London, March 4.
A shipping crisis is threatened owing to the shipowners proposing to reduce the pay of officers and seamen by about £5 per month, thus bringing seamen's wages down to £10 a wonth as compared with £5 before the war, and those of stewards of passenger ships down to £8.5.0 as compared with £3.10.0.
The owners contend that economies in working are the only means of avoiding the laying up of much more tonnage and the causing of much unemployment.-~ Reuter.
We are informed that a cable has been received by a local firm stating that home shipowners have applied to the National Maritime Board for a general reduction in wages of all grades in the deck and engineering departments of £4.10.0 per mensem.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.