The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-11-10

necessary to strengthen our relations with the western coast of North Amer ica- Our great sfiping companies can not remain indifferent and inactive while German and English compant 7s are renewing and increasing their ser vices in the Pacific.
 .sIt is impossible for me to state trSi decisions of the French, shipping com panies, which moreover have not yet been formulated All I know is that the Compagnie Genera1e TransatIan- tiQue after sending one of its inspec-. tors, M. Prudhon, to study the general problem of navigation in the Pacific. delegated it's General Director M. DaI Piaz to proceed to Colon and Panama on the return of the General Director that the iTransatlantique company will, with all the facts before them, decide upon their arrangements regarding the lines of steamships which it will ap-. pear necessary to- create in coI1se- quenee of the opening of the canal. It is probable that the projects which will be adopted by French steamship com panies will aim at serving our colonies in Oceana and will consist of either a service leaving Havre or Safnt-Naza ire which will run to Noumea via Panama orszon the other hand, will consist Of a prolongatioFr pure and simple, with
 
 which now runs as far as and stops at Colon. .i52s
 .'There are three possible hypothe- see:
 1- That passenger steamers of the Colon line may continue their route as far as Noumea, by way of Panama, at ethe same rate of speed as at present to Colon, namely 14 knots. In this case the length of the passage, 1ncIuding stops, will be from forty-two to forty three days.
 s.2. That passenger steamers stop at Colon, the service to be continued by shipment to boats carrying car go and passengers, whose ordinary speed. is Il knots. On this hypothesis the crossing from France to Noune ca will represent forty-eight days.
 t'3 A regular service between France and Nounea, is thinkabIe which shall carry both passengers and cargo. This service would bring the length of the passage to about forty-eight days. Ss-sssEV Ilef1@these questions are ripe for decision it will be necessary to ex- anime whether the esta tablishment of the services concerned should not en- ter the suppression of modification of the, present service between Marseilles and Noumea by way of the Suez Canal. If this suppression or modification should be advisable. it will be neces- sary to bring the matter before Par liam ent- VI repeat that we are still in a period of deliberatton, and it is inn possible for me to be more precise in regard to the hypotheses I have just examined.
 s.But it will be understood without difficulty that France considers it her duty to give her merchant marine In the Pacific less negligible role than that which it played in the past. As an example, and to show how much it is necessary for French shipping to make an effort on the Pacific coasts. I should like to indicate two figures bearing on our commercial relations with Chill: During 1911, while 4,344 English steamers entered Chi1ian ports, and 4329 left them, and German fig ures fro the same period show 1,917 en- tries s and 1908 debertures, our own fleet was only repr esented by the en- try of 139 vessels, and leaving of 1855. These figures are all the more humfli- ating in view of the fact that French commerce with Chilli for the same year, 1911, shows an importation of 40 million francs by Chilli from this coun- try What is the meaning of this if not that we are continually. providing foreisn countries with our national freight?
 l. CT could multiply observations of this kind concerning Ecuador and Colom- bia.1 But I have said enough to show that the French government should make it a duty to profit by the opening ! of the Panama Canal in order to se- cure the entry of our flag in the South American ports where it is seen now only too rarely.
 q persist in thinking that this en- terprise on our part can only be wei regarded by American commerce, for | the more frequent appearance of oul flag and our commercial fleet in Pa | cific waters will not be a danger, buy will on the contrary be a help, in the eafeguarding of North American inter- sests."
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