SHIPPING.

Evening Star, Issue 14786, 30 January 1912, Page 2

SHIPPING.

[From OrR Special Correspondent.] LONDON, December 22. WHITE STAR LINE AND THE PANAMA ROUTE. Commenting on the fact that the White Star Line has ordered an 18,000-ton vessel for its Australian service, the 'Shipping Gazette' states that the news has created surprise to those who know the trade and its possibilities. . Natural advantages, unproved where necessary by the engineer, have, the'' Gazette' remarks, placed the principal ports of our colonies in the Antipodes in a position to deal with a much larger class of ship than is now engaged in its oversea trade, and adds. "It is tittil!.,' that the White Star should intro j duce this big type of ship to the colonies, for it was that line which first gave the public that degree of comfort and those ileal thy conditions of travelling which artonly obtainable in large ships. Despite the" fact that passengers and can*o are largely controlled by the seasons, it may he predicted that 'ih'i liners using the Suez Canal route would, had that waterway permitted, have been even bigger than they are to-day The vessels proceeding via'the Cape are not thus handicapped " The •G.-wette,' in conclusion, suggests that it is within the bounds of possibility that the White Star Line, with its ripe'experience of the Australian servlo*. has a new departure tn view It says. "A service of 18,0C0-tun vessels between, say, Sydney as a terminal port and this country vfa Wellington (New Zealand) and tlie Panama Canal, would, m regard to passongers, simply "scoop the pool.' Not only would fresh tield.s be opened up, but the" cold and stormy weather of the Cape route, or of the Cape Horn route, the discomfort of the south-west inousoim, and the enervating heat of the Red Sea would all be avoided. With it all, the distance, travelled by sea would be shortened. Again, in the oif seasons, when cargo is scarce in the colonies, with but a slight divergence of the routes, some of the principal ports of Chili, Peru, and Ecuador coidd be visited, in order to till tho liners' enormous cargo holds to their utmost. Should tho vessels be intended to uso the Pawn ma route, they will pass close to ports which handle the vast out put of the Mexican and Texan oilfields. Therefore it is quite a possibility that they v.-ill bo fitted to burn liquid fuel." ORIENT LINE PROSPERS.

An interesting fe.-.turo of tho speech of Mr Frederick "Green, chairman of tho Uricnt Steam Navigation Company, at the ordinary general meeting of shareholders, held in* London recently, was his reference to the Australian maii service. He said that Irom the Tiudget debate in the House ot" Representatives it appeared as if tho Commonwealth Government were somewhat inclined to blame themselves for not having arranged for a faster mail service. He ventured to say that thev had no reason to reproach themselves. The speed of a mail service to Australia was entirely different from the speed of vessels trading in other waters, or in other direction.-, where coaling en route was not wanted. Greater speed meant greater coal consumption, and that, in a steamer built especially for comiiurcial purposes, meant greater size. At present the exigencies ui tho route via the Snez Canal acted as a limit. No doubt, as the canal continued to increase in depth, tho tonnage of steamers using that route would incrcasa too. At any rate the directors of the company were fully alive to the fact that faster and larger steamers had many advantages, but they felt confident that tho Commonwealth Government- hud secured a mail contract as good as possible under present conditions, and for the subsidv paid. Adverting to emigration affairs. Mr Greon said" the migration •of men .and women to Australia had, under tho stimulus of the Commonwealth Government during tho last year, shown a healthy and sometimes an embarrassing expansion, so much so that there was some reason for the statement that at one time the tonnage facilities were not equal to the demand. lie did not think,, however, that ship owners could be altogether blamed for that. The Orient Company had increased their capacity for carrying third class pas sengers 84 per cent, above what it was two or three years ago, and other companies had shown a similar growth. .Snipowners as a rule were not backward to provide tonnage when trade offered, but ships suitable lor earning emigrants could not be obtained without due notice, and this rapid growth in the emigrant trade to Australia was quite sudden and unexpected. Commenting on the substitution of TouIcn tcr Marseilles as a, port of call in the .Mediterranean, which is to be made early in the New Year, Mr Green said Toulon was an hour further from London by rail than Marseilles, but it had the gieat advantage of being a commodious harbor, accessible to the largest steamers under ali conditions of weatiier. Th? directors wereinduced to make this change solely on account of the comfort of tneir passengers and thceafotyof the steamers, but believed that it would also effect sumo economy. As regarded the operations of the Orient L'omp;iny during tho year under notice, they had produced very satisfactory results, and the outlook for tho future was encouraging. The revenue account, after deducting depreciation, interest charges, trustees' and auditors' fees, and the Balance on the debenture iesue, showed a credit balance fcr the year of £174,751 15s 10(1. Out of this it was proposed to allocate £50,000 to the underwriting account, £30,000 to the repair and renewal account, and £50.000 to general reserve account, leaving a balance of £44,751 15k lOd to be carried to the balance-sheet. Out of this- it was propnstd to pay a dividend of 5 per cent, cut tho deferred shares, leaving a balance of £23.786 to lu> carried forward. Tho report and balance-sheet were adopted without discussion. THE AGH OF COMBINES.

Amalgamations and absorptions havo fo! I lowed on-f on another so quickly in the shipping world during the pitft k'w years thrtt to-day very ;'ew of the British liner companies of ten years ago survive in a condition of absolute independence. The latent absorption—that of the Union-Castle Line by the. Koyal Mail Steam Packet Company and by Elder, Dempster, and Co. —came, upon the public by surprise, but those intimately concerned with chipping matters knew some- time ago that there, was "something in the wind," and made haste, to secure shares in the Union-Castle Line. Those who »ot in early enough purchased the- shares at £lO, \nid had the c-atisf act Lou ct seeing then: go up to over ilty in the course of a. few davs. Two great shipping Uiny, Sir Owen Philipps and Lord Pirne. are the men at the head of thi.i "deal." Sir Uwen Philipps is the. chairman of the Koyal Mail Steam Packet Company, and .--ince iie took chaiseot the int.'resta of the company seven year?. ;:go lie! Itan led it along n series o! great changes, until to-day lie is a veritable Xapoleon of tho flipping world, holding control of a monopoly which coveivs the whole of South America and the West Indies, has a share in the trade of Australia, and competes .with the. P. and 0. for the trade of tho Ft'st. and will in future practically control the African trade. This joint acquisition of tho Union-Castle Line is part oi a policy of expansion which, under Sir Oiven Philippe's guidance*, has led the Koyal Mail Steam Packet Company to absorb or obtain a. controlling interest in the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, the Shiro Lino, the Glen Line, Eider, Dempster, and Co.. Brazilian Lloyd, and the L T nion-Cai3tle Line. This lost acquisition places Sir Owen Philipps at the head oi the greatest mercantile tlc-et which any man has ever controlled. Its forces mny be marshalled thus: Ships. Tonnage. Rivrd Mail 4V ... 240,173 Pacific Steam 41 ... 162,149 Elder, Dempster 113 ... 345,153 Lnnip°rt and Holt ... 51 ... 200,000 Union-Castle 43 ... 320,490 280 ... 1,287,950 Lord Pirrio h?s also an immense shave of the shipping of tho world, but many of tho concerns in which he is interested are American companies. Sir Owen Philipps is, apart from his vast shipping interests, certainly one of the biggest men in tho mcvrrantil^.-wrirld,