The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1918 ANNOYING SHIPPING UNCERTAINTY.

Taihape Daily Times, 27 September 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1918 ANNOYING SHIPPING UNCERTAINTY.

(With which is Incorporated The f.&ihape Post and Walummo News).

The shipping question, next to winning the war, is the most troublesome this country is concerned with. There isnothing new to be said about it because Government keeps very nearly all there is to know to itself. A little soothing Information is dealt out intermittently as occasion suggests, much as a mother gives out sweets to her children, and it is doubtful whether the country merits any other treatment, for, Tjeyond hounding the Government into legalising some great act of robbery to be perpetrated on the helpless masses, no effort Is used to extract that shipping information that it is in the vital interests of all, and should be in the first pages of the alphabet of commerce. The Hon. Mr. Guthrie ought to know more about the question than he pretends tc know; the manager of the erstwhile New Zealand Shipping Company adds a little salve to the homeopathic dose the Minister has administered to producers and people by telling them that the American shipping, decision may not apply to boats running between Nsw Zealand and London, but only to those trading between Australasia and New York. This country wants to know just what the American shipping control is and how it is going to affect the coming seasons meat and wool trade. Surely we are not asked to believe that neither the Government or managers of shipping companies know nothing more than they have made public?- To be forewarned is to be fore-armed; the producers and people of New Zealand must be prepared to suffer even considerable inconvenience and perhaps some loss if all ships are necessary in defeating Germany, but nothing can be gained by keeping the -country in ignorance of the true and exact shipping situation. Alarming rumours are becoming current that, if unI 7 j true, would not be listened to, and if I partially true the sting would be tak- ; en out of them by frank Ministerial ! information. It is said that America’s | foot was pressed down very hard I against dribs and drabs of men being | sent to France to merely hold Ger- | many in check; America had entered [ the war to win it, and to win it in the S shortest possible time. Ships were a sine qua non in getting men, muni- ! tios, equipment, and foocf into the I fighting area, and those ships would I have to be arranged for. America wanted, and would have, no dilly- ; dally, hand-to-mouth war policy thrust j upon her, and the outcome was first the pooling of all Allied shipping. Then came the news that Mr. Hoover, the American Food Controller, saw It ! was necessary to withdraw Allied ships from Australasia and South Ami erica. Subsequently to this the Hon. I Mr. Guthrie published an intimation I that the New Zealand shipping posij tion was likely to continue improvei ment until Christmas; he thought Mr. j Hoover’s requisitioning would not I curtail to any great extent the steam-

ers trading between tbis country and Great Britain. The New Zealand Skipping Company’s manager thinks similarly, but bow unsatisfying tbis thinking is about vital matters on which there should be no room for thinking. It is a matter on which there should be no difficulty about speaking with absolute certainty. Despite the thinking of Ministers and shipping managers irritating rumours and undercurrents of suspicion are rife; it is believed the American shipping mandate includes every ship wherever they are trading, with no exceptions at present, and neither peo-

ple or .producers would make any com-

plaint so long~hs they were given ample time to prepare for 'such an occasion, People most nearly affected have expressed the opinion that shipping could be reduced to the utmost limits while America required it to transport troops, food and war niaterial. The shortage would only con-

tinue for a few months at most, and it should be possible to find storage if it is used for the national good ra-

fiier than for individual men or companies. So far as shipment of reinforcements goes, the Minister of Defence has already advised that there are ample meii to keep up New Zealand’s army at its stipulate!!'strength without shipping any more men, therefore, New Zealanders have little to complain about if the American shipping statement indefiniteness means the very utmost it may be used to convey. “To obtain the necessary tonnage for the transportation of American troops and foodstuff to Europe it would be necessary to withdraw Allied ships from Australasian and South American trade.” The Hon. Mr. Guthrie and a shipping manager think Mr. Hoover does not mean what he says, but if he only Intended to refer to steamers trading between New Zealand and New York the statement would hardly be worth while. We are of opinion that America intends just what Mr. Hoover has stated and that the transportation of troops and food from America will have precedence of everything. All the concern about the statement, the mystery, uncanniness, uncertainty, is caused by that “wish father to the thought” interpretation put upon it in New Zealand. America either means what Mr. Hoover has stated, or she doesn’t, which is it? The authorities should have no difficulty In answering such an extremely vital question. If ten or twenty times the number of troops and quantity of food can be sent to France in a given time than from Australasia, the American demand is reasonable, none will deny that. Our meat and wool will not suffer much by an extra month or two of storage, so long as it is fully understood that storage is needed in time to arrange for it; and our reinforcements are not likely to spoil through any delay in shipping them away Annoying uncertainty about the whole subject is caused by Mr. Hoover making a statement which' responsible people here says he nor America means. In the interests of the whole community it is earnestly hoped the Government . will make an early statement upon the s shipping situation that will remove all i doubt.