CONDEMNATION OF MAHENO

Evening Star, Issue 21723, 18 May 1934, Page 7

CONDEMNATION OF MAHENO

AGITATION PROVOKES FEELING HARBOUR BOARD’S PARTISANSHIP CHALLENGED CHAIRMAN CRITICISED AHD SHIP UPHELD The partisanship of the Otago Harbour Board, through its chairman (Mr H. C. Campbell), in tho recent agitation against tho Maheno being placed on the South Island-Melbourno service, was roundly criticised at last night’s meeting of the board. The Mahenb’s capabilities for the service were also spiritedly “ boosted.” 111-feeling, it was stated, bad been caused by the agttation, and the Port of Otago was already suffering, as two vessels which were to be docked at Port Chalmers had been diverted to Auckland. “ That is putting the boot in,” declared a member when this fact was presented. “ With all due respect, Mr Chairman, what authority and power did the board give you and to what extent did you use that authority on the subject of tho South Island-Melbourne shipping service? ” asked Mr D. F. H. Sharpe when the confirmation of the minutes was proposed. “As you know, there has been a considerable amount of feeling over the Harbour Board’s representation at public meetings held m connection with the proposed service, and 1 wonder whether a matter of that sort comes within the Harbour Board’s jurisdiction. One must realise —and 1 do, naturally, as I represent a shipping company—that the Union Steam Ship Co. is one of the largest customers of the board. I more or less resent the Harbour Board thinking fit to criticise a shipping company or any other customer. I will go so far as to say that if this agitation is carried far enough it will cut off the Union Co.’s proposals, and will result in the long run in the loss of revenue to the board. Although it may not bo the best service- the Union Co. can offer, I do not think it is tho Harbour Board’s duty to criticise what the company proposes to do. Instead of criticising, I suggest we should help the company. If the Maheno is eventually placed on the run and overhauled at Port’Chalmers, a sum approaching £IO,OOO is going to be expended. Surely, we are not going to criticise to such an extent that it will result in money not being spent at the port. I realise that bodies like the Chamber of Commerce are free lance in nature, but I certainly resent the Harbour Board’s criticism of a shipping company or any other customer.” Raising a point of order that the minutes only were the subject of confirmation, Mr A. Campbell asked that a later opportunity be given of discussing the Maheno. The Chairman: That rests with the board. Later, the Chairman said he had attended the deputation as representative of the Importers and Shippers’ Association'as well as the Harbour Board. He had realised that so far as the board was concerned, the dues and not the ship mattered, and his remarks were principally with regard to the Importers’ Association. NOT A PERSONAL MATTER. Mr Sharpe: I understand that. It is not a personal matter. But you were there also as chairman of the Harbour Board, and it has created an awkward position. X have no brief for the Union Co. more than any other company, but I do Hot think the Harbour Board should obstruct its clients. Rather, it should assist them, and also help to have £IO,OOO spent in the port. Mr A. Campbell said he held the same view as Mr Sharpe. Dealing with statements which had appeared in the Press, he questioned whether Mr C. B. Tapley would recognise the Maheno if the ship passed him. Mr H. E. Moller: Isn’t lie a shipping agent? Mr Campbell said that, in company with Mr T. Scollay and two leading citizens, he had inspected the Maheno. After comparing the vessel’s dimensions with those of other ships, he said the Maheno would consume 1,000 tons of New Zealand coal on the round trip, a factor that had to be taken into consideration. Shq would employ 137 men, and the cost of putting her in order would be slightly under £4,000, which would be spent in Otago. At the deputation, the chairman had stated: “ The Maheno had been laid up for some years, and stripped to the bones. The people would not travel on her,” Only crockery had been taken off the vessel; all the silver and cutlery was locked up on tho ship. The engine room was ready for a sea voyage to-morrow, and the boilers were all in order. With painting and rigging, the Maheno could be prepared for sea inside a fortnight. The dining saloon, lounge, and smoking room were in perfect condition. The agitation against the Maheno was a case of everybody copying the parrot. Ho would give Mr Duncan and the chairman a word of advice. They should agitate for the transhipment of Home and Eastern imports at Melbourne instead of at Sydney, and the Bluff-Mel-bourne service would follow. Mr W. Begg: Mr Sharpe is smiling at that. TRANSHIPMENTS AT MELBOURNE, If Otago, Canterbury, and Southland importers specified transhipments at Melbourne, the company, Mr Campbell thought, would put a bigger boat oh tlio service. No business man would be prepared to lose £20,000 or £30,000 in six months. Ho was no advocate for tlie Union Company, but he thought an injustice had been done the company. Cheap travelling at 2.9 d a mile, including Government tax, was to be provided by the Maheno. ' “ Tho Maheno is certainly not out of date,” said Mr Scollay. “ That is, unless because she is using New Zealand coal instead of Russian or Rumanian oil fuel.” (Laughter.) The objections could be summarised in two parts: Firstly, the Maheno was not equipped with a swimming pool. For a vessel making a run of thirty days a pool was an asset, but there was positively no necessity for it on a short voyage of four days. The second objection was evidently that the ship did not have suites .like Home liners. The ship was well equipped witli baths, and good baths, too. Were there two hotels in Dunedin which provided suites with private bathrooms? Mr Begg: Not one.

