THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, October 7, 1936. PACIFIC SHIPPING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23005, 7 October 1936, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, October 7, 1936. PACIFIC SHIPPING

The discussion of the subject by the Congress of the Empire Federation of Chambers of Commerce has not been productive of any new line of approach to the question of the position of British shipping in the Pacific. This matter has been so much under consideration, and its pros and cons have been so frequently debated, that it would be rather surprising were any new arguments in the case to be discoverable at this juncture. The Federation dislikes the principle of shipping subsidies, foreign as these are to the methods by which the great British mercantile marine has been built up. But it recognises that here an exceptional case presents itself which can be met only by the adoption of exceptional measures. Therefore it is prepared to urge on the Governments concerned that British shipping in the Pacific should be subsidised if no other effective means can be found of ensuring it protection against the heavily subsidised competition which threatens to drive it out of the Pacific trade. In the general resolution adopted by it the Federation embodies, it is to be noted, a recommendation that trade facilities to foreign shipping operating between Empire ports should be granted only to the shipping of those countries which give similar facilities to British shipping. It thus endorses a proposal which has been frequently put forward. It is clearly a logical argument that since the United States Government does not permit British ships to trade between Hawaii and American ports it would be a fair reprisal that American ships should not be permitted to trade between Australian and New Zealand ports. The Americans cannot argue that protection of a kind which they regard as fair for their own shipping would be unfair if adopted for the protection of British shipping. The restriction would have probably been imposed ere this but for recognition of a difficulty arising out of the fact that a large portion of the revenue earned by British shipping is derived from foreign services. As the mover of the resolution at the congress at Wellington observed, the preferable solution would involve no discrimination against any flag. But whatever might be the outcome as regards that particular issue, which ought to be one upon which the Empire and American Governments could arrive at an understanding, it would not dispose of the general problem of subsidised American competition represented in the operations of the Matson Line.

The congress listened to the contention that the solution of the Pacific problem lies in the utilisation of British ships by British people. It is no doubt true that the American liners are patronised by British passengers to the detriment of British shipping services. Naturally the lavish assistance lent by the United States Government has enabled a type of vessel to be put into the Pacific running against which it is practically impossible for British lines, unassisted, to compete. The Federation of Chambers of Commerce held reasonably enough, however, that the remedy must go deeper than the delegate from Cardiff suggested. If the dominions in the Pacific are entitled to regard themselves as an important part of the Empire, the Pacific must continue to be an important waterway for British shipping. It is unthinkable that British lines should cease to be the carriers of passengers and trade between Empire ports, or that the link in the All-Red shipning route provided in the services between Canada, Australia and New Zealand should disappear. British prestige is deeply involved in this question. If continued inaction on the part of the Empire Governments can have but the one result of the disappearance of British ships from the Pacific routes—and an s early date has been named for withdrawals that would initiate that process—the need for decisions that will lead to definite action is strongly emphasised. It may be that a mere war of subsidies would not of itself lead to a conclusive or satisfactory result. But the assertion by tne British Commonwealth of its intention to range itself behind the maintenance of British shipping services in the Pacific is essential. It would constitute the one argument which would be efficacious. As Lord Bledisloe declared more than a' year ago, " This is surely a matter for Empire solidarity." Three months ago the British Government referred the whole problem to the Imperial Shipping Committee, and what's to come is still doubtful.