BRITISH SHIPPING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23107, 5 February 1937, Page 15

BRITISH SHIPPING

POSITION IN THE PACIFIC HOW LIVERPOOL VIEWS IT NEW ZEALAND MINISTER’S REPLY (From Gur Own Correspondent! (By Air Mail) LONDON, Jan. 9. The interests of British shipping are closely followed by the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce. The visit of the New Zealand Minister of Finance (Mr W. Nash) to the northern port was, therefore, welcomed as an opportunity for an exchange of views. Those held by the New Zealand Government were given clear expression by Mr Nash. He said:“We want to do what we can to maintain the status of British shipping in the Pacific, and we particularly want to do it with the least possible disturbance of our relations with the United States.”

Liverpool’s opinions were given by Mr T. E. Lescher, 0.8. E., chairman of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce. Sea power and freedom and equal opportunity and treatment for British shipping was just as important an interest in New Zealand as it was at Home, he said. When they learnt what was happening in the Pacific—of how a trade route which had been covereu by British ships for a very large number of years was in danger of being lost by the South Pacific being closed to British shipping—the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce was the first public body to raise the alarm. It was with possibly certain sea-con-sciousness that they realised that that danger in the Pacific was a danger to. New Zealand and Australia, which was felt at once in the nerve-centre in the Mother Country. Referring to the report of the Imperial Shipping Committee, published in December, Mr Lescher said if it did not give full satisfaction, at all events it showed the getting together of the Mother Country with the dominions on the South Pacific question. „ , “The question of the British mercantile marine is of great importance to New Zealand,” he went on, “and we cannot look altogether with complacency on the figures as late as July last year, which showed that the whole Empire tonnage was rather less than in June, 1914. What is also as disturbing is that foreign trade with the United Kingdom has risen from 34 per cent, in 1929 to nearly 42 per cent, in 1935. The mercantile marine is, and must be, the basis on which all naval rearmament depends, “New Zealand and Australia have one thing in common; that is, that between themselves they put no restrictions on inter-trading. What we in Liverpool regard as the sine qua non of British shipping is equality of treatment and opportunity. To-day, we see most nations taking for themselves all the advantages they can from trade with our own countries. They want equality in foreign trade, and they deny equality in trade in their own ports,” Liverpool wanted as much of New Zealand’s trade as possible, concluded Mr Lescher. They knew as well as he did the danger of concentration of trade in London. There were more dangers than possibly met the eye. They in New Zealand were not best considered by too much concentration upon one port, and Liverpool offered them the services of her ships, her docks, and a distribution to the whole of the North of England. Ireland, and Scotland. “ The New Zealand Government feels that the Pacific area is just as important from the British point of view as is the Atlantic, because the southern part of the Pacific contains Australia and New Zealand,” Mr Nash said. “But we must, as far as possible, keep in close association with the English-speaking nations, U.S.A. and Canada, and whatever can be done to extend the friendliness of our relations with the U.S.A. Government we will do.”

New Zealand wanted to maintain, as far as possible for all time, the link and tie that bound the centre of the Commonwealth to them down in the southern hemisphere. Last year, in the first session of Parliament, the new Government passed a Bill entitled the Protection of British Shipping Bill. In that Bill there were clauses for the purpose of bringing the British conditions in equal relationship to American shipping conditions. After the pioneer work had been done by the Union Steam Ship Company in the New Zealand-United States trade, American shipping lines came along, and because their vessels were built at a comparatively low interest rate and in some cases no interest at all, the British line could not give the same conditions and comfort as the American ships were able to give. He did not think they could fairly compete with that. Investigations were taking place in the U.S.A. on the question of mail subsidies which enabled American shipping lines to carry passengers and give them better conditions than could be given at the same prices in British ships. Negotiations were in progress between the Australian, United Kingdom, and New Zealand Governments with regard to finding out a way of getting a united policy on the subject. “I hope we will be able to maintain British shipping in the Pacific area,” added Mr Nash, “without any antagonism whatever towards the United States.”