The Sun THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1917. TRANSFER OF U.S.S. SHARES.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 1066, 12 July 1917, Page 6

The Sun THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1917. TRANSFER OF U.S.S. SHARES.

The Parliamentary deputation to; ' the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, J ! and Mr Russell on the shipping mer-j ; ger evoked from Sir Joseph a reply which supports the opinion express-1 ed in these columns when the agitation over the transaction began to j gather strength. The Minister of; I Finance was emphatic in his con-j itcntion that this country had little to fear from the absorption of the U.S.S.j 'Heel by the P. and 0. Company, and; he was equaHy firm in his argument that it would he folly for the Government to think of taking over the ( I'.S.S. boats when, for something like • 1£1,.>00,000, it could establish a State! line operating in coastal waters, and to and from the Commonwealth.! i Thai, of course, does not nearly cov- \ !er the whole ground. New Zealand; is very largely dependent on her overseas trade, both going and coming, and unless State enterprise were] j at the same time extended to deep! ■sea traffic, the Australasian trade' I would be but a drop in the bucket.! [ln any case, Sir Joseph gave the deputation of members a broad hint ! that the Dominion would not be able to afford to purchase a shipping fleet just at present in view of the need of finding money to meet much more urgent liabilities. Further, since the j Imperial Treasury has already ap- | proved of the transfer of shares I from the local company to the P. i and 0., the transaction has got bej yond the reach of the Government. Thus additional protest can be of no | avail. We will have to suffer the I loss of the I'.S.S. Company—if it amounts to a loss—with the best ■grace we may, leaving to the Governjmcnl the responsibility of seeing that New Zealand's commercial connec- ! tion with America and the United i Kingdom are not detrimentally af- | fected. Sir James Mills has assured the Government that the merger will {not result in a hurt to the DominI ion's interests, and we take it that j that assurance can be confidently accepted. No shipping combine, however powerful, could afford to ignore J the remunerative and extensive trade which this country conducts with America and Britain. If the P. and 0. Company refused to provide Our producers :n\d business men with i the necessary ships, or imposed such | conditions in respect of freight as to cripple us industrially and financially, it would not take a lengthy 'search to find a more reasonable icompetitor, for il is inevitable that the tight for trade when the world I returns to work will be fiercely [contested. That being so, this country should have no anxiety as to 'being able to ship its goods I to the oversea markets in good time and a! reasonable 'rates in post-war clays. The P. and ; i). is only one of a number of combinations which have been formed •villi the tacit consent of the Imperial '; Government, and it will be strange indeed if our maritime commerce lis not eagerly sought after when normal conditions are resumed. Just [ bow far either our own or the Home ; Government can control such an 1 aggregation of interests as the P. and (). combine il is not easy to define.

That some State restraint may be necessary in the future is quite credible, but it is not likely that these shipping trusts will be allowed to get out of hand as in the American fashion. The formidable and endless legal obstacles that have made the huge trusts of the States difficult to reach do not exist in the United Kingdom or (lie Dominions. If the! necessity arose we have no doubt hut that New Zealand or the Imperial: authorities could devise statutory i means of proven ling the P. and O.! or any other shipping monopoly from exploiting commerce either i here or in Britain. Calmly considered, the merger of the U.S.S. and the, P. and 0. Companies should not cause the people of the Dominion any great worry. Thorc is little or no likelihood of our deep sea trade be-, ing neglected or embarrassed after the war. As for the ferry service between Lyttelton and Wellington, we look forward to the day when,' with the completion of the South Island Main Trunk railway—a more pressing necessity than the Government appears to realise—the sea trip will be reduced to a few miles’ run across Cook's Strait.