SEATTLE PUBLIC PORT CHECKS MONOPOLY
Lincoln, W. S.
Seattle Public Port Checks Monopoly Municipal Operation of Docks Aids Freer Commerce; Old Leasing System of Wharf Facilities Increases Transportaf'^- Cn$fs ' By-W. S. LINCOLN (President...
...In the past we have handled the freight from shipside to the point of rest and thence to railroad clr and it has been our desire to extend these operations to the hold of the vessel so that the entire freight movement would be handled by the Port of Seattle...
...When all the employes, from the Chief Executive to the stevedore, are under the control of the Harbor Board, new labor saving devices, that the Board is satisfied will handle freight economically, save them money and eventually pay for the equipment in a reasonable length of time,' can be placed on the wharves and the equipment actually put into maximum use...
...Under the leasing system, however, if one or probably two steamship lines had -a long time lease or even a preferential lease of this pier, then it is certain that even during a time of prosperity it would be idle for a great share of the time...
...It has been used thousands of years and has not stopped or diminished crime...
...Docking of ships, transferring goods from ship to railway cars and vice versa, as* sembling of cargoes for shipment and long term warehousing of same when feecessarft are all units of movements which entail ex* pense...
...Calvin Tomkins, former President of the American Association of Port Authorities, some years ago at the New Orleans Convention, stated that "the basic principle of port organization is that a port must be developed as a unit under public dictation of the terms on which private carriers, shippers and consignees shall be served...
...This mammoth pier will berth ten large overseas vessels at one time...
...hence the aggressive and ever insistent effort on the part of transportation companies and other profit seeking corporations and interests to secure control of this valuable property...
...dock, under a leasing system...
...We have very few such ports throughout the world where the waterfront and wharves are owned and administered by industrial and raih-oad companies .and they are, in all cases, small ports...
...2Greater Use of Mechanical Freight Hand-• ling Equipment—'Public operation of port facilities makes the introduction of freight handling appliances much more simple and besides obtains a maximum use of this equipment...
...The Port of Seattle,, under the public opera-ation system, has almost $1,000,000.00 worth of mechanical freight handling equipment in use and has the reputation of having more freight handling machinery in proportion to the number of its facilities than any other North American port...
...It will be argued by some that the preferential leasing system of terminal facilities is the most satisfactory and leaves the way open for accommodating tramp steamers and new steamship lines...
...3. "Provision for publicly controlled port terminals, the main features of which should be a belt railway, making accessible all parts of the foreshore to all shippers, and over which traffic will move as freely as marine traffic moves in front of the docks...
...Such a condition arising from the leasing system means that a Fort is required to build additional facilities and expend greater sums of money which would not be necessary if the public -operation system were in force...
...The Port of Tacoma, in the establishment of ffeefr Port District, and in the operation of their new public facilities are convinced that this poller it correct one and have acquired a very considerable amount of stevedoring gear in order that they can handle this work in the ship's hold...
...the ship to the wharf, and, later, from the wharf to the railway car should be actually performed by employes under ahe control of the Harbor Board...
...bination of interests are permitted »to monopolize for selfish profit the revenue that is derived from the vast commerce of the seas on the one hand and the great highways of inland trade on the other...
...The Port Commission or Harbor Board should act in a similar capacity to a large private terminal company and in reality be the steamship and railway company's agent as far as the transferring of freight, from the steamship to the railway, and vice versa, at the terminals, is concerned...
...It wilj be most readily seen that the publicly operated port needs less facilities for the same...
...S. LINCOLN (President Municipal Port of Seattle) Seattle, Washington, has demonstrated -to the nation the efficiency and feasibility of public operation of port facilities...
...Where commerce comes to a port from all parts of the world and where great numbers of steamship companies and subsidiary waterfront interests are accommodated there should be no question as to the necessity of terminal facilities and harbor unification being directed by some degree of public ownership and administration...
...On the contrary, it will harden the prisoner and is apt to make him revengeful and worse than before...
...Since in most of the United States ports the leasing system is in force the U. S. Shipping Board felt that their method ef operation In connection with the handling of their Vessels should be the tame and an order was Issued by them which, stating It in • few words, requires that freight from the...
...Difficulties in Leasing ONE can appreciate the difficulty that the Port under the leasing system has in the placing of 'mechanical equipment on the wharves when in some cases there are thirty to fifty steamship companies operating in and out of such a port...
...Liverpool Rates Higher ON THE other hand, let us take for" instance the Port of Liverpool, which has adopted the leasing system and we find that this leasing system has been responsible for their higher cost of^ handling freight and the very small amount of mechanical freight handling equipment in use on their terminals...
...The Manchester Ship Canal Co...
...Essentials of Port Control *T" HIS same well-known Port Authority later * at the Baltimore Convention, in a very able paper on seaport relations to trade and transportation, in analyzing an efficient port, - enumerated five essentials, the following three of which Tiave a direct bearing on the above subject matter: 1— "Enlargement of public control and ownership through taxation...
