Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1917-04-22
ENGLAND CUTS THE
IMPORT TONNAGE
Direct Management of Ship.
ping Found to Be 1mpracti.
cable Undertaking. &.
ONE THIRD SHIPS FOR WAR

port OF the Liverpool steamship Own
ers' association, which includes prac-
tically all the important shipowners
in England, emphasizes the serious
ness of the shipping situation, and de-
clares squarely that all the measures
thus tar taken by the government are
insufficient. The report insists that
state. management of shipping has
failed and must fail, and expresses
the opinion that only the most radical
curtailment of imports and a similar
radical limitation Of the amount of
tonnage used for' military purposes
can save the nation from the most
serious shortages of food and vital
raw materials.
Commenting on the appointment of
a shipping minister as member of
the Lloyd George cabinet, the report
says! The association welcomes the
appointment Of minister charged
with the duty OF seeing that the nier-
camille marine is used to the best
advantage of the nation, and it will
render every assistance in its power
to that minister. But the problem
of providing the nation with its essen
tial supplies of food and raw material
is only part Of the shipping prob
lem. The essential factors, the limita-
ton of imports, the amount of ton
mage TO be devoted to purely military
purposes, and the labor shortage, can
be dealt with by no one department.
They must be faced and dealt with
by the whole war cabinet"
Direct state management of ship
ping is impossible, says the report.
The state is so bad manager that
state control of the nations tonnage
would mean quick starvation. "The
Association views with grave concern
the growing number of British ships
placed under state management. The
experience OF two and half years of
war has shown that under state man
agement there is constant and serious
.wastage. The conditions under which
our overseas supplies are obtained,
the voyages made, and cargoes loaded
and discharged, are so varying that
waste in carrying power can only be
checked through the compelling
power of commercial pressure-indi-
vidual profit and loss acting. directly
on all those concerned, whether as
traders, shipowners or transport
workers,
Would Create Shortage.
1.-THE inevitable results of state man
agement have been waste OF time,
loss Of ocean carrying power, and
therefore the imports. If these be
reduced under state management by
only 10 per cent-and Judging by all
past experience it might well be re-
duced by Is per cent and upwards
the nation would be faced with i'm
mediate shortage of essential supplies,
privation and panic prices. Weighed
against such perils, the saving of
freights, even if cargoes were carried
for nothing, is negligible factor.
ITO satisfy military demands since
the outbreak OF the war, about one
third of the British mercantile mar
inc has been devoted to purely war
purposes. One-third of the British
mercantile marine has a carrying
capacity in ocean trade, in the course
Of year, of upwards Of 55,000,000
tons weight of imports and exports.
1t is manifest that If the remaining
two-thirds had been utilized only in
proportion to the one-third under
military control, the nation must have
starved long ago. "
at is no reflection on the officials
of the state that they have been un-
able to build up an effective organi-
cation. Their task has been an i'm
possible one. They have obtained
and welcomed the advice and assis-
lance of business men, but it is idle
to imagine that departmental man
agement, either with or without such
help, can ever exercise over hundreds
of ships the kind of control which the
shipping companies, with their highly
trained and specialized stats, must
exercise over tens Of ships If the
maximum Of carrying power is ID be
obtained. =.
"Under average conditions ship
spends half its time in port loading
and discharging, and thus there is on
every voyage the risk of heavy delay.
The avoidance Of undue waste in
these operations is at the root of the
effective use of all ship-carrying
power. To secure this the energy and
enterprise OF the shipowners and
their stats at home and abroad are
taxed to the utmost. There is only
one British steamship company that
has under its control more than 100
vessels, and among the big British
lines the average number of vessels
under a single management is about
twenty. Among the 'tramps' there
are few companies or firms having
more than twelve vessels. With this
form of management the shipowner is
kept in the closest possible touch with
each vessel on every voyage, and also
with the requirements of the shippers
and receivers Of the cargo" s.
Must Use Foreign Flags.
Touching on the subject of shipping
under neutral flags, the report says:
"The cardinal fact of the situation
is that after satisfying war demands,
the total shipping available in the
world is not sufficient to carry the
cargoes demanding to be transported.
1t must be realized that we are in
great measure dependent on the car
rying power OF vessels under foreign
flags. Under peace conditions, the
employment of foreign vessels was
business convenience, but with the
war demands, il is now an absolute
necessity. The following table shows
the extent to which our imports of
food and raw materials have been, and
are now being carried in vessels under
our own and other flags:
British Foreign
Ships. Ships, Total
Peace conditions, IL month. 81 sS 100
t,}raf civ f,onnths NJ war. 20 % 10