MERCHANT NAVY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1534, 2 September 1912, Page 6

MERCHANT NAVY.

'■ A FESTIVE REUNION,

SOME. INTERESTING SPEECHES.

PROGRESS AND .PROSPECTS,

- About' six years ago the Wellington representatives of shipping companies trad- ■ intr in and to New Zealand inaugurated a pleasant custom of holding an annual dinner to serve as the basis of a friendly re- ■ union. The, latest of these functions— "the combined shipping companies' sixth annual dinner"—took piaco at the Hotel .'Windsor, on Saturday evening, and proved & great success.- The guests numbered ;abo'ut one hundred and fifty, nearly ali ; the shipping companies trading in and to .New Zealand being represented. Mr. A. Kennedy (Union Company) presided. Besides shipping ; company representatives thfere were present Messrs. G. Allport (Secretary for Marine), R. Fletcher (chairman of the Wellington .Harbour Board), W. * I'rvor Secretary of the New Zealand Employers' Association), and the Eev. D. C. Bates (Government, Meteorologist). Apolo- ' pes for unavoidable absence were received from the Hon. I'YM.B. Fisher (Minister for Marine), Mr. J. H. Bradney, M.P., \ and a number.of shipping.and other re- ' presontatives..

■ Tho toast of "The Royal Navy," proposed toy Mr. E. V. Bevau, was'enthusiastically, honoured. • Naval Changes and Prospects. ' Captain Hooper, R.N.R., iii responding, f.Tpressed regret that there wc.s'no .warship in port ait the present' time, so that justice might have been done to the toast by a naval officer' actively engaged. Siiica the last dinner of ilje combined shipping companies; he continued, a very important- innovation bad .been made in t^e' Royal. Navy.;-The Lords! of-the Admiralty had decided ' during ■ the' last tivelye. months to, leave the roau to a com-

riiission' open to" men on', the lower deck. No more democratic- innovation could have been made in an organisation like the Imperial Navy. The effect would not .. be'jsein.-f&r many.years!lt ironld.be for ' the ■ younger • men on the lower' deck • 'to put their' best feet forward, and show , what they could do in competition with '' the men who came from naval colleges. The recent,assemblage of a great fleet of British warships had given rise to some, interesting comments in theforeign press. The . general opinion' in alien countries eeemod 'to be. that. Britain's claim to be V..the' paramount naval power had some ground in fact, but there were some dissentients from this view. Britain's claim must be upheld until the last lingering strain of the old sea blood died out or i became attenuated, to. nothingness by 'the foreign element. Possibly the' coming of , aeriel navies might, en tail, the, loss byGreat. Britain of the sea prestige ■'which bad been her portion since' the time.-of King Alfred'theGreat. Concluding, Captain' Hooper expressed the -opinion that New Zealand's monetary contribution was a more effective'aid to the naval strength of the Empire tban -.tlie. biiilding up. "of' any be. , •The Mercantile Marine. Proposing the toast of the "New Zea ; land -Mercantile Marine," Mr. W. Pryor said .that thS local 'mercantile marine deserved the best-that New Zealand could "• give it. - All that the 'shipowners asked for from;the, Marine Department; was.a fair deal, and they had • always got it, -while.. M|\ -AUport w,qs in control. The-officers . and, lien of -tile New Zealand mercantile marine'were a body of. men of wTiick any country could bo proud. They also deserved a fair deal, and as a representative of employing shipowners, these were bis sentjments. '

An Essential Industry. Mr. G. Allport (Secretary for Marine) responded. The mercantile marine, he said, was one of the most necessary and most valuable industries in a country like New Zealand. Her mercantile marine had Taised England to a pinnacle of greatnes9. The same industry in earlier days had done equal service to Tyre, Carthage, and Greece. As it had been ■with these countries, it would be with England if she did not preserve and fos.ter,her'mercantile marine. New Zealand ought to bo proud of her mercantile marine. It bad-grown to wonderful proportions, considering. that the country Was only sixty or seventy years old. Men, as well as ships, must be considered if "a powerful mercantile marine was to be built up. Possibly, the Marine Department made, mistakes sometimes. - A voice: Never! Mr.-Allport said that sometimes in its efforts to liglit ships through the darkness of the night the Department put lights where some people did not Want them. (Laughter.) Sometimes the Department was perhaps too lenient in allowing, owners to carry deck cargo in -their ships in order to get as much as possible out of them. But the 'Department tried to do its best, and the Mercantile Marine was in such a condition that the country could be and was proud of it.

