Mr. Meckinder, on behalf of the Clyde shipbuilding industry, made
a strong protest in the House on. Tuesday against the recent speech of Sir Eric Geddes. It was not the fault of the employers or the workmen that the shipbuilding output was unsatisfactory. The Government had given them plane-to which they were not accustomed to work, and then had repeatedly altered those plans. It was- said, that four vessels of the same size, ordered at one time in one yard, were, owing to many alterations of design, four quite- different ships when they were completed. Indeed, the ship- builders- had come to think that standard ships were designed after they had been constructed. The result was that the workmen had ceased to believe that the ships were urgently required, and they showed as much indecision in their work as the Admiralty did. Sir Walter Runciman said that the shipyard workers resented being taught their trade by novices sent down from Whitehall.
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