GERMAN SHIPPING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17112, 18 March 1919, Page 6

GERMAN SHIPPING.

The surprise of the armistice terms was that they did not include the surrender of Germany's merchant fleet. Conditions within Germany have now compelled a correction of this initial mistake. In order to get food for her hard pressed population Germany is handing over to the Allies 3,500,000 tons of shipping. This must leave German harbours practically empty. At the beginning of the war Germany's total tonnage was under five millions and her war time building was less than a million tons. When losses and seizures are taken into account it is evident that practically the whole German fleet is now being handed to the Allies. Whatever German shipowners may think it is surely intended that the transfer be permanent. The loss of British, allied and neutral shipping during the war was over fifteen million tons: British owners alone lost over nine million tons. At the very least seven million tons of British shipping and a further five million allied and neutral went down because of Germany's illegal use of submarines and mines. When every German ship afloat has been given up there still remains an enormous debt to be paid bv Germany to Britain and her allies. The most satisfactory feature of the transfer is that it will bring the world's available shipping up to, if not slightly over, the pre-war total. This should assure a good supply of ships for all purposes when the special demands of the war have ceased. It will not, however, be British shipping in the same proportion as in pre-war days. The tonnage of the British mercantile marine, when building has been set off against losses, is still 3,800,000 less than in July, 1914, so that If Britain could get every German ship she would still have a lower carrying capacity than before the war. All her allies, except America and Japan, and all the neutral shipowning nations, have suffered in the same way, though less severely. Altogether the tonnage owned by Britain and the maritime States of Europe is 6,751,842 tons less than the pre-war total, while America's mercantile marine has more than doubled, the increase being over 3,000,000 tons. It is therefore to be expected that Britain and her Continental allies will share the German tonnage in proportion to their losses, and that America, with her strong fleet and new shipbuilding facilities, will not be a claimant.