THE PELORUS GUARDIAN and Miners’ Advocate. FRIDAY, MAY 25, 1917. THE SHIPPING OUTLOOK.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 40, 25 May 1917, Page 4

THE PELORUS GUARDIAN and Miners’ Advocate. FRIDAY, MAY 25, 1917. THE SHIPPING OUTLOOK.

Perhaps no one is able to speak with a truer perspective on the shiping problem, so far as it affects the primary industries of New Zealand, than Mr Harold Beauchamp, general manager of the Bank of New Zealand. The chief concern of producers, shippers, and the community generally, is that the position will become worse, and that England may find it necessary to procure supplies from a source not so distant as New Zealand. Mr Beauchamp, when asked by a Wellington pressman what his opinion was, said that any suggestion that had for its effect the relieving of the congestion of produce caused by the dearth of tonnage should be encouraged and welcomed. The proposal that the British Government be requested to negotiate with the Canadian and American Governments to receive and credit the respective Governments with all meat, cheese, and butter they can take on the western coast, and supply from their eastern seaboards to England an equivalent amount of American and Canadian products, was entitled to respect and consideration. Mr Beauchamp, however, said he was afraid that, so far as the Dominion was concerned, the position was not likely to be relieved by the recommendation made—that an arrangement should be entered into with the United States whereby that country should supply Britain -with produce from North' Atlantic ports, and that the Dominion should adjust matters by shipping similar products to the States via South Pacific ports. In theory this sounded easy, but he could not see how it would work out in practice. The crux of the whole difficulty was the dearth of insulated tonnage both on the Atlantic and the Pacific side and the shortage of insulated cars for transportation of such articles as meat and butter on the American transcontinental railways. The great State of California provided the West Coast of the United States with practically all the meat and dairy produce required by its inhabitants, and the Eastern States were, with the exception of beef, almost self-contained. As was fairly well known, the last-named States drew heavily upon the Argentine for beef. This, unfortunately, if it could be diverted from, say, New York to London, could not bo replaced by New Zealand owing to paucity of

supplies in this country. If you look at our exports of meat, went on Mr Beauchamp, you will notice that the percentage of beef to the total is an insignificant decimal point. Our only hope lies in our being able to impress the Imperial Government with the gravity of our present and future outlook, caused through our inability to transport our produce —on w'hich our natural wealth so largely depends—to oversea markets. This can be done only by the Home Government releasing several of ’the insulated steamers commandeered by them. It seems that by agreement with the United States Government many of those could be replaced by interned German ships that have been recently seized by the Americans. Owing to the scarcity of food in Great Britain a number of Australasian traders had deflected their operations in the Argentine, because a ship could make at least two voyages to that country in the time that was necessary to make a trip to Australia or New Zealand. That policy was decided upon before the United States cast in their lot with the Allies, and looking to the fact that so substantial an addition had been made to the Allies ’ mercantile marine by the seizure of German steamers, it would appear possible, without absolutely abandoning the policy of the greatest good for the greatest number, to give a little more consideration to Australasia. Unless this were done the outlook for next season's products was grave in the extreme. In their frequent warnings of late the ActingPrime Minister and the Minister for Finance had shown themselves to bo fully alive to the situation.