The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1908. MERCANTILE MARINE IN WAR.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13644, 11 July 1908, Page 4

The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1908. MERCANTILE MARINE IN WAR.

Although-; the - Treasury after, two- years of- investigation, has.,-reported • adversely-t-o-.ithe adoption, of 1 any form, of , 'national guarantee against the lisks imposed upon the mercantile marine and seaborne trade, by a state of war, it is not to 'be supposed that the principle lias been finallv disposed ofi Captain O'ley has . signed the report with the wise leservation that, it would be very regrettable if inability to recommend State action to-day. should be'-, regarded as definite proof of the uselessness or impracticability of any future scheme', of national guarantee, . while Sir. George Sydenham - thajfiwhom there f is perhaps 110 sounder adviser in the Empire upon -matters of defence, expresses the conviction that immediate action by the State is necessary; if the country is to escape a grave national danger. His reasoning is not. difficult to follow. Evidently he is not apprehensive that there is any serious risk of interference with 'tlie trading fleets of tlie Empire. With an adequate navy, : as lie. -says, " actual capture should not reach dimensions constituting a; public danger," a conclusion in which he is in agreement with the- Committee's main re- , port. ' : , The first essential is a powerful .navy;' capable, of -performing its function •as the protector of the Empire's comlilerco afloat. Without, that, no system of national insurance or indemnity against loss would be of m\ich use; -with it, the actual risk of loss to shipowners ■ and merchants would be comparatively small. But in spite of the smallness of the actual risk, there is another and hardly less real danger to provide against— the exaggeration of the war risks, wliich, as Sir 1 Sydenham Clarke points out, may entail a grave national peril by imposing a serious .check upon the operations of the mercantile marine.,. To a country so dependent as. Great Britain; is upon oversea sources : for, her food supplies, it is a vital necessity that owners should not be deterred from putting their vessels to sea by the existence of a state of war be--hvetn: their' own nation and some foreign Power possessed of a dangerous navy. Even under the most favourable circumstances, -food stuffs would doubtless rise to- famine prices if Britain became embroiled • in ' a: war, but if her mercantile marine were afraid to venture out °f harbour, the people at Home would speedily be reduced to starvation. Bo long ..as the Imperial Navy is k-epti well up; to the two-Power standard, the high, seas will be practically safe for the trad-, ing, vessels,, but the risk of capture or stpiction cannot be entirely eliminated. The danger therefore is that this comparatively slight risk may be magnified/ that an attack of " nerves," or even a wholesale panic, may attack merchants and shipowners, with the result that a considerable portion of ■ the Empire's mercantile fleets may be withdrawn • from the sea and stored in harbour until the danger is-either removed or shown to be quite insignificant. To. prevent the mercantile mairine from being injured owing to the fear of hostile cruisers, it has been suggested thatl the British Government, on' the declaration of war, should state that they will endorse every policy, of marine insurance, both-for ships and goods, with a /clause giving compensation to the "full amount of the policy in case of capture or desfcructaon'Oby the enemy. This wouldnot add a to the financial burden of the war, and would prevent, ship-

owners from fearing to send out their YMisels except under the protection of convoy* Something of this sort appears to be "in the mind of Sir Sydenham Clarke. He is avers© to .the State setting up an Insurance Department at the outset ,of a war, but lie' recognises the need for some form of national, guarantee. at. the commencement of hostilities, so that vates will bo steadied until the mercantile community have time to regain their confidence probably as the result of practical demonstrations of the navy's ability to protect the trading fleets from serious depredations by the enemy.