CENTRE OF TRADE

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 76, 31 March 1934, Page 12

CENTRE OF TRADE

LONDON PRE-EMINENT

LAST YEAR A RECORD

MODEL OF EFFICIENCY

The Port of London established a now record last .year, handling over 58,000,000 tons of shipping, but it is not only in this respect that the port is pro-eminent: in the handling of inward and outward cargo London sets a standard of efficiency such as no other port can equal, according to Captain A. W. Pearse, representative in Australia and.New Zealand of the Port of London Authority. ' » Captain Poarso, who spent the summer months hi England last year, is visiting each of the main ports of the Dominion, and his official call at Wellington will'be made in a fortnight's time. He is spending Easter here, and is occupying himself-mainly in-playing bowls. When a "Post" reporter had a talk -with him:on Thursday afternoon, m addition to discussing the great' organisation he represents and conditions in England as lie found them, Captain Pearse was anxious to know how to get to the Hataitai bowline green. . ■ , "The new Tilbury landing stage is a flue acquisition to London's passenger traffic facilities," said Captain Pearse. It can handle the largest vessels even at low tide, when there is a depth of 37ft of water, obviating the necessity for docking." MANY PLEASURE CRUISES. Included in the tonnage handled last year was an exceptional lnunber of liners engaged in pleasure cruises, he continued. No fewer than 87 vessels left on various tours, mainly to the Mediterranean and ; Baltic Seas (the Norwegian fiords constituting a great attraction),. Iceland, and the West Indies. British ships dealt with practically the whole of this traffic, which had become exceedingly popular in-re-cent years. . Referring to the manner iv which the port is controlled, Captain Pearse said that the Authority consisted of a board of 28 members, elected for a period of three years aiuT" acting in an honorary capacity. - No dividends in the ordinary way wer<i looked for, and once the low fixed interest on the £40,000,000 worth of, bonds had been met, all.profits went towards'a reduction in rates and to improvements, the port being run on purely co-operative lines. SPECIALISED EMPLOYEES. '_'■ Everything regarding the handling of inward and outward cargo was done in the docks, where, the 26,000 employees included specialists iv all sorts of goods. Merchants were relieved of an immense amount of expense and responsibility. The. Authority received all produce; from'the vessels and rendered all the services required in the course of the marketing and delivery of goods. Weighing, tareing, grading, surveying, j sorting according to quality and condition, blending, and many other operations wore performed by the Authority's employees. Samples representative of the bulk goods were drawn, and so great was the trust placed on dock samples that they formed the basis of large:scale transactions without the buyer or the seller ever seeing the' goods. Merchants therefore had no need to take their goods away until the latter had been sold. Since 1925 the Authority had made reductions in port charges, which were saving users of , the port approximately £1,000,000 per year, notwithstanding that wages were 70 per cent, higher than before the war. Referring to the dry.summer experienced- in England last year, Captain Pearse said that the Thames dropped to an exceptionally low level, but this did not affect the 70-mile'stretch from Teddington to the Nore under the'control of the Port Authority, as the water in this' area was purely tidal. PROSPERITY IN THE SOUTH; It was apparent to Captain Pearse that, the depression is lifting in England. Conditions iv the south, he said, were particularly good, and there was no doubt that London and the southeast of England constituted the most prosperous part .of the country. In practically every city the- slum problem was being resolutely tackled, and many slum areas had already disappeared. London was still the financial centre of the world, he said, and exerted a magnetic power in international trade. Bills of exchange on London were the currency of the world's commerce, and the, smallest shipper of produce could hypothecate his documents in London on the best of terms. Both exporters and importer's could make more advantageous .financial arrangements than in any other market. "The, London market attracts the largest number of buyers," said Captain.Pearse.. "All goods that enter it can find a buyer,.and producers who can ship their'produce to London know that their sales are assured, and, in'the long run, art the best prices. This is particularly" so "as regards 'Now Zealand's primary products. There seems to be more money in the south today I than ever: before. Hundreds of new inclustries have sprung up i n the Homo counties since the xvav, and Southern .England, particularly the Greater London area/is"at present the richest section of the British Isles." Stressing the importance of London as a selling territory, Captain Pearse said that within 25 miles of the docks thsre was a population of nearly twelve million people. The annual army of tourists made London their headquarters, and all the fashionable seaside resorts bought their requirements in the city About twenty million people lived within economic reach of the metropolis.