SHIPPING COMPETITION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20976, 12 September 1931, Page 8

SHIPPING COMPETITION.

A more rational view of the American competition in the Pacific trade was taken by tho Auckland i Chamber of Commerce on Thursday than that expressed in the impetuous proposal by the Associated Chambers of Commerce of restrictive legislation. On innumerable occasions, British shipowners, through their most eminent spokesmen, have declared that all they ask is freedom and fair play, free seas and open ports, and though they have emphatically expressed their resentment against such discrimination as the American shipping laws contain, they would be the last to sanction any measures of retaliation. All the protests that have been made against the entry of the Matson line into the New Zealand trade have been based upon the assumption that by reason of lower running costs and large State subsidies they have an unfair advantage. Neither contention has been supported by convincing demonstration. It is possible that the running costs of the British ships in this trade are. higher than is economically justifiable. The handicap of the subsidy cannot be measured without close examination of the respective capital and depreciation charges ; nor should it be forgotten that the British vessels running in the Vancouver and San Francisco services also receive subsidies. One of the greatest authorities on shipping questions, Sir Archibald Hurd, has declared that' overseas trade belongs to those who can carry it on most efficiently, and has repeatedly emphasised the fact that the prosperity of British peoples all over the world depends on cheapness of ocean transport. That is especially true of New Zealand, which is furthest removed from the world's markets, and any action designed to prevent competition, the most effective safeguard of economy and efficiency, must be regarded with apprehension. Similar subsidised competition confronts British shipowners in the Atlantic. They have not asked for legislative interference. Their reply has been the building of larger and faster ships and the employment of every scientific improvement calculated to assist them in retaining their trade. The entrance of active competition in the ocean transport of New Zealand should have a similarly stimulating effect on British shipowners who have for so long enjoyed a virtual monopoly of both passenger and cargo carrying-