FARMERS’ SHIPPING LINES.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 October 1921, Page 6

FARMERS’ SHIPPING LINES.

PROPOSAL NOT FAVORED. A COSTLY UNDERTAKING. “Owing to the excessive freights we are compelled to pay for the carriage of our produce, some people contend that the Government and the farmers should establish a shipping line to compete with the shipping companies, and so bring about a reduction in freight rates/’ said Mr. S. J. Ambury, retiring chairman of directors of the Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Company, at the annual meeting of shareholders. “One thing we may be sure of,” he proceeded, “and "that is that the experiment would be costly. But its success is not so certain.

“To achieve what is aimed at, the capital required- would be from £15.000,000 to £20,000,000, as it would require 40 ships, making two trips a year, to carry New Zealand produce. Without imputing any inability to the Government, I have no hesitation in stating that Government management is juore expensive than private enterprise. Official management cannot successfully compete with personal interests, however good the officials may be. The political element is too great a handicap for successful business, and we cannot expect the Government to run a shipping line as successfully as the shipping companies. What we require is reasonable freight rates and such a service as was provided by the shipping companies before the war.”