EMPIRE SHIPPING.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20231, 15 February 1934, Page 9

EMPIRE SHIPPING.

Urgent Need for Policy of Protection. HON A. SHAW'S VIEWS. Describing as a “ stark necessity the building up and maintaining of a strong mercantile marine, the Alexander Shaw, chairman of the P. and O. Shipping Line, who arrived in Christchurch from Wellington this morning, said in an interview that *n Imperial shipping policy was urgently needed. Had there been such a policy in the past the present disastrous position, representing a decline of the British mercantile marine from 43 per cent of the world’s tonnage before the war to only 29 per cent to-day, wOuld never have arisen. . The shin-building industry in Britain, said Mr Shaw, was doing better no», although the yards were still far from being completely occupied. Britain wag receiving a good share of orders from foreign countries. which apparently realised that Britain could build better ships and build them more economically than thev could themselves. “ As Necessary as Commerce." Mr Shaw said that the shipping which carried commerce was as necessary as commerce itself, and in that sphere they were entirely without defence against economic aggression. “ We have not even the power to bargain.” he said. The proof that the process of decline in our Empire shipping is still going on i<= to be found in the official Board of Trade returns for the last few years. These show that, although there has been some increase in British trade, less is being carried in British ships and more in foreign. “Of course, I well remember that before Britain took power to negotiate by tariffs there was a large body of people with cold feet who held that it would be unwise for us to defend ourselves for fear that we might offend some foreign country. I find in certain quarters at Home the same timidity complex to-day. It leads to inaction, and the fact of the matter really is that British shipping is being sacrificed to foreign naval ambitions as a sort of peace-offering. *• Certain of countries have said quite definitelv that the foundation of a strong navy is a strong mercantile marine, and "although the economic position does not make a huge mercantile marine necessary they have built up that mercantile marine because of the wish to have the foundation of the personnel for an enormous navy. *