HUGHES’S ONLY RESOURCE.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 160, 18 July 1916, Page 3

HUGHES’S ONLY RESOURCE.

BRITISH POLICY CRITICISED

PROSPECTS OF PROFITS

The shipping correspondent of tac London Times says: “Shipowners naturally are not enamoured of the new Commonwealth line of vessels, but they recognised that Mr Hughes’s position may have seemed to him intolierablo owing to the British shipping policy of the Government to beat down the paice of Atlantic freights by directing vessels into the Atlantic trade'. The result was that the price of wheat fell, while th e price of Australian freights was not reduced. Consequently the price of Australian wheat dropped perilously near the unprofitable point. The British shipping action queered Mr. Hughes’s wheat market. The reasonable course would have been to meet Mr. Hughes in the matter, but theur is no indication that this was done. He was told that ships could be employed to better advantage than in bringing wheat from Australia. This was probably true, but it was unreasonable to expect that Mr. Hughes would sra..d idly by and see his wheat rot white enormous supplies wclre beilt drawn from the United States. It was j false economy to refuse Mr Hugnes to loan of ships, thus driving him to seize them, practically by force Possibly kmer prices would have been paid if only requisitioned ships were bought, but very satisfactory profits are assured. He could charter the ships for a year at 35/- a ton monthly, and after deducting for working expenses 5/- a ton monthly, the profit ’on each ship would be £144,000 a year, which would b e immune from the excess pro-, fit tax if the vessels were removed from the United Kingdom registry.”