11 UNREASONABLE CRITICISMS.” If those people with unreasonable criticisms would only inspect tho ship they would find that she was fit for the Melbourne run, said Mr Scollay- It would be pleasant to have a ship of the ’Frisco run type, but the service would not pay. Trade must be developed before a modern liner could be placed on the service. The Union Company was a Dunedin company, and had helped Dunedin. There was no doubt that the company had a very “ soft spot ” lor Dunedin, as evidenced by the favourable light in which it viewed requests from tTiis city. The stage had been reached when they could not expect the company; Jq grant their request*,,

i ther or not they were profitable. The Mahcuo was a comfortable ship and up to date, with the exception ot being a coal burner and of having no swimming pool! She was a better typo of ship than her critics believed her to bo. “ I am not interested in the merits of the ship, but I do take exception, as a member of the Harbour Board, to manufacturers and the Chamber_ of Commerce turning round and saying; ‘ If you put the Maheno on we don’t want a service at all,’ ” said Mr H. E. Holier. “It is a surprise to me that men in those positions will say such a thing that when they cannot get what they want the service will not be required. Ido not think they arc genuine in their requests when they speak like that.” Mr Begg: Childish! Mr Moller; Ido not know whether it is childish, but they do not appear to be keen on the advancement of Otago when they make such statements. TAKING THE LONG VIEW. As a meniber of the deputation representing the Manufacturers’ Association Mr Duncan said the remarks to the Minister were made publicly and in no uncertain terms. If the Dluff-Mel-bourno service, was to bo accepted only for a season the Maheno would do. But if they were to take the long view of establishing a service to the South Island public and also North. Islanders the ship must be equally as good as the ships calling at the northern ports. Would the Union Company place the Maheno on the North IslandSyduey run? A Member! It did so.

Mr Duncan; With other ships—the Paloona and the like —and they are piled up on the mole now. The placing of the Maheno on the run was the quickest way of killing a possible BluffMelbourne service'. If a service inferior to that available to the North Island was given, it would be damned from the beginning. People were now educated to a better standard of travel than that which prevailed ten or fifteen years ago. Mr John Loudon; Worse luck! “ There is no ‘ worse luck ’ about it,” retorted Mr Duncan. The whole position concerning transport had changed. Dunedin was asking that the South Island should be given its share of the tourist traffic to the dominion. Could tourists be expected to come here in second-rate boats? The service was being killed from the beginning. There was no use their remarking on the Union Company’s efforts. For too long the South Island had been content to play second part to the North Island, and it had to take a stand and ask for equality. Mr Scollay had referred to the Maheno’s consumption of 1,000 tons of coal op a trip. The service would be the worse for that cost. Unless a ship was economical it should not be put on the run. The dice were loaded against the resumption of this service from the very beginning. It was a business transaction—

“ And the Harbour Board should not interfere in it,” interjected Mr Sharpe. Mr Duncan asked: “What is the Harbour Board if, first of all, it is not a part of Otago?” The province was not going to accept from the Union Company or any other company anything that would drag, it down. They had to look at the' agitation from the broad standpoint. If the service were condemned because of an out-of-date ship the Harbour Board, would suffer. They had to have a service with possibilities of being a success. “ CUTTING OFF THEIR NOSE.” Mr Moller; Do you still consider that the opinion of the deputation is that unless a better ship is given the company should cut the service out? Mr Dnncau (emphatically): Yes, “ Cutting off your nose to spite your face!” remarked Mr Sharpe. Mr Duncan: It is taking the long view. Mr Begg: The long view, or the wrong view? The Chairman: You must not presume that this deputation consisted only of representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, the Importers’ and Shippers’ Association, and the Harbour Board. Altogether there must have been about fifteen associations present. Mr J. B. Waters doubted whether the Harbour Board, from its own point of view, should have been put in the position of being a party to the discussion. The board was more concerned with the facilities for shipping than with the running of a service. Ho thought the board itself was to blame if the impression had been given that it bad taken sides, as it were. The chairman had attended with the deputation on behalf of the board and had been given a free hand. Referring to Mr Campbell’s estimate of £4,000 as the sum needed to renovate the Maheno, Mr Sharpe said he had heard from a good source that the sum required would be more like £B,OOO or £IO,OOO. TWO SHIPS DIVERTED. Mr A. Campbell: The repair work done to the Maheno when she was taken over again from the Government was one of the best jobs ever done at Port Chalmers. I have now been led to believe that the agitation against the Maheno has resulted in two boats which were to dock there being diverted to Auckland. . , , A Member: That is putting the boot iu! Mr Campbell added that it was a serious matter, not only for Port Chalmers, but also for Dunedin, because when work was being carried out at Port a great deal of material was purchased in Dunedin. Mr W. Begg said that quite recently lie had made a trip to Melbourne and Sydney and back on the latest type of boats, and about eighteen months previously he had been on the Maheno. He could say that he had enjoyed his trip on the Maheno eveiy bit at well as on the more modern oil burners. A friend of his' from the Old Country whose business was connected with a shipping company had once told him that, as regards passenger trafiic, the luxury liners were run at a loss, this loss being made up by the tourist class of boats, which enabled the company to pay what he (Mr Begg) thought was a handsome dividend. It seemed to him that if a company turned all its vessels into tourist class more people would he induced to travel. He was quite sure that, as regards the Mel-bourne-Bluff service, the Maheno would fill the bill nicely, and if South Island people would only support the service no doubt the Union Steam Ship Company would consider putting some other vessel on the permanent run As things were, it looked as if an attempt were being made to dictate to the directors of the company, who had the advantage of the very best advice and who were out to serve the community to the best of their ability. The Chairman remarked that the matter had been sufficiently discussed, and there being no further speakers the subject was dropped.