PORT OF LONDON. (Hansard, 2 April 1908)

§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. LLOYD-GEORGE,) Carnarvon Boroughs

, in asking leave to introduce a Bill to provide for the improvement and better administration of the Port of London, and for purposes incidental thereto, said:—I have to ask leave to introduce a Bill to set up a public authority for the Port of London and for other matters incidental thereto. There have been in the last six years many Bills dealing with the state of the Port of London, showing considerable uneasiness about the Port, an uneasiness which was quite justified by the actual circumstances of the case. There is no doubt it is a very urgent problem. The Port of London has to compete not merely with other ports in this Kingdom, but it has three or four very formidable Continental rivals—rivals backed up by lavish national and municipal subsidies, whereas London, on the other hand, is in a state of practical stagnation as far as the expenditure of money upon the accommodation and facilities of the Port is concerned. That is a very serious condition of things. At the present moment London is the first port in the world, but unless something is done to strengthen its condition it will not long maintain that supremacy. I propose in this Bill to set up a public authority to control the Port, an authority in the main chosen by those trading in the Port. There will be a municipal element and a public element, but in the main it will be an authority chosen by the payers of dues and others interested in the Port itself. The duties of the authority will be, first of all, to take over the functions of the Thames Conservancy from Teddington Lock downwards, and there will be a separate body for the river above that point. I do not think that at the present stage I need give any particulars in regard to that, because I 709 propose to circulate in the course of the day a statement giving full details on the point. The new authority will also take over the functions of the Water-men's Company in so far as they affect the river. In addition to that it will be the duty of the Port authority, as soon as may be after the appointed day, to take into consideration the state of the river, the accommodation and the facilities afforded, and immediately to take steps to effect improvements, if necessary, by moans of constructing new docks or improving old ones, with quays or wharves, and generally to improve the condition of the river to make it fit to compete with any other port in the world. That will be the first duty of the new authority. In order effectively to discharge this function, it must have an adequate revenue. The present revenue raised by the Thames Conservancy will be transferred, but that will be insufficient. If the channel is to be deepened and accommodation is to be provided there must be sufficient revenue for the purpose. I propose by this Bill that there shall be additional power for charging dues on goods. I hope it will not be necessary to make them very heavy. A schedule will be prepared by the Board of Trade and will be subject to the decision of the House by means of Provisional Order. The House of Commons will have full opportunity of being heard upon that particular point. There will be a registration fee on barges.

I should like to point out, if I may, the main points in which the Bill which I shall introduce now differs from the Bills which have been introduced before and notably by the late Government. The first point is that there will be no municipal subsidy. I offer no comment upon that at this stage; I may have something to say about it on the Second Reading. The second thing is that I think on the whole it is better to have a small body than a large one. The Royal Commission recommended a body of forty, and the Bill of the late Government followed its recommendation. Having very carefully considered the matter and looked at the precedents of Liverpool and other ports which have been very successful, I have come to the conclusion that it is better to have a small body rather to transact business than to discuss it. Not only that, but I think on the whole you get a 710 better body of men. Good men are rare. I do not know that London could not provide forty, but at any rate it is much more likely to provide twenty-five good men, and I propose therefore that the body shall consist of twenty-five. The other difference is in regard to the municipal element. Instead of providing that it shall choose all its members from amongst itself, I provide that the London County Council shall have three from amongst its own body and that it shall have, in addition, the power of choosing two from outside its own body, so as to have men who are interested in the river, leaving it to the local municipality to choose men who they know will have an excellent knowledge of the conditions of the river. Another point is that in the old Bill there was sectional representation of all the interests of the river. The wharfingers appointed one or two members, the shipowners appointed a certain number, and so on. I think that is a bad principle. If you have sectional representation these men will go there to fight for their own section. I think it is infinitely better that you should have a general register upon which all these bodies will have a voice, and the men who are chosen by that body, although, they may be chosen from sections—I hope they will be, so that every section may be fairly represented on the body—they will be answerable to all those who are interested in the river, and their main concern will be to look after the interests of the river as a whole, and not of any one particular section. Therefore I have provided for a general register and not a sectional one. In addition to that, I have provided for a summary and cheap process of acquiring land for extension and development. I think it will be unfair to inflict upon this Port Authority the burden of coming to Parliament whenever it wants an additional acre of land. It wastes time, and time is of great importance, and it adds enormously to the cost of the Port, whereas there is really nothing to be gained except that those interested get extravagant prices. Therefore I provide a cheap and summary method for acquiring and assessing the value of land between certain points—from Barking Reach downwards, because practically it is waste land in the main. Another point is that I have some provisions for the housing of those who will be engaged in any work of the kind. The Port Authority is 711 to see that there is proper accommodation for those who are occupied in new docks, if there are any new docks at all set up in any part of the river. I have also a provision for dealing with casual labour in the docks, which is a very fruitful source of unemployment and distress at the present moment. I have special provision to deal with that in order to regularise the labour in the docks. The next point of difference is that there is no compulsory purchase of the docks. There was a very general feeling against a compulsory arbitration. It has been rather a bitter pill in London in one or two instances, and the traders of the river fear that they might have to pay five or ten millions more than the concerns were really worth. That would inflict a burden for all time on the trade of the river. They said "We would like to buy, but we would like to know what we were buying, and what price we were paying." I have had negotiations with the docks, after having their accounts examined by one of the most expert accountants in the City of London. He subjected all their accounts to a very careful investigation, and as a result of the negotiations up to this morning, about seven-eighths of the dock accommodation in the river was prepared to come in on terms which I think are fair to all parties, and then, just before I came into the House, I am very glad to state, the remaining dock came in and accepted our terms. The particulars will be supplied to the House and circulated with all the figures, and I think it will be found that we have treated them very fairly. The main principle which I laid down was that we should not purchase the docks at a price which would leave a burden on the trade of the port, but that the revenue of the docks should be such as would adequately pay the interest upon the stock. I think the House will find that in the main we have been able to adhere to that principle, and at the same time to treat the shareholders quite fairly and equitably. That is all I shall be able to say at the present moment. I will circulate a full statement as to what we have done. We have had every help from all the interests concerned. I have consulted them all, and the interests in the river have been extremely helpful. It is a very difficult problem, as everybody who has attempted to deal with the matter will admit. 712 Nobody knows that better than the right hon. Gentleman opposite who sat on the Commission which reported and which went into the question very carefully. He knows how many conflicting interests there are, and how very delicate it is to try and negotiate between them. But I must say that they have been very helpful in the main, and I trust that as a result of this settlement, which has enabled us to incorporate the whole of the docks—because the Commission reported that no scheme would be complete which did not include the docks under the jurisdiction of the Port Authority, and I have been acting under the principle which was laid down by the right hon. Gentleman and his colleagues on that Commission—they have all now come in; and I trust that with an authority of this kind something will be done and done quickly to improve the Port of London, to improve its facilities, and above all, to improve its equipment, so as to enable it to compete with any port in the world. I beg to move.