STATE STEAMSHIPS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVIII, Issue 18352, 9 March 1920, Page 6

STATE STEAMSHIPS.

There are two items of news concerning the shipping situation in our columns this morning which, read in conjunction, are productive of thought. One is an announcement by Mr Massey that he is “ negotiating' with tho shipping authorities” in respect to the freight charges on New Zealand produce, and the other is a statement by Mr H. B. G. Larkin, manager of the Commonwealth Government line, to the effect that notwithstanding the fall in freight rates elsewhere, an increase in Australian rates has only been prevented by the fact that the Commonwealth line is in existence. Under present circumstances, of course, Mr Massey is doing tho best that can he done in attempting to secure equitable treatment for Now Zealand at the hands of the great shipping companies, hut it is none the less obvious that ho is at a disadvantage, and that New Zealand is at a disadvantage in such negotiations. That the Prime Minister realises this is proved by his pre-election coquetting with the idea of a State owned steamship line, and indeed the dangers of the situation are plain for all who run to read. The steady process of amalgamation and combination on the part of British shipowners which recent months have witnessed means, if it means anything, an intention to control freight rates for the benefit of the combine- Now Zealand, isolated and without shipping resources, has no alternative but to pay whatever price may he asked for the carriage of her products to overseas markets, and there can ho very little doubt that if the process of amalgamation is carried to its logical conclusion, the only principle 'which will actuate the shipping combine in fixing rates will be the timehonoured one of “ all t the traffic will hear.” Australia has shown us the way out of the dilemma. In 1916 the Commonwealth Government acquired a fleet of fifteen steamers which it purchased in Britain, and laid the keels of twenty more in Australian dockyards. Eighteen enemy steamers soized in Australian ports were also put into commission, and the Government’s latest mbve has been to order eleven speedy oil-driven steamers each of 22,500 tons displacement, five of -which are to be built in Britain and six in Australia When the fleet is completed it will consist of sixty-one ships with a deadweight capacity approaching half a million tons. Canada and South Africa are also forming State-owned fleets. The aim of these Governments is not shipping monopoly, but a share in tho control of freight rates. .These ships, so far as Australia is concerned.! at any rate, are not run at a loss. In a recent article in the British shipping journal “Fairplay,” Mr R. J- Turner says; “The gratifying results of the Australian venture have conclusively proved that, given freedom from political interference, which the Commonwealth’s able general manager, in accordance with the Prime Minister’s views, stipulated for in advance, Stateowned tonnage can show returns equal to those arrived at by private enterprise.” The advantages which Australia is gaining, particularly in regard to faster services, are not likely to ho shared by this country until we follow Australia’s example. Alternatively to the acquisition of a fleet of her own it might he possible for New’ Zealand to enter into an arrangement with the Commonwealth line, either as a client or a partner. The shipping interests of Australia and New Zealand are interwoven, and it might prove better business to coordinate the State shipping services of Australia than to maintain two separate fleets. Horvever, this may he, New Zealand is behindhand in this matter, and unless action is taken speedily the Dominion may find that dependence upon an overseas shipping monopoly is more expensive than pleasant.