THE PORT OF BRISTOL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16551, 15 May 1914, Page 3

THE PORT OF BRISTOL.

TRADE DELEGATES IN THE-CITY,

"THE GATEWAY OF THE WESTERN OCEAN."

Men have different hobbies, and it is tho hobby of Mr Henry L. Riseley, of Bristol, to foster the trade relations between his city and New Zealand and Australia'. Ho has made this his mission in life. He was in New Zealand five years ago, talking Bristol, and since then he has been in Bristol, talking Now Zealand. Ho;now has come to Now Zealand again to talk more Bristol, and still more, until tho people are possessed of a proper regard for that English city and its possibilities. Ho is accompanied on his present visit by Mr E. Manning Lewis, commercial superintendent of the Port of Bristol, and togethor they wish to make it clear that Bristol is the western gateway for everything sent to England from this part of tho world. "Wo eorao to New Zealand with a desire to extend our knowledge of our fellow countrymen and to get into touch with them, to interchange ideas and, if possible, to arrive at a common understanding in a manner which cannot be brought about by any other means," Mr Riseley said yesterday, "Surely an imperial service of great valuo is rendered to tho solidarity of the- Empire by drawing into close relationship those of us who here and elsowhere live under tho protection of tho British flag. Where the British flag flies - commerce follows, and as for considerations of trade, it is evident that the limit of the possibilities of New Zealand is not in view; We at Homo are equally satisfied that tho Mother Country has in no way said its last word in commerce and trade, and is ready to join in your efforts or mutual expansion.

"The important cities and ports of the Mother Country are keenly alive to the requirements of the oversea dominions. Bristol City and Port, always noted for its shipping and commerce, has equipped itself with now docks, worthily taking its place as the gateway of the western ocean, offering as a port for additional markets, economical handling and distribution of merchandise a centre second to none, to meet the increasing commerce of your dominion. " Bristol, from a commercial standpoint, is-deserving of every consideration at your hands. Not from a sentimental view—for it cannot be supposed for one moment that sentiment would weigh in commercial transactions, but having propositions to place before the members of your trading community, greatly to their advantage, it will be surprising if we fail to convince them that a closer relationship commercially with the City and Port of Bristol will be : beneficial to all concerned, more especially to themselves." ITS CLAIMS ON NEW ZEALAND TRADE., ADDRESSES TO BUSINESS MEN. . At tho Chamber of Commerce Hall yesterday afternoon a meeting of business men, producers nhd others, convened by the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, was held to hear addresses delivered by Messrs 11. Riseley (chairman of tho Bristol Publicity Committee), and E. Manning Lewis' (Commercial Superintendent of the Port of Bristol).

Mr E. G. Staveley (president of the Canterbury Chamber, of Commerce) presided, aiid after welcoming tho visitors to Christchurch ho briefly introduced them to the audience. GREETINGS FROM BRISTOL.

