The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. MONDAY, MAY 17, 1915. SHIPPING SHORTAGE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 209, 17 May 1915, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

MONDAY, MAY 17, 1915. SHIPPING SHORTAGE.

(With which is incorporated The Tai hape Poet um« W&imarino News.)

The shipping question is troubling the people in England almost |«;m»';cjt .as.'.it is the handlers of in 'ftTew Zealand, al-i-hong'w r-oi m emit.' tH same ivay ,

the platform and through the medium of newspapers, members of Parliament arc expressing themselves in no uncertain tones. It seems that despite the admittedly huge profits some shipping companies are making, they arc still holding back, and are accused of creating a shortage merely for purposes of extortion. Our producers are being inconvenienced and the whole Dominion is, in consequence, being faced with a probability of being unable to market that which is necessary for our upkeep. The latest develnnmont is that wo have to accept

charity from the Imperial Government. We want shipping; Mr. Massey asked for the Delphic to be sent back in ballast, and the British Board of Trade is sending the ship back at a cost of £15,000. The Imperial authorities are paying this money so that one extra ship may be made available for our produce transit. We do not presume to be in a position to criticise shipping companies, and as it is altogether impossible tor us to get the inside information that would enable us to do so, we must content ourselves with repeating statements that have been made by members of the Bn-

tish Government and members ot Parliament, to whom all the information and necessary data »s accessible. A month or two ago, when shipping freights were very nn-ch lower than they are now, Mr. Winston Churchill, from his plac:' in the House, said that he cur.!-! v-rl understand tho discontent among shipowners at present in consequence of Admiralty requisitions. At the beginning of this war shipowners were only too glad to get their ships taken by the Government owing to the uncertainty of the naval situation and the possibility that ordinary cargoes would not be forthcoming. But a change has taken place. The naval situation is assured for the present and the requisitioning powers exercised un-

der Royal Proclamations have enabled the Admiralty to insist on rates of hire, which, though they give a handsome profit to the shipowners, are very much less than can be gained in the open market. The Admiralty rates are now a half or a third below the market rates, and cannot, of course, be. expected to be popular with shipowners. Hence these complaints by shipowners, and hence the talk of incapacityin certain quarters. He added, "I feel it my duty to defend the Admiralty Transport Department." Members of the House regarded the statement as absolutely unanswerable. It is only necessary to grasp the two main facts put forth with Mr. Churchill's usual direct lucidity to realise what

shipowners are doing towards rescuing their country from the death-grip it is now in with the most powerful and the most unscrupulous enemy that any nation in the history of the world has been assailed by. It is necessary for a clear understanding to note that the Admiralty is paying seventeen shillings instead of the then market rate of 35 shillings, and that even at the lower figure there is a handsome profit for the shipowner. Grasp also the fact that before the Navy the Empire's Navy—had secured the command of the seas the shipowners were offering their ships atany old price, but that as soon as the Navy had made the seas secure for them up went their prices to the present fa'oulous heights. These people are in the position to make money out of the national emergency, and are not hesitating to run that opportunity to the limit of its possibility. It is

actually reported that a great shipowner has said to an interviewer: "We do not say that we are not making money, but we have a right to make money." Some make money out of war conditions fairly, others unfairly. Our produce is wanted and an extraordinary demand arises for it; our farmers have not said, "You must pay us 100 per cent, more or we won't sell it"; they have taken for their wool the prices offered for it in open competition—prices, the making of which were beyond their control. Such profits are fairly made, but had they acted in the way shipowners have, according to Mr. Churchill, their ■ profits would not have been fairly made. The aspect is that while som: are devoting their energies, their money, and their lives to save the Empire, there are men unscrupulous enough to make use of the emergency to make fabulous profits and grow rich on the Empire's misfortunes.