The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-01


added to the price which the British
working man has to pay for his food,
and the British workingman has not
been reading the reports of the ship
owners prosperity with gladness. To
use his own favorite expression he is
about fed up with 1T, and he is
clamoring for a change. II must be
remembered too, that these are fig
ures from the published reports of
public companies. A fairly large pro-
portion of British ships are owned by
individuals and partnerships which are
mot required to publish their profits
and which take very good care that
they are not published. Even the re-
turns which they make for the purpose
of the excess profits tax, which are
secret are alleged to be under the
mark. 1t is notorious in British ship
ping circles that there has been some
very clever bookkeeping" done in or
der to keep down the apparent profits
and the consequent tax. Expenses of
working have mounted out of all pro-
lportion to the increase of wages and
other charges and in many other ways
the apparent profits have been kept
down by the private owners.
| One of the best tests of the shipping
prosperity is the price Of ships. A ship
ing man told me the other day of a
ship which his firm had built about
nine years ago The contract price was
| 5000, 600, but by the time the ship was
delivered the market had changed and
| her value was only about $1S0,000. The
| firm worked the ship for these nine
years, earning dividends all the time,
/ and few months ago they sold her
| for something over 100000" Another
oh n m a
shipping man was that of new firm
| of Cardiff owners 1t consisted of two
| young men who managed to get togeth-
| err $500, 900 and bought a couple of old
ships just before the war. Last year
| they admit having made profit on
these two ships of nearly 100000
SHIPS BRING BIG PRICES
| Here are a few authenticated cases
| of steamship sales within the last few
months. The steamer Jolaset, 5000
ton tramp built % years ago. was sold
| just before the war began for $4,000
very fair price for an old ship as
prices ruled then Fifteen months later
she was resold for $4,000, and she
has been earning money all the time
| as we'll. Another case was that OF
Cardiff steamer of 5000 tons which no
one would buy at $4,000 before the
war Early last year she found pur-
chaser at YZzU,UUU anu aL the Gnu VI
the year she changed hands again at
s36O,OO0, and am told that in that year
she earned nearly $350,000 in freight.
Instances like this could be multi
piled indefinitely. For instance few
months ago a Japanese firm bought
ship which cost $4,000 to build y years
ago for 100000.
Elaborate calculations have been pub
lished by the ship owners to show that
+ba OH re small ~
deed in the cost of food, but the Brit
ish workman is an obstinate person
and refuses to be shown. He knows that
shipowners are making vast fortunes
out Of the war and that the cost of
food is going up. and he has made up
his mind that it is his money that is
going into the shipowners' pocket. He
is therefore. demanding quite rudely
and insistently that the government
should take over all the shipping for
the period of the war and run it at
fair profit to the owners as they did
the railways. The shipowners' reply to
this is that it would do no good, as
there really is shortage or ships and
the wicked neutral shipowners would
continue to charge the same high
freights The Britishworkman declares
that he doesn't care what the neutrals
do, that Great Britain controls three
quarters of the worlds shipping and
could fix the price Of freight to suit
herself
The British workman is also growing
iangry at Mr. Runciman, the president
of the Board of Trade, whose duty it
is to deal with such matters. He points
out that Mr. Runciman's father is one
of the biggest shipowners In Great
Britain and nsinuates that this may
influence the action of the government.
AS a matter of fact this suspicion is
quite unjust for the Runciman firm is
one of the few patriotic firms of ship
owners in England. Practically all it's
tonnage has been turned over to the
government at admiralty rates, which
are much lower than the present in
dated schedule and very little better
than ordinary peace time freights
INTENSE IRRITATION
The whole question is causing in
tense irritation, and unless some action
! is taken by the government in the
meantime will give rise to some very
heated debates when Parliament re-
assemblies.
! There is growing complaint, too,
about the way in which the government
exercises the control of the shipping
which it does exercise through the pro-
hibition of certain imports. The mar
kets are full of imported luxuries like
melons and pineapples, for instance,
which are luxuries only for the rich in
this country, while the import OF the
poor mans orange and other use1ui
fruits is restricted. Apples, which are
useful article Of food, have risen to
unheard of prices because of the re-
striction of imports and the compare
tive failure of the home crop.
1t is true that the main cause of the
high freights and consequent nigh
prices is the shortage of ships and it
~. cbn rf0 orc 10 n