The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-07-12
PRIVATE CONTROL is PRIVATE
PRIVILEGE
Natural Resource Should he Protect
ed and Developed as Such-Pub-
lie Ownership of Water Front
is Norris Plan for Penna.
Ports Expansion.
Philadelphia, July II.


Philadelphia, July II.
Applying business methods to
business project in which the entire
state of Pennsylvania is interested,
Director George W. Norris, of the
Department of Wharves and Docks,
Philadelphia, has announced himself
in favor of municipal ownership of
the Philadelphia waterfront, so that
every foot of space may be made
available for port purposes under a
comprehensive plan of development
which the department is mapping
out, and which will, in a short time,
be made public.
The announcement, accompanied
by the Directors explanation of why
he advocates such procedure, has
directed public attention to a con-
dition that for years has been point
ed to by virtually every expert who
ever studied the Philadelphia port
situation as being one of the prin-
cipal causes retarding the ports eX-
pansion. That is, that the railroads
and other private enterprises con-
troll the Delaware River front, and
hence the port facilities. almost abb
solutely.
The truth of this is shown by the
fact that of the ten-mile city shore
line along the Delaware, eight miles
of which is the active river-front
of the port, the City of Philadel-
phia owns only per cent. And of
this total of city holdings a major
portion is made up of broken dis
tances at street ends. These, be-
cause of surrounding properties, are
seldom susceptible of improvement,
and therefore represent so much
wasted water frontage.
In his recent three-volume report
to Congress upon transportation by
water in the United States, Herbert
Knox Smith, Commissioner of Cor
porations Under the Department of
Commerce and Labor, said:
The striking fact about Phila-
delphia is the ownership of the riv-
er frontage. Most of the water
front has been acquired by private
interests. The railroad
holdings are very large. Of the
most highly developed part of the
Delaware River frontage, railroads
own over 40 per cent. and occupy
still more.
" The attitude of the railroads as
to their frontage holdings has been
highly exclusive and adverse to gen.
eral water traffic. Railroads, as a
rule, refuse any use of their piers
for freight not going over their par
ticular lines and oppose Independent
lighterage. Thus, lighters can not
come to railroad pier to get freight
for independent water or rail lines.
The result are important, in view
of the extensive railroad control of
water terminals. Most of the intra-
harbor transfers, therefore, are by
railway switching or by drayage,
thus reducing the coordination by
water. Another result is that there
is almost no pier room for independ-
ent or tramp vessels.
The Philadelphia situation has
long been one of almost complete
absence of public control of the wa
ter terminals, and of dominance OF
water terminals by railroads, af-
feCting unfavorably general water
traffic as distinguished from exclu-
sive water lines affiliated with rail-
roads,"
Commenting upon this same sub.
| ject in his book on Ocean and In.
| land Water Transportation" Emory
| R, Johnson, professor of transporta-
| ton and commerce in the University
! of Pennsylvania, member of the
| lsthmian Canal Commission for five
years, and former president of the
Geographical Society of Philadel
| phia, says:
The general tendency among the
! states is toward the establishment
of state or municipal harbor boards
with increased powers. The ten
dency is also in the direction of the
limitation of private ownership, ant
toward the centraliatiozn of the
powers of supervision or public
ownership in a public board, whose
members are in some instances STATE
officials, and in other cases city Off
cials, whose powers are derived
from the state"
In the preface of his thirteen
hundred page report, the Commis
sioner of Corporations said, "Twt
ports only, New Orleans and SaI
Francisco, are noteworthy for thei
high degree of public ownership
control, efficiency and equipment.
Recently, however, every prominen
American port has begun the worl
of re-acquiring its own water from
and port facilities, to place them un
der public control.
Philadelphia is Pennsylvania
natural seaboard port. Directo
Norris has determined to make
Pennsylvania port, and not a por
cnDtrn1lpd nv nriyata intarastS