SHIPPING RIVALS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue 13847, 28 August 1919, Page 1

SHIPPING RIVALS.

"Wo are heading for the rocks ( and it is deplorable that the only people who appear to be entirely unconscious of the movement are the manual workers—in the shipyards, in the engineering shops, and in the mines. Ships are to us a necessity, not only n necessity for their own use, but they constitute a great foreign tradei for we have always built largely for other nations, «ind that has represented a great volume of employment of skilled men. What is happening at this moment is that the cost of shipbuilding is rising in this country; it is falling in the United Sttes:'and in Japan it represents bed-rock prices." That statement was made to me the other day, writes Archibald Hurd. in the London Daily Telegraph, by one of the most experienced observers of the country, in the United States, and in Japan. He has visited during the last few months all the leading yards in the three countries, and hi.-> tour has left him nervous as to the outlook so far as this country is concerned. Ft was stated the other day in the House of Commons that our output of new ships during the current year will pobably fall below 1.000.000 tons, being about half the amount which we turned out in the year preceding the outbreak of war. The workers in the shipbuilding yards, under the inspiration of some trade union leaders, are doing their best to hinder the use of labor-saving appliances, while at the snme time agitation is in progress in favor of higher wages and a further reduction of the hours nf labor, both of the latter commendable movements if the conditions justify improvement. The I miners are pursuing much the same I course, and that is reacting on the ! cost of steel, and also on the overhead charges in engineering works and shipyards. The cumulative effect of all these movement- is it-presentd in the increased 00-t of .-iiipbuilding. That mean- :ha; the price of new shipping is being stabilised at a high level. What is happening on the other side of the Altantic:- There the shipbuilding industry, and all the associated industries, have undergone an enormous expansion. The number of slipways in the United States far exceeds the number in this country. Oradnallv the .shipbuilding '•hustle'* i- being adapted to peace conditions: and. let us make no mistake, with every month that passes, the new workers, introduced into the shipyards of the United States under war conditions, are becoming more and more expert. When they were first taken on they were rather clumsy, and their work was not- firstclass, but that phase is passing. The other day my friend was walking through "an American shipyard when his attention was directed to a man who was riveting under a ship, using a pneumatic riveter. That man had been an agricultural laborer: he had then undergone a three weeks' training in the use of the pneumatic riveter, and at this time, after a fortnight in the yard, was putting in COO rivets of |in diameter in a day. His assistant, the holder-tip. had been A watchmaker. These are not isolated in- • stances. Thousands of other cases as | remarkable could be quoted to illutrate the adaptability of the American to what is virtually a new industry. The men are working hard and for long hours, as compared with their British • o-Uemoorarios. and they are making ;fi.- fullest possible use of labor-saving appliances, a* we are not doing in :hi- countrv. The workmen in the United State? are not fighting against mechanical equipment, but are welcoming it. because they realise that the cheaper that they can build the greater will be the demand, both in "lie United States and abroad, for the -hips thev build, and the higher and steadier their wages. Nor is there anv opposition to dilution of labor, as there is with us. Consequently, the :rriuv of .-killed workers in tin: Initcd States ii increasing, and the quality of their work is steadily and con-istent-Iv improving. The American shipyards are going to gain no mean, advantage from the warmum t ion movement. The steelmakmg capa.itv of the United States has' almost doubled during the past five years. Quantitv production means cheap production, and every conceivable mechanical appliance in dealing with the ore which is close, at hand, has been introduced in order to reduce the ro-t of manufacture. "Now the munition movement has suddenly roin« 10 an end. a.'id contracts for sto-i have been camelled rieht and left. The result is that America's -rale of ste.-l production is tar in ex-i'ce-s of her normal requirements, and I prices are already falling. For a time, owia" m the postponement ot coustruc[tinnaT ami other work* during the war. I the \meriran people will be able to ab-j-orb a great deal of this steel, and in the meantime tonnage is limited: but eventually the United States will be making an enormous ouantity at a I verv cheap rate, and the surplus will | tie 'exported at price- with which British -teelmakers will be unable to [ rc-ninete. But even then American -liipbtiilder- will obtain their steel at a rr.miderablv lower price than that ar which it will be available tor shipbuilders in this country. But it mav be said that Japan will absorb a grea't deal of this surplus steel. That is a complete misapprehension. Japan is at present dependent to a large extent upon imported steel, but that .ondition will not continue to exist. The Japanese are now exploiting on a large -cale the ores which they have discovered in Korea, and month by month they •ire extending their foundries for dealin" with it.. They have obtained valuTf>7e ore concessions in China, and this raw material is io be utilised also in Japan. Side bv side with this dcvelojhment old shipyards are being further extended, and neiv shipyards are being created.

Within :i short time Japan will bo 111d.'irt iidcnt of outside sources of supplv of material, as she lias already ceased to import our anchor rliam and other maritime equipment. '-Within ten years Japan will ho exporting cheap steel to meet the requirements of the Pacific. ;I! id will aUo invade distant markets and I should not he surprised if British (inns do not eventually use steel manufactured in Japan, for ocean transport is cheap- The wages paid in steel manii-f-i.ture in Japan, as well as in shipbuildinir are ridiculously low. and every hbor-saving device is hems introduced. Con-eqnentlv the Japanese will sun a double advantage arising from the use of labor-saving machinery and the employment of the cheapest skilled labor to "he found in any country in the world." That further statement by my friend stirelv is of some interest to British workers in these industries, and vet it might be imagined that we were living in an economic vacuum, from the statements of a number of labor leaders. , ~...,■ i The position of the shipbuilding and shipping industries of this country is. on the contrary, going to be a very • ritical one. because there is no feasible means l.v which this island can be protected against the remarkable movements which are now making rapid progress in the United States and Japan. We have I>efore us :< period of incrensinglv keen rivalry: and the issue will depend upon the cost of building our ships and the cost of running them, and the latter question cannot be dissociated from the price of coal. And after this period of strain, during which the depleted merchant navies of the world (weakened bv war) will be re-establish-ed, will come another phase of the competition—when there will be too many ships, with a consequent slump in shipbuilding and in freights. Probably this last phase, will develop in two or three vears' time. . . * What will be the position ol the British workers then, with wages high, shortened hours of labor, reduced production per working hour, and an inadequate supply of those labor-saving

appliances, on which the Americans and Japanese are relying? There is no greater folk than the suggestion that it is to the* advantage of the British working-man to fight against cheap production ; cheap production means plenty of work at high wages, because it will enable us to hold our own in foreign markets. If we in this country are going to fight against progress, with the result that our output per working hour is reduced, we must be prepared to sacrifice the great ship-carrying industry which has given employment on shore and by sea to hundreds of thousands of men. Shipping is the bedrock of national prosperity. Once our pri-' macy has gone, we may talk as much as we like about high wages and shorter hours, but nothing we can do will save from ruin, not merely the shipyards and the builders of ships, . but every trade in this country.