SHIPPING FREIGHTS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVII, Issue 9052, 24 July 1917, Page 5

SHIPPING FREIGHTS.

BLEEDfNG THE PRODUCERS

dTR J-IMES WILSON SUGGESTS a FIGHT. -

(Special to " Guardian.")

/ WELLINGTON, July 24. \ " Another question of great unport-™'-ance is that of the shipping of our ' produce" (said Sir James Wilson, president of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, at the annual conference to-day). "Shortly after the war began the shipping combine announced that freights would bo raised in the aggregate by about .£1,000,000; This naturally alarmed the producer, especially as the British Government provided the war risk, both on vessel - and cargo, at a low rate. We were calmly told that we ought not to object because we could look upon this as a contribution by the New Zealand producers as a war tax, seeing that all additional . profit that shipping companies earned was subject to a tax of 60 per cent. I thought it was a piece of gratuitous impertinence to make the suggestion, especially seeing that, despite the heavy taxation, ono shipping company has. paid .60 per cent. . in dividends, after ;no doubt.•,conceal-. ■ ". ing as much proJat as^ossible; and we 'have it on the evidence - of' Mr Bonar ■Law" "that he had invested £8110 in 15 shipping companies, and had received in interest £3684 and £3847 respectively during the last two years, besides £1000 for a steamer which had been' sunk and in which he had £200 invested.' "That means that the _ interest on

the investment was 45 per cent, and -A 7 per cent., and this after paying the \fW per cent, excess profits tax. If .* one body of men can lay themselves f out to exploit another body, the first remedy that is at hand is for the latter" to find the capital and do the work themselves. This was what gave

the impetus to the New Zealand Ship- , ping Company when it waß formed. Freights were so high that a company was formed t& provide competition. Most of the shareholders} lost their money when going through the slough of despond, and they fell gradually into the hands of capitalists looking for a good investment. Strange to say, it was the freezing: process that caused the greatest loss. Steamers were built, and in the competition the New Zealand . Shipping Company's shares fell very low. They were bought up at small cost, and when the- merger took place with the P. and 0. the shares were mostly held in England. Lord Ihchcape, at the general meeting of the P. and 0., intimated that ho had not much fear of any shipping company under the control of, or run by, any Government; and he was probably right. The producers of New Zealand, % however, can, with the assistance of the Government, fight .■, this monopoly if; they combine. : The combination must Übe cpmpletei'' Not as; is usually' the, case, that;-', some'■■find the. money and the rest benefit, for that would end in failure to all. Not only must the' producer * come in, but, if necessary, the agents must do so too. This means, however, that Government aid must be invoked. _This is jr^othing unusual. Even in Con-. /(Jservative England, when the Morgan * iTrust threatened to mop up the whole of the Atlantic shipping, Mr Balfour stepped m and advanced £2,000,000 to the Cunard line to enable them to build the Lusitania and the Mauritania. At the moment very much the same conditions of things has arisen "here. The P. and 0. has mopped up both our local shipping companies just in the same way. Shares held in England enabled it to control any body of colonials, and 1 am told that the P. and O. has got a bargain, and that the price should have been higher. Be that as it may, the whole of the New Zealand shipping is governed by one man in London. The directors and managers here have practically no say in the matter, and by a judicious spreading among agents and shippers of commissions and rebates, there is no one to make *a fuss, except the producers. It is well known to every one what their position is. Nothing short of an Act of Parliament will bring " them together, and advantage is token of them at every turn. First of all, there is a combination of all shipping companies to exclude any other company coining in. Then contracts are entered into with Freezing Companies, Dairy Associations, and exporters of all kinds as to freights. Care is taken that these contracts do not run out at the same time, and this is used as a lever when new contracts are being fixed. Tho representatives here have been so long at this game .that they. - can play one set against another with the art of a, politician' This will go on to the end, if the producer does not wake up and take a hand. We must, however, be all producers and exporters. "We are up against a big concern, and probably a bigger concern in the Meat Trust "as well. The only way, if

we want to start an opposition com- ,--' pany, is t-o fii-st nobble the freights. The only way to fight such a monopoly ■ is to do as they do. They nobble the capital and "call the tune" as to freights; but if all the produce of New Zealand is controlled by another company then the tune is changed. No shipping company can get on without freights in and out. Once control that, or even a large proportion, and terms are possible. "Mr Vavasour has put before the public a scheme to raise the money for such a company by way of levy. This levy has been taken up enthusiastically in Taranaki, whore the dairy people have found it an easy mea'-^s of raising money for extension purposes. It requires some thought to work out how far the Government is prepared to assist it. A committee has been Bet up to make a full investigation on this point, but it would be premature to disclose to what stage they have reached."