Seven Ships

Irate Australian Laborites made passionate stump speeches, last week, about what they called "a scandalous sacrifice of valuable public property!"

Contented Australian Nationalists took the opposite view and praised their smart Prime Minister, sleek Stanley Melbourne Bruce, who is so modern that he has a private airplane garage in his basement and frequently flies forth.

The act for which alert Prime Minister Bruce received blame & praise, last week, was to sell for a total of -L-1,900,000 seven great ships which cost some -L-7,500,000 when they were bought some five years ago by the Commonwealth. The Prime Minister's defense was that the ships have been operated by the Commonwealth at a consistent loss of some -L-600,000 per year. In his opinion that loss should be stopped. But the Laborites want Australian jobs on Australian ships for Australians. Therefore in Sydney, last week, labor union leaders threatened ominously to "blacklist and boycott" the Seven Great Ships--five of which are liners of 13,000 tons, and the other two cargo ships of 9,500 tons.

Only one personage connected with the affair seemed completely indifferent to the rumpus, threats and stump speaking. He was the buyer of the ships, Owen Cosby Philipps, Baron Kylsant of Carmarthen. For him they are a bagatelle. He is the greatest Ship Man in the world, the chairman or director of more than 20 British steamship lines with an aggregate capital exceeding -L-200,000,000. His greatest and best remembered coup was to purchase, for the interests which he heads, the White

Star Line (TIME, Dec. 6, 1926). That transaction involved 35 ships and other assets valued at -L-7,000,000. Therefore Baron Kylsant merely smiled, last week, at London newshawks when they asked if he expected "trouble" from the Australian unions. Lord Kylsant expects, it was learned, to augment the Australian Commonwealth Line with a few of the smaller, older White Star ships in case the Australian labor leaders are very, very good. Should "trouble" actually arise, His Lordship has but to transfer his seven bought-at-a-bargain ships to service with one of the chief companies which he directs, namely the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co., the White Star Line, the Union Castle Line, the Oceania Steam Navigation Co. and Harland & Wolff.