SPEED HONOURS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 207, 2 September 1936, Page 7

SPEED HONOURS.

BRITISH BLUE RIBAND.

Chairman Deprecates Idea Of Atlantic Racing.

COMPANY'S POLICY. British Official Wireless. (Received 1.30 p.m.) RUGBY, September 1. The Atlantic policy of the owners of the liner Queen Mary was discussed in a speech made at Liverpool by Sir Percy Bates, chairman of the Cunard-White Star Line, who declared that there was a real rivalry in the Atlantic, commercial and financial.

"We are not racing in tlie Atlantic, and we will not go in for racing competitions," he said. "Records are tilings on which onr parent companies have always been proud, but proud as we are to-day of our record, I regret that in recent years tliere has been an attempt to attach some tangible and physical object to what has hitherto been incorporeal. I regret, for myself, there was ever brought into existence a blue riband cup." The speech was made in accepting a silver rose bowl for the Queen Mary from British marine insurance companies. Sir Percy said he accepted it with utmost gratitude, but tlie company's attitude to the blue riband cup had yet to be determined, not only by events which might happen in the Atlantic but also by the even larger question as to whether there was a cup worthy of tlie Atlantic. He added that in "letting out" the Queen Mary during her last voyage the object was to help the company in the proper consideration of details of machinery and propellers for the sister ship, No. 552, now to be Constructed, and the data collected during the round voyage of the past fortnight had been of great assistance. It was necessary, for the company's business, to do something to ascertain what margin their builders could put into the ship beyond the 28J knots, which the schedule required to be The company might or might not have more records in the future, but whatever they did would be incidental .to the company's business which did not consist essentially i» racing.