STATE-OWNED HOTELS

Otago Witness, Issue 3509, 14 June 1921, Page 37

STATE-OWNED HOTELS

RANK FAILURE IN DARWIN. SYDNEY , June 1. ihe hotel farce, long played by the Commonwealth Government in the Northern Territory, is to come to an end. Tenders are now being called for the lease or purchase of tho four hotels—three in Darwin and one at Pine Creek. These hotels have been run at a loss for years. Lp till about 1917 they \vore returning a small profit, although their condition and management were the subject of much hostile criticism. Then matters gradually got worse Labour extremists practically got control of Darwin, and declared war on enterprise of all kinds. They killed Vesteysmeat works practically stone dead. The works, owing to the extortionate labour charges, could not carry on. Vesteys cut their losses and closed the works. The employees continued to hang about the streets of Darwin, making impassioned speeches on sociological subjects until faced with starvation Then the majority of them got themselves shipped away to other States and obtained work. The gaunt, silent meat works remain there to-day as an instance of how Labour fanatics can kill a private enterprise which, if left alone, would have enriched the whole district. The Bolshevist virus crept into the hotels as into every other establishment in the territory, and efficient management became practically impossible. Oooks and housemaids and barmen demanded, and obtained, (perfectly ridiculous wages—some getting more than the managers. Matters were in this condition when the coastal freights were again increased, and the price of carrying beer from the Eastern States to Darwin was raised. This, and the increased labour cost, forced the management to raise the price of diaught beer The_ new beer prices incensed "the Bolshevists, who, as usual, demanded everything and were prepared to give nothing So they declared all hotels “black,” and the faithful were forbidden to enter them or drink their beer. This condition has continued now for about a year, and. of course, the hotels are showing heavy losses. The Federal Government has taken tho only possible course, and the hotels are on the market. This action should have been taken years ago