THE IMPERIAL PORT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1990, 21 February 1914, Page 6

THE IMPERIAL PORT.

MAGNETIC POLE OF THE WORLD'S ■ COMMERCE.

MR. ESfiLt'S LECTURE.

'A' wonderful story ot how the riches of tlio world ji-re received, stored, ■ nud sold in London was told in ft lecture by Mr. J. H. Estill,. Commercial Superintendent of . the I'ort of London Authority, in the. Coucert'Ohambor <if tho Town Hall last night. Mr. Estill's mission to the. overseas Dominions is primarily to spread among producers and exporters 311 icka of the facilities existing in tho Port of Lsiitlon for the handling of- produce, iuad to draw attention to the extensive alterations and improvements now Wing -ttftdertakon hy the Port Authority to provide for future .development of trade with these- Dominions. Laet night he spoke of these faoiHties and improvements, but lie also spoke of tho immense trade done with London in tho rare products of the remotest parts of the globe. His lecture -was illustrated witS Tantern slides, which enabled him to give to his audience a tangible idea of the extent of tho docks, tie .capacity 0f the hugo warehouses', and the niftthdds of handling perishable or fragile cargo under the control of the P-Oft of London Authority. Particularly interesting were tho sections dealing with tho handling of frozen, meat, tße one- arfciele which, it has been alleged, is not handled satisfactorily; in the Port of London. Mr. Estill criticised adversely the ides whioli was favoured here some time ago for tie transference of New Zea'l&ftd trado from the Royal Victoria and Alfert Dock system to other doc-ks higher up the river, and made an occasional reference to the claims. advanced on behalf of other ports; these .he.'dismissed as ; quite, insignificant compared with the advantages offering in London. ■'• In ■ concluding , his lecture, Mr.- Estill summod up the advantages of London as follows:—"The Port of London Authority propose to "spend £14,000,000 in modernising the port, of which sum -upwards of £5,000,000 is at present being spent on new dock extensions and iniprovements generally. Therefore, Australasia need, have no fear thai her business will not be well and efficiently catered for. It will,-of course, bo apparent that the millions of people interested in the various, trades I, have mentioned'are centred'in London, thus constituting- an enormous ■ Ideal- nlafkct which it is necessary to feed, and for which- food wo -har-o 'to look:to oflr -gmnt overseas dominions t<s supply. : Within a radius of ten miles of the Hoyal Albert Dock there is & -population of nearly eight .millions of-people,* ■ almost double that of- the whole of Australia. Owing to the competition of "-the- nine great railway trunk liues serving London, and to the frequent. and regular soilings -of '■ steamers' carrying goeds ; •at low rates' to nearly- all. the coastwise ports of the- United: Kingdom and to tho Continent, tho facilities o'f>Loftclw. for the-distribution of produce ar-e uii-' rivalled. It is factors-' such as these that cause- London to be tho WSftnotic pole of the world's commerce,'? ; The Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) presided, and- at- the- conillWien' of the lecture a liearty-vote of thanks,.on tho'motio'n of Mr. T. Roriayne,, was accorded Mr.'Es* till. .-.■..-•