Development of The Union-Castle Line
In 1872 he came to the conclusion, after a careful study of all the circumstances, that the development of the Cape Colony justified the starting of a new line of steamers between England and South Africa. Fortuitously, in the ensuing few years the Cape economy boomed, and consequently steam communication and transport to southern Africa expanded.
Although the Cape Prime Minister John Molteno was a personal friend of Donald Currie, he refused to authorise Currie to run a monopoly - desiring instead to preserve a state of competition between the principle shipping companies. Molteno therefore ordered the South African mail service to be shared equally, between Currie's Castle Company and its older rival, the Union Line. After lengthy negotiations, Currie agreed to alternating services, speed premiums and other clauses to promote competition. The new mail contract was signed on 5 October 1876 and Currie created the Castle Mail Packets Company, with the offices located at the Castle Shipping Line headquarters.
Initially forbidden by the contract from amalgamating, keen competition ensued between the companies. This competition led to their shipping services running at unprecedented speed and efficiency. However the contract eventually expired and several decades later, in 1900, Castle Shipping Line and Union Line would merge and become the Union-Castle Line.
Read more about this topic: Donald Currie
Famous quotes containing the words development of the, development of, development and/or line:
“There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion.”
—John Emerich Edward Dalberg, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902)
“I can see ... only one safe rule for the historian: that he should recognize in the development of human destinies the play of the contingent and the unforeseen.”
—H.A.L. (Herbert Albert Laurens)
“The man, or the boy, in his development is psychologically deterred from incorporating serving characteristics by an easily observable fact: there are already people around who are clearly meant to serve and they are girls and women. To perform the activities these people are doing is to risk being, and being thought of, and thinking of oneself, as a woman. This has been made a terrifying prospect and has been made to constitute a major threat to masculine identity.”
—Jean Baker Miller (20th century)
“The modern picture of The Artist began to form: The poor, but free spirit, plebeian but aspiring only to be classless, to cut himself forever free from the bonds of the greedy bourgeoisie, to be whatever the fat burghers feared most, to cross the line wherever they drew it, to look at the world in a way they couldn’t see, to be high, live low, stay young forever—in short, to be the bohemian.”
—Tom Wolfe (b. 1931)