I move:
That the Government be requested to consider the proposals of Senator Sir John Griffith with a view to establishing forthwith a national terminal harbour at Galway for high-speed transatlantic passenger and mail services.
The position at present is that Ireland in spite of the advantages of its position and harbours so far as transatlantic trade is concerned is practically a sea suburb of Liverpool. It is a day or two nearer to America, depending on the speed of the ships, and yet all European bound ships go around this country and leave it marooned. As Sir John Griffith has pointed out, there would be a saving of time and money to English companies —a saving amounting to one and a half millions to any company running six ships, that is a bi-weekly service. Slower ships would be given the advantage of using Galway instead of Liverpool. That is a matter for the English companies, whose interest in the existing ports is too strong. One might as well expect Lord Aberdeen to provide the Shannon scheme as to expect the English shipping companies to strip their docks in Liverpool and come to Galway. If it is to be done at all it has to be done from other considerations which will constrain the shipping companies to consider the advantages of the position of this island. The competition for shipping is in the North Atlantic at present. In no case can ships create a harbour, but harbours can create trade. By providing a harbour on the West of Ireland we can induce the more enterprising of the two shipping companies which are competing to use that harbour. It is not generally known that sixty-four per cent. of tourists who leave America go to the Continent never touch the British Isles. In the case of that sort of tourist trade if vessels were diverted to Galway it would save a day, two days or two and a half days. If you had a terminal port there, if only for mail services, it should pay, for that would avoid the delay that is caused by fog outside Liverpool, and it would provide the advantage of a quick transport from Galway to Dublin.
I should think that if the railways showed as much enterprise as they could afford, and with a little trade to justify it, Dublin could easily be brought within three hours of Barna. Senator Sir John Griffith with his experience showed the advantages of Barna and its advantageous situation as regards the material for constructing a Transatlantic port. There are heavy lodes of granite in the vicinity of Barna deep water, and sea room for manoeuvring. The advantages from the shipping point of view are nil at present. The only advantage that can arise is to create competition by putting a harbour near to the source of traffic, and that is America. Remember that the south-west of Connemara is the most poverty-stricken and pestilential part of this country. If relief is to be given to the Gaeltacht in that district the aim should be at putting it on an economic basis. I cannot think of any better relief than putting down a work which, not only would not have the fate of all relief works, whether for ornament or otherwise, but which would be useful and would open to the light of day the south-west of Connemara. The construction of a big harbour there would be about one-sixth of the cost of the Shannon scheme and less than one-fourth of the money already expended on roads. The estimate suggested comes to about two millions of money. Certain people who are interested in foreign shipping reaching Ireland suggested one and a half millions when it was proposed to link it up by an air service.
When one goes to see the works on the Shannon it is a revelation to realise what extraordinary work can be done, and what the immense resources of this country really are when coupled with enterprise and determination. To see that man-made Niagara at Ardnacrusha would do one good, and when you think at the same time that the prosperity of the country is not so intimately bound up with the creation of an electricity supply as with the breaking down of what is really the key-note of our whole position, and a thing on which the existence of the Free State depends, that is the stranglehold of outside shipping, it will be seen how urgently necessary it is to direct those resources to this relief. Any country depending for sea-borne trade on shipping, and freights which cannot be controlled, is being constantly stultified when imposing tariffs. Every tariff we create is turned against us if we cannot call the tune of the freights.
You put a tariff of 33? per cent. on boots, but the freight on boots coming to this country is £2 a ton readymade, while when we send out for the raw hide the cost is £8 a ton. Where is your 33? per cent? So far from being a free country, England's customs houses are on the sea—not her revenue is an index of her wealth, but the returns of the earnings of her mercantile marine. There is some excuse for me arriving at that conclusion so late in the day, because it took Arthur Griffith so many years to realise that it was not the revenue returns gave any indication of England's wealth but her mercantile marine. This country is completely in the hands of the mercantile marine of another country, which, no matter how friendly, is bound to give the shareholders at least 5 per cent. dividend on their investment. Many of the ships concerned in our trade were bought when they were four times dearer than they would be now; hence the great advance per head in the freight of cattle going to Liverpool.
Galway is not concerned with the cattle trade, but it is concerned with the maintenance of competition between the shipping companies, and I maintain that competition there will reduce freights and give advantages to the customer. At present there is no competition whatever. There is not a single company in Ireland except the Limerick Steamship Company, in the hands of the Irish people, which is vitally engaged in the country's prosperity. A western port would have another advantage, and this is important when one thinks that the death of civilisation is caused by the trekking towards the cities. It is estimated that with our good roads that within 50 miles of Dublin there will be a general exodus from the country into the city. That is not healthy. In a small country it is disastrous. If you had a western Liverpool in Galway, as Ireland's position would justify, you would have a balance; you would have an agricultural country within such easy reach of the city that the people might be satisfied to remain in agricultural districts, and not trek in and swell all that is associated with big cities. That is the chief advantage.
The gist of my motion is that this cannot be done without Government enterprise just as the Shannon scheme was carried out. It cannot be done by the English shipping companies, as they are not interested. It is better for them to spend the 24 hours outside the Mersey than go out of their circuit. Liverpool is already suffering from Southampton. If my proposal is carried out it will suffer more, but really not finally suffer at all for this reason: The saving, according to Senator Sir John Griffith's figures in the running of ships, would make up for any loss that they might have for the dereliction of one or two docks there. It is not a case of kid gloves. It is a case of competition and of using this country's natural advantages, because for many years the railways have fallen short of any deep-water harbours there are. The history of Galway recalls competition of such a kind as was not perhaps very honourable. Ships coming from New York were snatched up to prevent them getting into Galway, and one that did get in was run on the only rock in the harbour. I have not gone into the figures, which is a matter for experts, but the important thing to which I wish to draw attention is that the natural position of this country presents Europe to America almost 24 hours earlier than any other country. We should bear in mind that it is not British-bound trade can be got by bringing Europe nearer to America, but 64 per cent.—the predominating trade —Europe-bound Americans may come here.
I have said nothing about the air because it is a moot point if air services have not reached as much perfection as the nature of the services will permit. All air services are handicapped by the fact that the aircraft have to maintain their own weight in the elements. It is different with shipping. If you increase the aeroplane in size you do not do more than double the carrying capacity. If you increase a ship to twice its size you multiply its carrying capacity by eight. I may say that there are at present in existence machines in Frederichshaven to carry 60 passengers. If you wish to have these machines waiting in Galway, and a ship coming from America to Galway in four days, the capitals of Europe are only four days and nine hours from America. Three of these would carry 180 passengers, and that would pay any company. As long as we do not allow this country to continue in its present position of being marooned, freights that are now a stranglehold on our trade will fall as competition increases. As long as the cost of sea-transport of our external trade remains in the hand of an external power all our tariff and protective measures can be stultified by a pro rata increase in freights.
