THE UNION FLEET AND THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 151, 15 March 1918, Page 6

THE UNION FLEET AND THE WAR

. ; . FACTS ABOUT CHARTERS AND SHIPPING CHARGES EVIDENCE BEFORE DEFENCE COMMISSION RIGHT OF PURCHASE By Telegraph—Presa Association. Dunedin, March 14. At the Defence Expenditure Commission to-day Mr. Aiken, general manai ger of the Union Company, said that in dealings with the Government tho company gave concessioiis'in fares but not on freights. Tho concession to staff officers was limited to the ferry service. Two hospital ships and fh'o passenger ships were on charter to I tue Government for the conveyance of I troops. Five other passenger ships had been on charter. The company expended money for the Government ou stores, bunker coal, provisions, j dock dues, labour, material, fitting ships, etc., without remuneration by way of commission or interest. Tho company made a charge oi £75 per voyage for supervision by a trained staff. The total charge for this was a little ovor £5000 for 3J years. The disbursement on Government account that tho company had outstanding avoraged at a low estimate £70,000 or £So,'ooo. It received liq recompense ior this capital, standing idle. The gross liiro received from the Government from the. beginning of the war till February, 191b, was £1.578,547. Reimbursement money advanced on Government account) till February was £1,309,943. The cose per annum to the Government of the seven chartered ships under the present agreement was £359,460, whereas the cost under Admiralty charter party would have been £388,444. Wages had increased on the average £3 per man per month, and this increase was borne by the. Government and the I company in equal shares. In the ! event of the loss of a vessel the loss i fell on the Government to extent fixed !by tho. charter. The party value for j compensation was fixed on the timo charter, and this was very much helow the ascertained present value. The Avenger, Waikawa, Aparinia, Eoscommoti, and Limerick were lost, while the Westmtath was seriously damaged. The Wairuna was lost owing to enemy action. All the vessels except the ■\Vairuna were lost under the British Government charter. The Aparima I was valued in the New Zealand char- | ter at £80,001), but under the Imperial j charter she would be paid for jon the ascertained value, which j was very much larger than that fixed ! in tho New Zealand charter, probably I more thaa double In the charters tho j British Government paid 3s. per ton i per month more for Domiuion-ownod i vessels. ■ j 'i'bs A T ew Zqaland Government, ,he I added, had the nghfc to purchase any j/6r the company'* vessels, except one, ; at the price filed in the charters. The : New Zealand Government now had i only one vessel on. charter outsido tho : Union fleet. The Cnminonwsaltii charj ter gave an average of 15s. 2d. por i gross ton per month, compared with ! 14s. Id. under the £<ew Zealand ciiari ter. Under the British charter tho ; average net rate per gross ton por ; month would bo 16s. 2d., and under i the United States charter 325. 2d. Xhu I company did not consider tho final re- .' conditioning ot the vessels very sori- ! ous. Some of the chartered vessels rc;turned empty, and, some brought sol- ; diers. Others brought cargo, such as I phosphates and coal. As the result of j negotiations with the Minister of Dej fence, the hire rate was fixed, at 20s. J per gross ton per month, the owners ; refunding tho wages of tho statutory j crews; The terms of the crews were : based on Admiralty charter B.

Duty to tho Country. At the outset tho company recognised its duty to tho Dominion, firstly, in iurthoraiice of active participation in the war, for which its plaut and organisation wero at the Government's disposal; secondly, in catering for the trade of the Dominion as tar as possible. 'The fixed and declared value in tho New Zealand charter party, in view of the appreciation in the value of the tonnage, had proved of very substantial value to the Government, as it restricted t the liability for compensation in tho case of loss, and placed responsibility on the company for the difference between the declared and the. actual value. At a later period it was agreed that the rates would be 20s. per ton while carrying troops, IBs. on the return voyage to New Zealand, and 10s. while refitting in New Zealand. This reduced the average rate considerably. The company agreed to accept quarter rates during the linal reconditioning of the vessels, although tho British Blue Book allowed full rates. Tho sum of £800,000 was received in repayment of a portion of the expenditure by the company on behalf of the Government. The company estimated that the amounts recovered for the ships lost would only go, half way towards supplying fresh tonnage.

Emergency Tonnage, The ships contracted tor in 1914 liad not yet ouch laid down, and in tlio meantime tue- company's trades, from winch cliartured ships liad been taken, were at tho mercy of foreign traders. In iiio effort to maintain tnese trades the company had chartered tonnage at very high rates, up to £700 per day in one case, to replace tonnage requisitioned by the Government. Captain M'Donald, Marine ' Superintendent for the Onion Company, said that about the middle of lUlo instructions were received to fit a vessel for COO horses and 450 men. When tlm work was well advanced urgent- instructions weiti received that the horse fittings would not be reuired. He understood that these instructions had been sent by the Imperial authorities. The fittings were removed at a cost of about £1000. They were of very little use for anything else. In, the afternoon Mr. Aiken said that the company had sold a largo number of stores to the Government, at what seemed a substantial advantage, as the company bought in large quantities The Commission will sit at Westport next week.