EMPIRE SHIPPING

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 247, 16 September 1935, Page 7

EMPIRE SHIPPING

TO MEET COMPETITION. SHARING IN THE PACIFIC. CONFERENCE TO BE HELD. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph. —Copy ri gh t.) Received September 10. 11.5 a.m. SYDNEY, Sept. 16. Arrangements are being made by the Federal and New Zealand Governments for a round-table conference of British and United States shipping interests operating in the Pacific, according to an announcement made by Mr J. A. Lyons, who added that the conference would be held in London this year.

Mr S. M. Bruce will represent Australia and Sir James Parr New Zealand, and the British Government is also expected to send a delegate. The conference will endeavour to bring about a more equitable distribution of the shipping trade in the Pacific between the two nations.

SURPRISE IN LONDON.

P. AND 0. CHAIRMAN MYSTIFIED,

PACIFIC THE CENTRE,

Received September 16, 10.15 a.m. LONDON, Sept. 15. “I am mystified by tho report that the New Zealand and Australian Governments are conferring with the Matson Line in London before Christmas. I am not aware of any arrangements for it,” said Hon. Alexander Shaw, chairman of the P. and 0. Line. “1 do not understand liow London can bo the venue as the centre of the situation is in tho Pacific. Nobody in London is armed with authority to speak for the Union Steam Ship Company and tho other lines concerned. Apparently the matter is one for tho Dominion statesmen interested in preserving the services from extinction. It would bo news to me that the Dominion Governments had approached the Matson Line or that the latter had agreed to confer. 1 see no prospect of the Matson Lino participating with a view to forgoing subsidised competition with New Zealand . and Australian local services, as previous approaches on tho question, some of them lecent, have failed, which is not surprising. The Matson Line is quite entitled to an advantage by favourable conditions in local British trade. The blame for allowing such an iniquity rests elsewhere.

“I appreciate the interest of Messrs Lyons and Forbes and their Ministers in British shipping and value the sagacity of their approach to tho problem a solution of which is appreciably nearer than a year ago. TIME FOR ACTION. “SEA IS OUR BIRTHRIGHT.” Received September 16, 11.50 a.m. LONDON, Sept. 15. Both the Sunday Times and the Observer, in leading articles, support Hon. Alexander Shaw in urging the implementing of Mr Walter Runciman’s pronouncement of July of last year regarding aid for British ships. The Sunday Times says: The sea is a birthright which we cannot surrender to nations which aro banking on the British non-retaliatory policy. They must be undeceived.

The Observer expresses the opinion that with the situation becoming worse every day the Board of Trade has surely advanced beyond the academic frame of mind regarding the choice between reservation to Imperial trade of preferential treatment for British ships or cargoes carried in British ships in Empire ports and duties against subsidised vessels. It adds: Tariffs have proved that only a firm vindication of our rights can check our effacement. The public becomes cynical when the crisis is reached, but a dawdling procession of Ministerial statements and inquiries blocks a decision.

MEETING UNFAIR COMPETITION

LONDON, Sept. 13. In the course of his address at the dinner on board the new liner Strathmore, Hon. Alexander Shaw, chairman of the P. and O. Company, described the vessel now being built for the Australia and New Zealand service as an act of faith in the Governments and peoples of Australia and New Zealand. He was sure they would not let her down. Careful estimates showed that they could make ends meet under fancompetition, but if present conditions continued it would be a source of loss. The Times, in a leader welcoming the speech, refers hopefully to the forthcoming Australian and New Zealand conference with the Matson Line, _aiid adds: Recent developments, especially the exposures of American mail contracts, justify the expectation that the chief subsidy-giving Governments will be less lavish. Bntons need, only to be reminded that essential shipping services are still the mainstay of their national existence to ensure a demand for measures to secure their maintenance.