EFFECT OF WAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23486, 25 October 1939, Page 10

EFFECT OF WAR

CHAOTIC. CONDITIONS LONDON SHIPPING WORLD STREAM OF REGULATIONS The chaotic state of the London shipping and marine insurance world in the first weeks of the war was described In- Mr. F. H. Gilford, Auckland manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company, who has returned from a six months' visit to Great Britain and the Continent. Mr. Gifford considered that by now more stabilised conditions would be prevailing, but he said that at the time of his departure uncertainty was unsettling both businesses. "By the second week in September the shipping trade was bewildered by a stream of now regulations appearing daily," said Mr. GifTord. ''All were put through in a hurry and it was a matter of some days before each could be worked on a proper footing. Another factor in the difficulty was that Government departments were taking control of matters with which they wore not fully conversant." v Relief Alter Tension Although there was no suggestion of panic the marine insurance world was in an even worse state, continued Mr. Gifford. A Government department had taken charge of marine insurance and at the time of his departure there were no fixed rates. The result was that no one knew where he stood. Business troubles were further complicated. he added, because practically every firm in London had lost half its staff. Most of the work had to be done by boys and by elderly heads of staffs who were not completely conversant with office affairs. "On the whole, however," said Mr. Gifford, "it was amazing how the people accepted the position. On the morning on which war was declared one could almost hear the_ sigh of relief. The country had been like a tight wire with the tension and the people actually seemed pleased that at last something had happened." Peeling in Paris " .Referring to his experiences in precautionary work, Mr. Gifford said that at the time of the outbreak of war he was living in a block of flats housing 800 people. When war occurred the occupants volunteered to assist in protecting the building with sandbags and in converting a portion of the space into a temporary hospital, both men and women carrying out the work. Mr. Gifford was in Paris in July for the ]soth anniversary of the Fall of. the Bastille. French, British and American flags appeared everywhere on that day and the enthusiasm of the French people toward England and the United States was amazing. The inter-, national tension was not absent during a Baltic cruise made by Mr. Gifford in the middle of August, Calls were made at Stockholm and Copenhagen, but the ship was diverted from the port of Danzig and made an alternative visit to Bergen.