SHIPPING MATTERS.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 September 1917, Page 2

SHIPPING MATTERS.

(To the Editor.) j Dear SrR, —At the present time it j is especially interesting to‘ review i the Annual Report of the Westland Shipping Coy, Ltd., which was published in the “ West Coast Times ” on the ..of April last. The report deals with the financial } r ear 1 ending 31st March, 1917, and the part most worthy of note at this juncture is the following: —“The earnings for the year, £6,914 2s id, may be considered satisfactory, but not commensurate with the increased expenses. Labour cost £3,842 12s id, and the result is that although the freights charged run from 13s 4d to 39s a ton the profit left is only 4M per ton with no insurance on the vessel. Freights have been advanced to the extent of £863, but the cost of labour has advanced £1,036. Further advances have just granted the seamen and wharf labourers that will ' cost - the “ Defender ” approximately an additional £I,OOO per year. A substantial advance in freight rates follows, as a matter oi course, but it is a question that the shareholders will be asked to decide at the next meeting whether the company will carry on with advanced rates or the steamer be laid up.” The company certainly deserves the thanks of those whom it is serving—and that means a large pro- | portion of the people in this district j —for the clear manner in which it | laid the position before the public; and it especially deserves the thanks and support ot this district for the evident desire to maintain, for the benefit of the port, a service out of which the shareholders are getting a most miserable return. An analysis of the figures submitted above show that while the freight earnings during the year advanced per cent, the cost of labour advanced 37 per cent. If the additional £I,OOO mentioned above be taken into account, the cost of labour will have advanced per cent. The report shows that during the previous year the earnings of the steamer exceeded the cost of labour by £3,244 10s; out of which excess all other working expenses etc had to be paid. During the year dealt with in the report the earnings exceeded the cost of labour by the lesser sum,of £3,071 10s. At the commencement of the present year, April ist, concessions were granted the seamen and wharf labourers that would increase labour costs so as to leave a margin of only' £2,071 los wherewith to pay all other charges—that is it the earnings of the “Defender” remained the same p and these, mark you, can only be increased by “ passing it on ”to the consumer. That is to say, the Company would only have 12s 9d wherewith to pay for whac 20s had previously purchased. And it means that in order to make up for the advanced cost of labour—even if all other costs remained the same as betore—the Company, would need to advance the rate of freights to such an extent that the previous 13s 4d per ton freight would become 20s io£d, and the 39s per ton freight would become 61s. It appears that if the articles of food that the “Defender” brought to the Coast • advanced in the same proportion, a bag of sugar that now costs 17s 6d would have to be charged 27s and a small loat would be Bfd. By the time honest workers were paying those rates where, in the name of reason, would labour costs have soared to, and in sympathy therewith what dizzy height would cost of living ultimately reach ? The foregoing figures are commended to the serious consideration of all those who have to buy any commodities that are affected by shipping freights; and such members of the community are asked to