A British Strike in an African Port: The Mercantile Marine and Dominion Politics in Durban, 1925

Abstract

The world-wide British merchant shipping industrial dispute of 1925 threatened to bring the commerce of the British Empire to a halt. Although it rapidly faded in Britain itself, the strike took off with remarkable effect in the ports of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, almost paralysing the southern hemisphere operations of the world's largest cargo and passenger fleet. Through exploring the course of the strike in Durban, South Africa, this article shows how this globalised British labour dispute brought out tensions within the politics of the empire, both between dominions and metropolis and between political factions within those dominions. The article analyses the strike from the perspective that the exercise of power within the empire was radically fragmented. It shows that the course of the struggle was shaped by intensely conflictual relationships between South Africa and imperial power-holders in London, by rivalries between political factions within the South African state and by regional divisions between the Pretoria government and Natal Province. Together, these tensions produced the state policies towards the strike that enabled it to last far longer in Durban than might initially have been predicted.

Notes

[1] Natal Mercury, 17 Sept. 1925; G.W. Dick, Durban, to Secretary, Interior, Pretoria, 7 Oct. and 3 Nov. 1925, BNS 1/2/80, National Archives of South Africa, Pretoria (hereafter NASA). I would like to thank Tony Lane and Catherine Burns for their very helpful comments on this paper; they of course not responsible for my views.

[2] Hirson and Vivian, Strike.

[3] G. W. Dick, ‘Seaman's Strike at Durban’, 29 Oct. 1925, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[4] Hirson and Vivian, Strike.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Gifford, No Winners; Roe, ‘Strike Bound’.

[7] This problem was compounded by the fact that Hirson and Vivian—perhaps because of the academic boycott in effect in the 1980s, when they did their research—were able to use little of the rich material on the strike in the National Archives of South Africa, Pretoria.

[8] Fink, Sweatshops at Sea, 117–41.

[9] Carr, Socialism in One Country, 118–40, 352–60.

[10] Woodman, The Great Squandering, 94. The term Merchant Navy was not in use at this period.

[11] Ibid., 48–49.

[12] Ibid., 30–31.

[13] Hirson and Vivian, Strike, 19–23.

[14] Ford, Work and Wealth, 64.

[15] Circular from Prime Minister's Office, Pretoria, to all Heads of Departments of State, 31 Aug. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[16] Despite its sometimes absurd identification with its protagonist, W. K. Hancock's Smuts, vol. 2, remains a compelling narrative of governmental politics in this period.

[17] For a brilliant analysis of this crucial episode, see Krikler, White Rising.

[18] For an innovative overview of South African labour politics in this era, see Van der Walt, ‘White Labourism’.

[19] Commissioner of Police to Secretary, Justice, Pretoria, 1 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA. Tielman Roos annotated this letter, expressing resentment at Creswell's interference in the work of his ministry.

[20] Creswell and T. Boydell, Pretoria, to Lomas, Cape Town, 1 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[21] Creswell, Cape Town, to Hertzog, 5 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[22] High Commissioner, London, to Hertzog, no date, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[23] Hertzog to Lord Kylsant via High Commissioner, London, 21 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[24] Amery, London, to Hertzog, 16 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[25] Commissioner of Police to Secretary for Justice, Pretoria, 3 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[26] Hertzog, Pretoria, to Mayor, Durban, 2 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[27] Frank Nettleton, Durban, to Hertzog, Pretoria, 5 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[28] Creswell, Durban, to Hertzog, 20 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[29] Moulvi Abdul Karim, Durban, to Hertzog, 2 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[30] Commissioner of Police, Pretoria, to Secretary, Justice, Pretoria, 7 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[31] Department of Labour, Durban, to Department of Justice, Pretoria, 6 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[32] Department of Labour, Durban, to Department of Justice, Pretoria, 2 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[33] Attorney General, Pietermaritzburg, to Department of Justice, Pretoria, 8 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[34] Cecil John, Durban, to Acting Attorney-General of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 25 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[35] Creswell, Durban, to Hertzog, 19 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[36] Union Castle Company, Cape Town, to Hertzog, 10 Oct.1925, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[37] Lane, Liverpool, 116.

[38] G. W. Dick, Durban, to Secretary, Interior, Pretoria, 3 Nov. 1925, BNS 1/2/80, NASA.

[39] Mooney claimed also to have served in the Boer War, but it is not certain that this was the case. He was alleged by some to have led a famous 1905 mutiny by Royal Navy stokers at Portsmouth naval base, but this seems likely to have been a case of mistaken identity. The actual leader of the 1905 Portsmouth mutiny was one Edwin Moody; see the reports of the court martial held the subsequent year. The Times, 24, 26, 27 Nov. 1906. Mooney was also said to have been involved in yet another mutiny on a ship called the Cap Colonia in 1919, but any records that may exist of such a vessel have proved elusive. G. W. Dick, Durban, to Secretary, Interior, Pretoria, 7 Oct., 3 Nov. 1925, BNS 1/2/80, NASA.

