The Star. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1917. EDITORIAL NOTES. THE SHIPPING SITUATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12175, 26 November 1917, Page 4

The Star. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1917. EDITORIAL NOTES. THE SHIPPING SITUATION.

The question of shipping space for the transport of the Dominion's produce is an all important one to the people of this country, and unless bottoms can be found to carry our surplus produce to the other end of the world, where there is a ready market, the consequences will be serious. Recently we have had various assurances from Ministers on the question, and while they have studiously refrained from saying anything definite they have certainly conveyed the impression that the problem was in a fair way towards solution, and that the shortage experienced in the past would not recur. Questioned in Wellington on the matter on Friday, the Prime Minister assured a reporter that while "he was not at liberty to publish the names of the ships which would come to the Dominion for cargo, he was able to say that the outlook at present was better than it had been for some tlm*> past. The Shipping Controller's Department and the Board of Trade, with the new Food Controller, were evidently anxious to considerably reduce the quantity of meat and dairy produce in New Zealand stores before we got into full swing with the new season's operations, and he was now confident that this would be done." Most sincerely do we hope that the Premier's prediction will be verified by the results of the coming sea^nf 1 operations, although we must confess that wo are far from confident that such will be the case.

Wb must remember that the mattor of the allocation of shipping space is one over which the Prime Minister of this Dominion has no control whatever, and although the Shipping Controller's Department of the Board of Trade would no doubt give due consideration to any representations y emanating from the Government of this Dominion, it is improbable that it would give any decided preference to this distant portion of the Empire. It must be remembered that to-day the economy of shipping space is a matter of prime importance, and consequently the question of length of voyage must receive careful attention. A trip to this Dominion from London would consume as much time as

two trips to South America, where there are abundant supplies of the necessaries required for the Army, obtainable at lower prices than are those produced in the Dominion, and the Shipping Controller cannot overlook this important point. We must bear in mind that on at least one previous occasion Mr Massey gave the producers of this Dominion a definite assurance that when their produce would be ready for shipment the required vessels would be available. The Premier's assurance was accepted in all good faith, hut when the time came for shipment the promised vessels, like those which were to take Sir John Moore's army from Corunna, were not in evidence, and, further, they did not materialise during the whole season. . It has never been satisfactorily explained why the Premier's promise was never realised, why „the vessels which he assured us wou-ld be here did not arrive, and in the absence of such an explanation it would seem that Mr Massey, when ho gave that assurance, gave rein to his powers of prophecy, nnd, like many others who arrogate to themselves the power to forecast events and to look into the future, he mifesed the mark. Just at present there is in business circles an indisposition to accept Mr Massey's assurances with the same readiness as when he first donned the mantle of the prophet, and there is a desire to know whet Ik r there is solid ground for assuming that the promised ships are likely to materialise on this occasion. The men*exporter, from experience, realises the truth of the saying, "Once bitten, twice shy."

PEACE TALK. The war had not been long in progress before peace feelers were sent out from various quarters, but in every case the conditions laid down were so preposterous that there could be only one reply, and that reply has always been sent with an alacrity which must have convinced those responsible for the "feelers" that there was little hope of catching the Entente Powers asleep. Peace granted by the acceptance of even twenty per cent of the claims soft forth in the proposals could mean but one thing—an admission of German superiority, and the handing over of civilisation to the tender mercies of the Huns and their confederates in crime. We were told on Saturday that a special train was about to leave Berlin for Petrograd carrying peace proposals for the consideration of the Provisional Government, and there is at fny rate reason to fear that the visionary who is at present in control of Russ:r; n affairs will be inclined to fall in with any proposals which would be likely to bring a beat a cessation of hostilities M. Lenin, it is suspected, is not proof against the power of German gold, and to-day there are grave doubts whether, as a matter of fact, be is not in German pay. Tire revelations made seme time ago were such as to cast very grave doubts on his integrity, and now in the hour of her trat ail it may be that he will place Russia in the hands of an enemy who will assuredly use the former land of the Czars for his own purposes, and instead of receiving increased liberties as a result of the revolution, her millions will be shorn of those which they possessed and become the vassals of a country where autocracy is absolute and where democracy finds no place.

The "Clarion" recently dealt : n trenchant terms with the various peace moves, and used no mincing terms in summing up the position. We have no doubt those sentiments will find an echo in many minds where that journal's propaganda seldom meets with approval. The "Clarion" said, in part:—

War weariness is universal, but the war weariness of our enemies is not sufficiently strong to convert them into " reasonable men " and impel then to overthrow the handful of tyrants whose docile slaves they are alleged to be. President Wilson's latest attempt to drive a wedge between the German autocrats and the German people has been followed by an outburst in the German Press of ultra-patriotic declarations of loyalty to the Kaiser. The Kaiser himself is said to have stigmatised President Wilson's note " as an insolent attempt to separate the German people from its Kaiser and Government and to undermine the roots oi its invincible strength." . . . There is a ferment in Germany and enough discontent and unrest to give the Kaiser furiously to think, but even if the autocracy be compelled to yield to the demands for democrano and parliamentary government it will not follow that the German people will immediately become such " reasonable men " that they will be willing to accept the only terms of _neace agreeable to the Allies. Our weariness of war is deep, but it is not overwhelming enough to blind us to the necessity of accomplishing the objects for which we entered the war. The Huns have to be made impotent for mischief, whether they call themselves democrats or be docile slaves of an autocracy. ... In a striking speech Mr Lansing, the American Secretary of State, recently made clear to the people of the United States the inevitableness of their entry into the war if their freedom and security .are to be preserved. " I am firmly convinced," he said, " that the independence of no nation is safe, tnai the liberty of no individual is sure, until the military despotism which holds the German people in the hollow of its hand has been made impotent and harmless for war. Appeals to justice, to moral obligation, to honour, no longer avail with such a Power. There is but one way to restore peace to the world, and that is by overcoming the physical might of German Imperialism by force of arms." German Imperialism is, so far, tbo German people. " Reasonable men" in Germany were non est while the German armies were crashing successfully through Belgium and Northern Franco ana Serbia. Now that the check to their ambitions seems to be developing into defeat " reasonable men " are no doubt increasing, but such reasons as they display must be suspect. They may turn on their rulers for not keeping their bright promises of victory and loot, but they cannot be trusted suddenly to act as honest men. The Allies' task is first to destroy their power, and then to make it impossible for them to build up a new menace to the world's peace.