SHIPPING WAR.

Press, Volume L, Issue 15022, 17 July 1914, Page 9

SHIPPING WAR.

AGGRESSIVE GERMAN 310TE

WORLD-WIDE SIGNIFICANCE

AN INTERNATIONAL FIGHT.

Tho announcement of the establishment of a direct German steamship corvice from Continental to ~Se\v Zealand ports formed the text for -otr.e i interestinc remarks by« Sir Owen j Philipr-s, the British shipping m-guaro, : woo is ti:o chairman of the pvea.es.*hippi'ig combination under vhe British fas. In ar. interview published m the 'Daily Mail," Sir Owen Philipp, is reported ... saying: — •'The New Zealand development is only an incident in a world-wide state of affair.. It will be well if tho interest it has aroused serves to draw attention to tho world situation, to which the British nation as a whole sadly needs awakening. "On every great trade route in the world, in every great co_iiner<?ial port, you will iind German ships. They are the only formidable rivals British shipping h.s to face. They havo practically captured tho trade on the west coast of America and to Brazil and the Argentine. In the last case, they hit the Freuch so severely as tp noces- . itate a subsidy from the French Government. PUBLIC HYPNOTISED. "What 1 wish to empuasise is this: Tho British public's attention has too lonji been hypnotised by the German Navy. There is an obsession that this ' commercial aggressiveness is due to tne growth of the L.rman Navy. The boot is on the other foot. It f_ German commercial voracity that has created her Navy, and "that is swelling it to giant proportions. Our na- i tional defence lias been directed to tho wrong quarter. . li' ths nation had backed up our commercial shipping as it has tho Nary our country would be more powerful to-day; j "'The German ua.al ensign accom- I ?_nies her trade. Our flag fouows curs, he old saw that our ,ira_o foi.ows i our dag is not true. It proccdos it. Again, lack of combination and unity of purpose have na.urai.y handicapped our ciiippiug of late years. The' fight for world-supremacy in trado is being waged by German ships aiid British chips in every ocean. OUR INTER-RIVALRY. "'With this to face, inter-rivalry of, British lines would be relegated to tae background. Speaking personally, 1 have never since I firsL took t. c c.iair of tho Royal Mail Steam Packet Company eoii-erned myself with rivalry with other British lines. No inter-Brit-ish rivalry is necessary. ''Gorman national policy can be summed up" in one word—trade. She is driven to seek it (and her Navy is- out an instrument to strengthen and force it) by the growth of her industrial popu-. lation. and since she changed from an agricultural to an industrial nation the acute need of finding and keeping Side markets for the products of hor workers has urged her to aggression. NO UNITY OF PURPOSE. "British trade is represented by some 300 individual and separate lines, wicu no unity of action or purpose. ; "German trade is centred in .even big lines. Robind them,,u.iug every power of persuasion and influence to se--ouro th<_r harmonious working and co aciion. is tho greatest commercial director in tho world—the Kaiser. His Majesty has for many years used his infl to -ho utmost to secure and maintain consolidation of German linos and to prevent internal competition by tho multiplication of small interests. PENALTIES OF ISOLATION. f 'Let mo impress that lam speaking from tho point of view of national interest. But, as an illustration I may mention that when I took tho chair of tho Royal Mail Company l realised that in its isolation its vessels could be squeezed out of any one quarter by. Co-acting commercial shipping. Now the company is associated with a fleet of noarly 200.000 tons, 300 steamships plying in'all parts, and if any ono line is hit in any one part, it is now possible to choose -where to hit back to retaliate in another quarter wiierc tho atrgr essor is more vulnerable. ~ ' s° fore thi * Association was effected the Hamburg-Ai. erik.. Line controlled the largest number of steamers in tho world. But; as ; an illustration of German expansion ou the lines I have referredto. it may be noted that whan _. Hamburg Amerika was founded •with three vessels the Royal Mad was a bic co-irany (for its time) of from 30 to 40 vessels. GERMAN POLICY. ._*_ finn " Up ' tll6 Germa » nation is oohind its commercial shipping—Government officials, and people. Have you ever heard of a German official travel, ling by any other than a German boat? ur? be hard *° find one instance. Germany's international policy has always been influenced by commercial considerations. Where she quarrels trade is at stake. When German shipping or trade is molested, where official aid can be given or pressure of tlio iron hand can be felt, that aid is given. British commerce and shipping—upon whoso prosperity tho »-ower of our Navy and natiou ultimately dopends~hav. not that backing. British trade is left to forge its own way and to hold its place by individual enteroriso, which by its subdivision is as much competitively directed against itself as against other countries." LOSS TO LONDON. Regarding tho confci _n._ of tho I-riti.lt -hipping linen nnd tho Norddont.chor Lloyd ninl th» Gurinan-Aus. tralian Company in London to discuss the position, ''Tho Times" says:—"lt is behoved that all the parties desire to settle tho question amicably. But one disagreeable fact for British trade ha. to he faced. A trade in cargo amounting to somothing loss than 100.000 tons por annum will, whatever the result of that meeting, bo permanent .- the loss to tho Port of London. This cargo hitherto has be.v brought to the Thames, sometimes in British and sometimes in German bottoms, has passed through the docks, and given employment !o British workers, and has been shipped to New Zealand in British ships. In future London wi'l lose that entrepot trad-.. Tlio merchandise will be consigned direct from the continent. "It is an unmistakable fact that tho improvement of Anglo-German relations' and the 'relief of naval tension •in the North Sea' have synchronised with the appearance of world-wide echeroos for the development of German trade, and especially of German shipping. Wp hay*» had under tho guise Of international negotiations the effective combination of tub Hamb-urg-Amerik. Line and the North-German Lloyd, and we have had the feverish foundation of special societies for the fnrtheranc© of Germany's trade with most C ou .tries under the sun. It in not Germany alone which to bmldinjr. i n American trftde, tor example, thert* fe a new be_v_y-«UD«iai__i French «_.- ---▼ ice, tb«© is now quit, form! dablo eompotit?-m f»« Holland, tho fa*__fc ahip. aro Italian, and large now ships aro being built for Spanish ownera.