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  Issue No 19 Official Organ of LaborNet 25 June 1999  

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History

How Swede It Was

By Erik Eklund - History Department, University of Newcastle

Swedish seafarers play an important role in South Australia's maritime history.

From the turn of the century increasing maritime trade between Australia and Europe brought many Swedish seamen to South Australian shores. In the small outports of Port Pirie, Port Germein and Port Lincoln, and in the largest port in the state, Port Adelaide, Swedish seamen between ships or looking for better paid jobs, sought work on the wharves or in local industries, some of them choosing to stay permanently in the new country. This paper will argue that the nature of this type of 'seamen's migration' over the period 1890 to 1930 can be best understood with respect to labour demand and supply in South Australia ports, and the wages and working conditions of the international shipping industry.

In common with nearly all of the waves of migration to Australia economic opportunities and job prospects to a large extent determined the location of settlement. Through their close proximity with the waterfront labour market, and their affinity with the kind of labour it offered, the decision by Swedish seamen to locate in port towns was an obvious one. The experience of Swedish seafarers supports general studies of migration to Australia that note the importance of economic opportunities. However, given their small numbers and at times temporary residence here in Australia, the next step in the process for most migrant groups - chain migration - rarely eventuated. As such the ebb and flow of Swedish migrants and itinerant workers can be best understood with reference to the demand for labour in the ports they frequented. By focusing on the economic context and motivation for particular migration choices I do not wish to underestimate other factors, however, the weight of evidence does indicate that economic factors, both in South Australia and Sweden, played an important role for this particular group of migrants workers. This paper will also include a discussion of temporary workers, that is those Swedes who decided for whatever reason to return to Sweden or return to life at sea. This group had an important role in the South Australian labour market, particularly in times of labour shortage, yet are difficult to follow in the historical record because they rarely came to the attention of Government officials and census takers. The availability of employment records for seamen entering South Australian ports goes some way to remedying this lack of statistical information, and indicates that the Swedish impact in South Australia was far greater than the modest census figures suggest.

Industry Context

To fully appreciate the lives of these Swedish seamen, and their involvement in land-based labour markets in Australia, we need to briefly review the shipping industry in this period for this was the industry that brought them to Australian shores. A seamen's working life, whether on the newer tramp steamers that became more common at the end of the nineteenth century, or on the sailing ships which continued trading with Australia up to the 1940s, involved lengthy periods away from home. Steamers could manage the trip from English ports to the Southern Coast of Australia in about 60 to 70 days by 1900. Sailing ships took approximately 85 to 100 days. Loading time depended on the state of facilities at port, and the type of cargo. Loading grain in some of the small ports of South Australia could take up to three weeks, and the wait was often longer if other ships had arrived in port beforehand. The grain trade between these small ports to mostly British destinations and buyers deserves further attention since this was one of the principal trades carried out by Swedish and �land-based lines, most famously of course by the Erikson line, owned and operated by Gustaf Erikson. The general arrangement of this trade, and the nature of the crewing, gives us some insight into other Swedish vessels that came to South Australia in this period.

Erikson, a wilely entrepreneur and experienced sailor himself, had begun buying up old German, French, American and British sailing vessels from 1914. Erikson was born on �land and served his apprenticeship on other ships owned by his countrymen. By reducing crew sizes, and by securing reliable vessels for almost the price paid for scrap, he was able to operate these apparently technologically outdated ships in a profitable fashion through the first half of the twentieth century, despite the dominance of steam on nearly all other major trade routes. The key was to find a commodity that was not perishable, and whose demand was not seasonal, which was located on routes suitable for sailing ships. The grain trade from South Australia was ideal in all respects. Ships could sail to the South Atlantic, round the Cape of Good Hope and ride the swells of the Southern Ocean, and the winds of the Roaring 40s to Spencer Gulf in South Australia. There they had a choice of small outports, all characterised by fairly primitive port facilities. This was important since modern loading facilities gave steamers a further advantage which was nullified, to some extent, by their absence in these small ports. By no means all of the trade was the province of sail, but Swedish and �land ships carried the bulk of it well into the 1930s. In 1921, 68 square-rigged ships left South Australia for Europe with grain as cargo, though by 1938 this number had been reduced to 17.

