BRITISH SHIPPING.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 306, 10 December 1936, Page 6

BRITISH SHIPPING.

?! P. AND 0. CHAIRMAN. r J'.| fj Fears For Fate Of British ' Trade In Pacific. fl ■ Press Association —Copyright. jU r ■ Load. ec. 9. lg .Fears for. British shipping -ere ex-.-pressed by the chairman m the P. |hnd O. Steam Navigation (J.opipany, *|he Hon. at the an•jiiual meeting of the company. !*J“In the board’s opinion tho uncer||ainties of British shipping are such Jthat it doeij, not see the prospect of Jjji return tqelarger distributions, ’’ said •Nr. Shaw. “Indeed, the figures avail- - X Spble for the current year are not as ’good as those of last year." ■ij Referring to the Canadian-Austra-Itian Line, he said; “If it, is wioed out vzhbtly uneconomic competition an wilMSe given to other lands of how easy it is to extinguish British lines anywhere and how British hesitation, timidity .and inaction lent themselyes txJ the. process. It would be Reprising .If thja pubjic here and in the Dominions quietly tolerates the wiping out of British links m these waters. " - . ....... “Britain's merchant/tonnage to-day is aFout equal to carrying our trade inttme of-pestfeo and would be uneqqpl tasfi: in •wartime Japan■ege—Ships ’ atO- ■ increasingly invading the coastal trade of the British Em- . Kong, Singapore, n-“-tnrg, Colombo, Indian ports, African | ifrritoties and South Africa. Ail I trail’s doors are closed to qs, but all • open to her. The cards are t lot ! bur hands yet . we do not play '■ For years British shipping has downhill, and it will coni to go downhill as long as le- ; JKVnsible authorities do nothing to ■ eave it." ... ? . ” I Svir. Shaw- warmly applauded Aus-' Bella’s and New Zealand’s legislation tosecure their own purely local trade. >