SUBSIDISED SHIPPING PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 73, 19 December 1935, Page 10

SUBSIDISED SHIPPING PROBLEM

Government’s Attitude DESIRE TO BE FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED An indication of the attitude the Government proposes to adopt in dealing with the problem of subsidised shipping was given by the Minister of Marine, Hon. P. Fraser, when speaking at a social gathering at the conclusion of the Wellington Harbour Board’s meeting last night. “We cannot agree to stand by idly and allow our ships to be driven off the seas,” he said, “We are an island nation. Part of our life is on the sea; it is the very breath of life in many of our industries and it is a source of employment to our people. We have to consider how wc can strengthen our mercantile marine. The question is receiving the careful attention of the Government, which is desirous of cooperating with those concerned, not in a spirit of antagonism toward any competitor. I don’t think anything wc do will be construed in that way—we want to live on good terms with all the Pacific nations—but we have to consider as a domestic duty to our own people how wc can maintain our ships trading across the Pacific and the Tasman.

"We want to be fair to all concerned, but in our desire to be fair to others we are not going to be unfair to ourselves and our own country. That will be the view the Government will take. We ask for the help and assistance of all concerned, even from those who perhaps unconsciously may be the means of making things difficult for