OCR Text |
Show BRITIAN BUILDING MERCHANT SHIPS London, Fob. 17. Tho government again found Itself on the defenslvo in tho houso of commons today. Ycstor-day Ycstor-day tho subject was air raids, today It was tho control of merchant shipping. ship-ping. A score of members attacked tho government's method of dealing with tho merchant marine. Arthur J. Balfour, Bal-four, first lord of tho admiralty, nnd Walter Bunclman, president of tho board of trado, replied to tho attacka explaining that while- tho situation was admitted to bo far from satw-factory, satw-factory, tho government was doln,; Its utmost to mako things better. Tho complaints of tho members of parliament woro mainly to the effect that tho high freight rates woro largo ly duo to wasto of tonnago cnuscd W government mismanagement. Mr. Bunclman, In icply, said in part- "Tho first necessity Is to get rid of tho congestion in our ports, and moJB ures aro now under way to achlovo this . Then thero Is shipbuilding, In which respect tho navy has been tho Greatest competitor of tho merchant marine But tho admiralty has al-ready al-ready permitted us to build forty-flvo merchant ships, while a number of others which aro under construction havo now been classified as war work Wo also have done a little to mako onds meet by restricting Imports. |