DOCK FACILITIES IN NEW YORK CITY. 51 
The result of the scheme suggested here in the opinion of a great many practical 
people who examined it is that it will increase the cost of the delivery of freight by 
railroad companies to the city of New York by at least 25 cents a ton, and some 
people think also that the scheme is somewhat impracticable. 
Sir Wi.i1AM Henry Waite, Honorary Member:—Mr. President and gentle- 
men, you will understand that I would not be guilty of the impertinence of saying a 
word in regard to the port problems of New York. ‘Those who have to regulate and 
control the traffic of this harbor are the best judges, and in speaking of those who 
have to do that work I am thinking of those who are interested in the problems of 
the port, as shipowners, merchants, and in any other way, as well as the Commis- 
sioners. 
Perhaps our experience in England may be of some service to New York in 
thismatter. Our experience convinces us that the most satisfactory way of develop- 
ing the resources of any port is to constitute a local authority of an advisory 
nature which shall consider and discuss questions of policy, and to make that au- 
thority representative of all the interests affected. The Mersey Docks and Harbor 
Board is such a body. A previous speaker has pleaded the cause of New Jersey, 
in connection with the Port of New York and it may be of interest to state that 
when there wasaseparate authority on the Cheshire side at Birkenhead from that which 
existed at Liverpool, there was a natural tendency to develop chiefly on the Liver- 
pool side. Although docks had been independently constructed at Birkenhead 
they were not fully utilized until a single port authority was put over both sides of 
the river Mersey. The constitution of such an authority in England is done by 
Parliamentary powers, an Act of Parliament being passed when an authority issetup. 
On the Tyne, where some of the greatest works in aid of navigation and commerce 
have been carred out, on the Clyde, the Tees, the Humber and indeed everywhere 
in the United Kingdom the system prevails of having local boards, not of an execu- 
tive nature, but of an advisory nature, witha settled policy. Such Boards naturally 
give fair consideration to the claims of all who are interested in the business of a 
port. With these boards are associated professional men, civil engineers, traffic 
managers, men skilled in details of business, and others, whose united efforts make 
the scheme work. I cannot imagine that even the best informed executive, apart 
from the special knowledge of those whose interests are affected, can suffice. Until 
recently we had, in the Port of London and the River Thames, a‘number of private 
companies owning docks and competing with one another. ‘The way out of that 
condition of affairs was found by an Act of Parliament which has constituted a new 
Port of London Authority. To this authority was given by Parliament power to 
raise funds and frame schemes of improvement for the Port of London as a whole. 
That is what is wanted in any port if the best use is to be made of it. 
THE PRESIDENT:—Are there any other gentlemen who wish to discuss this 
question? If not, I will call on Mr. Barney to close the discussion. 
