Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, JUNE 26th., 1928. JERVIS BAY TROUBLE

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 June 1928, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, JUNE 26th., 1928. JERVIS BAY TROUBLE

arrival of the Jervis Bay at Colombo, lias enabled fuller details to be obtained of the trouble on board that liner, through the misbehaviour of eight stowaways. Passengers are reported to agree that lhe wireless reports of the affair were greatly exaggerated, and there seems a disposition, now, to treat the incidents on board as of little consequence. The accused men were convicted, and sentenced to a few months’ imprisonment. The penalty cannot be regarded as severe. Stowaways commit an initial crime by travelling on a vessel on which they have no right to be, and if to this is added more serious lawlessness, it is essential in the interests of public safety that the penalty should be such as to discourage others from following this form of modern piracy. The extraordinary part of the story, as published so far, and one that requires explanation, is why eight unarmed men were given such latitude, and why the officers were so lenient to them. It is emphasised again and again that the crew gave the stowaways no assistance. and if the officers could count on the crew’s active loyalty, to say nothing of the male passengers’ assistance, it seems strange that the trouble developed as it did. The wireless messages received by lhe naval authorities at Colombo caused them to take energetic action, and. eventually, marines were placed on the liner. If all that was much ado about nothing —as now declared, —a reflection is cast on the judgment of those in charge of the Jervis Bay. It is to be hoped that the full story will be, early available. A bad advertisement has been given to British passenger ships by the. affair, and especially Io Australian vessels.

The -Jervis Buy, of e.ourse. is one of file Comnionwefill h Line recently sold to a British syndicate. There have been in the past complaints about the standard of discipline on some of the Commonwealth liners, and that casnalness probably helped to make the whole venture a financial failure. A recent cablegram about the last voyage under (’ommori wealt b Line ownership, of another Bay liner, fold a story of lack of discipline, and with the -Jervis Bay the centre of the latest trouble, outsiders will wonder what will happen

next. That the offenders on the .Jervis Bay arc not Australians is a mailer of little consequence. The I‘acl is that for too long a. miniature reign of terror prevailed on a British liner, and it seems that the management is doing what it can to minimise the trouble. That may be commercial wisdom, but the travelling public will require something more than disclaimers. Every precaution must be taken to prevent such occurrences, as it has been demonstrated what serious mischief could arise if stowaways were more determined and better armed, than was the ease with those on the Jervis Bay. It may have been, as Mr. Larkin claims, “merely a storm in a teacup,” but the public will have their own opinion as to the menace to travellers’ safety and comfort the Jervis Bay affair was.