WORLD SHIPPING POOL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20603, 3 November 1941, Page 5

WORLD SHIPPING POOL

FORMATION POSSIBLE CONTROL IN AMERICA .(Reed. Nov. 3, 11.30 a.m.) WASHINGTON, Nov. 2. Informed diplomatic sources predict that if the shipping restrictions under the Neutrality Act are repealed, the control of non-Axis world shipping will be centred in an international committee located in Washington under a plan paralleling Dr. Arthur Salter’s British shipping pool. In reporting this, the Washington correspondent of the United Press of America says that fast ships which have been operating in the Atlantic would be transferred to the Pacific and the Western Hemisphere, with all the slow ships put into the Atlantic, where they would be unhampered by the convoy speeds of from six to eight knots. Several nations would be obliged to establish shipping missions in Washington to co-operate with the United States Maritime Commission which, presumably, would be the key organisation. Control would rest more with America than Britain. British Coolness

Britain is reported to be cool to the project at present, but is expected to agree later. World shipping is now controlled from London, but it is not entirely satisfactory to some countries allied with Britain, who are anxious to put their ships at the disposal of the United States in order to obtain the dollar credits needed for the purchase of war materials and meet debts in America. They at present are obliged to take pound credits. The Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. W. L. Mackenzie King, has begun conversations with President Roosevelt on matters affecting the war, particularly economic and financial.

In a press interview, Mr. Mackenzie King said he expected that the conversations would further advance the understanding between Canada and the United States, which had already produced a joint defence agreement. Asked to comment on the report that the United States navy had guaranteed the safety of the port of Halifax, Mr. King declined to comment. He suggested that the question should be addressed .to the Navy Department.