FERRY STEAMER DAMAGED.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20094, 25 November 1930, Page 18

FERRY STEAMER DAMAGED.

JIISIIAP IN AUCKLAND HARBOUR | THE TREaS Special SsrYl cr .j AUCK.IiAMJ, Nyvaniber 01 When leaving Queen's wliai-f a t"c 4,j ibis morninj; for .Stanley 13 ay t ' hp Kto.-im Kerry Company's hi earner Ngo.r., fouled tho liawsers'ol tho overse:is steamer Turakina ami had t.li.j rwf uf her deekhouse partly lorn "IT t lie windons on on B SK j'e bhatl'M-ed, and the ualls splintororf an j ,■rushed into mal-Invoo,). The' whVol--1101100 v.as 'Ja iiiiigi d, (he windows aivi ualls were hnuuhed. whiio tho flagpole in ill"! hoii- «a« split, to the hate The Ngoiro, whieh had no "iVasscn--ers, was leaving on an iinsehe,J u | o t| trip from Auekland. Ujin K timed to run iron) Stanley JW to Auckland at 7 o'eluek. M a.« iKTtheil outside the lerrv eonipany s wharf j n front of tho Tiiraki 11a at llio Queen's wharf, and when her n ere started tip sho t;ot, into a position b"t\veen tl-, e hoiv of tiio ']'urakina and thf; wharf. Two rope lines, and thiee* ropey woro out. from Iho larger vessel, the ropes he ins; taut. Tho' deekhouso nas ('atie!it irt these lines, and before uav could be cheeked the damage was done. the. steel hawsers of tho Turakina lifting tho Ngoiro's deckhouse roof and splintering everything tliov cam© in contact with. ( aptain Croll had a narrow escape. lOverrthinn aliout him was damaped. huh lie stepj-»ed out of the crumpled \\ liec-lhouso without a scratch. The Nc;oin) was laid up at the ferry wharf all day. while a staff of carpenters and painters wa« busy repairing the dmnage.

AMERICAN SHIPPING.

A CHALLENGE TO BRITAIN. Shipov/nera throughout the Morld, us veil n>> shippers of goods, are fnc-o. to faro vith a remarkable movement on the part of thj United State?, y.hich threatens to disorganis<» ocean transport, ptates an article by Sir Archibald Hurd, managing-editor of "The Shipping 1 World,'' aj>pearjng in a receipt ihMjA of the Syrloey ''Morning Herald. About one-third of nil th«* cargoes which enter and leave American port? are carried in British ships; one-third in the ship 3 of twenty-nine other natious; and only onethird in American Fhips. At one time the American percentage was much smaller. After the Great War many Americans reboiled against this Mate of thing*, which 1 h".v condemned as one of humiliating dependence. The American revolt began amonjr ebipn'A'iicrs and For a long time the rest of the people of the Uuited States took no interest in the matter. But once tho uavat ambitions of Atntri'-an naval officers had been, in nome degree, recognised in the Washington Naval Tre-aiy, tb»-y threw in their lot with the t hhipown»T.-< arid shiplnjiiderK. The naval oftf.-ir* elaimed that a ;:reat nvn.'hHnt navy vns coni tdemontary to a \s h r fleet, to uonc,'" and essential to nalionnJ def'-rKe. Then politicianK came to the cnncliiKion that votes were to be obtained by supporting the rry for h merrhant navy necond to none.*' They, iu dn« conr«e t hpcamo missionaries. The oru-t-ade hav now enlisted no mean part of the population of 120,000,000 people. dent Hoover, as well as his predecessor, Mr Talvin Coolidge. is nn enthufr : astic adherent of what may be described as tho "bluu v, a ter school.'' TflLXpaycra* "Heavy Sacrifice. Sacrifices are bein? mtide in order to increase America*/! prestige by eea. It is estimated that tho taxpayers have already *-pont about £BOO 000,000 on merchant shipping, and not*' further sum® arc being diatribuled by way of State loan* for shipbuilding, and extravagant mail subsidies for ship Th#> policy which is being pursued may be judged from tb« fact that a vessel operating betweexi New Vofk and England uill receive a subsidy of upwardn of i 9000 for each voyage, while the payment «>f a ship trading betwen New York and Singapore will exe-oed i' 24.000 on each ''run." In the next ten years it is intended to Kpend i'Sri.GOO.OOO in this way. In order .to earn this "en*y money," the various companies concerned have had to agree to build new vessels, and already arrangements have been made for constructing C 3 cargo And passenger *hips, which will cost upwards of £55,000,000.

