LONDON'S HIGH PORT CHARGES.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 116, 17 May 1924, Page 11

LONDON'S HIGH PORT CHARGES.

EXTRAORDINARY INCREASES. MORE THAN COST OF EXTRA WAGES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 23. Thp inevitable aftermath of an industrial struggle in which Labour sile-c-eedcd in obtaining a heightened wage, has already arrived". The increases are to lie passed on first to the trade concerns using the port and they in their turn will pass them en to the public, the consumer. Hie "Star" is running a series of articles with the intent to show how this new burden of wage cost is being made an excuse for excessive charges. It says, to meet every £100 paid by the Tort Authority in additional wages, in accordance with the recent dockers' settlement, it is proposed to gather from importers and exporters £118, in addition to which there are other increased charges. A firm of merchants in the city cites the case of the many thousands of tons • weekly delivered over to the di.Verent ; wharves for shipment to the Continent, and, as a concrete example, say a trader delivers by van a two-ton lot for shipment to Holland, !)0 per cent of these goods are taken direct from the van and wheeled on to the boat; the charge for this is now to be 14/2 per ton, and it may be safely challenged that the actual labour cost does not exceed 8/, add to this an extreme charge of 1/ for administration, and it brings forth a profit of 250 per cent purely on labour. "The irony is that our cost for freight is only alxmt 7/ per ton." In analysing the proposed increased charges in relation to the increase of j dockers' wages the Port of London Authority, in order to pay the latter an increase of 27 per cent, were charging importers and exporters 45 per cent, j There are other increases. For instance, storage charges have been ad-1 vanced 2 per cent, although the over-1 head charges on the buildings are outside the scope of the wages dispute between the dockers and the port. The Port of London Authority has replied to these charges:— i "The new percentage increases which ! are to come into force on April 1, are as follow:—Ships, G5 per cent; disoharg- , ing, 100 per cent; imports and exports, : 100 per cent; rent on goods, 50 per cent. I "In April, 1922, when wages were 12/ per day (which will again be the figure in June next), the percentage additions to the charges were respectively:—Ships, 85 per cent; discharging, 95 per cent; imports and exports, 92A per cent; rent on goods, 85 per cent. "in their anxiety to meet the wishes of shipowners and traders, as well as to stimulate trade, the Authority last year reduced their charges to the present level. The expectations of increased trade were not realised, and experience, has shown that the charges do not cover the cost of many of the services rendered. "An estimate for the year ending March 31, 1925, indicates that with the new rates in force there will be no more than a reasonable margin of revenue over expenditure. "If it should appear at any time that the balance of revenue over expenditure I -will 'be substantially greater than.is esti- , mated, a reduction in rates would necessarily follow."