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October, 1909 pality to do by public effort what can just as well and probably more effi- ciently be done by private enterprise. Private enterprise cannot dredge a chan- for using it, nel and charge toll 66 dredging becomes properly a _ function of the municipality. In this class also falls of for protecting the harbor from storms the construction sea walls or its shores from erosion. A few cities have built dry docks, Portland, Ore. The Portland dock was built at a time when pri- notably vate capital would not venture into such a costly proposition. It has un- doubtedly been of great assistance in placing the marine repair firms of the city in a strong position and has held considerable shipping at Portland that diverted But the operation would have otherwise been to Puget Sound. of a dry dock is naturally a private enterprise and to obtain the best re- sults the dock should be operated in close sympathy with an adequately equipped marine repair shop. The city cannot, without flagrantly violating the principles of individual effort, operate a marine repair shop. It must content itself with leasing the dock to firms that have the necessary tools and equip- ment for repairing vessels. The shops of these firms are at some distance from the dock. The result is an ac- tual waste of physical effort and a lack of proper co-ordination in the work of repairing vessels in the public dock. Except under exceptional circumstances such as have existed at Portland in the past, it is unnecessary and unwise for the city to own drydocks. An exam- ination will show that those cities that have left their drydock business to the enterprise of private citizens have in no way 'suffered through the lack of proper docking facilities. Even at Portland, which maintains a large pub- lic dock, a privately-owned dock is in 3 of construction. The municipal ownership of piers and wharves where vessels may land to load and unload freight and passengers is a different question from the public ownership of dry docking and marine ~Tepair facilities. the process The sea, to all intents and purposes, is merely a road leading from port to Port. The piers and wharves, viewed or port commission. THE MARINE REVIEW in this light, are merely gates through | which this great road leads to the city. and the land beyond. The immense public value of these landing facilities is easily appreciated. The finest steam- ship in the world is practically worth- less without landings. It is the duty of the public to be sure that its landing facilities are adequate and also open to the free use of any ship willing to pay a reasonable dockage. This dock- age charge should be as low as is con- sistently possible and should be ab- The is solutely the same to all comers. public of such that it is logical that a good per nature these facilities cent of the wharves in any city be con-. itis "not necessary that the city operate the piers, trolled by the municipality. in fact it has been found expedient to lease their operation, under suitable restrictions as to rates and the exten- sion of equal privileges to all, to private parties. All the great seaports of the world have large investments in water front property, cranes wharves, piers and _ harbor for freight. Among these cities may be named New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, San Francisco, London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Hamburg, Bremen, etc. New York city has spent $50,000,000 on its wharves, piers and harbor improvements. ' The city owns 48 of waterfront out of a total of 445 miles. Baltimore has under construction a number of piers ranging in length from 400 to 1,400. ft, On. the Pacific coast San Francisco:and Portland have done the most in harbor improvements. Having now. outlined the kind of in which it is handling heavy miles harbor improvements wise and necessary for a city to invest we arrive at the question of how this great work can be best administered. The work is of an economic and en- gineering nature and should certainly be divorced from all taint of politics. -The universal experience of all cities engaged in extensive harbor work has shown that the best way to do this is to vest the necessary authority in an independent, non The Port of Port- land organization, which was fully a -scribed in the May "MARINE REVIEW, © one 'of the most "highly developed x -partisan harbor board: 401 this country. -The board is composed of seven members chosen from among tle prominent shipping, commercial and engineering interests of the city. These men serve without compensation and hold office practically for life. The re- sults achieved at Portland and also at other ports entitle this form of organ- ization to the highest commendation. The port commission not only gives the harbor work an economical and_busi- nesslike administration, but it insures a unity in the design and execution of the haibor improvements, without which the usefulness of the work done is greatly impaired. The policy of vigorously prosecuting such harbor work as legitimately falls to the muinicipality to do, is one that ex- perience has shown is accompanied with The city should aim to keep its harbor facilities the greatest possible benefits. actually ahead of the times and these fa- cilities will draw shipping, create trade and develop business just as surely as a magnet attracts its armature. If the municipality will do its part of the work, with this as an assured foundation, pri- vate capital can be depended upon to do. the rest. The great significance of. these truths is scarcely appreciated by the. majority of American Teles: who are content to let their harbor facilities grow | as best they may without direction or as- . sistance and in a haphazard fashion ut- | terly inconsistent with proper commercial : demands or possibilities. We cannot do better at this point than to quote the words of the har- bor board of Montreal, Can., conclusions were, written after a searching investigation of the value of municipal harbor improvements: "The ports that are doing the biggest business and doing it most. efficiently are the ports that have kept their fa- cilities ahead of actual requirements. "The ports that have remained sta- tionary or lost in. prestige have been. those who: neglected to provide facili ties before | business was - forced to: seek elsewhere the 'same facilities pro vided by rival terminals. Business fol- lows. the facilities. "Unity of authority, conéentration of business, depth of "water--areas- and" cilities for despatch of business are the at which --