The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1919. AMERICAN SHIPBUILDING COMPETITION.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 April 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1919. AMERICAN SHIPBUILDING COMPETITION.

The statement recently made by Mr. Hurley, the American Minister in Charge of Shipping, cannot fail to be of interest throughout the British Empire. We are told that during the past eighteen months Jhe United States Shipping Board has constructed 3,640,406 dead weight tons of shipping, and that in 1920 America will possess 16,732,700 tons of oCean-going steel ships of which the Government will own seventy per cent. The fact that the United States will possess almost half of the world's merchant tonnage is certainly not disquieting, for the more vessels there are available the better it will be. We have suffered severely from shortage, and it will be a relief to feel that the future holds out prospects of more than a sufficiency. In the closing days of 1918 Lord/ Pirrie, in the course of an interview, stated that, as a shipbuilder, he welcomed the new American competition. "It is impossible," he said, "that during the next ten years we can build too many ships, even though we all build as rapidly as we can." It had always been his hope, he asserted, that America should eiK gage in friendly rivalry with Britain in shipbuilding, instead of leaving the field open to Germany, our most formidable rival in the years before the War. He thought that competition with the American shipbuilder, who had to reduce the cost of construction by using the newest and best machinery, would be beneficial to the British trade, in which wages had been permanently increased. That is exactly the right spirit in which to face the problem. British shipyards are, for the time being enCumbered with ships under repair, but there need be no fear lest the shipbuilders, with their fund of inherited skill and experience, should fail to do themselves justice When normal conditions return. An official return shows that the net loss of British Shipping during the war, up to the end of October amounted to 3,443,012 tons, the total losses from all causes being 9,031,828 tons, but Britain built 4,342,296 tons of new shipping, j bought 530,000 abroad, and captured 716,520 lons of enemy shipping. The Allies and neutrals suffered a total loss of 6,021,958 tons, but they built 6,507,231 tons of new shipping, and captured 1,676,155 tons of enemy shipping, so that the war ended with over two million tons of shipping to the good. Apparently America has been smitten by a fever of maritime energy. It is characteristic of Americans to hanker after big things and to talk according ly. The shortage of shipping dur ing the work induced the authorities to enter upon a construction programme of exceptional vastness, and this Avas followed by an wakening to the fact that if the United States was to own more merchant tonnage than any other nation, her supremacy would not be complete unless lier navy was at least equal to that of any other Power, hence the evolving of a huge naval programme. To live up to big ideas is an expensive i hobby, and much as the Americans j value being ahead of other coun-! tries in big things they like to see : some corresponding return in dol | lars so that if they overbuild mer j chant ships in the near future it j may not only hurt their pride, but their pocket. It is quite conceivable that they should set their hearts on having the largest navy in the world, thereby flattering' their vanity, but when they com-

pete with Britain and other nations in merchant ships it is a matter of business, and must be subject to the law of supply and demand. Mr. Hurley advocates selling the Government - owned ships, to be operated by American citizens under no restrictions other than the fixing of the maximum freight. If that plan is adopted it should materialise as soon as possible while the market is favor able. At present more ships are urgently wanted, but when the supply exceeds the demands there will be a slump in prices and profits, and the Americans may find that they can pay too heavily f-jv their indulgence in big things. For the time being their shipbuilding efforts are of great service, \and may act as a stimulus to British output. Possibly the United States energy in this matter is not whol ly unconnected with Japanese ac tivities.