SHIPPING RESTRICTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21113, 22 February 1932, Page 8

SHIPPING RESTRICTIONS.

The complaint of an overseas shipmaster concerning the delays suffered by cargo vessels on the New Zealand coast, with their consequent effect on freight rates, should not pass without notice. It is an old contention that the expense of "turning a ship" in these waters has affected the net return for exported produce. Apparent lv conditions have grown worse with the passage of time, and now, when prices are abnormally low, and the. paucity of inward cargoes threatens higher freight rates on those going overseas, the position demands more attention. It will doubtless surprise many New Zealanders to discover that this country stands almost alone in the. system of working but one shift at the ship's side. Even Australia, where, as the shipmaster has said, waterside labour is "hedged round with a. host of restrictions," winches work day and night, and gangs can be employed in succeeding shifts without overtime being demanded. It should lie especially noted that the existing order could be changed without asking anyone to work longm- hours than at present.* All that would be needed is a commonplace in many other occupations, and was once accepted as normal at New Zealand ports. In the present condition of overseas trade, of the labour market, and of export price*, all parties concerned, producers, shippers, shipping companies and waterside workers — especially the last-named—may well be recommended to consider how far they can afford the luxury of conditions on the waterfront such as have been described. The further question involved, that of the multiplicity of loading ports, has been a very contentious one in the past. Here again the changed fate of primary industry and overseas trade demands its reconsideration with an intelligent weighing of the gains and losses involved in requiring overseas ships to spend weeks on the coast picking up cargoes. Two vital question require answers—are these waterfront conditions luxuries, and can the country afford them'?