BIG SHIPPING MERGER

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2955, 15 December 1916, Page 19

BIG SHIPPING MERGER

. It was officially announced recently that Sir Jplm Ellcrman, chairman of the well-known Ellerman.Line, had arranged to acquire the whole of tho shares of the Wilson : Line - company. The statement accompanying" this announcement ■ says it has been evident to those concerned in the management that defiinite stops must be taken to provide "for. tlie development of that business; so important io tho port of Hull.- Many ships have been lost, and it is essential that the very important lines depending on the company should he efficiently served and extended on the conclusion of peace. Neutralshipowners have throughout the war been making much larger profits than British and liave not been subjected to the heavy taxation which the Government lias had to impose' on British shipowners, in common with other British traders. Neutral shipowners will therefore be in a position to utilise profits to enter- into severe competition, and in view of the heavy cost and difficulty of .replacement of lost vessels it has tyeen decided to enter into these amalgamation arrangements, which will be for tho benefit of British trado as a whole. , . The management of the company will remain in the hands .of .Mr. Oswald Sanderson, the present 'managing director. The news provides. Hull with the greatest commercial sensation it has ever known. It has'often been said that Hull is Wilsons, and Wilsons Hull. Their'shipping is tlie-mainstay, of this, the third largest port in the kingdom. No figures .are available, but the deal will' rank as tho biggest in English shipowning records. The Wilson'. firm has long been admitted to be the largest privately-owned line in the,world. Tho firm was established about the middle of the last century by Mr. Thomas Wilson, but it owes its vast development to his two sons, the lato Lord Nunhurnholme and tho late Mr. Arthur Wilson. •It had tho smallest, beginnings, the founder commencing .with small sailing craft. He saw, however, the future of steam, and soon commenced.to rim steamers. His two sons rapidly developed what he had commenced, and their sons manifested tho-sumo progressive spirit, until at the'outbreak pi the..war the fleet numbered about a hundred ships, of a value running into millions of pounds. The wlwle of' tlie capital was held in the family. • The firm's trado is world-wide, Wilson's parrots, as tlie-ships are col-loquially-known,-because of tlioir distinctive painting, being known throughout the seven seas. Onq of the greatest and most successful ventures was made in tho early seventies, when tho firm decided to share in tho American trade. Special ships were built, and iF sufficient cargo was not offered on'the other side tlie firm bought goods and'brought them over. That early confidcnce was well justified, and to-day the firm does an extensive business with America, having'sailings from London and Liver- ' pool, as well as Hull and other eastern ports.