King Country Chronicle. Thursday, February 25, 1937. JAPANESE TRADE CAMPAIGN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4960, 25 February 1937, Page 4

King Country Chronicle. Thursday, February 25, 1937. JAPANESE TRADE CAMPAIGN.

A recent message from Tokio states that Japan is working on a plan to build an up-to-date mercantile marine, by which she hopes to challenge Britain’s supremacy in the sea transport of the world. Up-to-date ships are to be built and the shipowners will receive substantial subsidies to enable them to obtain these ships. The subsidising of shipping by the United States has crippled British shipping in the Pacific trade, but with the added menace 1 from Japan the outlook is serious from many points of view, including unemployment, defence, standard of living and commerce generally. From a wages standpoint, the Japanese can run their shipping at one-fourth the cost of British shipping, which pays the highest wages of any country in the world, while the same applies to the building of the ships. When subsidies are added the position becomes much more menacing. Japan is making a bold bid for world trade. It might be said that Japan’s industrial expansion commenced with the European war when, thanks to the preoccupation of other industrial countries, she was able to make huge profits in foreign trade, to secure a footing in new markets, and to extend and improve her industrial equipment. Since then she has had her ups and downs. There have been slumps, as in 1920, the earthquake disaster in 1923, a financial panic in 1927, and serious troubles from time to time by fluctu-

ations in foreign exchange. These problems, however, seem to have purged and strengthened the industrial organism of the country* and to-day Japan is pushing her trade on overseas markets with increasing intensity. This has caused a degree of animosity, not unmixed with .admiration, all over the world. Japan’s success in this way has been brought about by the adoption of the most up-to-date methods of manufacture, a low rate of wages in comparison with other countries, and a depreciated currency. Japan opens up a problem for the whole of the industrial countries of the world. She cannot grow enough foodstuffs to meet the demands of her ever-in-creasing population, and she is lacking in most of the more essential raw materials. She must, therefore, sell her manufactures abroad in order to make these purchases from other countries. Given a standard of living in any way equal to that of other countries, the position would not be so acute, but it will take more than a generation to achieve this.

Great Britain is the country that will be most vitally affected by the Japanese subsidised shipping proposals, and the Japan Shipowners’ Association are rather perturbed at the prospect of retaliation from that quarter. The Empire countries would be perfectly justified in placing restrictions in'the Empire routes on the subsidised shipping of other countries, though it is well realised that such action would cause serious trouble. Once Japanese shipping gains a hold in world shipping it must affect the standard of living of all other countries. The position is a difficult one, and future developments of Japan’s proposals will be followed with keen interest over the world. The British Empire was largely built up on its shipping, and it now seems that the Empire’s supremacy in this way is to be challenged.