FOR SHIPPING COMPANIES

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 138, 8 December 1921, Page 5

FOR SHIPPING COMPANIES

P. AND O. CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

CAUSES OF THE DEPRESSION. (UMITED PRESS ABSOOIATION — COPYMOnt.) (AVifftALIAN - HMW IIAIAXH CAM AMOMATIOH.? (Received December 8, 9 a.m.) LONDON, 7th _ December. At the meeting of the P. and O. Shipping fOompany, Lord Inchcape (chairman of directors) said that they were passing through a period of unprecedented depression. In common with other shipping companies they had had a wretched year. Government control of coal had caused enormous prices during the spring. Then came the coal strike and the joiners' strike, which' drove the ships to the Continent. Also, there had been enormous increases in wages afloat and ashore, and the trad© unions and the wages boards had kept the cost of production so high that the worM had been unable to purchase from us, and steamers had ' been leaving Britain with only ballast cargoes, and often not even these. The greatly-lessen-ed demand for raw material made it increasingly difficult to find! homeward cargoes. As exemplifying the scarcity of cargo, the Peninsular branch in the Last financial year despatched eleven steamers, capable of camrying 401,000 tons measurement of cargo,. and these had sailed with space for 68,000 tons unfilled. The board's policy of, late years in refraining from making large increases in the dividend would eventually prove to have been right. They had to realise the "war loan investment* at a serious loss in order to pay for new ships. As a result of the1 high wages, which had been slightly rediuced, but were still much beyond what shipowners could afford to pay, 650 British. ships, of 1,117,092 tonnage, were l#d up in the United Kingdom, and probably as much again in ports outside the Kingdom. Consequently, thousands of captains, officers, engineers, and men were unemployed, while /those remaining in employment wera drawing pay much above 'economic rate. These wages must come down if British shipping was to .hold its own.

Replying to a shareholder's question, Lord Inch-cape said that the credit balance of £683,405 included £381,000 transferred from the insurance account.