Aviation Coys.

Attacks on Trans-Pacific Aviation Coys.

Australian Socialist Government

Develops Its Plan

THE Australian Socialist Government’s war on private enterprise is being extended to Trans-Pacific aviation.

There has been a clash during the month between the Government and two con cerns—the powerful Pan-American Air ways, and Trans-Oceanic Airways, an en terprising little company established n the last two years by Captain Brian Monkton at Rose Bay, Sydney.

The Australian Government has in formed PAA that it intends to impose a 5 per cent, gross turnover tax on all fares taken by PAA in Australia—the equivalent of about £lO on each average booking. It is reported that Canberra, with characteristic savagery, intends to

make this retrospective over 1948. It will cost PAA about £20,000 Australian per annum.

Although publicly hated by the Aus tralian Department of Civil Aviation, Trans-Oceanic Airways has been carry ing on regular passenger and freight ser vices, out of Sydney, to various Western Pacific islands, by means of flying-boats, for the past year. Its services to New Hebrides and Solomons were a godsend at a time when no other sea or air com munications were available. It has been carrying tourists regularly to Lord Howe Island, a popular holiday resort some 300 miles off the NSW coast, TOA has now been informed that it must discontinue certain of these ser vices. It has been told, among other reasons, that the services are not now re quired. Most observers, however, recog nise the real reason —the policy of the Socialist Government to discourage pri vate enterprise wherever possible, and particularly when it is in competition with State enterprise.

CANBERRA’S method of attacking PAA provides an outstanding example of how Socialism works. Socialism came into being as an alternative to pri vate enterprise. Private enterprise, ex tended by Europeans across the world in a remarkable way during the past two centuries, developed one or two great evils of which the worst was the elimination of competition by ruthless combines. Rings and combines thus preyed upon the help less public. The people’s answer was the organisation of State enterprise (which has now become Socialist enterprise) as a means of restoring competition.

Instead of maintaining State enterprise mainly as a weapon for the control of private enterprise, the Socialist States are developing it as an end in itself —in other words, they are rushing on from State enterprise to plain Communism, the pur pose of which is the destruction of pri vate enterprise altogether, and the control of everything by the State.

As seen in the case of Pan’ American Airways, the Australian Government is using its constitutional power, and the State’s money, to fight a private com pany—although such a policy, most de finitely, is not approved by the Australian people as a whole —and least of all by that section of the people who are in terested in Trans-Pacific aviation. The Socialist-Communist State, if allowed to carry this thing to a logical conclusion (the elimination of private enterprise) would create an evil (Communist control) far greater than the evil (exploitation by monopolies) which originally brought State enterprise into existence.

You Cross The Pacific While

You Sleep

BRITISH Commonwealth Pacific Air lines Ltd. are early off the mark in

the brisk trans-pacific airline com petition, with the recent purchase of four long-range Douglas DC-6’s. B.C.P.A. plan to have these new aircraft operating over the “Southern Cross” route (Vancouver to San Francisco, Honolulu. Canton Island, Fiji, Sydney or Auckland) by February, 1949.

Designed for comfortable and depend able travel at high altitudes, the DC-6’s carry 48 passengers and a crew of nine.

By night, seats may be converted quickly into spacious sleeping berths, and with the addition of berths concealed in the ceiling of the cabin, a total of 37 bunks will be available. As most of BCPA’s fly ing is done at night, to give passengers daylight hours ashore, the provision of “skyberths” should prove an outstanding addition to passenger comfort over the 8.000-odd mile route. Schedules should be reduced by a day, as the flying time San Francisco to Sydney, on the second delivery flight, was 26 hours 39 minutes, as compared to the current Skymaster schedules of 38 flying hours.

The equipment includes all sorts of new gadgets for the comfort of passen gers.

PAA Will Soon Have

Strato-Cruisers

Pan American Airways Will Use

Boeing Strato-cruisers between San Francisco and Hawaii this year, and when the runways at Kingsford Smith Airport (Bydney) are extended, wfll br.ng them right to Sydney.

These giant planes carry 80 passengers, have a cruising speed of 340 miles an hour and a full range of 5,000 miles.