The Chronicle LEVIN. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1917.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 3 November 1917, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1917.

The Shipping Difficulty. A Levin merchant has received an interesting letter from a Melbourne firm concerning the latest advices from England regarding the prospects of the fulfilment of orders. The British agents point out that the position relating to the acceptance of orders by the manufacturers is daily becoming worse owing to the drastric restrictions on metal and other raw material. After the goods have been delivered there is the license for shipping to be obtained, whilst the delay in shipping itself makes it utterly impossible to get con-, signments forward inside twelve months from date of order. It is now taking from nine to ten weeks "

.for letters to . reach England, while owing to the serious shortage in freight through the submarine menace' this particular firm had cjozens of shipments lying at certain ports for from three to four montlis. In fact, there is one instance of a consignment of axles for Tasmania which has been at a port for six months, and when the mail left had not even been definitely accepted for shipment. The British firm expresses the opinion that the oversea Dominions have not the slightest conception of the critical situation existing in England or the serious possibility of the export trade being entirely shut off, otherwise clients would be taking advantage of every possibility of getting out as much stock as they could possibly lay their hands on.