The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1910-09-26
Exhaustively Discussed by
u. S. Commits sioner OF
Corporations.
Are MOI Developed by Cities
as hey Should be
RAILROADS ARE IN CONTROL.

Washington. Sept 26. Omitted
Press - Herbert Knox Smith. COM
missioner Of corporations. today filed
his report on transportation by
water, which in part Is as follows:
There are many minor factors In
satisfactory water terminal, vary
ing with the differing conditions OF
particular tralic In general. how
ever. there are four fundamental re-
auiremcnts for all water terminals;
TAI Good wbaryos: OBJ warehouses
and storage facilities; (cl mechani-
cal appliances for trans-shipment of
freight tdl-and this Is highly inn
portant. though not always practices
BILE belt-llnc railway connection
with adjacent railroads and indus
trial concerns, so as TO coordinate
water with rail transportation aud
with local production and distribu-
tion Sufficient depth of water Is OF
course also Necessary, but this ques-
ton belongs 10 the subject OF chan
neis rather than terminals.
Any important harbor has two
prime functions. technically known
as Commercial" and industrial. ="
The commercial function deals chief
~ with through" freight. IL con
Germs the tTans-shlpmont from rail
TO water lines and vice versa Tor be-
tween water llRos) OF freight not
destined 10 nor originating az the
harbor Itself. The Industrial function.
on the other hand. deals particularly
with so-called local" freight. des-
tined TO or originating In the terri
tory Immediately adjacent 20 the
harbor.
Primarily. the commercial fune-
tion ia merely matter OF efficient
connection between transportation
lines "a the waters edge. The In
dnftriai junction IL mucn more CON-
plex. II requires. IN the first place.
transportation -spnnection between
the local iAstrics. distributing
houses. etc. and the wharves; and,
second. sufficient warehouse and
storage facilities at the wharves. so
that local freight may be assembled
there In quantities large enough for
cargo loads Ga matter which some
times requires considerable timel, or
where. after being unloaded, freight
may remain for assortment and local
dIsfrihution The interests OF the
locality are. az rule. far more
deeply concerned IN this. the local
Industrial function. than In the mere
passage of through traffic.
Most of our harbors exercise both
OF these functions. while very few OF
them are now so organized as TO
allow the proper working Of both.
Instead. many important cities have
allowed the commercial use OF their
water front TO interfere seriously
with the industrial or local use.
Our large harbors are mostly the re-
suit OF casual development, iniiu-
enced more by oxtraneous economic
conditions-land values. geographic
limitations. ctc.--than by any we'll
defined policy OF organization.
The organization of n harbor as a
whole from the standpoint OF these
essential functions Is important. A
proper organization requires, in gem
oral. the segregation OF through
freight terminals at relatively outly-
ing parts of the harbor. leaving the
central portion more free for the
transpoi tation Of local business
most OF which necessarily originates
or terminates near the business cen
ter OF the city. Most of the modern
plans for harbor improvement con.
template such separation, and IN
some harbors IL has been at least
partially accomplished OF course
In many large harbors there must
be considerable space for local pas
gengcr traffic. and In soce cases 1t Il
essential that the terminals fo'
through passenger traffic be cen
trally located.
Atlantic Coast Hnrbors.
New York H.. of course. the mos
important harbor IN the United
states. As a terminal organism. III
completely and diversity make II
most interesting study. II is a ter
minus. not only OF the importan
trunk railroads and of many of thu
leading ocean steamship lines. bu
of large number OF coastwise lines
and, furthermore, OF the Erie canal
The congestion of business is furthe
complicated by an enormous volume
of local passenger traffic. larg
proportion of which, until the re
cent completion of tunnel systems
was handled by ferries. thus requif
ing considerable portion of tn
water front In the most CENTRAL por
lions Of the harbor: this ferry tram
still seriously aggravates the con
fusion of business on margina
streets.
The terminal problem at Ne'
York is further interesting becaus
OF the adoption by New York CIT
of a comprehensive policy of munic
pal ownership. much modified. how
ever. by long-term leases OF the cit
piers.
The volume of lighterage bushes
is enormous. According to the late'
available Information f9OS). ther
were about 10000 craft performin