NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19377, 12 July 1926, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

STATE SHIPPING. LOSSES, Addressing the International Parliamentary Commercial Conference, in which 40 countries are represented, in London, Sir Frederick Lewis said private enterprise had. provided both adequately and economically for the world's transport requirements, and it could not successfully be supplanted by State trading. State ownership had not particularly contributed to commercial expansion, but, by the magnitude of the losses incurred in every known instance of State operation of ships, had placed enormous burdens on the shoulders of the taxpayers of the countries concerned. The recent decline in the volume of oversea trade was attributable to the general destruction and dislocation caused by the war and to a lesser extent to the fact, that there was substantially jnore tonnage afloat now than in 1913. In June, 1913, the gross steam tonnage was 43,000,000 tons; in June, 1925, it was 62,000,000 tons. In the last four years shipping had passed through -serious difficulties, but the established shipping companies had shown a wonderful record in meeting them. The losses in : curred by the Governments of the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Portugal and other countries which had ventured on State ownership showed that the business man could carry on the commerce of the world better than the statesman. BRITAIN'S ANCIENT COLONIES. There was unusual historic interest in the recent conference in London of delegates from all the West, Indian Colonies, British Guiana, and British Honduras, this being the first time that representatives of the Governments of the colonies concerned had met' together for consultation under the roof of the Mother of Parliaments. The conference was attended by delegates from Barbados, settled by the English in 1626, and still preserving almost unchanged the constitution' granted to it by Charles the First: the Bahamas, the first landing-place, of Columbus in the West, settled in 1635 and granted a constitution by George II.; Jamaica, conquered only 20 years later, and at one time famous as tho home of the buccaneers; the smaller islands of Antigua, St. Kitts (the earliest West Indian Colony), Dominica, Grenada and St. Lucia, conquered or settled during the 17th and 18th centuries, their names conjuring up thoughts of the famous deeds of. the British Navy, and again Trinidad, at which Columbus landed on his third voyage, and of which Sir Ralph Abercromby took possession in 1797. To these islands must be added the large and undeveloped mainland colony of British Guiana, which was conquered in 1803 and still preserves a curious form of constitution inherited from the Dutch occupation, and British Honduras, also on the mainland, and even more undeveloped, settled in the reign of Charles 11. and notable also for a unique form of government—that of public meeting (the simplest form of " government by the people ")—which was carried on for 20 years in the middle of the last century. These ancient colonies possess forms of government ranging from the pure Crown Colony system, through various stages of partially elected Assemblies, to full representative government. AUSTRALIA'S WEALTH. The frequent criticism of Australian loan prospectuses, on the ground that they are not sufficiently informative, has provoked a reply from the High Commissioner for Australia. In a letter to the Times, Sir Joseph Cook says:—"These loans for public purposes are all based on the consolidated revenues of tho country and, for purposes of security, the whole material wealth of the country in the last' re-sort is hypothecated. For instance, in Australia, calculation shows that the total wealth of the country is well over £3,000,000,000, and figures tabulated as far back as 1921 show that the accumulated weaith of Australia is over £520 per head, a far greater amount than either the United States or Britain. All this wealth is in tfce last resort liable to taxation, and as the interest and sinking fund of all our iV>ans is provided for out of consolidated revenue each year, the security behind tht\m therefore represents the entire wealth of the country., What more can anyone want ?" Sir Joseph Cook also referred to a .statement that Australia borrowed every year as much as the interest on her " debt. To this he replied that "the whole ,of the interest and the substantial sinking' fund is provided out of the revenues a.ud taxations of the country. There is not one penny of interest paid out of loans in London but is replaced out of revenues derived from taxations. It - happens ji\st now that the amount of money borrowed by Australia each year for development purposes corresponds approximately to the amount paid each year in. interest sinking fund. Years ago, in the early history of the country's development, tiHe amount borrowed each year was ten or 20 times the amount paid in interest. 3&a years to come, as development is brought toward completion, the amount borrowed each year will fall steadily below the amount paid in interest and sinking fund. Surely this is the normal and proper process for the development of a Dominion."