BRITISH SHIPPING PRESTIGE.

Evening Star, Issue 21642, 10 February 1934, Page 12

BRITISH SHIPPING PRESTIGE.

Much satisfaction will be felt throughout the Empire over the announcement that definite' arrangements have been made for the completion of the new giant Cunarder. If any demonstration were needed - of the stress under which the British shipping lines have been working it would be afforded by the spectacle of this great work held in suspension for two years. That in itself represents a severe loss in interest on the unproductive capital expended. Fortunately, a way out of the difficulty has been found. After lengthy negotiations an agreement has been entered into between the Cunard Company, the Oceanic Steam Navigation (White Star) Company, and the British Government by means of which work on the big liner will bo pursued forthwith. The arrangement is conditional upon the sanction of Parliament, but ho difficulty under that head is anticipated, for the. House of Oom■mons as a whole is seriously perturbed over the handicaps under which British shipping is labouring, and is anxious to give help - in removing them. The matter was lengthily debated in the Commons in December, and the discussion was appropriately prefaced by Mr. Neville Chamberlain’s announcement, which was warmly applauded, that the Government intended to provide financial facilities for tho completion of the great new Cunard liner. This decision had been made possible, he explained, by tho fact that an effective merger of the North Atlantic fleets of the Cunard and White Star Lines would probably be accomplished at an early date. The negotiations have been successful, and the British Treasury as a consequence will make advances not exceeding three million pounds for the completion of the wort on the great liner. It will be noted that the help of the British Government does not necessarily stop here, for power is to be taken to advance to the merger company, if thought desirable, another five million pounds for the building of other ships. The original suggestion for the merger is attributed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who, with his fellcw Ministers, had been pressed on all sides to take some steps to preserve British shipping interests from tho menace of subsidised foreign competition. The merger means that tho passenger vessels employed by the leading companies in the North Atlantic services will be transferred to a separate operating enterprise, that the two parent companies will preserve their separate identities and financial structures, and that each will be a shareholder in the new concern.

On the question of the policy of building giant ships there is a sharp division of opinion. There are many who hold that the future of the Atlantic and other passenger trades lies with the moderate-sized, less ostentatious vessels; that the competition m size, in speed, and in luxury lias been carried to unprofitable lengths; and that it is impossible, under any conditions which can be foreseen, to expect a return on the huge sums which the Cunarder is expected to cost in construction. But the traditional supremacy of British shipping has been challenged in a manner that calls for definite action. Had the challenge come in the way of commercial competition under private enterprise the British Government would no doubt have allowed the issue to decide itself, and could have done so with confidence as to the result, but foreign State-subsidised competition has been carried to such an extent that energetic action became necessary. In winding up the debate in the House of Commons Mr Walter Runciman (President of the Board of Trade) put the issue plainly enough for the benefit of foreign Governments. He indicated that the position that had arisen through State-subsidised foreign competition was intolerable, and Britain was determined to find a remedy. That, he declared, was the feeling of all parties and sections in the House, just as it was the feeling of all parties and sections in the country. It was arresting to read the declaration of Mr llunciman, once a

convinced Freetrader, that just as Britain had been forced to protect her trade by tariffs she might be forced to protect her shipping, and if so she would act unflinchingly. “To us,” he concluded, “ an island people dependent in peace and war on sea communication, an adequate mercantile marine is the first necessity of our existence, and we have no intention of allowing its existence to bo imperilled.”