Expansion of the Merchant Navy. iilr. Allport quoted the following statistics as showing that, tho industry was going ahead. The period covered is that of the ten years from 1901 to 1911. In 1901. the New Zealand Mercantile Marino 'consisted of 520 vessels of 102,000 tons, . and employing 3860 men. 1n.1911 it consisted of 605 ships of :>n 'aggregate tonnage, of 150,621, employing 52(13 men. In 1001 only , four vessels registered in New Zealand had a greatcr.net tonnage than 2000. In 1911 there were 15 such vessels, the. largest being the Makura which had . a. net tonnage of 4921. He ""understood that the owners of that vessel were having .a still larger ship built. In 1901 there entered New .Zealand ports from over- • fcas 616 vessels aggregating 851,000 tons, and employing over 23,000 men. In 1911 ressels from overseas numbered 621. Their tonnage was 1,-12S,0flQ tons and they engaged 37,691 men. In ,1.901 there entered ' New Zealand ports, coastwise, 20,909 .vessels of 6,872,333 tons,. nnployHw; "GO.S-ll men. .In 1911 the .figures were":. 27,116 vessels, 12,266,65-1- tons, and 565,0(9 men. In 1901 ( here woro engaged in New 'Zealand 15,702 seamen. The number engaged in 1911 was 20,318. As showing that the Marine Department dealt not with ships alone, but nl?o acted in the interests of the men who maimed them, Mr. Allport nientioned that during lost year the Department collected the sum of £3057 on behalf of-sick and injured, seamen. Thn shipowners plight say that, this was a bad feature, but it was one thnf. the country and 'Parliament linrl decided to intrrduee. • The deparrire, he thought,-although not frre from o'vil, was in the proper direction: . It showed that, the men were being looked after and that the. industry itliey were helping ! to build up helpedthem, in-the Hipp of need. Another: ac- ' tivity-in which the' Department engaged • was -that of issuing warnings as-tb when ships should-or should -not go to . sea. ' Tn Captain Hooper tbev had a man who .was endeavouring to provide them.-fu-ture ,seamen and he hoped that this branch of the Department's work would greatly 'help' tho' mercantile 'marine in New ZeaJaqd.in the.future. .. ' iThe 'Need for Men, • The.toast of "Shipping Companies" was proposal by Mr. R. Fletcher (chairman -of-the -Wellington Harbour Board). Tho merchant n.ivy 'c-f New Zealand, lie ?aid. - wiis" one- to bo proud of. This applied particularly .'to-the Union Company. A ma.rvfilloiis development had taken- place during the last thirty years. Everything in reason should be done to help the companies bficausn if they were prosperous tho country would be prosperous too. Mir. T-istciior emphasised the importance of training torn far the merchant navy, and paid that he had read with great regret a press announcement that the Union fnmr.fl.liy-intended to convert the trainvh ship' Dartford into-a hoik. Messrs. N. Galbraith (New Zealand Shipping Company) and TP. E. Fuller (T ?vin and Co.) responded on behalf of the shipping companies. A Football Shield. During the afternoon a football match had been played in which a Union Company team defeated a team representing ■ the"other companies combined by five -points to nil. A shield which had been competed for wa.s presented to the captain of the M'ltoessful team (Mr. Abbott) by the chairman. Mr. E, O, 54*} -oi:],

•> * « ■ "The Teams," and Messrs. Abbott aad Drake responded. Harbour Staff and Shipping Officials. The toast of "The Chairman" was proposed by Captain Johnston, who complimented Mr. Kennedy on the manner in which he had presided that evening, and also commended the skill and ability with which he carried out his important official duties. The harbourmaster went on to say that during the 23 years in which he had been in the service ot' tho Wellington Harbour Board, there had been excellent feeling between tho members of his slalf and the officials of the shipping companies. He also paid a tribute to the keepers of the coal-hulks for the way in which they carriod out their arduous Work and to the officials who superintended that work. Captain Johnston concluded by expressing a hope that the operations of the Union Company in this port might continue to increase and prosper. Mr. Kennedy was loudly applauded when he rose to respond. He expressed hearty appreciation of the remarks made by Captain Johnston and of the manner in which the toast of his health had been honoured. A number of concerted musical items were ably rendered during the evening by Messrs. R. S. Allwright, H. W. Fletcher, H. Phipps, and S. N. Hutton, and the "Orpheus quartet party. Each member of the quartet also contributed individual items'. The toast of "The Quartet Party" was proposed by Mr. E. Fletcher and responded to by Mr. H. W. Fletcher. Mr. H. Bb'ck acted as accompanist.