But no one has ever heard of
these people making any such demand on national generosity.
I believe I am right in stating that there are only very
few shipowners who advocate such a parochial view. The great
bulk of them regard it with disfavour, first, because it
smacks of peddling dealing; and, secondly, even if it were
right they know that State aid means State interference, and
State interference savours too much of working commerce on
strictly algebraic lines, which only an executive with a
wealthy, indulgent nation behind it could stand. The Chamber
of Shipping last year vigorously declared against subsidies
of this kind; and the way in which the proposal was
strangled leaves small hope of it ever being successfully
revived.
An encouraging feature of the situation is that the Shipping
Federation has at last taken the matter up. The late Mr.
George Laws was always in favour of doing so, but
unfortunately he got scant support from his members. Since
his death, and the pronouncement the Chamber of Shipping
gave in its favour at the last annual meeting, Mr. Cuthbert
Laws, who succeeded his gifted father, has with commendable
energy and marked ability undertaken the task of reviving
the old system of every vessel carrying so many apprentices.
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