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26 the same position as these foreigners, and were to find ourselves on a foreign ship opposing our country, we should probably put the captain of that ship in irons, and bring the vessel herself over here. &hellip;&hellip; The foreign element must, therefore, be eliminated.' Before, however, the foreigner can be put out we must have British seamen to take his place, and as we have not got them it is as well to study the reason why we have not; for as soon as we recognise the true cause of their absence and dwindling away we shall be in a proper position to suggest a remedy. I maintain that in a few years, under my scheme, we shall be able to do altogether without foreigners."

Just so! To win them back to the flag is a task quite Herculean; under the present condition of things it may be taken to be really impracticable if we accept the dictum that shipowners are quite entitled to "free trade in labour," and are "not concerned in nationality," and all that they require is "that the men who are shipped are at once cheap and efficient, and that sufficient are available." These terse and pithy remarks provide the key-note to the whole story as it reads at present.

It must always be remembered that shipowning is a distinct form of commercial enterprise, and shipowners run their ships for profit in the same sense as any other person in other ways runs a shop, to make money. Being the eminently practical man that he is, he is not easily swayed by fads or sentiments, and therefore devotes himself to his legitimate occupation without the least encouragement from the authorities under whose keen and unremitting surveillance this form of industry is carried on. Sentiment vanishes under the stress of competition, and who shall blame the shipowner or any other employer for obtaining his labour in the cheapest market when he has every right, and the law as well on his side, to do so? If there is an Imperial consideration involved in the matter, then it is for the State to apply a remedy.

Soon after the Navigation Laws were abolished and the Government saw the necessity of issuing certificates to masters and mates it was pointed out that unless the standard was kept low the supply would be restricted, and thus wages would be kept at a high figure. It was also foreseen that a combination of masters and mates was a contingency to be provided against. Nowadays every trade and profession is on trade union lines, and very properly so. What is the Federation of Shipowners, or the Shipping Federation, but a trades union? What are the various associations of barristers, civil engineers, doctors, the various army and navy clubs but trade or professional union pure and simple? A rose by any other name, etc.