CENTRAL CONTROL.

Grey River Argus, 29 December 1915, Page 2

CENTRAL CONTROL.

' [PEB PB.ESB ASSOCIATION— COPYB.IGHT.] I LONDON, December 26. Replying to suggestions in the House of Commons that the Government should control shipping, M.T Balfour said that freight had risen simply because the demand had outrun the supply. The limitation of tonnage was the real cause of the difficulty. Criticism had bee,n levelled against the Admiralty, because it had commaii; deered tonnage and then failed to operly use it. At present there was a transport department, comprising shipowners with the highest experience, whose main duty was to obtain« for the Army the necessary shipping conveyance for the troops and supplies with a minimum of inconvenience to the shipping trade. Those transports ordered by the Army served the purpose of the Allies. In the same way an>&normous and intricate system of railways was conducted by a central power. The British fleet and mercantile marine had to bear an enormous responsibility. No doubt there had been a wdstasre of tonnage.