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Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 291, 28 August 1918, Page 8

The Acting-Minister for the Navy (Mr. Poynton), who is in charge of shipping, recently expressed his opinion that the Commonwealth should conduct their shipping 6ervico on a commercial basis. In his opinion tho Commonwealth was penalising their own line of vessels by insisting that they should charge only a certain rate while other vessels -were nblo to pick up all the plums of the freight. The British Government recently commandeered a vessel which was to have sailed from America to Australia with, among her cargo, 120.000 cases of kerosene, for which freight, at 12s. 6d. a case was to have been paid. Tho cargo had to be transferred to a Commonwealth Tessel, which carried tho kerosene at ss. 9d. a case. When wheat freights rere £11 10b. a ton the Commonwealth vessels carried wheat at .£7 10s. a ton, and to-day the Imperial Government was unsuccessfully offering £13 10s. a ton to neutral shipping for the Kline business.