COMMONWEALTH LINE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20283, 16 December 1927, Page 11

COMMONWEALTH LINE

LORD INCHCAPE’S VIEWS. A WASTEFUL INCUBUSPOLITICAL ECONOMY GONE MAD. (Froes Association—By Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, December 14. At the annual meeting of the Peninsular Company Lord Inchcape said: “It is most gratifying to find the leaders of the trade unions doing their utmost to secure peaceful methods of settling industrial disputes and to convince the men that strikes and violence usually result in misery and want to themselves and their families. In’ this connection the country is very much indebted to Mr Havelock Wiison. If the direct local method of settling differences, as foreshadowed bv the leaders of indus try, is adopted w e may see a speedy all round improvement in British manufactures. “ Mr W. M. Hughes’s idea of the Gov. eminent embarking in shipping has cost the country many millions of pounds ; but a wiser man (Mr Bruce), with a majority behind him, has decided to rid himself of this wasteful incubus. There seems to be a desire by a certain section of Australia to maintain the Commonwealth Line, no matter what losses are incurred, with the object of keeping down rates and ruining private lines I presume their idea is that if the private lines are driven out of the Australian trade the Government would put up money for more ships, and continue to run them at ruinops rates of freight, the taxpayers providing the capital and bearing the losses of working. This is political economy gone mad.” Lord Inchcape said he hoped that the tide of British migration to the dominions would regain its former volume. inorease in the man power of the dominions was bound to be reflected in an increase in exports, which was a crying necessity. “ I think it would ultimately be of advantage to the dominions if they directed their efforts more to the development of the soil of the great hinterlands than to the building up of industries by protective tariffs, thereby increasing the cost of living and imposing hardships. We could have freedom of trade within the Empire and the same free exchange of commodities as that which exists between England and Scotland, also throughout the United States. If we had there would be no unemployment here, but thousands of other functionaries would have to find ether occupations.'’ Referring to the waterside strike, he Bald the condition of affairs in Australia for some years, so far as shipping was concerned, reminded him of the title of a play which was running in London: “ One Damn Thing After Another.” Some people in Australia seemed to regard him as controlling all the lines which were serving trade between Britain and Australia, but the Peninsular Company had no pecuniary interest in the White Star, Aberdeen, Blue Funnel, and Commonwealth and Dominion Lines,,over which it had absolutely no control. It was true that they had conference agreements regarding freights and sailings, to which in Australia the Commonwealth Line was a party, and under which all shippers were treated absolutely alike. Without such arrangements chaos would ensue. —A. and N.iC and Sydney San Cable.