INDUSTRIAL OUTLOOK IN ENGLAND

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 89, 11 January 1923, Page 5

INDUSTRIAL OUTLOOK IN ENGLAND

DEPRESSION IN SHIPBUILDING TRADE

A GLOOMY WINTER

(By Archibald Hurd, in tho London “Daily Telegraph.”)

Two years ago we had under construction in this country nearly 1,000 vessels of 3,731,098' gross tons; today the number is only 331, of 1,617,045 gross tons, and work has for various causes been suspended on a quarter of this tonnage, so that actually there is in hand rather loss than 1,200,000 tons. Nor is tliai all; the amount of work in tho shipyards is steadily declining, for as new vessels take the water there are few fresh ones to occupy tho slips. Particular leaders may congratulate themselves on • the success with which they have fought this or that demav«l for lower jrates of wages, but experience shows that every successful attempt to maintain wages above the economic level is 'pursued at tho expense of other and more reasonable bodies of workers. That principle will bo illustrated during the coming winter, for the inactivity in tho shipyards will produce unemployment elsewhere; there will be a reduced demand for steel, for marine engines, for ship equipment, for ship furniture, and even the unfortunate coal miner will be affected. He has been forced to accept an admittedly low wage, in large measure because his livelihood depends in no slight degree on the ability of the coal owners to sell coal abroad in face of fierce competition. In; the meantime the leaders of the shipyard workers have been struggling for many months to keep up wages, and they have succeeded better probably than they expected; but they have done so at the expense of their own industry and of other industries. • Unparalleled Situation. They are now confronted with a state of depression unparalleled in the history of British shipbuilding. There have'been periods of depression in the past, but never one approaching in intensity the present one. Apparently the mistake which has been committed is now recognised. Employers, rendered desperate by the impossible conditions confronting them in tenderingjfor new work, determined sometime for now work, determined some time ago that a reduction must at any cost take place. Under mistaken leadership there is still a tendency on the part of large numbers of shipyard workers, and particularly the boilermakers, to resist this movement, even to the point of a strike. The ballot which has taken place suggests, however, that good sense will triumph, and that, though the reduction in wages may not be adequate to meet the abnormal situation, it will be such as will enable shipbuilders to sock new work with better hope of success. A mass of evidence shows that orders will bo forthcoming for new ships as soon as they can bo built at an economic price—a price bearing some relation to the sums which they can earn by carrying passengers or goods, or both.. There are indications that the shipping outlook is somewhat improving, and onco confidence that the worst* Is past prevails in shipping circles it will be only a short time before new contracts are arranged. Eight out of every hundred merchant ships under the British flag are over twentv-fiva years old, and are, therefore, only fit for a rfhipbreiker’s vard.. No mean proportion of the next grade of tonnage in point of age would also bo replaced by new ships if they could be built at reasonable prices. For old shins, are, as a rule, inefficient ships, and it has been the pride of British shipowners, in the past that they operated shipping which, in point of age, equipment, and low running costs, compared favourably with that of any other country in the-world. Shipyard workers may benefit themselves as well ns the shipbuilding and shipping industries and the countrv at large by co-operating to render it possible -for that claim to bo made in the future.

Progress of the Germans. It. can neve" bo too often reiterated that nothing approaching full employment in tho shipyards of this country can bo assured unless orders can ho obtained from abroad. They can bo secured only by successful competition in quality as well as m price. In both these respects the Germans are destined to be once more serious rivals. Their shipyards are very busy, and' that activity finds no reflection in the. statistics issued by Lloyd’s Register, because, as is pointed out, no reliable returns are at present available. This authority, however, estimates that “the tonnage under construction in Germany at the present time is about 300.0C0 tons,” while at Danzig ships of 40,000 tons are being built. The revival of the shipbuilding industry in Germany, wlrtre wages are very low, is a factor which all who are connected with the industry in this country must bear in mind. The Germans are building ships not merely for thernr.elves but for others, and at present this country is not in a position to cpmnete successfully with them. Wage* in the shipyards are too high, and the cost of material, .and, particularly, of rail transport—an important item—constitute handicaps which aro only too effective. The Germans are working hard, and they are working to good purpose; about 100.000 ions o’* shipping were launched in Germany and at Danzig within the past quart* ter. Importance of Foreign Orders. Tho significance of the revival of German shipbuilding is only to ba appreciated in knowledge of the extent to which British shipbuilding in the past has been dependent upon foreign orders. In the year before ’the war, apart from second-hand tonnage which we sold to foreign registers, this country built for foreign orders ships which brought, us £11,026.<530; gnd tho pound sterling then had a mudi higher value than it has today. At tho present moment, of tho 331 vessels on the stocks in this country, seventy-nine aro being built for foreign order -orders, for the most part, placed after the Armistice: Country for which Gross , Intended. No. Tonnage Argentine 1 4,400 Belgium 4 11,260 British Dominions 8 9,175 Chile 1 7,000 Denmark 1 4,850 France 13 78,450 Greece 1 4,100 Holland 10 121,200 Italy 1 18,011 Japan 2 12,600 Norway 1 4,675 Rumania 1 1,260 Spain • 2 7,5(10 Sweden -1 5,223 United States 2 4,700 For Sale or I‘ lag not stated 30 95,202 Every consideration, the least as well as the most obvious, which has been suggested must prompt masters and men in tho shipbuilding industry to get down to blip bedrock prices. Unless this is speedily done it must be a long time before any revival of activity takes place. In any event the readjustment of wages has been put off so late that nothing can now save th® situation so far as the coming winter is concerned. As Sir William Raeburn. M.P., recently declared, “this is no ordinary slack period, to bo succeeded by a boom.” It is. the

worst time of depression that the shipbuilding industry has ever known, and tho period over which the depression extends will depend niainlv on the rate of wages of the men in the shipyards, per cent, of tho cost of a ship, as I have often recalled, goes in wages, first and last, and for that reason" the workers themselves really hold in their hands the decision as to whether they shall in future compete successfully with Germans and others.