Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 24, 1937. SINGAPORE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 72, 24 February 1937, Page 8

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 24, 1937. SINGAPORE.

While millions of pounds are being spent on clocks aiul aerodromes, guns and bombing aeroplanes at the Singapore Naval Duse, there is taking place another development which is fraught with serious possibilities and which may in time prejudicially alfect Britain’s interests in that part of the globe. The Singapore correspondent of the London Times has drawn attentions to the fact that in spite of tariffs or Imperial preferences, the hold obtained in the Federated Malay States by foreign nations in shipping and banking has made local directors of British companies rub their eyes. The Japanese have made by far the biggest inroads. Conditions governing- the shipment of rubber from Malaya to the United States are used as a pointed illustration of Avhat is taking place. Freight rates are controlled by the Straits-New York Conference, of which all major shipping lines are members. Not all members are traders as well as shippers, and the Japanese extend the combination further, making connections between producers of rubber, buyers and brokers, shippers, firms who insure the shipments, and bankers who finance the transactions. By this means they are able to quote about half a farthing a pound higher for the purchase of rubber in the colony and to offer the rubber for sale in New York in a competitively favourable position. Tnere is no violation of the Conference agreement regarding the rate of freight to be charged, but since that freight charge is merely a book entry as between carriers and traders who are one organisation operating through two or more associated companies, the advantage is obvious. The British trader has to pay the full freight rates himself, with no advantage as a result of spreading the burden over a combination of trader and carrier. Though the Japanese do not produce more than a fraction of the rubber sent to New York, their ships carry about 40 per cent, of the output, and more is waiting to go in Japanese vessels as soon as they have been built. The same to almost as great a degree, it is pointed out, is true of tin and produce; the result is a concentration in the hands of Japanese traders of bills for sale. These traders submit their bills for discount by Japanese bankers. British banks have lost almost the whole of this business, and their rivals are not handicapped by any legislative discrimination.

It is contended that the time to “save Singapore for the British” has arrived in order to protect British interests there and in the Far East generally. The first to grasp the significance of Singapore was Sir Stamford

Ruffes. He it was wlio obtained for Britain this gateway to the Pacific. One hundred years later the Base is being perfected so that the prize won for Britain should not be lost through force. Now Government and commerce have come to realise that while the millions already referred to are being spent, trade penetration —very efficient and far-seeing —is a menace to British interests. The prosperity of the colony was built up on the freedom of its ports, Singapore, Penang and Malacca, but in the last two or three years foreign competition has given matters a very different form. It was assumed some months ago that the Legislative Council of the colony would introduce measures aiming at curbing the inroads of foreign rivals; but the Government’s reply was that business interests should act * first; British merchants, bankers and shippers should sink differences and overcome any desire for greater profit and act in concert for the longterm benefit'. Whatever comes of this, it is evident that action must be taken soon, and it will be interesting to see whether unified steps are taken to cope with a situation that can have serious repercussions. The spectacle of a highly fortified naval and seaplane base built in a British colony the trade of which is dominated by foreigners provokes serious thought.