THE WORLD’S GREATEST PORT.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9442, 12 May 1909, Page 7

THE WORLD’S GREATEST PORT.

Few people, perhaps least of all the Londoners themselves, have any oonception of the enormona volmn<3 of London’s 'shipping trade. When fhe new Port ‘of London Authority held its first meeting this week the chairman (Sir Hudson Kearley) gave some details which illustrate vividly the size of this,“the world a greatest nort One-third of the imports and one-fourth of the exports of the United Kingdom pass through its «ateß, for London is an international port land market, ■ and the whole of the world gravitates hither in order to Operate in a “ a^ n l o fe “ c ‘® 0 f commodities. Tno £400,000,000 worth of gonds which come ana go •every year are carried in a fleet _so vast that 34,000,000 tons of shipping enter and clear annually. Nearly a ■thousand vessels pass Gravesend every day. and 10,000 targes are constantly employed to di<,.obn.. dfiieir cargoes to the w.ißrvos and warehouses of the port. Private ■enterprise has dene much to bin id up this huge trade, but it has grown too .yreat. ‘ and the competition has become too severe for private enterprise to continue the control efficiently. The question of accommodation and facilities is the dominant factor in the prosperity of a port* and of late yeazs the Peru oi iondon has been getting somewhat oat of date in regard to the equipment of its docks. It f,has failed to keep pace with the increasing size of the ocean liners. In 1902 the largest ship then afloat, the Oceanic, with a length of 686 feet, could enter Tilbury Dock, but Tilbury Dock cannot accommodate the leviathan of the moment, the Mauretania, which is 760 ft. s long. Thus in a brief seven years the docking facilities of the port have become inadequate to meet Ihe needs of the day, -whereas other ports in England and on the Continent, by a wise expenditure or capital, have contrived to keep abreast of the times. The system of divided control at the Port of London has now been superseded, and the new Authority will have powe-rs enabling it to carry out for the common good any works found to be necessary. The history of London has shown what an immense factor the River Thames has been in its amazing growth. This was recognised long ago, for when King James I. once threatened :.to remove his Court from London to Oxford in consequence of a dispute with the City Corporation the Lord Mayor of the day replied ; “So be it, yoar Majesty, provided you leave us the Thames!” The port of London has been in full swing, so to speak, for at least sis hundred years under the protection of a Royal Charter, but for a thousand years and more before it was first given a constitution history records that London was a port ranch frequented by merchants and trading vessels. London, unlike many ports, is not dependent upon any single industry. Besides taking in food supplies for its immense population, it is the market of the world for such various and valuable products as wool, tea, ivory, furs, and even gold and precious stones. The import of wool alone into the Fort of London amounts in ® year to twenty-five millions sterling.