"EXPORT REVIEW."

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20085, 14 November 1930, Page 20

"EXPORT REVIEW."

A HANDY REFERENCE. "New Zealand Export Review" for 1930, published by "Meat and Wool," covering the period July Ist, 1929, to June 30th 1930, is replete with information of the export trade of the Dominion, giving dairy produce, meat, wool, and other primary products exported in detail as to quantities and values. The Dominion wool selling season is fully reviewed, centre by centre, and prices realised at each sale of the past season are set out in tabular form and compared with London values at nearest dates to New Zealand sales. The meat trade is also exhaustively dealt with, for the Dominion as a whole and province by province. The byproducts of the freezing industry are dealt with under their individual headings. Dairy and fat stock prices realised at all sales for the year are set out in tabular form. • The work ia exceedingly handy for reference and is in bold type. NEW CUNARD LINERS. COMPANY'S POLICY STATED. Outlining she policy 6f the Canard Line in proposing to contract for two large liners for the express service between Southampton, j Cherbourg, and New York, and important statement was issued to shareholders of the : Cunard Steam Ship Company on September 24th by the chairman, Sir Percy Bates. As , the next ordinary annual meeting of ? the company is no less than six months awayj and as so much interest and .discussion has been raised by the company's proposals for the building and insurance of a new taid Sir Percy Bates, I think it -well to anticipate the speech that I should qrdinarily be making to the shareholders next. April and explain now what are the economic 'factors behind our proposals. a With what is called "The Blue* Riband of the Atlantic,'' the Cunard Company to- i day is hut indirectly concerned. If it can obtained it will be a valuable advertising ! point, but its attainment is merely incidental ! to a far bigger fact.. For the first time in the history of naval > architecture, it is a practical proposition to'v run a weekly service from Southampton via I j Cherbourg to New* York, with two steamers I which can pay. Hitherto, such a service has I irequired three steamers, .! The conditions which govern the construe- | j tion of such a pair of steamers are speed i : and size. The speed is dictated by the time ! I necessary to perform the journey at all seasons of the year, and. in both directions, plus the considerations of the number of hours required in port on each side of the Atlantic. The size is dictated by the necesi sity, to make money by .providing; sufficient saleable passenger accommodation to pay J;or the speed. In the opinion of Its technical advisers, so far from attempting to construct steamers . simply to compete with others in or speed, the Cunard Com* pany is projecting a pair of steamers which, though they will be very large and fast, are in fact the smallest and slowest which'cat* fulfil properly all the • essential economic- con- •• ditions. To go beyond, these conditions would be extravagant, to fall, below. them would be incompetent, as the company. would be simply leaving to others a direct invitation to compete it-on more, economic terms* Had the company been projecting: costly, snips without a real economic basis, it would'i never have dared to approach his Majesty's Government on the matter of insurance, but.: in view of the facts. described above it' had no hesitation in so doing. The thanks of the company are due to the Government for/ the sympathetic reception of the 'proposals; as; lacking their agreement, it. would *iiot have been - possible to proceed at'the present time. • • . ■ i Even before the war a ■ serious problem i existed with regard to insurance of - the largest class ,of steamer, and it was ''only • the outbreak of hostilities in August, 191 A ' that cancelled a mutual insurance scheme which had been entered into by the CunardCompany and some of its competitors, foreign" as well as British. -After all. these ships are, and always will be, relatively few in number, and is not to be wondered at tf the Marine Insurance Market should' fiAd. itself unable to deal with these specialities! At tlie same time, I would like to" express the hope that when the time does come to place the insurance on this ship the expanr sion of the ordinary Marine Insurance Market, may render the Government agreement redundant. The present position is that the v matter of dry-docking at Southampton has still to be settled with the Southern Railway, and negotiations with the builders are actively proceeding with a view to settling the terms of the contract and so far as is possible the final price of the first steamer.