SHIPPING RINGS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 519, 28 May 1909, Page 7

SHIPPING RINGS.

9 f ROYAL COMMISSION. » MAJORITY AND MINORITY REPORTS. )■ . USES OP RINGS. IDX tEt,ROr.»PB—HIBBB iESOCUTIOH-COPlttianTA * (Roc. May 27, .8.10 p.m.) '1 London, May 27. ° Tho majority report of the Royal Commisif sion declares that shipping rings afford L " steadier freight rates and a moro regular ser- „ vice. The report recommends tho formation if of a Shippers' Association, recognised by tho ° Board of Trade, with a view to conciliatory i, settlement of disputes, i- Tho minority report declares that rings jj aw necessary in tho interest of British' and l. colonial trado. Tho report reoommendß tho a Board of Trado to.isßUe regulations. i*. ' ' THE COMMISSION. d PROS AND CONS OF RINGS AND REBATES. ? On November 26. 1906, tho Liberal Govern- ° ment appointed a Royal Commission to in'quiro ". into tho operations o! shipping "rings'* or conL ' feronoes, generally, and more especially into ? the system of deferred rebates, and to report " whether such operations havo caused or are I likely to cause injury to British or colonial '• trade, and, if so, what remedial action, if any, " should. ho taken by legislation or otherwise. * The Commissioners are: The Right Hon. Arthur " Cohen, K.C. (chairman), Sir David Barbour, K.C.M.G., K.C.5.1., Mr. John Barry, Sir Alfred Baiemali, K.0.M.G..' Sir Hugh Bell, Mr. Henry BlrchcnoUgh, C.M.G., Captain R. n Muirhead Collins, C.M.G., Prof. Edward Car- ! 6 ter Conner, Sir Francis J. S. Hopwood, K.C.8., r- K.C.M.G., etc., Lord Inverolydc, Earl of Jerj. soy, G.C.D., G;C.M.G., etc., the Hon. Charles 1, Napier Lawrence, Sir William T. Lewis, Sir id John lloodonoll, C.8., Mr. Fred. Maddison, h M.P., Mr. William Henry Mitohell, Mr. Owen io Cosby Phillips, M.P., the Hon. William Pomn ber Reeves, Mr Oswald Sanderson, Mr. Austin f. Taylor, M.P., Mr. John Torrance. Secretary, is Mr. Jnuics A. Webster, Board of Trade. s, South African Complaints. v - The Commission inade Bpooial inquiry into *: the ring existing in tho South African trado. Y One witness, Mr. Douglas Owen, made a statei> ment that, is so judicial in te»i«, and so greatly 16 rofleols tho spirit' of tho report cabled f - above,.that it is worth reproducing. Speaking *■ of tho South African complaints, he saidi The r v ' complaints were (1) that tho rates of freight s : wore incquitablo and oppressive, (2) that the )f shipowners unfairly granted secret, concession's iS to certain largo oompanies or 'firms to the preJ judice of. other tradors, (3) that tho shipowners :i . carried goods from America to South Africa i l at lower rates than from England to South h Aftioa, (i) that the German lines bolonging to a tho "ring" carried certain goods from- Gormany at lower, rates than the' British lines in the "ring" would oarry similar goods from England to South Africa, and (5) that the shipowners it had used their privileged position as an instruio mint of oppression against shippers who had a shipped by competing lines. >s \ ■ ■ i .-' $• Proforenco to Amoricans and Germans. > . w To his mind tho most serious of those com--5; plaints was that of giving an unfair preforones j{ to American shippers. That complaint was well ° founded. It was a serious charge from an Im- * perial point of view, and tho. shipowners were ;• only able .to plead in their own defenco (a) |" that it was forced on' them by a freight war, '" (b) that they themselves were heavy losers bj f it, and (o) that it.was only a .temporary .occur-. '" renoo. Complaint No. 4 was somowhal of tho J" same nature, viz., that German Ijoods were *} brought in German steamers belonging to tho a "ring" at much lower rak* than similar Eng- « llsh goods were brought in British steamers. , a The answers of the shipowners to this charge r > was an- explanation that (a) it was tho outcome 0 ,of a peculiar combination bjtweon the <3or--0 man railways and the German ships, and (b) [• that tho British shipowners, whilst in sympathy ■" witli tho complaint, wore powerless to remedy h it. It would seem that the alliance existing between tho German Stato Railways and tho (more or-, less State-subsidised) German lines would always enable goods to.be carried''from l i, inland Germany to tho Capo more cheaply than i. they could be carried from inland British cities o to the Cap/), "ring" or no tVng" as thoro was •. no corresponding alliance between the English o railways and tho'English shipowners, South 0 African consumers as such had no ground Of y complaint against the "ring" for. carrying foreign goods at lower rates than British goods; always provided that the rates charged on the British goods wore'in themselves reasojablo. This brought 'him to the complaint that tho rates of freight generally, were incquitablo and oppressive. This chargo was oil all hands acceptcd as a cardinal article of \faith by the 3 traders,-and his request at tho opening of tho Johannesburg Conference for some sort of evidence on tho subjcot wos regarded as frivolous, 1 or even worse. To this day he did not know whether tho complaint was well founded or not. As to the further complaint that sorao of the " large importers wero secrotlv put on a favoured footing thoro was no proof, but proof oould only i . have been got from jtho shipowners themselves or from tho parties benefited. The ttcneral impression he received was that probably tho complaint was well founded. Punishing, Backsliders, v Finally, as to tho complaint: that the shipowners had abused, the' position in whioh their agreement with the traders placed them, to aot oppressively, towards traders who had gone bade 1 on them and had supported opposition ship-, owners—owners not in the "ring —ho believed, from what ho heard In England and in South Africa, that tho "ring" did in fact punish baok- - sliders with great severity, with the rosillt of >. a very hitter feeling on tho part of-shippers r and consignees, some 6f whioh latter wero mado to suffer soverely, though themselves innocent ) and ignorant of any offence on the port of tho f shippers employed uy them. An impartial i* view of tho facts made it abundantly dear that " the disadvanUgcs of the, "ring" system, as well i as its advantages, wore very notable. ■ But whoreas tho advantages mainly accruo to tho ■ South Afrioan tradors and to the shipowners in the "ring," the disadvantages fell largely on those: British manufacturers whoso goods had to pay, a higher ; freight than thoso of thoir American oompetitors. It was, or might, bo, true that shipowners sometimes charged unduly high rates to tho disadvantage of tho consumers, but the consumers or their allies, tho traders, wero parties to the arrangement which made this possible, wjiilo the manufacturers wero overlooked in ft altogether. Tha Advantages. /. * ' If tlio system was objectionable those who should be blamed for it wero the traders themselves. Thoy lent themselves to it solely for tho advantages which they expected to get and ordinarily did get by it. Those advantagos were settled on stable rates of freight, regular sailings to and from South Africa, alternative ports of shipment and of discharge, steamers of high class and speed, and disclaimer of shipowners right to trado. These advantages they declared were necessary for thoir trade. But for shipowners, to provide, costly ships which'were to sail whethor full or empty' and to on.ll at a variety- of ports in fixed order and at regular intervals meant groat outlay and groat working expense. To'undortoko such responsibilities as. these only to find that the tradors wore giving preference to the first ship which would offer half-a-crown lower.freight would bo in tho highest degrco improvident. Therefore, the shipowners made a bargain with the traders. They must havo an understanding as regards their right to fix rates of freight after consultation with, the tradors, and they must havo some machinery which'would make them suro that .the traders oollcetively and individually' would loyally etick to their bargain and support the "ring" against outside competition. Tho result of that was the rebate system.'