[40] G. W. Dick, Durban, to Secretary, Interior, Pretoria, 7 Oct. 1925, BNS 1/2/80, NASA.

[41] G. W. Dick, Durban, to Secretary, Interior, Pretoria, 3 Nov. 1925, BNS 1/2/80, NASA.

[42] Hirson and Vivian, Strike, 48–50.

[43] Ibid.

[44] Department of Labour, Durban, to Department of Justice, Pretoria, 4 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/2, NASA. On Norrie, see Gitsham and Trembath, A First Account, 172–73.

[45] Department of Labour, Durban, to Department of Justice, Pretoria, 9 Sept. 1925, BNS 1/2/80, NASA.

[46] Natal Mercury, 19 Sept. 1925.

[47] Ibid., 17 Sept. 1925.

[48] Ibid.; Sydney Morning Herald, 14 Sept. 1925; President, Strike Committee, Durban, to Minister of Justice, Pretoria, Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[49] Statement by Richard Mooney, 11 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[50] Official Log of the SS Athelfoam, 1925, National Maritime Museum, London.

[51] G. W. Dick to Secretary, Interior, Pretoria, 16 Sept. 1925, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[52] Natal Mercury, 18, 19 Sept. 1925.

[53] Ibid., 17 Sept. 1925.

[54] Ibid.

[55] Anonymous message, 16 Sept. 1925, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[56] Natal Mercury, 17 Sept. 1925.

[57] Ibid., 19 Sept. 1925.

[58] Hertzog to Creswell, Durban, 19 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[59] G. P. Broughton, Shipping Federation, London, memorandum, 21 Nov. 1925, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[60] Cecil John, Durban, to Acting Attorney-General of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 25 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[61] ‘Statement by James Connell Bellringer’, Durban, 11 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA

[62] B. Robertson and 19 others, Salvation Army Hostel, Portsmouth, to High Commissioner of South Africa, London, 15 Oct. 1925, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[63] Department of Labour, Durban to Department of Justice, Pretoria, 23 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[64] Natal Mercury, 24 Sept. 1925.

[65] G. W. Dick, ‘Seaman's Strike at Durban’, 29 Oct. 1925, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[66] Hertzog to Lord Kylsant, via High Commissioner, London, 21 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[67] Fanny Klennerman, Johannesburg, to Hertzog, 21 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[68] Hirson and Vivian, Strike.

[69] Affidavits by Detective Head Constable E. A. Evans, Cape Town, against J. W. Welsh and 15 others, 20 Oct. 1925, BNS 1/2/80, NASA.

[70] Creswell, Durban, to Hertzog, 18 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[71] Creswell, Durban, to Hertzog, 19 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[72] Ibid.

[73] Creswell, Durban, to Hertzog, 20 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[74] Hertzog to Creswell, Durban, 19 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[75] Ibid.

[76] Lord Kylsant, via High Commissioner, London, to Hertzog, 9 Oct. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[77] Thompson, Natalians First, 25–28.

[78] G. W. Dick, Durban, to Secretary, Interior, Pretoria, 16 Sept. 1925, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[79] G. W. Dick, Durban, to Secretary, Interior, Pretoria, 26 Sept. 1925, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[80] Cecil John, Durban, to Acting Attorney-General of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 25 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[81] Anonymous memorandum, 28 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA; Commissioner of Police, Pretoria, to Secretary, Justice, Pretoria, 30 Sep. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[82] Secretary to the Prime Minister to (High Commissioner?), London, 26 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA. Indeed this basis for a settlement had already been incorrectly touted by the Natal Mercury, on 24 Sept. 1925, as a package that the strikers were ready to accept.

[83] C. W. Malan, Minister of Railways, Burghersdorp, to Prime Minister Hertzog, 30 Sept. 1925, PM 1/2/256, NASA.

[84] R. Heaney, statement, no date, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[85] The archival record does not appear to substantiate the claim by the SALP politician Morris Kentridge to have negotiated a settlement of the strike. See Kentridge, I Recall, 139–40.

[86] W. Le Roy et al., Cape Town, to ‘Seamen of the Bendigo’, no date, BNS 1/1/383, NASA.

[87] G. W. Dick, ‘Seamen's Strike at Durban: 1925 Particulars of Outstanding Cases Durban’, no date, BNS 1/1/383, NASA; Schedule, no date, GG 1762 51/7692, NASA.

[88] Magistrate, Durban, to Department of Justice, Pretoria, 23 Sept. 1925, JUS 409 4/385/25, NASA.

[89] Natal Advertiser, 14 Oct. 1925.

[90] Woodman, Great Squandering, 34–38.