SUEZ CANAL DUES.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43099, 1 June 1907, Page 4

SUEZ CANAL DUES.

'An unauo&essM attempt' by th 6 Commonwealth of Australia to bring about a, reduction in. the' Suez 'Canal :is //awaited in -a Parliamentary White which contain® copies of the correspondence on the subject between c ,ifcho Governor-General, the Board of Trade), the Colonial Office, the Foreign Office, the Treasury, and the British directors of the canal. The Austrar , liams appeal uxgdd that the cheapen-J n ing of the canal'route would be of ■ • considerable benefit to all the British possessions lying east of Egypt, and that as the dividend of the undertaking was 28 per cent, there was ample margin for a concession. In an interesting reply the British directors state that while there has been a six-fold increase' in the canal traffic during the thirty years'of its existence, little or no relationship can be traced between this-.increase and. the reductions in rates which, have been made. The growth has been proportionate to the development of com- . 1 1 ■ .1. *n.'f+O on

UIfcHUV, CLiIU more importance to improving the waterway than to lower dues; these improvements would be imperilled by further, concessions. The charges cannot therefore be regarded 'as a deterrent; '. at the same time they have been reduced by-14 per . cent, during the last three years.- -As to the present dividend of 28 ,per cent,, it _is pointed out that from the formation of the company up !to the last return the average has .amounted in round , figures to 12| par cent., while owing to the increase' in the value of the shares, the return to purchasers for some years past has just ranged bettween 3 and 4 per cent. The body of shareholders, of - course, was interested in the growth of the dividend, but. the British directors were still' hopeful that ai method of adjusting the partition of surplus revenue more acceptable to the client® may be eventually arrived at. That the inter-Empire trade ‘ Would be beneficially affected, addi the directors, is no doubt a valid reason for pressing for further reductions," bub these would have a precisely opposite effect upon the foreign 1 rivals of our maritime commerce

through the canal, and it would be futile to urge this argument upon the Continental members of the board. As a proof that a reduction in the tariff does -not necessarily mean an increase in v the traffic, it is stated that during the past year, and immediately following a reduction of 75 centimes per ten, the receipts would have been considerably less but for the return of . Russian troops. As British directors. ■ therefore, the- upge. in conclusion, that any further reductions in the tariff Would nractioailv amount to a subsidlv to, ships usinc the canal, and would involve a pecuniary loss to His Majesty’s 'Government. These views having received the endorsement of the • departments mentioned, Lord > Elgin informed the Governor-Genera' of the Commonwealth that the Treasury and the Board of Trade did net think that anything would be gained by an attempt to pursue the* object in question without due regard to the . interests of those who had a purely financial Concern in he canal.