...Where all of the terminal facilities are publicly owned and operated as they are in the most successful ports of the world, conditions approaching the ideal are obtained...
...Under the public operation system tea different steamship lines can be accommodated at this pier at ike nun* time and all of this facility need to maximum capacity...
...This can best be appreciated by visiting the ports that have the two different systems in force...
...The prisoner should know that If he commits a crime It is very likely that he will be caught and will go to prison, and that there will be very little delay about it...
...In the publicly operated system it would be handled strictly under one management...
...The traffic of a small port which includes freight of similar commodities such as bulk ore, coal, etc., and is in the hands of a few large industrial companies or railroads, to whose interest it is that the terminal facilities be adequate and unified, private control and management "of wharves and track connections -may meet the requirements of that particular port...
...There is one deterrent that is of particular importance, and that is, swift and sure justice...
...The handling of the freight from ship's hold to car and vice versa under one management means a considerable reduction in cost as the goods can be sorted in the ship's hold and a great deal less difficulty will be had when segregating it on the wharf...
...Under the leasing system, however, if one or probably two steamship lines had a long time lease or even a preferential lease of this pier, then it is certain that even during a time of pfosperity it would be idle for a great share of the time...
...at any berth at any time the facilities can accommodate the movement of its freight...
...Then, in addition to the above, if there is a considerable amount of freight handling equipment, we will say, placed on the wharves, there will necessarily be a great deal of duplication of this equipment, besides additional expense in the operation and maintenance of same...
...Also in connection with the operation and maintenance, this work is placed under a central head and the cost is reduced very considerably...
...Seattle, being one of the very few publicly owned ports, is vitally affected by this order...
...Education As Crime Cure By ADOLPH LEWISOHN PREVENTION of crime is greatly helped by the improvement brought about by education...
...does its own stevedoring, handles the freight on the wharves and controls all the terminal railway trackage in the harbor, including the railway storage yards...
...If private interests are the proprietors, then such facilities are exceedingly valuable assets for the production of revenues and the generation of power for such private interests...
...Their success in their operation, of course, is attributed to the fact that the Manchester Ship canal was only constructed 38 years ago and their harbor is a made harbor, so that there have been no private terminal companies or stevedoring companies to oppose them in initiating the public operation of their terminal facilities...
...It is a fact that trade follows the line of least resistance, or, in other words, will gravis tate toward the port which is most favorable to expeditious and inexpensive movement oi freight...
...It will be most readily seen that the publicly operated port needs less facilities for the same amount of tonnage and gives greater dispatch, to vessels and handles the freight more economically...
...Under the public operation system ten different steamship lines can be accommodated at this pier at the same time and all of this facility used to maximum capacity...
...Shipping Board Policy ALTHOUGH the Port of Seattle is convinced that the public operation policy is right In principle we have been confronted recently with a matter arising out of an order issued by the U.S...
...Lincoln's article a timely one.—Managing Editor...
...The steamship and railway companies should, of course, absorb the handling charges of this freight on the wharf so that the Harbor Board is reimbursed for all monies expended in this, operation...
...When a vessel berths at the wharf the transfer of this ship's cargo from the hold of...
...Public demand for reducing transportation costs at the present time makes Mr...
...The late Hon...
...2. "Provision for financing Ports by publicly acquiring and improving terminal sites and marginal lands in the rear of the docks and by having recourse to the recent and more liberal construction placed by the Courts on the riparian rights of the public...
...Public Operation of Ports FOR the successful development of a great seaport it is emphasized that public con*, trol should include not only public ownership but public operation as well...
...If those facilities are owned by the people and operated • in their behalf, then the resulting benefits flow toward the municipality as a whole and toward the individual citizens who constitute the same...
...I do not believe that ill treatment of the prisoner or torturing him is necessary as a deterrent...
...hold of their Teasels to the point el Mot In the shed or to the open ears alongside be handled as one operation and under one man-agement...
...To give a concrete example, in.Seat* tie we have a very large pier which is 367 feet wide and 2,580 feet long, equipped with 4% miles of railway trackage...
...All of the representatives of these steamship lines have to be conferred with and all agree as to the amount and type of equipment and also a tariff rate for use of such machinery...
...The difficulty, of course, at the present time is that there is divided authority in the handling of freight from the ship^s hold to the point of rest in the shed, which, naturally, increases the cost of handling...
...the latter to be used in the further upbuilding of the port...
...The more einciently and economically these units are coordinated the less will be the charges and the more satisfactory the service per unit or per combination of units...
...The two most important advantages to be realized from the public operation of public terminal facilities are as follows: 1 Operation of facilities to maximum ca-* • pacity due to the fact that under publio operation all of the berths at every pier or quay wharf .are open to every steamship company or vessel that may desire to call at the port, and terminal facilities, including piers, quay wharves, transit sheds, warehouses and railway trackage will be used to the maximum capacity...