Mr Riseley was the first speaker. After apologising for trenching upon tiie time of business men 'on mail-day, and promising that the whole of the proceedings would occupy less than an hour, he,went on to extend to those present, on behalf of the Lord Mayor of Bristol and the president, council and members of the Bristol Incorporated Chamber of Commerce and Shipping, their hearty good wishes for the success, prosperity and usefulness cf the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. It was hoped, he said, that the visit of Mr E. Manning Lewis and himself would, result in hearty co-operation and assistance from the Chamber, and lead to results imperially, socially ancl commercially to the advantage of all. (Applause.) QUICK HANDLING. For many years much had been done in Bristol to advance the interests of Now Zealand commercially, also' in sending good and useful emigrants, many with capital, who desired to make Now Zealand their adopted country. Much had been said as to the desirability of New Zealand using tho outports of the Mother Country, notably Bristol. It was, thereforo, satisfactory to record the visits of various Ministers of State from this dominion i&< Bristol, especially that of the Hon I Thomas Mackeuzie, the High Commissioner. They were well qualified to speak with the authority which came only by personal inspection of the up-to-date condition of Bristol as a port. They inspected tho docks, the appliance, the methods of handling commcicc, especially wheat, ore, dairy produce, fruit and meat, the discharge of bananas—a revelation of careful handling and quick despatch—and the frozen meat, coming direct from ship into cold storage with less than a minute's exposure. They saw also the method of despatch of the meat direct into refrigerator cars to their destination, and (in the case of sending meat to London) by the Great Western Railway straight into Smithfield Market, the Groat Western Railway being tho only railway in a position to convey meat right under the market and to deliver it by means of lifts to the stalls. The cold storage arrangements at Bristol were admitted to be the best at the present time in the United Kingdom, upon authority which could not be disputed. During the speaker's sojourn in New Zealand, Australia and Home, via America and Canada, he had the assistance of Mr Manning Lewis, Commercial Superintendent of the Bristol Docks, a gentleman of wide and well-matured experience, well versed in all matters applying to docks, railways, freights and such like. Ho was here for the purpose of placing his expert knowledge at the disposal of tho commercial men of Now Zealand, as might be required in ascertaining whether by their adopting Bristol as theiiv British port they could obtain substantial commercial advantages as compared with their arrangements as they now existed. BRISTOL AS A PORT. Bristol had no intention of hiding its light under a bushel. For centuries it had been a landmark of the Empire; its .city and port had bce;i associated with tho leading events of the nation's' history, holding a high position in 'shipping and commerce, and it was now one of Britain's principal ports. As an example of its rapid'development, the, return of last year showed an iucreaso of 25 per cent over previous records in tho total tonnage coming into Bristol docks. That was splendid prosperity and called for no comment from the speaker. The port stood at the head of the Bristol Channel, and lis' approaches offered every advantage a:; regarded ease and safety of navigation;'■ 'Freights, charges and r:!trr; generally cornpai-.d favourably v/it-h the;; of any -.the'r port. Ul'-TC'-DATj'i .:'-.'::< O.M MOB-ATTON. j i':'(i!i ti ■;'■■ ; . £<■;.;;; |.lh> r.ecrinmcda- '.■'•■: • ;.,;:..;' i ,;. :.■>•',' . mci-earr::, 1 ; i '■■".>•! I ■'■'"■ '"',, '■■','■ ■ ~■,■■■:.• ;g ::,'./.'.: ., ml 1 ° _.•'. .:' .'.",';•'..' -.'-. ■; ii'.ust c::ceiibiw.V,'-->:;;;; .... .i~-.;..-.:.:Ct.» oi tho

Royal Edward Dock, at a cost to the city of considerably over three million pounds sterling. At the present moment additional wharves, warehouses, cold storage and such like were being provided to meet requirements, whilst the new loading berth for New Zealand and Australian liners was the last word in perfection of equipment. There was nothing superior to bo found. The docks vers owned by tho municipality, and were provided for out of the rates, surely a notable example of good citizenship and an augury that the possibilities of success had not yet been exhausted by tho port of Bristol.

CENTRE OF DISTRIBUTION. Regarding Bristol as a centre of distribution, the following figures spoke for themselves:—Within a radius of twenty-five miles of Bristol the population 'was 850.000; within a radius of fifty miles, 2,550,000; of seventy-five miles, 5,120,000; of 100 miles, 10,000,000; of 120 miles (two hours by rail), 17,000,000. STEAMSHIP FACILITIES. At the present time there was a service of first-class steamers direct to Bristol from New Zealandj supplied by the Federal and Shire Line. These steamers sailed from New Zealand every month, as far as circumstances permitted. Tho cargoes carried were frozen meat and general produce. The speaker's mission to New Zealand was to endeavour to increaso the shipments to Bristol by those steamers to such an oxtent as to call for and warrant an accelerated service direct between Bristol and the. dominion for all products which could bo dealt with in tho district covered by Bristol's area of distribution, and to bring into closest possible touch the producer and consumer on cither side, manifestly to the advantage of both. From the Home Country their mission, so far, proved that an abundance of shipments direct from Bristol to New Zealand would be found to justify the increase of service desired, and with regard to the homeward cargo from New Zealand, it remained only for the shippers of grain, wool, dairv'produce, frozen and canned meats and general merchandise, to cooperate with them, support their, efforts, and ship direct to /Bristol, to bring about improvements in tho steamer service which would greatly facilitate the expeditious handling, marketing and distribution of Now Zealand products. MR LEWIS'S ADDRESS.

"A SOUND BUSINESS PROPOSITION."

Mr E. Manning Lewis said that he believed tho case he had to submit would commend itself to the, judgment of his hearers as a sound;business proposition, and one which should be of great benefit to New Zealand. He would start with tho assumption that tho cheaper New Zealand produce could be delivered to the consumer on tho other side, and the manufactured or partly manufactured goods required could be delivered in New Zealand, the better it would be for New Zealand trado generally. He hoped to prove that by using tho Port of Bristol this desirable end could be attained as regarded a substantial proportion of tho trade. SOME FACTS AND FIGURES.

