TONNAGE AND FREIGHTS.

Evening Post, Volume LX, Issue 102, 27 October 1900, Page 6

TONNAGE AND FREIGHTS.

« CAUSES OF THE RISE ET BATES, • DIMINISHED PROFITS OF, FARMERS. In Australia the various international shipping companies were advised by cable to raise the fares 10 per cent., and as. all the principal British steamship owners work in combination in such matters the advance is pretty general, the New Zealand Shipping Company, the Shaw, fcjavill, and Albion Company, and the Tyser Line participating in the rise. The fares to London by the direct linors from the colony have hitherto been £58, £36 15s, £19 19s, £17 17s, and £15 15s, but 10 per cent, additional is now charged. Questioned aa to the reason for the advance, ono Wellington, representative of shipping companies attributed it principally to the abnormal price of bunker coal, tho higher cost of wages, and the scarcity of tonnage. Coal is practically double what it u&ed to be, and wages are considerably higher, especially with the lines belonging to ftew Zealand. The shortage in tonn.Mge has been felt ever since the war in South .Africa commenced, and the necessity for tue transport of troops became imperative. The crisis in Lmna has accentuated the position, and numerous vessels have been withdrawn from regular trade to serve the purposes of the military and naval authorities of the Great Powers. The scarcity of coal is made the great lever for advancing the fares, and ifc is pointed out that the dearth is universal, and affects all countries. The position is mnde more serious Try tho extreme demands of the Naval Departments of Great Britain, France, KuttHfci, and uermany, and to a minor ex /ent of other naval Powers. The orders of the Government take precedence, bec'uso of the fact that Governments do not quibble about price, but pay the highest rates ruling. The British Navy Department recently placed an order for 100, uuO tons of best Welsh steam coal at 2is, and the chartering of tho steamer Pciiarthto carry Wevtport coal to China gives some slight indication of the pres--urc existing. Further, there have been serious labour strikes in Wales, and also in America, and the position was critical for «i time in New South Wales. The increased passenger rates are expected to remain in force for some considerable timo. That is the opinion in the colony, but much will depend upon Ibo con I question. A'- Iced if there will be a corresponding reduction if the price of coal recedes to ft point below that at which ifc stood prior to the recent advance, the local representative was unable to say, but 'bought such a reduction was unlikely. The profits oi shipping companies were never large. The Hnes trading to New Zealand have not' paid more than from A to 5 per cent, per annum in dividends, nnd hpd there not baen some kind of v.orking agreement between the compa-rue-i even this small margin of profit would have disappeared under the stress of a tiit-throat competition. Should the value of con I #et back to the normal, no doubt tho advance, now made in the fares will be remitted. Freights have gone up in sympathy, although it is claimed that so far as this colony is concerned, the increase is v?ry trinintr. JDairv oroduca is unaffected.

Last season, the Now Zealand Shippi iy ■ Company and the Shaw-N.ivil' Company j entered into a contract with the jhuu:ipal dairymen to furnish a foil nightly service at a iixed charge of §d per 'b for j butter and 9-16 cl for cheese, and the agreement has two years still to run. Wool freights have been advanced l-16d, the steamer rates being id per lb on grensy wool aud 2d on scouted wool. Fro^-iils on inward cargo ate higher both from Europe and America. Sailer rates arc not yot fixed, owing 1o the difficulty ol" arranging diaries. Sailing vessels arc i a great demand just Icw for the carriage of coal, ami Ibe :.J ( ip- in colonial waters find it more profitable to take coal from Newcastle, AcW South Wales, to Chili, and load up with nil rales or guano (here for Iho United Kingdom. Furthermore, there is a pressing demand in AustraMa for bailors for the transport of wool and wheat, besides coal, and the charter parties arc very much in favour of the owners. Sailer vales will rule high, but as ycb very few sailers have been chartered. With the return of troops from South Africa, the demand for tonnage in that quarter may be expected to ease, while with respect to China, as all military operations must be suspended for t\\ o or three months, owing to the severity of the winter in Northern China, tho demands of the authorities there must slacken for a time, 'mere is, therefore, some prospect that there will be no real scarcity ot tonnage during the busy season of the colonies, though freights may continue comparatively high. Farmers must feel the pressure, which comes from both sides. There js the serious fall in the value of wool, equal to about 40 per cent., and an advance in freight equal to about 12 per cent., so that compared with last year the wool grower will make just about half. To add to his burdens, he has to pay higher prices for fencing wire, woolpacks, iron, machinery, and the odds and ends he requires, owing to the rise in freights, and to the other causes that have forced up the freights.