The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1919. THE SEAMEN’S STRIKE.

Southland Times, Issue 18620, 19 August 1919, Page 4

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1919. THE SEAMEN’S STRIKE.

General disappointment will be felt at the decision of the seamen, in Australia by which they rescinded the resolution to man the ships as from yesterday. It is stated that the seamen are now awaiting a definite statement from Senator Millen, but we cannot see that the Government can concede any of the points for. which the seamen have been holding out. It would appear that the seamen are not yet prepared to acknowledge the failure of “direct action,” and will continue the strike in the hope of bringing the Government to its knees. For over two months the shipping of the Commonwealth has been laid up, industries dependent on coal have been stopped, thousands of employees have been deprived of work, and it is a question of how long the Government should continue to permit this state of affairs to exist. A few thousand seamen who have flouted the Government, the people, and every constitutional means by which they should be guided, cannot be allowed to tie up the commerce and industry of the country and to inflict hardship and suffering on thousands of working people and their, families. The Government has done its best to secure a peaceful settlement, and has done nothing to needlessly irritate the strikers. It has endeavoured to placate them, but its efforts were doomed to failure since the seamen were determined from the commencement to have nothing to do with conciliation or arbitration, but to openly challenge the law and the community. They sought to win not through the merits of their case but through the sufferings they hoped to inflict. They have not disguised cither their objects Or their methods, and the time seems to be considerably overdue for the Government to take action for the restoration of the shipping services. The Minister in a recent statement to Parliament said that the present position could not be allowed to continue. “Already,” he said, "the strike has caused great industrial dislocation with the accompanying widespread privation to thousands of innocent people and serious material loss to the country. These grave consequences will intensify with every day’s prolongation of the struggle, which, if allowed to proceed, would ultimately strangle all industrial activity and with it the people’s means of subsistence. Should the movement for a settlement unfortunately fail the Government will take the steps necessary to secure the restoration of industry to normal conditions.” The time has come when this promise should be fulfilled, and we cannot see that the Commonwealth Government has any alternative but to demonstrate its ability to uphold the law. Any other outcome would be a triumph for “direct action,” and this must not be permitted under any 6ircumstances whatever. In the meantime the hope that the resumption of coal supplies from Newcastle would bring the restoration of our railway services within sight has been shattered, and the outlook is again unsatisfactory. So long as the seamen in Australia are allowed to paralyse shipping there can be no rapid improvement in the situation here.