The Dominion. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1917. HELPING THE ENEMY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 21, 19 October 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1917. HELPING THE ENEMY

With the enemy still making unsparing efforts, to cripple the Allies by piratical warfare on their mercantile marine, a very plain duty is imposed on loyal citizens all over the Empire. It is the iuauifest duty of such citizens not only to abstain from interfering in any way with tiro most effective use of shipping which circumstances will permit, but to lend every possiblo assistance to that end. Evory schoolboy knows that sea transport is a vital factor in the war, and it is equally well known that the economical use of tonnago;' by reducing to a minimum the time spont by ships in port and in other ways, takes a highly-important place in the measures devisod by the Allies to defeat the enemy submarine campaign. Yet here in Wellington at the present moment these all-im-portant considerations are boing ignored or flouted as if they did not exist. At a time when the very life of the Empire and the fat© of tho war depend on shipping, two ships are being held idle in this port because ■ tho labour needed to work them is withheld. One of the vessels in question has been detained for weeks; the other' for some days. An attempt made yesterday to obtain labour met with no success, though tho waterfront was not busy. In tho circumstances it is absolutely immaterial that no statement' has . been made of the grounds on which the watersiders base their refusal to work these ships. Whatever plea or pretext they may raise their action is indefensible. All other considerations are overshadowed by the fact that tho detention of ships directly assists tho enemy and damages the Allied pause. The essential question raised is whether the community is .to tolerate action in tho interests' of the enemy at our very doors. ■ As a matter of tactics, the Waterside Workers' Union may pretend that it has nothing to do with tho labour boycott of tho vessels mentioned, but,tho union and its members cannot evade responsibility. The unanimous refusal to work, tho ships is conclusive evidence of a concerted boycott, and in any caso watersiders cannot escape responsibility by a merely negative plea. As an organised body thoy are granted special privileges and exceptionally favourable working conditions. This is one side of an agreement under which they are honourably bound to provide the labour needed on tho waterfront. If they are false to their bargain, then obviously the privileges they now enjoy are forfeit. Under their agreement they are morally, if not legally, bound not merely to 'abstain from boycotting ships, but to provide tho labour needed to work them. By their present attitude they assert in effect that they are entitled' to break faith and to treasonably impede tho national war effort, under shelter of union privilege. A body of privi-leged-workers, they arrogate tho right to detain ships indefinitely, recklessly indifferent to tho imperative necessity of using every ton of British and Allied shipping to tho best possible advantage. _ Onlyone verdict on such conduct is possible, and only one course of action will meet tho ease. The issue raised 13 national, and it is tho manifest duty of the Government to sec that ships arc promptly worked and dispatched. If the waterside workers like to co-operate, so much the better. If they decline, then obviously they roust be brushed aside. It is just as necessary that ships should be promptly worked and dispatched as that measures should be 1 taken to defeat enemy conspiracies aiming at their destruction. While the refusal to work ships must be considered and dealt with first and foremost from the point of view of war conditions, and with an eyo to war demands, other aspects of the situation serve still further to emphasise tho unpardonable folly, to call it by no worse name, of which tho waterside workers stand convicted. A great deal has been beard recently about tho in-

creased cost of living and about the hardships imposed on wageearners and their families as a result of the ruling high prices of food and other necessaries. Does anyone need to be told that holding I ships idlo in port is an admirable way of further'increasing the cost of living? Given the treatment they deserve, the watcrsiders will bo placed by their fellow-workers in the same pillory as the alleged cx : ploiters their spokesmen are fond of denouncing. Apart from the immediate- effects of holding ships idlo in port with their cargo unloaded, it must be expected that this state of affairs, if it is not speedily corrected, will result in seriously reducing the already inadequate amount of shipping tonnage available to the Dominion. Official statements have shown' that only with extreme difficulty can ships be secured for our oversea trade, -'and that even greater difficulties in obtaining ships arc quite likely to arise before the war comes' to an end. Absolutely the best way to turn this prospect into a certainty is to create an impressiqn that' ships sent to New Zealand ports are liable to be indefinitely detained. In adopting the policy of holding up ships the watcrsiders are not attacking any one section of the community. They are attacking the whole community, and not least their own class. In its scope their action tends not only to increase the cost of living but.to undermine the general prosperity of the Dominion. Above all, they are basely blacklegging upon their fellow-country-men who are freely giving their lives on the field of battle. These facts demand aotion. The waterside workers should be able to perceive that they will porsist in their present attitude at the cost of antagonising every loyal citizen in the community, including the rational members of their own class. There will be no question of--patiently awaiting their, voluntary reformation. All ships in port and all which enter henceforth must bo promptly worked, whatever measures may be necessary tQ ensure this being done. No other policy is consistent with the national interest and national self-respect, and. the public undoubtedly will support the enforcement of such a policy.