THE LARGS BAY.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2165, 3 July 1922, Page 4

THE LARGS BAY.

Australia is learning to-day what New Zealand has had a long experience of —that state ownership of any of the means of production or transit does not carry with it immunity from vexatious dislocations of the country's activities. It might have been though that experiments in State Socialism such as the ownership of coal mines in New Zealand or the running of a steamship line in Australia, would have been viewed with favour by the lords of Labour and that every effort would have been put forward to justify the experiment in actual practice of one of Labour's own platform planks. For some unknown reason, however, the Seamen's Union in Australia has declared war on the Commonwealth line and it is quite a common thing to read that some fresh steamer of the Bay nomenclature is hung up over a triviality. The last instance was that of the Hobson's Bay. Although she arrived in Australia with a crew of whom 70 per cent, were members of the Australian maritime unions and the remaining 30 per cent, members of British unions, the little czars of the waterfront decreed that none but Australians should man her on her outward voyage, thus leaving the British seamen stranded in a country where the presence of anyone looking.like an immigrant is regarded as an unwarrantable intrusion. It is pointed out that many of these seamen to whom the unions take objection are Australians with war service, who thus find the doors of their own country shut against them. It looks now as though the Government had decided to make a test of the Largs Bay incident, for to-day's cables tell of an ultimatum issued and taken up by the unions, which involves the laying up of the whole Commonwealth Fleet of 43 vessels, the combined officers and crews of which total 4COO.