...Such possession enables Its proprietors to levy tribute on every pound and item of outgoing and incoming commerce moving to and from every corner of the world...
...Although it may be stated by some that even where the leasing system is m force these ports now practically have this same system, one must not lose sight of the fact that in these cases, this entire operation in reality is not under one management as "the freight is generally handled from the ship's hold to the point of rest in the shed by the stevedoring company and then handled from the point of rest in the shed to the railroad car by the steamship company's employes...
...The Port facilities may be owned and operated by private corporations, or, the ownership and operation of same may rest in the hands of the municipality or the people...
...There are two distinct kinds of ownership and utilization to which the possession of the waterfront is subject...
...W. S. Lincoln, president of i the port, tells in this special article for LA FOLLETTE'S, of the public advant- 'h ages of a municipal port over one owned privately to which only certain vessels may...
...Shipping Board which makes it necessary for us to divert from this policy for the present...
...In actual practice, however, the preferential leasing system is virtually the same as the long term lease and a study and investigation of the preferential leasing system in some of our ports will convince one that such is the case...
...It is a practical impossibility and has proven so in practice...
...And where such conditions exist it is difficult at times for tramp steamers and new steamship lines to find wharfage facilities at these ports...
...We can all do our part to help reduce crime by setting a good example, leading clean lives, giving service...
...Blow to Monopoly It T IS obvious that the fundamental benefit of public ownership, control and operation of port, facilities is that thereby the port is kept open—so that no special interests or comPublic Port Ownership vs...
...Private Leasing Plan THE public operation plan gives the Harbor Board the opportunity to, berth any ship...
...This mammoth pier will berth ten large overseas vessels at one time...
...Even with the steamship line or stevedoring company taking over the handling of this freight from the ship's hold to the point of rest in the shed may reduce the cost of handling slightly, but will not make a big reduction and the only efficient method of handling is that the entire movement be under one management and it is the opinion of the writer that this control should be in the hands of the Harbor Board in order to obtain the maximum of efficiency in the port as a whole...
...operates similar to a large terminal company...
...Advantage to Public ALTHOUGH the Port of Seattle has given consent to the Pacific Steamship Co...
...The publio operation plan gives the Harbor Board the opportunity to berth any ship at any berth at any time the facilities can accommodate the movement of its freight...
...While under the public operation system, the equipment of the Harbor Board can be moved from one wharf to another or one warehouse to another as the shipping of the various facilities demand it and the absolute maximum use obtained from the mechanical devices...
...Manchester as Example GREAT strides have been made by some of the newer ports in this regard and those that have adopted this principle have been able to make their port more attractive to the shippers, who really direct the freight through the port that can give them the best service at the lowest cost...
...as operators of U. S. Shipping Board vessels docking at our facilities to handle the freight in compliance with their recent order, we are at the same time making a bid along with the other stevedoring companies for the handling of the ship's cargo from the ship's hold to point of rest m the shed, and if we are the successful bidders it will be the beginning of putting into force our policy of handling the freight for the entire movement from ship to car or vice versa...
...Ten different steamship lines can be accommodated at one time at the Seattle public pier and with a million dollars of freight handling equipment vessels are dispatched quickly and freight handled with great economy...
...This can best be appreciated by visiting the ports that have the two different systems in force...
...In contrast to this, under the leasing system, where one or more wharves are leased to certain steamship companies, it will be found that these particular facilities are Idle the greater part of the time...
...And in addition the revenues should be sufficient to also cover interest on the investment, bond redemption and a reasonable profit...
...The wharf employes also are not as a rule so apt to strike and refuse to cooperate with the Harbor Board since the latter is a public institution and in reality is owned by all the citizens of the Port District...
...The port being once conceived as an organic whole, publicly administered for the benefit of all, there can be no thought of remaining in or returning to the chaos of jarring private .rivalry and mutual obstruction from which most ports suffer, or a final dependence on the makeshift policy of separate sub-ports constructed by great private corporations—no matter how perfect each may be in itself or how welcome they may be as co-operators in a general system...
...There should be no divided control as this only tends to complicate matters and make the handling of freight more expensive to the shipper...
...amount of tonnage and gives greater dispatch to vessels and handles the freight more economically...
...To give a concrete example, In Seattle we have a very large pier which Is 367 feet wide and 2,580 feet long, equipped with VA miles of railway trackage...
...THE waterfront' of a great seaport is a priceless possession in the hands of those who control it...
...For example, let us consider the Port of Manchester, England, which, as is generally known, in both construction and operation is the most efficient port in Europe...
...Every employe can be told to use them and if they are antagonistic to the use of such equipment, then others that will cooperate can be employed...
Vol. 15 • July 1923 • No. 7
