BRITISH SUPREMACY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2355, 23 November 1908, Page 7

BRITISH SUPREMACY.

A SHIPBUILDER’S VIEW.

INDUSTRIAL CRISIS PASSING. BAD EFFECT OF LABOR ■ TROUBLES.

“I have never known a depression so severe in the history of _ British shipbuilding as that we are just passing through. I have never seen so jnany empty berths —such stagnation as that of the past twelve months.” This is the statement mlido by Mr. F. J. Stephen, of the well known firm of A. Stephen and Sons, Limited, of' Glasgow, who is on a visit to Australia. He arrived last week by-the new Oanadian-Ausrulian mail steamer Makura, built by his firm to the order of the Union S.S. Company. A large number of favorite passenger steamers as well las a fleet of cargo boats employed in the Australian trade have come from the yards of A. Stephen and Sons. “But do not exaggerate the meaning of what I say,” Mr, Stephen ; continued. “It has not been _ a real crisis. It' has not been anything to threaten the shipbuilding supremacy of Great Britain, or to permanently nffect the industry. Things have been very bad. Orders have been difficult to get, and freights, not merely in England but all over the world, have been' very bad. “England is not experiencing the depression more than any other country. The German jiirds have been just as hard up for work. Periodically bad times come. There is a cycle of bad times, one of the features of which is over-production, “The capacity of the British yards to turn out work nowadays is enorynous. It was overdone a few years ago. Then the big financial crisis occurred 1 in Americu, and it soon made its effect felt in an industry in which there was already over-production. “But there is no justification for people getting into their heads the idea that other nations are beating us in shipbuilding. Bad as tilings are we'are still maintaining our relative position, and if we get a fair chance we can maintain it.

“In saying this I am not blind to the fact that some other countries are .also pushing ahead. Germany is competing with us very keenly, and although as a general rule the Germans cannot beat ns —that is, we can turn out more cheaply than they can —sometimes they do get under us in price.

EXTRAVAGANT DEMANDS OF WORKERS.

“There is one thing that is causing business men a good deal of anxious thought. It is the industrial troubles. Unquestionably strikes are one of the factors in producing the present depression. We have had ,a most troublesome period. The unions have made extravagant demands, and the consequence is the serious dislocation of industry. Whilst, we have hjad this period of what may be called industrial war, Germany on the other hand has had a period of comparative peace. “It is not surprising, therefore, that it is pushing on, and if we are to maintain our lead it will he necessary for those who in the past have been responsible for industrial troubles to change their policy. We must have peace. We must htave continuity of operations. We cannot compete with people who iare united industrially whilst we are at war -with one another.

“Of course, I have no reason to suppose an indefinite nrolongation of industrial trouble. I hope that everyone will realise that peace between capital and hibor is a necessity. A policy of moderation should characterise the methods of labor people, that we may have a fjair chance. Given those conditions I am not afraid of the future. RETURN OF PROSPERITY.

“I think that signs of renewed prosperity are already appearing. People are beginning to speak more hopefully. Some new -vessels of cargo carrying type were ordered just before I left England. The .renewal of prosperity is usually indicated by orders for that class of vessel. I suppose that people begin to realise that prices had got .down to bedrock, and it was time that they began to prepare for the good time coming. Bad as htings have been, I regard the present outlook most hopefully.” AUSTRALIAN SHIPBUILDING IMPOSSIBLE. Mr Stephen was questioned as to the possibility of developing the shipbuilding industry in Australia. He shook his head and said:— “I am afraid it would be very costly to build ships here—very much more costly than in Great Britain. At present we-build ships in England, competing in the open market with the world. I don’t know whether they could build a ship more cheaply in Japan than in England. There are no data to go on. We cannot say the actual cost of building a ship in Japan, but we in England get our orders from the markets of the world, and on that basis I say we compete successfully with the world. “How, then, do you expect that Australia —which has not the complete industrial organisation of England, which has not its army of skilled mechanics, which has not the hundred and) one little industries necessary for the successful exploitation of such a big industry on a large, scale—could possibly compete with the old-estab-lished yards of Great Britain? Iso, it could not be done—not ,at present, at all events. , . . “The British climate, too, is admirably ad ! ap#ed : for the work of shipbuilders. I almost fancy that a man working under the mild conditions of Great Britain could do more work than would be possible under the sweltering climates of some other places, and everything counts m the question of price. “No, I see no inducement at present for a British firm to establish big yards in Australia. Of course, I know .nothing about the naval yards, and would not presume to speak for them. But I see no justification for a big shipping company to come here, although we do look to developments in the Pacific with the greatest interest, an interest increasing every year. COMBINATION OF BUILDERS. Askedl what, would-be the effect of the combinations of builders of vessels and marine, machinery, Mr. Ste-. pheri said:— ' ~ “There have been some rearrangements, l believe, in England. J don't jsnow that the effect of combination

will bo to diminish the cost of production, but it will diminish competition.

“As competition in the past has been something fearful, the effect of an amalgamation or "combination of interests would be a better division of orders, and in so far as that is the case it would be in the interests of all parties.”