New-York tribune., 1920-03-14
BY Fred B. Pitney

"HE question Of the develop
ment Of the Port Of New
II York is Of supreme impor-
tance to the people of New
York. More than that, it is Of supreme
Importance to the nation. It involves
tho transfer Of the center of the
shipping industry Of the earth from
England to America and with the
shipping industry the transfer of
financial supremacy from London to
New York.
Before the time Of Cromwell the
Dutch were the great carriers Of
the worlds commerce, and Amster-
dam was the shipping and banking
center of the known world. Colbert,
the great finance minister of Louis
XIV, estimated that 10000 out of a
total of 10000 commercial bottoms
in his time were under the Dutch
flag. Cromwell by his shipping laws
transferred the mastery of the seas
from Holland to England, where it
has remained ever since, and when
England became the worlds ship
ping center London became the
worlds commercial, banking and in
surance center.
London is to-day, as she has been
for 200 years, the worlds chief
consignment market. Raw mate
rials from every country in the
world are shipped to London to be
held in warehouses until the con-
sumers of the world are ready to
buy them. The shippers are credited
with from 70 per cent to 80 per
cent Of the market value Of the
goods and the banks advance the
money against the warehouse re-
ceipts and bills Of lading. The re-
naming 20 per cent. or 25 per cent.
less interest, commissions and ware
house charges, is realized as the
goods are gradually sold and re-
shipped to the buyers.
New York's Chance
This consignment business Ia what
makes the greatness Of the Port of
London and the commercial great
ness Of the City of London. It Is
possible because Of the shipping IA
cilities Joined to the banking facili-
ties. New York should become an
other such port, provided the same
shipping and banking facilities are
established here. The war has given
great impetus to the practice Of
shipping goods to New York and
then reshipping from New York to
the final destination. 1t remains
for New York to take advantage
OF these conditions and for America
to wrest the supremacy Of the seas
from Britain,
IN order to accomplish this there
must be great unified policy of
port development adopted, and that
is the object the New York New
Jersey Port and Harbor Commission
Ia intended to achieve. But it is
a great mistake to confuse I'M
portance with size in the question
OF port development, fascinating as
the "biggest-in-the-world" idea may
be. In his book, "Ports and Ter
minal Facilities" Professor Roy S. |
has map showing one
half Of the Port of New York oc-
eupying one-half the page. while
drawn to the same scale the ports
or Hamburg, Rotterdam, LIVERPOOL.
London, Amsterdam, Bremen and
Antwerp occupy the other half.
Professor MacElwee says:
Instead of being a cause of
pride, this is sad commentary on
the efficiency Of New York as a port.
When we consider that each of the
other little dug-out-of- -the-mud ports
has handled almost as much COM
merce as all of New York without
breaking down. we realize that there
must be something wrong with the
Fort OF New York. Several Euro
rean ports, notably Marseilles, aver
age yearly more than 1900 tons of
cargo transferred over every linear
1oos OF equipped quay against 15o
TONS at New York. It is not size
'hat makes a port, but efficiency"
Hauling and Handling
Efficiency is what the Port Of New
York is badly in need of at the
present time. Size can come with
time, and the time needed ran ha