The grain ships timed their arrival with the summer harvest in South Australia, around Christmas time. Waiting for a berth, and loading usually meant that they left Australia for Falmouth, England in late January or February. From Falmouth the ship's captain would take orders as to the cargo's final destination which was typically London, Liverpool, Belfast or Glasgow. If the ship had failed to secure any further cargoes then the Erikson line ships would return to Mariehamn arriving in July or August for minor repairs and lay up. As a consequence, the Erikson fleet employed a large number of �landers. In 1928 the Herzogin Cecile had a crew of twenty six men which included fourteen �landers, six Swedes, three Finns, three Germans, one Englishmen and one Australian. In 1930, Parma carried a crew of 30 which included fifteen Finns (probably all �landers), eleven Germans, two Australians, one American and one Englishman.

Despite the appeal of the sailing vessels and the Erikson fleet in particular, there were probably more Swedish mariners employed on Swedish and Norwegian steamers operating between Europe and Australia. The largest Norwegian line was Wilhelm Wilhelmson, which had approximately fifty vessels by the late 1920s. In Sweden the Transatlantic Line operated a direct route from Sweden to Australia. Many seamen secured work not only on these Scandinavian lines but on ships registered in a number of different countries. Nevertheless the number of Scandinavian registered ships on routes to Australia would have provided greater opportunities for Scandinavian/Australian movement. In 1924/5 Norwegian and Swedish-registered ships together carried 8.5% of the total tonnage of cargo leaving Australian ports. By 1928/29 this figure had increased to 13.3%. Typically these ships carried cargoes of guano (fertiliser) from Chile, or occasionally Baltic Timber to Australia, while the key Australian exports of coal and wheat dominated the outward bound cargo. Exports from Sweden to Australia also increased during this period. The value of exports such as wood products, farm machinery and manufactured goods, among other things, increased from less than �250,000 in 1905 to average approximately �2,000,000 in the 1920s, but in many cases ships came to Australia in ballast only. These maritime links, on the basis of both a general trade between Europe and Australia and specifically Swedish/Australian trade, brought increasing numbers of Swedish seamen to Australian ports. The most important Australian ports for this trade included Brisbane, Newcastle (New South Wales), Sydney, Port Melbourne, Port Adelaide and Fremantle.

South Australian Context

South Australia was founded as a colony of the British empire in 1836 after enabling legislation had been passed by the British parliament in 1834. The colony developed as an important grain growing region, particularly from the 1870s as new agricultural areas were developed with the support of government-built railway lines that ran from small ports towns to inland regions. Despite some industrial development which followed the major discoveries of tin and copper ore in the 1840s (with further discoveries of copper in the 1860s), the colony's labour market remained predominantly rural. The need to move grain to market, however, did create some employment in the transport and waterfront sectors. This work was highly seasonal in nature and peaked in late spring and summer (November, December, January) as the grain was harvested and brought to market. Likewise in the colony's few industries labour demand was also intermittent and depended on variables such as the weather, the selling price of key commodities such as copper, lead and zinc, the availability of shipping, and the extent of the year's harvest. As a consequence the rural, industrial and transport sectors of the economy exhibited a highly volatile demand for labour. Throughout this period many employers often experienced difficulties in securing adequate numbers of workers. In this context itinerant workers such as seamen were well-placed to fill any short term labour demands, especially since this demand commonly came from waterfront-based industries.

Swedish workers and migrants

This was an important overall context for the movement of Swedish seamen in and out of the South Australian labour market. The demand for waterfront labour can be seen as the key factor that attracted workers to particular areas in the colony/state. The nature of seafaring work has often meant that seamen changed jobs between sea and land and commonly swapped ships as well. The extent of casualisation was encouraged by a number of factors in the organisation of work. During lay periods at port, seamen were often 'paid off' by owners in an effort to reduce running costs and the overall wages bill. Vessels in Australian ports could wait for up to three months on some occasions to secure a cargo.

This practice also encouraged, indeed required, seamen to find alternative sources of employment on other vessels or on shore. The tendency to change jobs was especially true of younger seamen. They had fewer familial ties and were more likely to look for better opportunities or simply new challenges than other workers. Older seamen preferred more stable employment often closer to home in order to meet their familial obligations. In the case of the Swedes who came to South Australia they were overwhelmingly composed of younger men between the ages of 18 and 25, for it was this group who were the main source of employment on deep sea vessels.

