Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-04-21
A CHANCE FOR REAL DEVELOPMENT

A CHANCE FOR REAL DEVELOPMENT
Could the income from Perth Amboy's water front, if properly
developed, be made to pay off the city's debt within three yearsi
This question is prompted by the remark made by Major
Elihu Church, transportation engineer for the Port of New York
Authority, before the Rotary Club of Jersey City a few days ago.
.sSome people say that it is impossible to develop Jersey Ctys
shallow water front, but that is not so,' Major Church said. "Not
long ago there was a Dutchnan in the offices of the Port Authority,
which are on the t~wentyfrst floor of No. II Broadway. Looking
out of the window, across the Hudson to the Jersey City water
front, he said: IF we had a water front like that in our country
we could pay off our nations debt in three years."
Commenting on what the Dutchman had said, Major Church
went on to say that the problem can be solved without much diff
6culty. s'The solution, - he said, "lies in the erection of a bulkhead
Of oldfashioned piers. Silt can be dredged from the shore and
thrown in behind the bulkhead and paved over. In this way
trucks can get down to direct contact with the lighters and scows.''
Regarding the trucking, Major Church declared that so enor-
nous has been the increase in this type of freight transportation
that the trucks are congesting our streets to the point of paralysis
and stagnation. Today the motor trucks demand a direct aud ade-
quate highway SO that they may be operated atfull time, full load,
full spead and the shortest distance.
If Perth Amboy could only rise above the petty s~quabbles
over trifling bills and get down to some really constructive work
for the city that would mean increased revenue and a greater pros
perty, the city might get somewhere. What the Dutchman said
aDout the Jersey City water front applies with equal force to the
Fertn Annoy water rOnI. WnaI W neeQ is Il foresight taJ tne
[ntchman had and the ability and determination to tackle big
problems. Major Church told the Jersey City Rotarians that their
city was asleep. We cannot help but wonder what he would say
about Perth Amboy after looking over the water front here and
seeing the opportunities that lie at our door.
The development of the auto truck is Perth Amboyis oppor-
tunity. Here is the first point in Translate traffic where tide water
can be reached. The trucks, instead of going up through the thick
" populated section north of Perth Amboy, threading their way
through the streets of Elizabeth, Newark and Jersey City, could
come to meet the vessels here at Perth Amboy. 1t would be a sim.
pie matter to construct a special highway for trucks leading direct
to our water front on the south shore where, as is suggested for
Jersey City, a long bulkhead could be built with the silt pumped
IN behind to fill. There is no telling what such a development as
this might lead to. Perth Amboy might become the center for the
automobile trucking business, which would naturally draw many
other lines of business. The history Of Detroit in the development
OF the automobile industry is a lesson. AT the outset Detroit had
keen competition, but by hard work and civic enterprise the great
business gradually became centered there making Detroit the third
city in the United States.
Here is real work Tor Perth Amboy to do. Here is something
for a Chamber Of Commerce to work for. Here is a real enterprise
worthy Of our best efforts. If our city officials could see big
projects like this and spend their time and energy working for such
projects instead of spending hours quarreing and fighting over
petty bills, we might be able to get somewhere.