The Daily News. SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 1919. RESTORING SHIPPING SERVICES.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 January 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 1919. RESTORING SHIPPING SERVICES.

Until the exigencies of the war deprived the dominions of regular shipping facilities it was not fully realised how vital ocean transport was to all classes of the community. They now know by experience that this connecting link with the markets of the world is a prime necessity, and that any interruption of the services means a corresponding dislocation of industries, leading to enhanced prices of the necessaries of life as well as causing great inconvenience. Considering the magnitude of the demand on merI chant shipping during the war, New Zealand has fared comparatively well in spite of the restricted shipping facilities, and the increased freights arid war risks have not sen asly affected the people as a whole. It will still he some time before it will be possible to return to normal conditions owing to the need for repatriating the forces sent to Eurapf*. but the

ships that bring hack the troops are-available for carrying our produce to the markets of the Homeland, so that already the congestion here is being relieved, and the outlook decidedly more promising. The submarine menace has no longer to be encountered, so that merchant ships can dispense with the convoys which became so imperative in the later stages of hostilities and considerably delayed, though it effectively safeguarded, the ships in their perilous voyages to Britain. The debt which the world owes to the mercantile marine has always been large, but during the war period it mounted higher and higher and forms a monument to the intrepidity and

i ; !i sense of duty which characterises those employed therein. The losses sustained through sub- ■ marine piracy were so heavy that at one' time the position became ■ alarming, hut there was always a : serene faith and confidence that the menace would be overcome, : and that is what happened. Yet : during the war period the British • mercantile marine was reduced by ; 3,500,000 tons, and according to '■ an estimate by the Ministry of Shipping it will be five or six years before we shall reach in point of : tonnage shipping in aggregate ' equal to that which we should ; have had but for the war. Every ' effort is being made to overtake 1 the shortage, and it is probable 1 that now men and machinery can ; be diverted to this purpose the ravages will speedily be made : good. It is marvellous what has ' already been accomplished in this ' direction despite the concentration ' on war work and the labor troubles. At the latter end of 1914 there were about 250,000 men . engaged in shipbuilding and its kindred industries, and when the : war came to an end there were 381,000 men so employed, but the naval repair work absorbed about seventy per cent, of these workers, ; leaving only some 116,000 available for mercantile ships. In the demobilising process priority is ■ given to shipyard workers returning to their pre-war occupation, and if to that number is added the men released from naval work there would seem to be a prospect of increasing the tonnage during the present year so as to bring it up to three millions. Moreover a large number of ships acquired by the British Government for war purposes will be released, though the transition from State to private control will be regulated by the essential needs of the Allies. When discussing shipping matters the Imperial "War Conference recommended that shipping on the principal routes should be brought, under review, and that all matters connected with ocean freights and facilities should be investigated by Imperial boards. Both America and Japan are putting forth great efforts to capture a portion of the world's shipping trade, but the question of State-owned mercantile fleets will, doubtless, occupy considerable attention. One of the lessons of the war has been to demonstrate the evil of being at the mercy of shipping companies, and it would seem that in the reconstruction process that now must be entered upon this question of State-owned ships should loom large. The Dominions are vitally interested in this matter, and they have suffered heavily at the hands of the shipowners. Nationalisation of transport service" on land has proved very ben: ' ■i-.i, and there seems to be no valid reason for not extending this principle to tians-ocean purposes. "We may have to wait awhile before steps are taken in this direction, but the matter is one that should be kept in the foreground as a duty to be performed when the fitting opportunity arises. The British Board of Trade has drawn attention to the pre-war objections to preferential shipping rates for foreign goods and to the need for improving the communications within the Empire. These are subjects in which the Dominions are very greatly concerned, especially in view of the desirability of making the Empire, as far as possible, selfcontained and independent of the countries against whom we have been at Avar. The need for expanding ou? industries and developing resources is generally admitted, and the carrying out of that desirable effort will necessitate a considerable addition to the ocean transport service. New Zealand would do well to be in the van of this progressive movement and to provide the necessary facilities for the carriage of our produce to the markets of the world.