The Press. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1903. NEW ZEALAND AND THE SHIPPING TRUST.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11510, 17 February 1903, Page 6

The Press. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1903. NEW ZEALAND AND THE SHIPPING TRUST.

Out here in New Zealand, we have got into a habit of the performances of Mr Pierpont Morgan with something of the dispassionate interest with which < one might watch, from a safely remote distance, a tidal wave or a volcanic eruption, or any other cataclysm, of. nature which swallowed up and obliterated whatever it touched, but in wjiich one was not immediately concerned. Mild ad-: miration and apprehension have been mingled in the attitude with which we contemplated his feats in the way of ob- ! .orbing fleets of mercantile shipping, but i the apprehension has never gone beyond a fear that British maritime supremacy might be weakened by the "merger's" action. Possibly it would have been more acute had it been generally realised how , closely that action touched this colony. Most people, we assume, are acquainted with the fact that Mr Morgan absorbed last year the famous White Star line, and some of them .may know that the White Star . Company and Shaw, Savill and Albion Company are closely connected. " But how . many know that included in the splendid White Star fleet which is now merged in the Atlantic shipping Trust are five of the most widely known of the direct linen in the New Zealand trade—the Gothic, Delphic, Athenic, Corinthic, and lonic? In the three last-named steamers the Shaw, Savill Company has a half interest, white on the other hand the White Star Company is understood to have an interest in some of the Shaw, Savill Company's cargo steamers. Mr Morgan has, therefore, got his hand on more than 50,000 tons of shipping in tbe New Zealand trade, and so far as ability to pay the money goes there | Ls nothing to prevent him buying up the other half of the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company. To, a man who is accustomed to deal in millions, a few hundreds of 1 thousands would be a. very small affair. There is a possibility that Mr Morgan will do this, in which case we shall be face to face with a situation capable of some #ur- . prising developments. It is generally understood that the two local shipping com- ' panics work in harmony with ttch othex

in the matter of freight rates, and they do it with an admirable regard for the benefit of the community in general and the producers in particular. Mr Morgan mlght'let this arrangement stand, or, being temporarily si peace in the other ports of the world to which his operations bow extend, hie might start a war of rates with the object o! securing the whole trade and then dictating terms to shippers. A man with the capital at his command that Mr Morgan possesses can go a good long way towards doing anything he likes in the way of choking off competitors. His arguments and methods have been sufficiently convindng in other instances.to induce shareholders to sell out while A good price was being offered, in preference to being "frocen out" and having eventually to sell at a much lower figure. We have said enough, we think, to indicate that New Zealand has reason to take a lively interest in Mr Morgan's future operations.