of those distressed under certain conditions. At the present time I am informed by the Sub-Collector of Customs at Broome that 26 men at the moment of writing are destitute. We propose to engage these men, and before this reaches you, no doubt, this will be done.
"I claim that the pearling at Broome should not be a monopoly, and that it is open to all Australians on an equal footing. More particularly should it be in the hands of those who are able to pay their own wages and passages back, and not leave their crews stranded in a foreign country as they have been left.
"We take exception to the remarks made by the Mayor of Broome. For instance, he states that we 'previously reduced Thursday Island pearling from a comparatively large number of small owners to a small number of large owners.' This is an absolutely in correct statement. The conditions prevailing at Thursday Island do not permit of a one-boat man or two-boat man getting a living owing to the strong monsoons. We have been away from Thursday Island for 10 years, and not one small man has attempted to start there, although prices for shell are higher than they were in the olden days. 'The Mayor of Brome speaks of us as monopolists. I do not know how he can use this term in conection with us. We certainly have a lease of the pearling beds at the Aroe Islands, for which we pay £3,000 per year, but we secured this in competition with other firms, and Aroe Islands form only one of many other leases in the Dutch East Indies, and we only hold the Aroe Island lease.
"In conclusion, I wish to say you can make any use of this letter. I think it cowardly of the Broome pearlers to make such statements about me after the efforts I have made, extending over a long period to improve their position."
