Aug. 31.
A FEATURE of business demanding not a little attention in this part of the world is the renewed German competition in the carrying trade. We have no desire to weary readers with reiterated accounts of German ability to do this and her inability to do the other thing: The case of shipping is a matter of strong business interest already, and in the course of coming months is likely to be so even more, Our readers may remember a report which we published from Hongkong announcing a reduction of some £20 in the cost of German passages to and from the Far East, with the prospect of an even more substantial cut in the near future, probably, we should imagine, at the time when they have succeeded in getting a regular passenger service in operation, which so far they do not have. Whether on account of this announcement of a rate war or not, one of the big passenger companies has since advertised a reduction in its rates. This may po a hopeful sign for the travelling public, indicative of rates approximating more closely to the pre-war scale than has been the case during these past years, but there is one thing which must still be borne in mind. Wages, stores, upkeep, all these are still much higher than in
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.