NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1928. BRITAIN’S COMPETITORS

Northern Advocate, 19 December 1928, Page 4

NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1928. BRITAIN’S COMPETITORS

Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper..

The Shipping Correspondent of the London Times recently described the impressive activity along the quays of the great .ports of the Scheldt, the Maas, the Elbe and the Weser. This activity, as the Times comments, must stir the mind of the observant traveller to uneasy reflection, All these ports are flourishing prodigiously, and they show the keenness and the quiet cheerfulness that go with successful hard work. In a world of expanding trade it is inevitable that they should thrive; but it is difficult, says the Times, to resist the conclusion that their share of the increase in shipping business is greater than the share of British ports. Pew can observe' the panorama of a big port without pleasurable excitement, and at Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, and Bremen the shipping, spread out along the rivers, can be better seen than in the docks hidden in the bends of the Thames. Going up the Scheldt to Antwerp, where there are are five miles of quays, the traveller has a picturesque spectacle before him. Ships of all sizes and all nationalities are moored along the water front, loading and unloading, and the river is crowded with laden craft. Antwerp's

prosperity is clue to the fact that trade that once was British has .gone abroad. Rotterdam is as active as Antwerp. Her shipments of dairy produce and bulbs do not strike the British traveller as much as the iron and steel going from Antwerp, but he will note other things—the big barges coming down the Maas with Ruhr coal and, in the repair yards higher up the river, British owners have found repairs cheaper than in England. At Hamburg the traveller will sec ships loading immense quantities of manufactured (goods from all over Central Europe; here and at Bremen, busy with the import of cotton, there is ample evidence of flourishing trade. The signs of the recovery of German shipping are even more striking. The reconstruction and development of the Ham-burg-Amerika, the NorddeutschcfrLloyd, and the Hansa lines iif the short time since the War are certainly remarkable. With their passenger liners and cargo liners the - Germans are maintaining and increasing services to all parts of the world. For the North Atlantic, in particular, their plans are ambitious; they are building fast new ■ships of new design, and they are not , neglecting the possibilities of the sea- ] plane. It is evident that the growth ■ of the German mercantile marine 'must j become a serious factor in shipping competition and that it must further ’ increase the business of German ports. < The investigations of the Shipping 1 Correspondent of the Times make j clear the chief reasons l why British ports have not hadi their proportionate share in the expansion of traffic. “The r low cost of production abroad/ * says t the Times, “helps to explain the increasing number of ships that come * out laden from the four ports he visited. It explains the great quantity of iron and steel to be seen on the quays l !

of Antwerp, which are linked directly

with the large industrial areas of Northern France, Belgium, and Germany not only by a vast network of railways, but also by an elaborate system of waterways that provide cheap transport; and it accounts for the mass of the manufactured goods exported from Hamburg. British goods retain their reputation for quality, but sometimes they coat more, and the distant buyer unfortunately does not always see that the'more expensive, better article is often cheaper in the long run. In time quality tells, and our name for quality is an asset of inestimable worth, an asset that it would be madness to sacrifice to short views; but the cost of the quality we provide undoubtedly gives an opportunity to competitors. But the Continental ports have other advantages. Dues are lower than in England, labour is cheaper, and the despatch of cargoes is quicker. Cargoes can be dealt with so quickly at Antwerp that shipowners will accept for ships going there freight rates considerably lower than those they are paid for deliveries at British ports. Rotterdam and, in a lesser degree, Hamburg enjoy advantages similar to those of Antwerp.” London still does the largest entrepot trade in the world, but she now' has to face very keen competition. The lower port charges and the institutibn of direct sailings have encouroversea to send direct to Antwerp or Rotterdam or Hamburg some part of the goods they once sent to London for reshipmont to the Continent. The ships, crowding into the ports on the other side of the North Sea arc an indication of changing currents of world trade, an indication that is worth* the attention of all in Britain who are concerned in the shipping industry and in the industries' that manufacture for export. • : ;