Greymouth Evening Star. TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1946. Waterside Dictation

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 July 1946, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1946. Waterside Dictation

’J’HE refusal of the Auckland watersid-

ers, acting with the approval of their national organisation and supported by the Auckland Trades Council, to load wool which has been consigned to Spain provides another illustration of a dangerous trend in this country. By their action the watersidei's are attempting to .dictate the Dominion’s foreign policy and, for that matter, the policy of the whole British Empire. Actually the wool stored in this country belongs to Britain, and her Government— it - !S Labour—is clearly entitled to do what it likes with it. The Government of New Zealand was elected by the people of New Zealand. It is responsible only to the people, and not to a small but militant pressure group. For that reason the attempt by the watersiders to dictate what goods shall be exported and what, their destination shall be is entirely indefensible. That is the fundamental issue, which is not affected by any question of the type of regime which happens to be in power in any particular foreign country or the conditions of life in that country. The case of the butter shipments to America was of equal significance. Here the butter which the watersiders threatened to refuse to load was owned by the Mother Country and was being shipped to the United States under the direction of the British Labour Government.

The watersiders object to the Franco regime in Spain. They are entitled to their own views on the government of that country, but they are not entitled to dictate how New Zealand as a whole shall act in the matter or as to what its relations with any Power, foreign or otherwise, shall be. Franco’s regime is a dictatorship of the Right. What the watersiders overlook is that there is no difference, fundamentally, between such a dictatorship and a dictatorship of the Left. This prompts the question: Would they be equally ready to impose a ban on the loading of New Zealand produce consigned to Russia or the Russian-dominated countries of Eastern Europe? Dictatorship does not change merely by changing its colour.

The New Zealand Government has decided to make inquiries of the British Government as to its policy in regard to the wool shipments for Spain. Its action, coming as it does as the latest of a long series of similar decisions in such matters, merely strengthens the view that it has long since ceased to govern and that it is at the mercy of small Ind. militant pressure groups.

A Rugby League Occasion

Coast football followers —they al’e many—have had good reason to feel pleased with their representative teams during the past few days. Saturday’s "Rugby performance, when the Seddon Shield holders, Marlborough, were held to an 8-all draw, was a meritorious one, but it was completely eclipsed by the resounding victory which the West Coast Rugby League team scored over the redoubtable English visitors at Victoria Park yesterday. It was as unexpected as it was convincing, and those who earned it undoubtedly merited the warm reception given to their match-winning effort. To say that there were many who had anticipated a better display by the English tourists is not to detract from the merit of the West Coast team’s performance. There is an old saying in football circles that a team can play only as well as its opponents will allow, and that no doubt applies to yesterday’s match. The local team deserved to win even if only because of its doggedness. It started off to play a typical wet weather game and never let up. Move and counter-move were checked in determined fashion and over the concluding stages the Englishmen were a well-beaten team.

Yesterday's match, besides adding new lustre to the district’s sporting record, also served to direct attention to a lack that has long been felt. There is no central ground of a standard adequate for the conduct of major sports fixtures against both provincial and overseas teams, or, for that matter, for the fostering of sport in general. The conditions at Victoria Park yesterday were not good. The playing area was not up to standard required for such matches and the facilities for spectators were inadequate. To say that easts no reflection on the Rugby League authorities, who had obviously endeavoured to make the best of what was offering.

It should not be beyond the bounds of die organising ability and tolerance of local sports organisations to co-operate in order to initiate a movement for the provision of a central sports arena worthy of the size and importance of the town t and district. It is a proposal that would undoubtedly find favour with many as a suitable war memorial. Some little help may reasonably be expected from the civic authorities, but past ex-

perience would point to the futility- of relying too much on that. The co-opera-tion of all sports bodies is a first essential.