LONDON’S COMMERCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 704, 2 July 1929, Page 10

LONDON’S COMMERCE

BIG PORT EXTENSION PROGRESSIVE CONTROL Commercial advantages offered by the Port of London and the immense progress made at the Empire’s greatest centre were explained yesterday to Auckland Rotarians by Mr. T. R. Toovey. of London. Mr. Toovey, principal assistant t 0 the general manager, Port of London Authority, is visiting New Zealand as part of a world tour to make better known the marketing and distribut. ing facilities of the Port ot London and to confer with producers and shippers in regard to the great volume of merchandise which goes to London every year. During the tour he will endeavour to inspect the port facilities of New Zealand. He is accompanied by Mr. R. Letch. Thev have already spent three months visiting the principal cities of Australia. Mr. Toovey lias spent his business life of over thirty years in the Port of London and has had practical experience in all branches of the service. During the last seven years he has been closely connected with the general management of the port. To the Rotarians, Mr. Toovey traced briefly the history of the port, and referred to the splendid docks-— Til. bury. King George, Milwall, West India. East India, London, and Surrey Commercial. In Elizabethan times, Londons trade extended in earnest and it had not lost its place as the greatest entrepot port of Europe There was a fear of that near the end of last century, and a Royal Commission of inquiry was set up. TWENTY-ONE YEARS OLD As a result, the Port of London Authority was created by an Act in 1908. There were 28 members, 1$ elected by payers of port dues and charges, and 10 appointed by Government and local authorities. The Authority was self-supporting. it owned 170 miles of railways, 45 miles of quays and docks, and possessed storage with a capacity of 2,000,000 tons. Up to the end of last year, £15,000,000 was spent in development and extension of the docks, and, by the end of the year, the total port expenditure would be £41,000,000. London’s trade was making records) and it was outstripping all other ports! “We have paid out enormous sums but it sure!j r has been worth while in putting London where it is. and making available such splendid facilities. “The Authority does not regard the development as complete. London has not reached its zenith yet.’’ Mr. Toovey maintained that the progressive policy of the control had been worth while.