With regard to the facilities of the Port of Bristol for handling traffic the purpose kept in view had been the combination of the quickest despatch with the minimum of labour, thus economising time and cost. Docks capable of accommodating tho largest classes of steamers' had been constructed with entranco locks S7o feet long, 100 feet wide .and a depth of water varying from 36 feet to 46 feet. A commodious passenger station had been provided and passengers were conveyed between, the port and London within two hours. As regarded traffic, railway lines on tho quays enabled connection to be made with any part of the United Kingdom, thus entirely eliminating tho extra expense of cartage and double handling. Modern electric and hydraulic cranes with a lifting capacity of from one ton to thirty-five tons, transferred traffic from ship to railway car and vice versa, ono of the prominent features of the port being the large quantity of traffic which was dealt with by this method. Floating and land elevators, each capable of dealing with 120 tons per hour, lifted grain from the steamers and poured it into hoppers, whence it was taken on bands under tho quay walls to granaries. There the grain was automatically weighed, sacked and delivered to cars for conveyance to its destination. Or, alternatively, tho .grain was shot from tho elevators into craft alongside the steamer. COOL STORAGE. General produce was delivered to railway ears direct, or, alternatively, was put into cool ferro-conercte transit sheds for sorting and storing. Thence it was delivered to cars which were brought up 011 either side of the sheds. The arrangements for dealing with frozen produce had been designed with tho greatest care, and after thorough investigation of the various methods already in operation elsewhere. Acting on tho knowledge thus gained the stores were constructed on the quay wall, alongside the steamship berths, with railway access on either side under tho verandahs of the stores, thus enabling produce to bo delivered to store and thenco to refrigerated railway car for conveyance to the retailer with practically no exposure. It was, therefore, kept in its frozen state from tho time of being shipped in New Zealand until it reached the retailer on tho other side. There were various lines of steamers between Bristol, Canada, North America, the Continent of Europe and other places by which cargo could bo readily transhipped. THE BRISTOL MARKET.

Taking the last twenty-five years, the registered tonnage showed in the port of Bristol an increase of 90 per cent, and for the twelve months ended on April 30 the total would eclipse all previous records. During the same period tho value of goods entering from foreign ports had increased by 95 per cent, tho quantity of grain imported by 25 per cent, petroleum by 540 per cent, sugar by S 4 per cent, and oranges and lemons by 235 per cent. Bananas, the importation of which commenced in 1901, had risen from 630,000 bunches for the first complete year of importation to 2,500,000 bunches last year. Canada for many years found that her best market for butter was Bristol, about 5000 tons per year, or between 50 per cent and 60 per cent of the total quantity exported, being dealt with there, as' well as 20,000 to 25,000 tons of cheese nor annum, and large consignments of bacon, apples, Teattle and sheep. Last year Bristol stood second in the list of British ports for the importation of cheese from all parts of the world. As the exportation of dairy produce from Canada had now decreased, they looked to Australia and New Zealand to supply the demand. The grain imported into Bristol from Canada during the seven months ended November 30 last was over 10,000.000 bushels, or 20 per cent of tho total imported into the Lnited Kingdom from that dominion, a larger quantity than that taken by any other port. The.trade of the port had grown to such an extent tlpit notwithstanding the largo expenditure already incurred, nowers wero now being sought to > raise a, further considerable sum, which it was proposed to spend on the provision of gram .machinery and plant, crararies, cold stores, warehouses and other appliances in order to maintain tlir. nresent lurih ftate of efficiency. ' COMPARISON OF CHARGES. At the present tunc a large proportion of Now Zealand produce came- into the district through other ports, and

uot onlv had it to pay a high rail- j way rate but it was also subjected to tho higher charges which obtained at these ports, and in addition it necessarily underwent increased handling with'the contingent deterioration in tho condition of the produce. This brought him to the question of charges, and to prove that Bristol could supply import- ; ant markets at considerably lower cost; than other large ports ho proposed r.o ] deal with the comparative charges from London and Bristol respectively, on pro- j dnco as regarded large centres of popu- , lotion outside tho Bristol district itself, j The figures given included dock dues or wharfage, landing, storing for a short period, delivering to railway cars, railway haulage and delivering in the places named. Tho figures quoted for meat included ono week's cold storage. First, let them take, tho ease of Birmingham, a city which provided a market for a large district with a population of upwards of 2,000,000. The costs so far as was possible to arrive at them were as follow:—On apples, taking 40 cases to tho ton, via Bristol 16s 5d per ton, via London 28s 2d per ton; on butter, via Bristol, 21s 8d per ton. via London 35s 5d per ton; on canned meats, via Bristol 22s per ton, via London 20s 9d oer ton; on frozen meat, via Bristol 29s 6d per ton, via London 37s'6d per ton. The other large centres he would only deal with as regarded butter and meat, and compare the inclusive charges from the same ports:—

