Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1938 PACIFIC SHIPPING.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 42, 18 January 1938, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1938 PACIFIC SHIPPING.

Months and months ago the question of maintaining the British flag in the Pacific became a live question. The subsidy to American shipping lines caused the Union Company to abandon the San Francisco service, and it was recognised that if British shipping was to hold its own in the Pacific it must be placed in a position to compete on even terms with American liners, and success would follow one or the other according to the efficiency displayed. The matter was discussed at the Imperial Conference in May of last year, and it was generally understood that the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand had agreed to subsidise a British line, the subsidies being pro rata. Plans were immediately started for building two fast luxury liners and at the psychological moment New Zealand called for conditions that have effectually held up the scheme, and now it seems quite unlikely that the scheme will go through during the current year.

It seems that the New Zealand Government desires that one of the two proposed liners should be registered in the Dominion and operate under New Zealand articles. This in effect means that the New Zealand Government desires 50 per cent, control of the line, and Britain or Aus-. tralia the other 50 per cent. Australia, it seems, is indifferent as to whether the vessels are registered in Britain or Australia. The Prime Minister (lit. Hon. M. J. Savage) says that this is a misrepresentation of the position, and that the Government has not changed its attitude. He does not deny the charge that New Zealand requires one of the vessels to be registered in the Dominion, but admits it by implication when he says “We want British shipping lines in the Pacific run under conditions that we can be proud of. We are not going to accept anything either for seamen or passengers.” The Government’s main concern appears to be fixing the runningcosts, and no shipowner would tolerate an outside party fixing the costs. In any case .shipowners could illustrate the position by pointing out the effects on local manufacturers of making- their costs rigid. Shipowners will not bet their money, under such conditions, on success. The Prime Minister also referred to the high cost of shipbuilding. There is no doubt that the costs at the moment are high but they may stay high indefinitely. The vessels might by now have been a long way towards completion, and the costs of

shipbuilding last year were not unreasonable. Britain and Australia could arrange a plan for a service whereby New Zealand would be cut out. The vessels going and coming from San Francisco could call at Suva, and then go on to Australia. The situation calls for the most prudent handling.