New-York tribune., 1921-02-06
City Will Become Suburb
of Newark i'm 80 Years
Unless Personal Profit Is
Secondary, They Assert
Vast Area Is Affected
American Society Experts
Urge improvements Thas
Will Save Harbor's Value

is planned and operated with individual
Frofits as secondary consideration,
according to a prediction made by a
gIcun of we'll known traction experts
and engineers whose views are set
forth in a symposium prep, led by the
New York section of the American So
ciety Of Civil Engineers.
The symposium was published yes
torday by Colonel w. j. Wilgus, presi-
dent of the section, who announced
that it had been prepared as part of
the society's campaign to lead to the
adoption of plan that will point "the
way to the logical and orderly develop
nient of the great community that sur
rounds the waters of New York Har-
bor"
The twelve experts who participated
in the symposium are agreed that
something must be done Immediately
to remedy the port system. j. Shirley
Eaton, member Of the Federal Trade
Commission, says:
"The Panama Canal does not have as
great consequence dS tllS / cat Rpil "
New York, through which 70 per cent
of the tide Of traffic passes from land
and water. And the port system is
bad from an economic standpoint, q
political standpoint and a sociological
and hygienic standpoint.
Vast Territory Is Affected
The problem is important not only
70 the nine or ten million people who
live here, but to those who live in the
adjacent territory in the hinterland a
vast population that get their supplies
and live economically upon the activi-
ties of this great port. The individual
profit must come in as a secondary
phase. The theory of the man who
operates must be that he gives to get.
He must give first and then get"
A recommendation is made by Colonel
T. A. Molitor, former Y chief engineer
of the Choctaw, Omaha & Gloucester
Railroad, that river and Sound steam
snip lines be docked in the Last River
instead Of using the extensive water
fronts with deep water on the west side
of Manhattan.
New York does not pay for the work
that is being done but for the time that
IS lost, according to John P. Hallihan.
q member of the New York section,
who said it was time for mass action
by the community"
Question Only Business Sense
THE solution of the problems of the
metropolitan district is not an engi-
neering plan, but the application of
business common sense. There is going
to be occasion for the exercise of a
good deal of diplomacy in getting the
assent of the different commercial in
forests involved in transportation mere
TO carrying out any pan" continued
Mr. Hallihan, saying that the quickest
way to remedy the present dep lorablG
s.ration" was to separate the so-called
"An sterdam plan," proposed by Colonel
WilGus ten years ago, into Its compo-
nent parts and provide in due order
for the betterment of each one.
Human nature is such that nearly
every public official, person, firm, COM
pany or corporation having to do with
distribution, may decrease his en-
thusiasm for any plan suggested in
inverse ratio to the Inconvenience, real
or fancied, which may be caused him
officially, personally or corporately."
said Colonel Charles d. Hine. formerly
vice-president of the Southern Pacific
Railroad and Colonel of the old Goth
hSRlllSHG. iIG oONtQ LIlclG VIC ICal
transportation problem is a terminal
one, and that no satisfactory formula
has yet been devised to measure the
cost to the carrier and to the public of
terminal congestion.
"The best interest of the public
would be served" Colonel Hine con-
tinued, "if diversion and reconsigment
privileges were aboli he'd and bills of
lading made negotiable only for ware
house receipts. This would force the
goods themselves to bear the expense
of storage; would in some ca a1cs make
the broker q warehouseman, and would
reduce the number of brokers to 6
considerable minimum. Diversion and
reconsignment service performed BY
carriers is dear at any tariff because
OF the lndeterminate cost OF congestion
which accrues. Where demand is not
sufficiently constant to warrant fair
ly uniform flow of traffic q reservoir
of storage must be provided and the
unavoidable cost of redistribution be
To- borne by the goods aud not by the car
rier."
Business Men Realize Need
The active interest Of the Chamber OF
Commerce and the Merchants Associ-
alton, whose cooperation Mr.. Hallthan
considered essential, if success were to
attend any plan ATTEMPTED, was brought
assistant traffic manager of the Mer-
chants Association, and E. c. Church
of the Chamber of Commerce. Both
men said that the organizations they
represented realized the pressing need
for immediate action
"The Merchants Association feels
very strong W Mr. Connell said, "that
the store door delivery pan is essential
to the welfare Of New York. 1t has
been tried out successfully at Washing
ton and at Baltimore. The Meraharts
Association aiso advocated the inser-
tion Of street addresses in bills of lad
ing and upon packages to cooperate
with the carriers in their efforts TO cut
out the waste of transportation.
The establishment of q department
~of markets in each borough where food
supplies could come in large quantities
and be distributed directly to the re-
tailers in the borough was urged as a
necessity by Silas Miller, member of
the Board of Estimate under Mayor
Gaynor and Director of Transportation
and Distribution of the Food Board
during the war
In order TO effect these economies of
time and space at the terminals w. c.
Brinton proposes vehicles that 'wiIl
ran through the streets for short
distance, say o milo, from the freight
station and into freight elevators Of
such size that they can be carried TO
the floor who're they can run Through
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