Evening star., 1931-12-13
Britain Is Shocked by
Cunard Curtailment
BY A. G. GARDINER.

LONDON, December 12-If Britain
| had lost great battle in war, the
public could hardly have been more
shocked than by the news this week
that the Cunard Line was suddenly
| suspending construction ON the giant
liner at Glasgow which was designed to
recover supremacy Of the Atlantic for
British shipping.
In Glasgow the news fell like q bolt
| out Of the blue and created something
approaching panic. Parliament,
which was on the point of adjourning
| for Christmas, listened in gloomy
| silence to the declaration of Walter
Runciman, president of the Board of
Trade, on the governments inability to
intervene
Work on the ship, which was estimated
to cost f6,000,000 is far advanced and
astonishment is still being expressed at
the suddenness of the decision to
suspend an enterprise of such vastness.
The company attributes its decision to
the disquieting fact of an adverse trade
balance for the current year, to the
effects of the international crisis and
to the decline of North Atlantic traffic,
which, in its own words, seems to have
no limits.
These considerations are not entirely
new 1t is notorious that strong
doubts were expressed in shipping cir
cles when the enterprise was initiated
at the wisdom of the action during a
period OF depression. The ports were
filled with laid-up ships and great
liners like the Homeric we're reduced to
the expedient of organizing week end
sea trips or holiday cruises. Luxury
travel had been almost obliterated by
devastations on both sides of the At
lantic among the millionaire class that
made it possible. With no visible early
revival in that class and with ordinary
Atlantic traffic in an extreme condition,
it seemed unWarrantable to intensity
competition for a trade which largely
had ceased to exist.
But these considerations were over
borne by regard for the prestige of
British shipping. The blue ribbon of
the Atlantic had been held for nearly
a quarter Of century by the liner
Mauretania, and the transfer of the
honor to Germany's Bremen and Europa
seemed challenge impossible to dis
regard without serious prejudice to the
credit OF one OF the greatest of British
industries.
The disposition to take up the chal-
lenge was strengthened by the fact that
America, France and italy all decided
to enter the new struggle for Atlantic
supremacy, while Britain, apart from
the Mauretania, had only big ships OF
pre-war German design, which are
enormously costly to run.
In spirit OF patriotic duty, the
Cunard Line launched on construction
of the biggest and fastest ship ever
designed and had completed nine of
its projected eleven decks when the
startling decision to suspend work was
reached. This fact was net uncon-
nected with repercu3sions of the catas-
trophe of the Royal Mail Steamship
Line, in connection with which Lord
Kylsant is now in prison. The Royal
Mail owned the White Star Line. which
aS consequence of the failure of
Royal Mail. had been offered for sale
The Cunard Line entered into nego-
tiations for the White Star, which came
to nothing, whereupon the government |
gave support designed to keep the !
White Star Line In being.
The Cunard Line resents the govern |
ment support afforded to its rival COM |
pany It says it is accustomed to fight !
against foreign subsidized companies, |
but should not have to compete with |
home companies having government |
support.
relates the difficulty of arranging |
financing for the construction of the !
ship to frozen bank credits In Germany |
and elsewhere and to the calamitous |
CT the international eco !
nomio crisis. He insists on the GER |
tainty of construction being resumed |
Immediately upon the government CIV |
ing the company help or when the |
ordinary financial machinery of the |
city LIS put in motion again by a solu-
tion of the reparations and war debts
problems.
Meanwhile ii is estimated that TO-
900 workmen. directly or indirectly. viii !
be put out Of employment and deeper
shadow Is added to the most somher