BRISTOL'S MANUFACTURES. Bristol itself was a'city with a variety of manufactures, chief, amongst which were galvanised iron and general ironwork, railway■!waggon bodies, colours and paints,' boots and. shoes, woollen goods ■ ready-made clothing, daily utensils,' agricultural machinery, chinaw-are, " earthenware,, leather, chocolates and '. confectionery, and tobacco. For the manufacture of. these a 'largo: proportion ot raw material had to be imported, and New Zealand was in a position to supply a portion of this. In addition, tho manufactured, goods. ( themselves wore amongst tho classes imported by tho dominion. In obtaining quotations the general practice appeared to be to ask for prices f.o.b. British port, and as.a largo proportion of the traffic was shipped at London, tho manufacturer added the cost of delivery at that port to tho price of his goods at works. It was to the interests of the manufacturer to quo.to the. lowest figure possible. His profit was included in the price of the manufacture at tho works, and he was therefore generally , prepared to charge only the actual cost of delivering, or in the event of a higher figuro having been included to give* a rebate equal to tho amount so saved. It would bo readily seen that tho cost of delivering goods' manufactured in Bristol to a steamer at London instead' of a steamer at the port of Bristol itself greatly increased the price, and in a [lesser degree the same was. the caso with regard to the goods manufactured in the area served by Bristol. The amount saved would' vary according to tho place in which the' traffic arose, and the class of traffic, but it might be taken as anything between 2s and 15s per ton. To illustrate the case of _ Birmingham, which was ninety-one miles from Bristol iand 114 miles, from. London, the saving in the railway, rate on bedsteads if shipped' at Bristol instead of London would bo 6s 4d per ton; on colours and paints, 5s 3d per ton; on hardware, 7s lOd; on holloware, 6s Id per ton: on iron and steel, 4s 4d per ton; and on vinegar, 3s 4d per ton. If advantage were taken of tho excellent waterway between the port and the Midland * counties of England, which was entirely free from railway control, and along which most of the traffic, was conveyed in motor-boats, and collected or delivered in the Midlands by motor lorries, and the cost compared with tho railway carriage to London (on which the f.o.b. quotation was invariably based), the sa.ving on the conveyance to Bristol as compared with London would be:—Bedsteads 12s, colours and paints 10s lid, hardware 16s, holloware 14s 3d, iron and steel os 3d. .: New Zealand had already a first-class' service of steamers provided by tho Federal and Shire Lino, loading in both New Zealand, ports and Bristol, by which merchandise was conveyed. .The fleet owned by these companies included steamers of 11,000 tons, and the number was being augmented by several vessels now under construction. In conclusion, Mr Lewis sftid .his hearers would' realise that it was only possible to put the case for Bristol in a_ general way in an address of that kind. He believed that the arguments for using the Port of Bristol for a portion of New Zealand's trade were unanswerable, and invited the.fullest investigation of tho statements made. A VOTE OF THANKS. After Mr Lewis had answered a few questions on matters of detail contained in his address; Mr A. Ka.Ve moved a very hearty vote of thanks to the speakers. He said it was an objectlesson to Christchurch citizens to re-, ceivo a visit from two gentlemen such as those who had addressed them that afternoon, and to witness their enthusiasm on behalf of their city. Bristol had progressed by leaps and bounds, largely because of its progressive citizens.

The Mayor of Christchurch (Mr H. Holland) in seconding the motion, welcomed the speakers to Christchurch, and invited them to accompany him the following day on a tour of Inspection of the city. Tho motion was carried by acclamation. ■'•'•''"'.

Butter. Population. Bristol. ' London Per Ton. Per Ton. s. d. 30 2 Cardiff . . 183,000 10 5 Newport . 84,000 10 5 30 2 Plymouth . 112,000 1G fi . 32 10 Southampton 119,000 15 8 28 6 Swansea . 115,000 13 11 33 8 Walsall 92,000 24 4 36- 3 Moat. Port. Population; Bristol. London Per Ton. Per Ton. b; tl. -s. d. Cardiff . . . 183,000' 17 4 32 4 Newport . 8-1,000 •17 4 32 4 Plymouth . 112.000 31 3 42 9 Southampton 119,000 29 11 32 7 Swansea . 115,000 27 9 45 4 Walsall , , 92,000 33 0 40 2