The Dockyard Dismissals
No one can suggest that the letter addressed by Mr. Ernest Bevin, as secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, regarding the dismissals at Devonport Dockyard is either intemperate in its tone or un- reasonable in its main tenor. It is contrary to all ideas of justice that men in Government employ should be dismissed from posts which they have held for years not merely without being allowed to make their defence but without . even -knowing what the charge against them. is. The ease put by Sir Samuel Hoare in justifica- tion of the action taken is that the public interest demanded it, that the public interest equally forbids any public hearing or even the formulation of a charge, and that he himself declined to act till a body of experi- enced officials, some of them unconnected with the Admiralty, had carried out an exhaustive investigation. That statement cannot be disregarded.. There have been several cases of sabotage in dockyards in recent months, some of them at Devonport, and there are always possi- bilities of espionage. In spite of that it would be highly unsatisfactory to leave the matter where it is. In asking that the facts in the case should be investigated " and made known," Mr. Bevin goes too far ; it may be extremely under rable to make them known. But the solicitude of the Labour Party for the public interest in such a matter as this is as great as the Government's. Mr. Alexander, the Labour First Lord, would no more tolerate subversive activity than Sir Samuel Hoare, and it would be entirely proper, and might well satisfy Mr. Bevin, if Sir Samuel saw fit to take Mr. Alexander into his confidence. An alternative course would be to arrange a private enquiry by such a man as Lord Sankey. The nation would readily accept his verdict.
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