PASSAGE RATES FOR OCEAN TAVEL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 175, 19 April 1919, Page 2

PASSAGE RATES FOR OCEAN TAVEL

HIGH WORKING COST

COMPLAINTS FROM INDIA ("Times" Shipping Correspondent.) London, February 21. There is good reason to believe that the question,of the high passage rates from India, respecting which the correspondent of tho "Tillies" at Delhi has recently cabled thrice, is being carefully walchcd by the authorities in London, and that general satisfaction would be given if the circumstiinccs'" should warrant.. » ■ reduction. The feeling here seems to be that naturally residents in India regard .the (inestion from their own point of view, and. unliko all those closely concerned in.this country with shipping, they liavd not had fully brought home to them the effect of the enormous increase in the cost of coal, stores, -provisions, wages, and of all other items incidental to the carrifljre of passengers by sea. As was pointed out by Mr.. Montagu,. Secretary of State l'oi: India, in a written reply, published on Saturday, to a question on the subject, the rates of passage have been iixed by the Ministry of Shipping. Tho present rates were fixed a short time ago, and it is elaitned that vhe increase then decided upon was by no means in tlie same high ratio as the rise in expenses. It is felt by authorities in London that in the present highly unsettled state of affairs any amendment would be entirely inopportune. Reduction In Cargo Freights. It cannot be said, either, that the outlook for low passage fares on any oceaii route for some time lo como is at all promising. Very big reductions in carj;o freights from this country lo India, Australia. and .New Zealand are now coming into operations, and these reductions affect the great bulk of'tho cargo, since most of the outward cargo during tlie. war was carried at commercial,- as d;sVinet from Government, rates. . To take an extreme example, rough-weight cargo for Australia is now being booked at. 60s. pei- ton, as compared witli_2l)9s. during the crisis of the war and 150s. immcdiatelv after the armistice was signed. The present.reductions are due to tho cessation of the heavy cost of war insurance, to tho fact thiit, with the release o£ shipping from direct State service, cargo space is now becoming much move freely available, and to the necessity (X£ encouraging tho rc-cstablishiuenr of oversea commerce.

' .As everybody knows who bus any occasion to travel, passenger accommodation oil practically all routes is now exceedingly scarce. The passeuger liners havo suffered heavily through the destruction caused by Iho enemy during the war, and. owing to the concentration of the skipyurds available for mercantile work on Vood-cfti'i'viiig wnd oilier simple cargo ships, the passenger fleets have not been replenished. The estimated cost oi building ships of this type at the present ,timu is tremendous, and it seems likely that if ships are to be built at this high, cost, the effect, as well as that of the increased working excuses, will be reflected in the passage rales. ° , As an example of the present, lugh cost of construction, ft certain ownership was contracting ju.st before the war for llirc-e pasvcnger and cargo shins, each.of which was to cost ,£(100.000. Xothing could bo done to build the ships during the war, but the ownership wished the construction to be proceeded with after the conclusion of the armistice afc the earliest possible time. The builders replied that they could only construct (lie ships on the' "tinic and line" basis, i.e., the shipowners yayiiiy iho cost of labour mid materials, an allowance for establishment charges, and a percentage profit to the builders. - Tho latter estimated—they could do nothing more than estimate-; that the cost of each ship, if the cost of labour and material did not advance fur. ther materially, would work out at about .61,700,000, instead of the ,£(i00,000 at which each of the ships could'have been, built before the war. Tho immediate result has been that the shipowners have ■instructed tho builders to proceed ,with the construction of one ship ouly. ! llie ultimate result will be that, there will be two fewer passenger ships in that particular trade, implying less passenger .accommodation than would have been provided, aud that the .single ship willhave to earn by means of passenger fares and cargo'freights a return on. a much larger capital outlay than would have been necessary if the' shipbuilding cost had not risen.

Effect 011 Passenger Fares. Again, it is apparent that the supply of large first-claw passenger ships in the North Atlantic trade is at\ present very small. The Olympic, one of. the three British "monster ships" in the service, is believed to have cost about <£1,200,000 to build in 1911. Unofficially it has been estimated that the cost of building a similar vessel at the present timo-would be about £3,500,000. There is no" sign yet of any intention to--build-another such ship, and it can well be.imagined that the authorities would think.very carefully before entering into .i ny, such business. ■ If they did it would seem unreasonable to suppose that passenger 'toivs could be maintained-on -the same level as in the case of shipping costing about a third of the money. The fact is that the present shipbuilding situation is in many respects txtrcmely unsatisfactory, and it is likely to wmain so us long as the costs pf labour and material continue uo entirely .unstable. When these costs ara stabilised builders and owners will know where they tland and will be able to lay out their programmes. The whole nation will then gain the benefit. In the meantime other countries can note with satisfaction the gradual assimilation of working costs to rhe sumo level in this country, and abroad, and making generous use of the latest, labour-saving equipments they are preatly developing llieir own shipbuilding and kindred industries.