ALLOCATION OF CARGO SPACE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3085, 16 May 1917, Page 8

ALLOCATION OF CARGO SPACE

POSITION OF THE COMMITTEE. Remarks made on Friday last ,by 'Mr.- R. ,Burns, president-of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, regarding the coifstitution of tho Overseas Shipping Committee were referred to some Auckland representatives ''of overseasshipping companies on Saturday. Mr. Burns stated'that thero was a feeling that Auckland was placed at a- disadvantage through not having a representative on the committee. In reply to this remark it was stated that tho committee was appointed by, and was controlled by, the Imperial authorities, and not by the New Zealand Government. The committee wis composed of the general managers in the Dominion of various shipping companies, and as such, it was contended, they might well bo' regarded as being representative of tho interests of all ports and districts in New Zealand. One shipping representative said' the interests of Auckland had not been neglected by tho committee, as the district had received its full justice in the allotments of space. Mr. H. E. Pacey, general manager of the New Zealand Dairy Association, when his attention was drawn to Mr. Buriis's remarks, said that he would not go the length of saying that there was serious reason for complaint against the Overseas Shipping Committee, although Auckland pro.'inco, ho believed, was more in arrears with its accumulation of produce than the Wellington Province. The committee, ho jsaid, was composed'of representatives of shipping companies trading between Great Britain and Now Zealand, with tho addition of one member nominated by the New Zealand Government. Tho Imperial authorities, ho understood, determined tho class of cargo to bo carried, whilst tho function of the committee in New Zealand was to divide- tho available space between tlie different interests. It had been represented to the committee in Wellington that Auckland was more in arrears with its-shipments of produce than-Welling-ton, and it was. hoped that the position would be' rectified "when tho next allotment was made. The committee, added Mr. Pacey, undoubtedly has a difficult task to perform, and he had v.n desire to suggest that it was not observing t?lie utmost fairness in the discharge of its duties. Meanwhile, bowevor, producers' interests were seriously menaced,