AT THE CROSSROADS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22219, 23 March 1934, Page 16

AT THE CROSSROADS

BRITISH SHIPPING THE MENACE OF ITS DECAY A CALL TO ACTION. “ The greatest and the most neglected of our Empire interests,” was the description given to the British shipping industry by Mr Alexander Shaw, chairman of the P. and 0. Company, when speaking at a luncheon given by him recently in Wellington to the staffs of the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Federal Steam Navigation Company. Mr Shaw emphasised the dependence of New Zealand’s economic life upon shipping, and said it was no exaggeration to say that the decay cf British shipping was a menace to the Dominion.

Among those present were Mr C. M. Turrell, general manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company, Mr A, D. Bayfeild, manager of the Federal Steam Navigation Company, Sir John Sandcman Allen, M.P., chairman of the Commercial Committee of the British House of Commons, and Captain H. Barnett, commander of the Rangitiki, I\[r Shaw prefaced his general remarks by paying a tribute to the loyalty to British shipping interests of the combined staffs represented at the luncheon, and also made eulogistic reference to Mr Turrell and Mr Bayfeild. He said he felt a particular sense of gratitude to Sir John Sandeman Allen for the sympathetic references he had made to British shipping during his tour of New Zealand.

“ I have been much impressed by the great amount of understanding in New Zealand of the prolonged crisis which is affecting British shipping, and the sympathy with which the difficulties of that great industry are regarded,” said Mr Shaw. “It has been my privilege to converse here, as in Australia, with men in all walks of life, and I have never on any public question known so solid a verdict. There are, of course, on this, as on any other question you like to name, a few instances of those who prefer the narrow view to the broad view, and the continuation of a great injustice to its radical cure. Such people have attacked me in the Old Country, they have attacked me in Australia, and even in New Zealand I have been the recipient of anonymous letters from gentlemen who appear to cherish the pathetic idea that abuse of myself, or of the great company over which I have the honour to preside, will in some way close my mouth. In one or two instances it has been possible to do a good deal more than to guess at the ultimate source from which such communications proceed, and I can tell you quite frankly that the interests of those who vilify British shipping are not British interests, and that the support which they receive in their campaign is not British support. With all respect to these gentlemen, I tell you quite plainly that every such communication increases my determination to see this thing through, and to do without stint what little lies within my power to obtain elementary justice for the greatest and the most neglected of our Empire interests. A REAL PERIL. “ The peril in which British shipping stands is not imaginary. It is real, and it calls for action. 1 will not weary you with a long exposition of the subject. Here in New Zealand, the remotest of the dominions, you are dependent for your economic life upon shipping. It is no exaggeration to say that the decay of British shipping is a menace to New Zealand. About that process of decay there is no doubt. May I remind you that before the war the British Empire possessed 43 per cent, of the world's tonnage, and that the proportion of British shipping is now only 29 per cent. Need I recall the further fact that the apathy with which this question has been regarded Las actually abandoned to its fate at foreign hands no less than one-half of the tramp shipping of Britain, without which, as has been rightly said, we could never have won through the Great War. These figures are familiar to you. But lest you should imagine that this process of dry rot has stopped I would call to your attention the fact that in 1933, in spite of an increase in the trade of Great Britain, there was an actual further decrease of 1,165,000 tons in British vessels using British ports, whereas foreign vessels had increased by 2,419,000 tons. As one whose work in life brings him in daily touch with the situation, I know that we are up against stern and formidable facts —facts which concern not the prosperity of an industry alone but the fate of an empire. THE ONLY SURE DEFENCE.

