THE GREY RIVER ARGUS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1925. A WIN FOR THE SHIPPING RING.

Grey River Argus, 27 February 1925, Page 4

THE GREY RIVER ARGUS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1925. A WIN FOR THE SHIPPING RING.

The aiinouneement. of the Australian Prime Minister that his Cabinet has decided to sell out the Commonwealth Line of Steamers, for whatever price is offered, sounds like sweet music in the ears of the great shipping combine of the British Empire at the head of which is Lord Inchcape. The press mouthpieces of the combine in London greet the news with salvoes of unashamed applause, and gloat over the fact that the Austrlian exporter and importer, as well as the British consumer arc to be more than ever at the mercy of the ring. Certainly, the ships of the Combine, since the.-time

that the Commonwealth Line was lint'- . riedly established, can show a lunch more impressive balance sheet than the state vessels. The latter have a linancial record as bad as the Wembley Exhibition, viewed from the profit standpoint. Since the Tories gained a free hand, to run the line in the interests of its enemies, using it as a weapon in the class war, rather than as one to light monopoly, it became a ■foregone conclusion the ships would fall into capitalist hands eventualIv. Yes. those who have been able, for a time at least. to secure cheaper freights by its agency, will eertainly find out presently that a state line of ships may be an excellent investment even if it does not show such profits as have made multi-millionaires out of the combine magnates. For if the Commonwealth Government had given its crews room to exercise their rights as men and as workers, the “Bay” line could have been perpetuated to keep freights down, and the gainers would have been tin- Australian and the British people. But, instead, by going after the scalp of Tom AValsh, and by endeavouring to do away with the relatively more humane and enlightened Australian registry, and place the crews under British articles, Hie Bruce Government has discredited the enterprise, and left it for the Combine propagandists to preach the doctrine that the only basis upon which the shipping industry can be conducted is to run it purely for prolit. instead of purely for utility. The. only criterion accepted has been profit, and. even so. the aim has not been to get the best out of the line, lint rather to light the seamen. There arc. of course, those who will say the seamen sought ton big a say, but they were entitled to hold that a state line could give excellent service, while at the same time providing the best, possible conditions for the men who actually do the work and provide the service. The line lias been denounced, mismanaged, and boycotted, with the result that it has lost money and the Tory Government consequently feels it can now sell out with impunity. It will receive the hearty congratulations, at anyratc, of Lord Inchcape upon the disappearance, of a standard of living for seamen too high altogether for combine use. and upon opening the road, for a general degradation of the pay. working and living conditions on all the overseas steamers. There is, however, a reflection that the jubilant monopolists and their upholders may in the meantime ignore. Given enough rope, the combine will bring a remedy for itself, because its victims, in their own interests, for economic self-preservation, will be inevi tably driven to take up the light again where the Australian Government just now has left off, and must, meet the rapaeiiv of private profiteering by public enterprise in the field of transport. In the overseas trading sphere, the most recent developments such as pools, boards, and stores teach one great lesson. It is that in marketing, a very important element in which is shipping, co-operation is essential, and when the united pro-lm-ers of any dominion come into conflict with a shipping ring that wants to go on bleeding them, they will lose no time in putting an end to the power of the exploiters by substituting ships, so controlled, that their rule will be the minimum, instead of the maximum, freights possible.