IMPROVING PORT OF LONDON.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 31, 6 February 1908, Page 7

IMPROVING PORT OF LONDON.

COLONIAL REPRESENTATIONS. DISCHARGING AND HANDLING OF PERISHABLE GOODS. By Telegraph.— Press Association.— Copyright. LONDON, sth February. The Hon. J. W. Taverner, AgentGeneral for Victoria, has interviewed the Right Hon. D. Lloyd-George, President of tho Board of Trade, in connection with tho proposed Bill dealing with the improvement and control of the Port of 'London. Mr. Taverner urged that greater facilities should bo provided for discharging perishable products included in the cargoes of vessels from tho colonies, and the reduction of tho number of handlings required Under the present system. The Minister, in a sympathetic reply, said ho recognised that trade with Australasia was growing, and declared that he would bo glad to assist in securing Up-to-date facilities and the abolition of the obsolete means of accommodation at present employed. •Mr. Lloyd-George- asked Mr. Taverner to supply him with a copy of his report on the question of establishing a cen* trnl produce d^pot, promising that upon receipt of this and other information he would give the \Uiolc subject his best attention. It is said that in tho Bill drafted tho control of the river will nob be- give'h to any individual municipality, and ilo single municipality will have a majority of representatives on the port authority. Whatever predominance there ia Will be given to the payers of dues— merchants and Shipowners. Apart from the pay* ers of duos, the general public will berepresented, and that representation will be secured by nominations of Government departments and tho municipalities concerned. The provision of further port facilities will include the deepening and widening of the channel and improving the accommodation for berthing, discharging, collecting, and distributing. There will be, no compul» sory purchase of the docks. Soms dueg on good's or ships, possibly on both, will bo required. The-ie duos will bo Used for improving the river, but not for purchasing the docks. Finally, there will be no Government subsidy. It ia not improbable that the new authority will to homo extent resemble tho Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, a public trust consisting of twenty-eight metnbcrs, the majority of t whom ar.6 chosen by dock electors— the merchants and shipowners paying dues, tolls, and dock rates. «