An interesting survey of the international competition in shipping was
published in the Times of Tuesday. A direct German service to New Zealand is projected by the German Australian Company, and is only part of a general scheme to make German trade independent of foreign transport.
The latest news from the Near East augurs ill for the It is remarked that this new line to New Zealand would settlement of outstandin
mean a loss to the Port of London of nearly one hundred
thousand tons of cargo which is trans-shipped here every year. We cannot, however, take alarm on this account. If the Germans really intend to subsidize steamship lines which are scarcely able to pay their way without sub- sidies, the trade of the British Colonies and of the United Kingdom will not lose in the long nip. Whatever rearrange- ments and temporary inconveniences may be caused, it stands to reason that, if Germans are willing to have recourse to the uneconomic practice of paying the deficit on extra steamship lines, British traders will be able to profit by the complaisance of the German taxpayer.
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