PORT OF LONDON

Evening Star, Issue 18851, 28 January 1925, Page 6

PORT OF LONDON

ITS PRE-EMINENT POSITION. CAPTAIN PEARSS’S MISSION. Captain A. W. Pearse, F.R.G.S., arrived in Dunedin last night. He is the representative in New Zealand and Australia of the Port of London Authority, and the advantages offered by the port, particularly to the producer who has to go upon the open market, form the text of the addresses which he is at present engaged in giving to business men and others throughout. New Zealand. Captain Pearse is not unknown here. In 1838 ho came out to manage a gold dredge on. the Molynonx River. Ho has a good knowledge of the early days of Canterbury and Otago, and is able to recall many of the early settlers.. Journalism for many years occupied his attention, and he founded the ‘ Pastoralist Review ’ in Australia. a journal which he actively conducted for many years. Twice ho has represented the refrigerating companies of 'New Zealand at the Refrigeration Conference—in 1908 in Paris, and in 1915 at Chicago. In an interview with a ‘Star* representative this morning, Captain Pearse, expressed pleasure at the cabled advice that. the Port of London Authority had reduced its charges by 7£ per cent, for all classes of goods. It was another illustration, he said, of the wav in which tho Port Authority gave to the shippers the benefit of anv reduction in the cost of working. While it might be all right, he said, for the man who sold his stuff to send it to a port other than London, for the man who had nnt sold. London was the onlv market. The, London prices for first quality mutton and lamb were in excess of those obtained at the out-ports by id to Id per lb, or from £2 (o £8 15s a ton. A cargo of 100,000 first quality New Zealand sheep sent to London would realise £21,900 more Ilian if sent to the out-ports. At the Rova! Albert. Dock ships came alongside, and discharged frozen meat by endless belts from the deck of (he steamer to the cold sorting floors, where the meat was soiled to various marks and grades. The sorting floors bad the same temperature as the store, and after the meat had been soiled it was delivered under cover to vans for Smithfield Market, or lo railway truck's alongside for the provinces. If. required for storage, tho meat, was again put on mechanical conveyers and taken to tho cold store proper, adjacent. All the appliances were under cover. Captain Pearse said that, because it was international London was the world’s market for everything, and all produce realised the highest prices there. It. was the key port of Europe. .All the transport. shipments of the I mted Kingdom and Europe converged on London, which had nine trunk linos, running out. all over Great Britain. Among the many reasons why It was the world’s best market was because 1.000.0tM to 2,C00,000 tourists -annually made their headquarters there. All file big fashionable seaside resorts made London their buying centre, It was within ten miles of 8.000,090 people, and within 100 miles there, were 16.000,000. In regard In the wool trade all parts of the world shipped to London, and buyers from every country attended its sales. It was a. mistake to think that, tho people of England were starving. They wore earning good wages, and living on the fat. of the land. The working people, were not living in misery. The million, three hundred thousand unemployed were, mostly, those educated to be unemployed, who were gelling 18s a week dole. The red element- had been wiped out. at the elections, as he know it world. Of course, (ho.ro were Labor successes, but, Labor, the proper Labor, was not rod. and its influence was good. Thev owned their homes, or were getting their homes together, and they did not want Communism. The farming elapses, too, were comfortable, and ran their motor cars, which was one reason why they did not emigrate to New Zealand and tho other overseas dominions.

London, Captain T’carse pointed out, was the world’s market for everything, and all produce cot tbo highest nrices them The market, was international. The local markets, of which so much was occasionally heard, were invariably in the hands of a am,all circle of buyers, whoso demands were limited. Thus the sales of produce wcj3 dependent, upon market fluctuations and an uncertain demand. The producer might have to sell at a sacrifice or retrain his goods to London. The bill of lading on London was the basis of the commerce of the world, and Loudon was still the money market of the world.