The Daily News. SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 1922. THE SOUTH AFRICAN STRIKE

Taranaki Daily News, 11 March 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 1922. THE SOUTH AFRICAN STRIKE

Although details are still insufficient to enable a just estimate of the rights or wrongs of the strike which has been proclaimed in the Transvaal gold fields,, it must be evident to anyone who has kept in touch with the question, that the situation is, to say the least, critical. General Smuts, the South African Prime Minister, put the whole matter in a nutshell when, in the course of a recent conference with representatives of the South African Mine Workers’ Union at Johannesburg, he declared that the gold industry in,South Africa was largely dependent for its continued existence upon “a mere fortunate accident.” “We are,” General Smuts continued, “living to-day by the grace of what is called the gold premium. If that premium were to disappear, half of this Witwatersrand would close up, more than half our mines would close up, and we should be face to face with probably the biggest, crisis that we have had to face in our whole history.” Immensely complex as is the whole question of exchange, the phenomenon of the gold premium is curiously easy to understand. The demand for gold at the present time, when the great majority of the world’s currencies are depreciated in value, is enormous. The demand, in fact, largely exceeds the supply, with the result that" the price of gold stands at a very substantial premium. The majority of Transvaal gold mines are dependent for their prolt upon this premium, and it does not call for much study of the question to show the truth of General Smuts’ statement that if gold were to drop in price to normal levels, more than half the mines in the Witwatersrand field would have to close down. Such a condition of things is, in the last degree, precarious. As General Smuts very justly pointed out, if the agitation, which has been going on fdr'so long in favor of the cancellation of war debts, were to achieve its object, and the war debts of the world were to be cancelled, there would be an immediate drop in the price of gold, and almost within twenty-four hours the majority of the mines in the great South African gold field would be placed on a non-paying basis. General Smuts went on to urge upon his hearers the importance of placing the gold industry on such a basis that it could continue to run on for the future whatever happened to the gold premium. At first glance, the wliple issue would seem, to resolve itself into a question of wages. In the matter of gold mining, wages constitute the heaviest charge. It is not, however, in a. reduction o f wages that General Smuts sees the solution of the problem, but in a more efficient method of working the mines, and, above all, in a recasting of the provisions governing native labor in its relation to while labor. It is the question of readjustment which has provoked the present strike. The question is, undoubtedly, a difficult one. Nothing would justify the imposition of conditions which fa.ll short, ii. any respect, of what is just and progressive. Nevertheless, the system which at present obtains, involving as it does a most elaborate method of white supervision cf native labor and some extraordinary anomalies in the matter of working hours, does seem to stand in need of revision. In any event, it is altogether regrettable that a question of such vital .importance to the country could not have been settled without resort to the extreme measures of a general strike. It. must be clear to every one that the South African gold industry cannot, continue to exist by favor of the gold premium, and it should not be beyond the ability of all concerned to secure such a settlement. as would place the industry once again on a sure foundation.

THE SHIPPING OUTLOOK.

Shipping booms and depressions -have occurred in the past at more or less regular intervals, but the slump of the last twelve months is the worst experienced in recent years, and coming on the top of a period of unexampled prosperity, its effects have been more severely felt than in the lean years that preceded the ■war. In 1914, before the outbreak of hostilities, freights touched a much lower level than those now prevailing, but the conditions are not comparable. Tn those days the wages bill was less, bunkers and stores were considerably cheaper, dock dues were lighter, and all the other incidentals necessary for running a cargo steamer were many points lower than they are to-day. It will be i cmembered that the decline in freights , nnmenced in the summer of 1920, when the trade boom which followed the armistice collapsed like a toy balloon. In many quarters where experience had taught bitter lessons the contretemps was not unexpected, and substantial reserves had been accumulated to provide for the ‘“'rainy day,” but in the case of Sc.me of the newer concerns the changed conditions produced bewilderment and consternation, followed in several instances by final breakdown. A fairly safe barometrical . -indication of the general position may be gathered at any time by a study of Lloyd’s Register report, which, of course, embraces all the shipping tonnage of the world. A comparison with the trade and navigation returns gives an indication of possible increase or decrease of requirements, and those engaged in the shipping industry are able to gauge with fairly accurate certainty the course events are likely to follow. For instance, the world’t total gross tonnage in June, 1914, amounted to 45 million tons odd, of which nearly ’9 million tons were owned in Britain. This, of course, had depreciated to the* extent of about eight million tons during the war, and at the conclusion of hostilities there was an eager competition by all the maritime countries of the world to make up the deficiency. The result was that by June, 1920, the world tonnage had increased to nearly 54 million tons, of which 18 millions odd were owned at Home, and the deficiency caused by submarine and ordinary trading losses had been made up twice over. The British tonnage was still below the pre-war period, but America had entered the race for maritime supremacy, and in the interim, between June, 1914, and June, 1920, had increased her sea-going vessels from 2,027,000 tons to over 12,000,000 tone. Owing to the world-wide demand for various commodities this excess of tonnage compared with 1914 -had not proved detrimental to the general shipping position, but once the first rush had been satisfied there was a lull in chartering. The feverish activity, which had animated all nations alike, died away like a storm, and the calm which ensued produced opportunity for much reflection. A halt Was called in the huge programme of American ship-build-ing yards, and it is now a matter of common knowledge that an entire fleet of American tramp steamers was disposed of at the cost of a single vessel, involving the maritime board of that country in a. loss of many millions sterling. In the period ended June, 1920, there were under construction steamers and sailing vessels representing 4,253,523 tons gross, and in the year ending June last there were on the slips vessels of 3,245,180 tons. Many of these, of course, were steamers which had been contracted for before the depression set in, and, as results have since proved, the depreciation in rallies was so great ttat the nominal owners were unable to take delivery, and not only forfeited their deposits but paid very large sums to cancel their contracts.