The combination of periodic high demand for labour in the South Australian economy, and periods of irregular employment for seamen made legal discharge, or desertion a common experience for seamen calling at South Australian ports. From 1894 to 1915, for example, Swedes shipped or discharged in South Australia accounted for 6.71% of all seamen, well behind the percentage of British sailors at 71.06%, but higher than any other national group with the Norwegians (at 5.02%) and Germans (at 4.03%) the next closest groups. Therefore, Swedes were the largest group of non-British foreign nationals over this period in the state.

Wages and working conditions

One of the key factors influencing these seamen to desert or to be officially 'paid off' from their foreign vessel in Australian ports was the relatively higher wages paid to Australian workers, both land and sea based. The most readily available information on the wages of Scandinavian seamen comes from the numerous published sources on the Erikson fleet, but this would be a reasonable indication of wages for Swedish seamen not employed by Erikson and working on sailing ships. Seamen on steamers, however, were generally better paid. In the 1910s and 1920s apprentices on Erikson square riggers were signed on for four years and received food and accommodation from the employer. The family of the apprenticeship also received �25. After finishing their apprenticeships Ordinary Seamen earned approximately 450 FM or �2 per month, while Able Bodied seaman earned 550 FM or �2 10s per month. These relatively modest wages have to be balanced against the free provision of food and accommodation (such as it was) and the absence of any land-based distractions to spend money on. Long periods at sea represented lengthy periods of enforced savings since seamen had very little to spend their money on. Working conditions varied considerably according to the ship, the weather and the Captain. At ports located near major trading routes seamen also faced the widespread practice of 'crimping', which involved the illegal and forced supply of labour to unscrupulous Captains or labour agents. Many men, after being plied with alcohol in port side bars and boarding houses, woke up only to find themselves aboard a ship that had already left port.

For workers in South Australia, wages in shipping and in land-based industries varied considerably yet on the whole they were far more attractive than the wages of Swedish and �lander seamen. Before the major defeat of the colonial unions in the 1890 Maritime strike, the Adelaide Steamship Company, the largest single employer of seamen in South Australia, was paying up to �5 per month for experienced men, plus board and rations. These wages dropped appreciably following union defeats and an economic depression of the early 1890s, and a prolonged drought for much of the rest of the decade, but showed some signs of recovery in the late 1890s. In 1898 an unskilled labourer in Adelaide earned 6s a day, or approximately �6 per month if the work lasted. A seamen with a trade such as a carpenter (and many of the �land seamen, for example, had experience in ship building) could earn 9s a day or approximately �9 per month. These rates varied according to the size of the South Australian wheat harvest, the extent of Government spending on public works, and the selling price of wheat. Such factors had profound affects on the South Australian economy being as dependent as it was on its agricultural produce not only for export revenue but also for general business confidence. By 1918 an unskilled factory worker in South Australia could earn on average �11 per month.

Wages for Australian seamen were also far higher than those paid on Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish ships. In the early 1920s Australian and British seamen could earn �4 per month. By the end of the decade typical monthly wages had increased to �5 per month, at the same time as Norwegian and Finnish mariners were earning �2 per month.

This was a time of increasing union militancy and the seamen's union secured a number of important victories in the Federal Arbitration Court. Therefore, Swedish seamen could potentially earn at least twice as much on Australian ships, and perhaps four times as much in certain land-based occupations. Most sources agree that these higher wages, on both land and sea, were a key factor in encouraging Swedish seamen, and other Scandinavians, to desert or be officially 'paid off' in Australian ports. Koivukangas, for example, noted evidence from the Finnish warden at the Sydney-based Mission to Seamen that Finnish rates of pay were well-below similar rates for Australian seamen. According to McCutchon, Port Adelaide had a long tradition of desertions beginning in the 1850s when seamen were lured by the gold rushes to take the overland journey from Adelaide to the Victorian gold fields. Moreover, the prospect of a long and difficult voyage home with low wages was not a welcoming one and masters commonly had trouble securing crew. In such conditions, crimping, or even taking on inexperienced men (known as 'voyage runners'), was quite common.

