SHIPPING PROSPECTS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3315, 20 October 1919, Page 6

SHIPPING PROSPECTS.

ANXIETY OF‘ PRODUCERS; Govnnsnnm ACTION‘ URGED. 4, ' REPLY BY PRIME MINISTER. I T WELLINGTON, Oct. 17. I ‘ Shipping prospects were the subject of a deputation from the New Zealand Council of Agriculture received by the Prime;Minister this morning. Mr G. p Hunter, M.P. for Waipawa, introduced i_ the deputation, for which Sir. James . .Wilson acted as the principal spokesman. ~ - . The desire was to know,. stated Sir James, what was being done to put: the shipping companies on the basis ‘Of common carriers. The custom heretofore had been that" the contracts made with Shipping companies restrained other companies from entering into competition with them. That was a “very unfair system, and he was not sure that it did not come under the law dealing with restraint of stradie. flit was a matter of vital fimportanee. 13113 should nof"be allowed to continue. This was principally the case because it excluded any local shipping company‘ from -entering into compo-tiiton. W Mr Massey: Is not that_a matter for theproducerst . T ' Sir J as. Wilson: We cannot get them, to combine. ' Massey: Do you suggest legislav ‘ tiont , SHIPPING LII\TE POSSIBLE. I Sir James Wilson: If the present law T regarding restraint of trade does notl apply, legislation might be as well. There is a chance. of a. shipping company._. starting in New Zealand, and the . present situafibn would very much‘ militate‘ against its chances of success. It: had been said that it-was necessary_ to increase productioil‘,f'he_,continned. This would not be very much i use ifithe shipping companieslwere to get the‘ .-benefit‘.” There was need for Government action.‘ The Ifirst thing was to communicate with the -Imperial * authorities,_ and see what they proposed I _top._;dpp in the matter of transport.‘ They iflifl‘:f§aid",ithbey were going t 6 control ‘transj""?poi§t;;,3but they had not done anything "sré£;%“? ‘ T-Mr Massey: I would not say that: . K IMPERIAL AUTHORITIES’ PLANS.i Sir Jas. Wilson: Their activity so Tar; . has been confined to inland transport. They have done nothing about overseas ' . transport.‘ A ' \ I . Continuing, he suggested that the ' ‘first thing to be done was to ascertain what the policy of the’ Imperial authori- , ‘ties was likely to be. If there was ’ nothing to be got from them the shipping people might be approached to find i What were their intentions. He did “not: think.the people of the Dominion ‘ .would object to paying fair freight‘ rates, but they did not want to be at = the mercyof a combine- If not satisfaction could be obtained the only solu- ‘ _ tion for the producers -and the Govern- : ment, or .the Government: albnc. to charter vessels. The feeling of the con- 1 ference was that the [matter was so‘ important that Government action i should be taken. ‘ MEAT EXPORT DELEGATES. ’_ The only other question was thatpof A the people being sent Home to inves- ' tigate -the distribution of meat. They had been selected byireprcsentativeg of . p the meat industry, and a few of the { freezing ‘companies. They would inquire into conditions,’ and make the re.sults. of their investigations. known. Those selected enjoyed -the full confi--1 dence of the meat exporters. The mat- " ter of the distribution of meat was so ‘ important that it was felt that the ‘ _Goverl_linont should co-‘operate in the efiort being made to effect an irfvestiga. tion. . ’ -

.Mr l\lassey, in reply, said that some very important points had been snbinit- ‘ ted. Shipping was one of the most‘ vital questions aifecting the country. There was nothing "seriously Wrong at I the present time, thanks to the Imperial requisition. It was to “the interests of the Imperial anthorities to get the pro. ‘ duee away; and shipping was good, but it was necessary to look forward to the time when the requisition would cease, and, in ‘these circumsffinc.es; they wanted to avoid profiteering. That was to say, what was wanted was that the produce should be carried at fair rates. Two THINGS TO BE none. There were ‘two things to be done.| The first was to find out whether the? Imperial authorities were going to do as they decided some time ago, and control all shipping Within the Empire. It had been decided to‘ control frcights. hand, if necessary, to subsidise shipping lines. He did not know whether the Dominions would be called upon "69 help in this -direction, but if so, he did not think there WOul(l.‘b€ any objection. If it was found that the Imperial Govern-" mam; did not. intend "to goon it would he é.dVisabl.e to communicate with the shipping people themselves. -- * Invregard to the question of bring- ‘ ing éllippillg companies under the. reg'nlatioxls udffeeting common caxrriers, it ‘ ween» thing which ought to be done ‘,jZElef* did not know, howe\'el','whe_ther Lgtliere would" be tirne -to 4 do it this ljfféessiong» On ‘this and the question of

rebates, he would ask for the op_inioll of (the Solic'itor~'Generall'», PRESENT sHll'>l>lNe PROSPECTS. VThe position \\'asv”-‘tliat there. were 13' insulated ships in New Zenlnnd waters at ‘the present time. There were eight nl‘ore‘yteo_iarrive up to,_- félnd including Ndtieliiber;l and it was expected, that they would load 1,827,006‘ c‘areasci-s.y_ He could not say at the moment how many car-cases there were in store, but the nmuber wasbeing reduced in a very satisfactory manner. It had been suggested that the Government should ‘elianxter vessels. It was not a ditficult matter to charter tramp .steamers_. but it was very difficult to charter insuliited;a§"'ships. They were few in nifmlier and the owners were fully aware of their value. -Concluding, ll\'lT'l\l-2\‘ee}* rm-enfiioned ‘ the delegation wlfch the meat exporters -proposed to serfd to England :t,o'investigate the ‘iiiarkets. He said the Government would ‘give the members of it all tliewassis-tauce possible, both officially and unofiicially. ‘He knew the difficulties existing in England, and; felt convinced t-he delegation would: return with very useful information.‘ He thought that Sir Walter Buchanan who had vjiist returned from England,; would agree with him. ‘ ‘Sir Walter Buchanan: I do not‘ agree. You have a very good man inj Dr. Reakes.“ -Give him’-the power and? the facilities. and he will do every: thing that is needed. Mr Massey: Dr, Reakes is going with the others. Sir Walter Bueliananz Leave the others at home, otherwise you : will only give warning of what you are about to do. ' ‘Mr Massey: How much warning do‘ you think the traders at Home need; to inform them that an investigation‘ is going to be niade‘? . .