Owing to the diversity of types of vessels, conditions and voyages the shipping industry does not present the same fund of information on which to base a claim in the sense in which the arguments for the railways were canvassed. Before the war British shipowners asked for little more than some form of protection from the uneconomic competition of foreign tramp shipping and coasters which undercut rates to a dangerous degree, In shipping circles the view is strongly held that a fair share of the profits now being made should go to the industry, which is running so many risks and has so far suffered the heaviest losses, It is particularly desirable that the terms of any arrangement between the owners and the Ministry should cover not only costs, depreciation and interest on capital but, as Lord Es-sencion recently urged, some provision for replacement over and above the normal depreciation allowances. The position of shipping should be made par of post-war policy, both from the aspect of a vital national service and as a factor in the country's invisible exports. If the opportunity to establish shipping on a firm economic basis is neglected now the unhappy experience which followed the last war may be repeated.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.