BRITISH SHIPPING

Hokitika Guardian, 28 October 1933, Page 5

BRITISH SHIPPING

EMPIRE ACTION NEEDED SERIOUS. EQflt EIGN, INRQADS ftJr'ted Pres* Association — Bv Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) • LONDON, October 18. British shinping is fighting for its life. ‘ Sixty: thousand officers and men are ashore,who formerly served 1,800,000 tons of shipping,. now idle. “I hot eve that only the Empire acting together' ean save shipping, consequently I urge the Imperial Conference to consider solely the creation , of a common Empire f shipping - policy,*' wites Sir Abe Bailey,-one of the principal Transvaal mine owners, in the Daily Mail. . He criticises the South African Government’s action in subsidising Italian -lines to the extent of £150,000 a year in order to,retain, and increase South Africa’s meat trade with Italy as fatal ■to the Imperial policy, which is essential to the prosperity of the British Commonwealth. Sir Abe Bailey emphasises that the Italians obtained charters at uncommercial rates to load wheat from Australia. An Italian ship completed a round voyage with the- Empire, . earning £llOO for the Italian Government, enabling it to undercut British-ship-ping. British ships before the worried 52 per cent of world trade, he adds. To-day they carry only 40 per cent.. Britain has 300,000 tons less than in 1914. A .l : Sweden, Holland, France, ; Spain, Denmark 1 and Greece have nearly doubled their tonnage, and Italy and Norway have more than doubled it. Japan and A inerjea show a much greater increase