One story from a Danish sailor may give us some insight into the decision to desert, and the attraction of life on land. Detlef Behnsen, a Danish sailor who went to sea at the age of thirteen in 1902, worked on various German, Russian and Norwegian vessels for the next eight years. In his published memoirs he mentions the various methods employed by Captains to discourage desertions, including holding back a seamen's pay, and posting attractive rewards for their return. In February 1910 he found himself in the Western Australian port of Fremantle where, on hearing of the opportunities that Australia offered, he considered jumping ship together with a ship mate (a Swede named Arthur Bassell). After the Captain of the Norwegian-registered Barque Marita had kept the crew working for two weeks without the opportunity to go ashore, the two men made up their minds to desert. By frequenting local bars they managed to secure work in the country, reasoning that the best way to avoid detection was the get away from the port area. The Captain posted a �10 reward but their new country-based employer did not hand them over to authorities.

The attraction of Australia was clearly a motivation for Behensen's desertion, but conditions on board the ship also played a role, suggesting a combination of specific 'push' and 'pull' factors. Similarly difficult economic conditions at home encouraged some Swedes to search for work and opportunity in Australia. Albert Nord, for example, left Sweden when he was twelve in 1899 and worked his passage to Australia on a sailing ship. He returned to Sweden after two years, but extreme poverty forced him to look to the sea again in 1902 and he returned to Port Adelaide and this time stayed for the rest of his life. This general economic decline also had specific regional effects. In �land, for example, the ship building industry, went into rapid decline in the late nineteenth century, with many hundreds of men thrown out of work. Later in this period other economic downturns in Sweden may have encouraged seamen to search for work elsewhere and perhaps consider long-term residence in other countries. During 1921--22 the Swedish economy suffered widespread unemployment through the effects of post-war recession and deflation, with unemployment among trade unionists reaching more than 30%.

Conclusion

Seamen's migration can be effectively contextualised in terms of the labour market prospects for seamen, both in their country of origin and in their chosen destination for migration or temporary settlement. The movement between Australian and Sweden was facilitated by the shipping industry, the way the industry was organised and especially the poor conditions of employment and low wages. Higher wages in Australia together with the coincidental arrival of many Swedish and Scandinavian ships in summer, the time of the highest demand for labour in South Australia, encouraged many seamen to discharge or desert. Towards the end of this period, however, as Australia moved towards depression, the country's appeal weakened as unemployment climbed, and waterfront work, indeed industrial work more generally, becomes less labour intensive.

This research represents the first stage of what will be a more in depth analysis of seaman's migration to South Australia. Having established the broad economic and industry framework, the next issue that needs to be addressed is the individual experiences of seamen. This work will rely on Commonwealth Naturalisation records held at the Australian Archives in Canberra, but also the extensive network of family historians, whose methods and activities often represent unfamiliar territory for professional historians. However, in proceeding with this kind of research, we need to recognise that those seamen who came and left Australian shores--by choosing not to became citizens--but who nevertheless lived and worked in Australia for a time, are a difficult group to study, at least from an Australian base. Their short term stay in Australia often meant that their presence and influence was not accurately reflected in official records. It could be that this group needs to be studied from the Swedish end of the migration/temporary settlement path. One of the major challenges for researchers working in this area is the task of securing adequate access to primary and secondary sources in a climate of shrinking public funding for research and travel. This suggests that the best way forward in analysing world-wide paths of migration and movement is through cooperative research with other scholars based in the migrant group's country of origin.

Dr Erik Eklund is a lecturer at the University of Newcastle. He presented this paper to the Sydney Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History in May 1999.


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In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Moore for the Battlers
NCOSS director Garry Moore gives the community sector's response to this week's State Budget
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*  Unions: AWU's Bush Blitz
"This is AWU Country". That's the slogan for the Australian Workers Union as it launches its campaign to address the specific needs of workers throughout regional and rural Australia.
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*  Indigenous: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide
A United Nations committee slams Australia on indigenous native title rights.
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*  International: Unions Post-War Stand
The world labour group demands KFOR track war-crimes authors and says social dimension central to Balkan reconstruction.
*
*  History: How Swede It Was
Swedish seafarers play an important role in South Australia's maritime history.
*
*  Review: If He Had Only Listened To Me ...
If Michael Thompson had listened to me the current debate raging in the nation�s opinion pages about his book may not have been as hysterical.
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»  Freedom of Choice - What About Tax?
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»  Why Are We Trying To Be Torn Apart?
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»  Thanks to Randwick Council
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