Down to tho eve of the War. the tonnage of the United States never exceeded H,000,000. Then, owing to the threat of submarine and mine, tho American shipyards vore set to work, ami by ]D 22 no loss than 14.738.500 ton* gross vere on the Amefimn register. Many of thp.se ships had been so hastily constructed —sonio of wood and others of concrete —that they vero uneconomic. Hundreds of them have sinr** broken up n* useless, but the Americans still possess 11.388.3*7 tons gross, and rank as the second commercial marine Power of the world. The British proportion of ocean-gonfg tonnage—that U vessels of large size and pood speed—is 38.47, and the American proportion 19.80. liemarkable as ha* been the progress, the peoplo of the United State* are not satis* fieri. They are determined to persevere until thev own as much shipping jis is under the British flag. Failure of State Ownership. The first phase ; .n the shipping movement •was admittedly a failure. The State Ijavinjc built and paid for 2300 ships. it was dc.cid;«l that the State should operate them. So the Shipping: Board concerted plans for plr.cing' | as many of the ver.sWs oh possible on the | trade routes. But the greater number of | vessels commissioned the heavier 'tho loss, i At last the deficit became so heavy that it ! -w as decided to abandon this experiment in State Socialism. Tho Americans, rich as they u'cro, rebelled. Orders were issued that the ships should be sold to American shipownprs at vein- low prices, and that the unsaleable 'tonnage'- should bo broken up. This dual operation is liearijpg completion, and n beginning has been made with the new policy of assisting tho private shipowner with Strtte funds to build and operate ship*, fjing on all the trade routes of the world. During the interval which elapsed between the admission of the failure of State owner- 1 ship and the inauguration of the new policy ( of subsidised private ownership, little or no j shipbuilding took place. Of the sea-going j vessels under the American flag only 4.1 per cent, are less than five years old, as compared with 22.5 per cent, in the case of tho British merchant navy. So though 25 per cent, of the ships of the Cnited Stales nre laid up in idleness because there tire insufficient cargoes available, the American shipyards, in addition to the many men-or* war which are now under construction.' are actively engaged in turning- out merchant ships,. They have on the slips about 300,000. tons, ranking consequently "second to the British- yards, and many jnorq vessels are about to be laid down. This movement in. thn United States, supported by the lavish expenditure of State funds, is a serious <'hallonge to other merchant navies, and especially tn the British merchant navy, which receives no assisance iu any shape or form from tho Government. The Burden of the American IDebt. British shipping, in common with other industries, is burdened with national taxation three times as heavy as American taxation. That disparity is due, in some degrees, to the payment of i.'32.000,000 which, fs being made each year to the United States •on account of the munitions supplied to the Allies._.._ The Americans did riot, lend money, but supplied munitions, whicb wero sold at fabulous w»r 1 prices. What the outcome of this shipping competition will be it is too early to prophesy. A great deal will depend on, first, the maintenance of the efficiency of British shipping, which was never higher than to-day; second, or. tho solidarity of. the British peoples, who' should regard themselves as co'-partners in tho task of supporting .the "supremacy of .the British, merchant navy, which is the lifeline- of the Knipire; and, third, on tho ability of tho Americans, now confronted."With dark days, to spare the vast sum which their shipping plans involve. |