The Chronicle LEVIN. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1916. STATE OWNED STEAMERS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 September 1916, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1916. STATE OWNED STEAMERS.

-S !!(•'.» tin l i\sing of Parliament. n \eii 11:! s fallen over the alleged negotiations for tlio acquirement by tlie New Z ahnd Governmcnt of a lino of vessels to be run as a .State venture. Our render* may recollect that avlkmi tlie I i!:glit Hon. tlie Premier wa.s r|uostion- j ed :n the House of llopresontativc-s, lie gave a (leu:,11 to tlie statement that | tlie Government lia<h been uegotiatin<> t'i squire tlie I'nion Sieam Ship Com- ; panv's fleet: but against tliix it must 1m- lioi no in mind that- a ministerial ' den'al souief'iiie.s is true in the strict Ie;t:-r and yet not ill accordance with fact. .It may be found in the course Of liio next twelve months that some- . thing in the nature-of a .Sthte venture '

ill the way ol steamship prcprietorehop will lie made by the New Zealand Go-' vi": 11 nient; and inasmuch as strong opposition sueli as tlie Union Stc/un&hip ( . iii"a;iy would be able to exert would; I ;i > detrimental to both side.s. a scheme to acquire the company's fleet, doubtless w'll lie brought forward in due conn-e. For many years past the pivposM to acquire the Tnion S.S. Co. fleet 0:1 hchall of the dominion has been favorably regarded by some mombeiis of Parliament, but vested -intercuts hitherto have deterred every Government from bringing tbe proposal to ail effective stage. The war ond its exigences. ■however, have done a great deal to disabuse the mind* of the public in general public from many of the stuck objections against the State a.s controller of public conveniences. Jo our .mind it seeing but ii natural corrolary that State owners-hip of the railways should eventually be followed ■by Stak- ownership and eonfcrol <:£

j the waterway conveyance*. which, in j reality. are but adjuncts to the rails, j I he matter is ono of such vital .interest jto tin' continuance of profitable cl?j vo.opment of Zealand tliat it I should bo lU'ide a livo i.ssue in politics. | .Hid tile views of every candidate for | election to Parliament should be ascertained by public que.stioiiin.sj: whenever lie solicits tlie suffrages of the electors. The insufficiency of shipping that i« j hampering t.iudc audi general develop- [ nient at the present time is not likely I to end with the war; the disorganisa- | tion may continue for years. Unless | snnie far-sighted policy lie adopted by New Zealand to meet the dif-fibilitiets already existing and likely to become a.c<AMitiiatedi within the next year or two. the future of the dominion, and of the dairying and ngricultu.ral men in particular, will prove far from satis-

factory. TJie rocent decision -of tlio Government of tlic Australian Common- ' wealtfh to purchase u Ene of steamers on behalf of the State was no more leap in the dark ; it followed on the discovery by the Prime 'Minister of Australia that 'Great Britain was so hampered through .in su flip ion cy of shipping that .she was able to supply ships enough to transport to Europe the bounteous harvest of wheat that Australia Ivad ; grown in response to tlio ompire's i appeal in 1010 for .greater productivity. ; Hadi the needs of Great Britain idone been concerned-, Australia's shipping requirements would have been met; but the needs of Great Britain's allies in regard to shipping facilities had to come first, and the Premier of Ausjr tra'ia found himself in the position of i, hav.ing to face a disappointed <n grits cultural community when he returned 'home ar of having to adopt some heroic remedy. Australia's Tine of State-owned .steamers sprang from the | emergency. Next year or the year after—not impossibly this year—'Now j- Zealand ln'ny find herself >in like straits; as matters are already, our f primary producers are hampered in ml - put to loss through delays in shipping: t produce already at the ports. •If . the New Zealand Government acquires the Union Company's fleet, the .addition to it of a few oversea cargo vessVrs would be easily accomplished. and i thus tlio primary producers would be Mtoguardi?d ngninst a very present risk of loss. Wo cannot do bettor than conclude our article with an extract from the comments of the London Times' shipping reporter on the Australian State venture. Ho .v.iys: "The Australian scheme is of Socialistic character." "We i-n.ter.jcct at this juncture tlva.t State-

owned railways and State experiinetal firms and half a dozen other well-es-tablished institutions that we have in Now Zealand to-day also are purely and that it is time for us nil to judge such things on their real merits, instead of condemning them because they hear a red identificationtug. The Times' article continues "Tt was known that one of the principal busincfis objects of Mr. Hughes's v sit was to ««i rrange for tlfe transport of the bumper wheat crop. He holds strong views on shipping, is understood to have pleaded for a convpleto •reorganization of the chipping resource* el the empire, and to have urged that il this bad been done there would li'ive hern tonnage to spare to bring the Australian wheat to Europe. In any ease, he applied Tor a certain amount | < f shipping to meet- Anstil.ilia's need . during the war, and presumably would | have put his ease before the Curzon J <• inniittee. whose principal function is to distribute the available shipping acj ( -iiding to the needs of Great Brituin . •"'id her allies. Undaunted by the I refusal! which it linisifc be assumed lie . receivedl, Mr. Hughes went very qwietj lv to work- and bought fifteen (I-tl'o : steamers averaging between 7,000 anil 8,000 tonis deadweight. As it is understood that for the larger ships about £1-10,000 was paid, the total cost must hare represented some j t'2.000,000. The mere fact of the | distance of Australia from this country j I'litensifirs the importance of shipping j to Austral*), as the necessary link with | Europe. Even the regular mail ser- . vices have been great'y reduced; owing ft the requirements of liners bv the j Admiralty. Tt is imperative that. Australv* shoti'd receive ]>iyment for her I i""inc:pal export—the wheat crop—and , the principal critic'sm which shipping j authorities make is that it -would bare I been better for the Imperial a.uthorit'es to buy the crop and arrange for -its storage in Australia. There is no lack Avhatever of wheat in the northern ( hemisphere, the only difficulty is that c? til.) il sport."