New Britain herald., 1916-02-02
ENGLAND AROUSED BY TONNAGE ISSUE
Way Government Is Handling Shipping Question Criticised

> tCorrespondence of The Associated Press) A London, Jan 21.-The question of tonnage under the British mercantile flag Is causing a good deal of anxiety. week or two ago, an unofficial an nouncement was made that work might be resumed on mercantile ship building in various yards of Great Britain but so far no official confir- nation has been received and from the meagre reports regarding govern ment orders in several yards it seems that there is very little liklihood of a transference of any quantity of work men from governm ent to private con- tracts in the near future.
 As about fifth of the total mer- canti1e tonnage of the country is com mandeered for admiralty purposes and during the four weeks ending De- .cember 8, forty+nine vessels were sunk, in addition to the already large losses, it will be seen that there is only a comparatively small margin of boats left for carrying the countrys trade.
 Prices Have Advanced.
 Tn addition the cost of the few vcs- sels now being completed has in creased considerably since the original contracts were placed, owing to the continued rise in prices of raw na- 3erial, the difficulty of transporting the material and higher wages demanded ty workmen.
 Neutral countries have not been slow in taking advantage of these con- ditions, and are placing orders for boats in most available yards as we'll as buying up second hand tonnage at increasing prices.
 Much Adverse Criticism.
 The way in which the government ! is handling the shipping question has ] caused much adverse criticism from l ship owners for some time past and l these were emphasized in the house of commons this week by several ship ping members. One deprecated the management of a fleet of two thou sand requisitioned ships by the divid- ed authority of the admiralty and the board of trade, and advocated the ap- pointment of a body of expert ship owners to deal with details. in a bus iness-like manner which could only be done by people with knowledge ac- quired by years of experience. Ship owners have divided the trade of the globe into many parts, combining outward with homeward voyages, and It was a serious matter for the govern rnent to interfere with the fleets. Had I the requisitioned tonnage been prop erly handled there would not have been such rise in freights. ,
 President of the board of trade l Runciman admitted that there was , not enough tonnage to go round owing | , to the enormous number of boats re- , quired to conduct the supply services of Great Britain and her allies and e. ! tions. It must be remembered that l the government was employing fleet three times the size of the whole Ger man mercantile marine put together.
 Mir. Balfour's Views.
 MT. Balfour for the admiralty be- 1ieved that there had been a good deal HOf misapprehension, and talked in very much the same strain but did not see how the transport business could be controlled by a central department of shipowners.
 On the question of state control of the entire mercantile shipping he ar gued that in view of the enornl ous diff faculties in the way, they would have to be very cautious before coming to any decision. On the other hand the opposite theory of leaving the mer- chant fleet entirely free was not a possibility under war conditions.
 MT. Balfour said that the munitions bill (which had been delayed) includ- ed measures to encourage the indus- try of building mercantile tonnage and provided that under certain cir Cumstances this construction would be carried on as war work. Every day of delay to such a bill delayed , the completion of merchant ships, di-