TRADE AND SHIPPING

Evening Star, Issue 21900, 11 December 1934, Page 9

TRADE AND SHIPPING

BENEFITS OF OTTAWA BRITISH MINISTER’S STATEMENT (British Official Wireless.) Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright RUGBY, December 9. Mr Walter Runciman (President of the Board of Trade), at Leith, when reviewing the effect of the Ottawa Agreement, said that, in every case with the exception of Newfoundland, there had been, a large increase in the exports from this country. The figures for the first ten months of the current year, compared with those of 1932, showed an increase of £17,300,000, or over 23 per cent. The total imports of thirteen countries with which Britain had trading agreements, and excluding Russia, where the figures were not complete, had increased in the past ten months from £36,000,000 in 1932 to £46,000,000. Dealing with the shipping policy, Mr Runciman said that Britain had patiently put her case before foreign countries at the World Economic Conference, and not one of the big subsidypaying countries would pay any attention to the complaints. Scandinavia was ready to adopt the same free shipping policy as Britain, but others were determined to continue in their way. That was one of the principal reasons why the Government had adopted the subsidy scheme of dealing with shipping problems. It would use the subsidy against subsidy-paying Powers to secure that British shipping people got fair play, without which there could be no peace in the mercantile world. The Government wished to benefit industry wholly in all its branches, and the ramifications of its policy extended beyond mere freight arrangements for tramp shipping. If circumstances required, the Government would look into the position of Imperial connections.