“Vacillation, flabbiness, and fear would never have created the British Commonwealth of nations,” Mr. Shaw continued. “ Vacillation, flabbiness, and fear have already abandoned much of our heritage upon the seas. They have relinquished defenceless to their fate at the hands of foreign Governments the ships and the men who in time of peril arc our only strong link and sure defence. I received the other day a personal letter written by a very distinguished American citizen, a patriotic American who, like most patriotic Americans, loves fair play. He put it this way:— 1 You can’t expect any private industry to compete against the wealth of Governments.’ Now, that is just what people apparently have been expecting the British shipping industry to do. It is not reasonable to expect that, and it is not possible to achieve it. No sensible person denies that to an Empire like ours, divided by the seas, a strong mercantile marine is not a luxury but a sheer necessity. No responsible person could doubt for a moment that in the crisis of the Great War it was only the plenitude of British ships which saved us from disaster. No person who takes the trouble to study the facts can be unaware that British shipping, whose services are so valuable an invisible export in time of peace, and so necessary a bulwark in lime of war, is diminishing, and is without any defence whatever against the persistent campaign being waged against it by more than one foreign laud. No man who feels any pride in the history of the Empire, or is thrilled by the thought of the great services which it can render to mankind, can feel otherwise than humiliated by the spectacle of continued drift and inaction.

FEELING IN NEW ZEALAND. •‘I cannot tell you how much encouraged I have been by the attitude of the public and ofthc press in New Zealand,” Mr Shaw wont on to say. “ You have here a special problem somewhat apart from the general problem which faces the Empire as a whole. Highly subsidised foreign competition is, to my own certain knowledge, now undermining the services which British shipping is able to render to this Dominion and to Australia. Those lucky people are not content with strictly preserving their own estate against you. They come into your back garden and dig up the potatoes for their own consumption. A point has been reached at which I would respectfully suggest a definite choice of roads has to be taken. For there are two roads, and it is impossible to travel by both, for they go in different directions. One road leads to the gradual extinction of 'British shipping services between rhe two dominions and to the extension of foreign subsidised lines in the trade. If you travel by that road, at the cud of

it lies, in my humble opinion, not only disillusionment but dishonour. The other road is the road of fair play to British shipping, fair play which will enable it not only to continue to serve the interests of both dominions, but to construct new vessels, which under existing circumstances it would be folly to build. Along that road there lies security in the services of British ships which are yours tp the end, not only when the sun shines but when the clouds darken and the day of peril comes. THE BRITISH ROAD.

“ It has been suggested that I say such things out of personal interest. I have not one penny of personal pecuniary interest in this matter, not a single penny. But I know the facts, and I venture respectfully to put them before my fellow British citizens. It is for them to choose. If they choose the British road of courage, security, and honour they will never regret it. If they delay too long they will already have made the fatal choice of the other road. “ If that other road is chosen I profoundly believe that in less than a generation of time the Britisli race everywhere will reprobate the apathy which delivered np to foreign hands without a protest or struggle the sea power t&vhich made the Empire and which alone can preserve it. What is happening now is not the result of fate, but the inevitable result of apathy and folly. Other nations which have less need of a great mercantile fleet have preserved and expanded theirs. We in our utter need, for such a fleet have forgotten and neglected ours. Courage, a clear policy, and definite action are the need of the hour. I should not wonder if New Zealand, where these qualities flourish, leads the way. In great emergencies she has never been backward. She' has been in the van of progress. So from these shores God grant that there may come a message of hope to British shipping in its grim struggle, a message breathing the sympathy of a fair-minded people and the clear courage of a gallant land.” THE EMPIRE SPIRIT. Sir John Sandeman Allen fully endorsed Mr Shaw’s plea for the fullest support of Britisli shipping, stressing the danger of inaction and the importance of the part Australia and New Zealand could play in the v matter. He said that the present Britisli Parliament would not tolerate a policy of drift, but stood for British principles and British standards. It would be gratifying to everyone connected with shipping to find that some definite action was likely to be taken. Sir John also remarked on the Empire spirit prevalent in New Zealand, observing that the further one travelled away from the Old Country the keener that spirit became. The toast of the two companies, coupled \yith the names of Mr Turrell and Mr Bayfeild, was honoured with enthusiasm.

Mr Turrell, replying, referred to the importance of such visits as Mr Shaw’s and Sir John Sandeman Allen’s in stimulating support for British sliipl»nfr-

Mr Bayfeild replied in similar vein.