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Rearrange Port of New Orleans Business Men Seek To Correct Faults of Present N arrow EW Orleans, led by its associa- N tion of commerce and _ sup- ported by the state administra- tion, will go before the state constitu- tional convention, which meets in March and lay before that body a demand for complete rearrangement of the port sys- tem of the Crescent City. According to plans outlined at a conference between the governor and officials of the various . commercial organizations of the city, the present narrow policy whereby every inch of port development must be done with public funds by the board of com- missioners of the port, is to be aband- oned for a policy of private develop- ment, on lands leased from the public domain. At present, every foot of land on the 41-mile waterfront of New Orleans har- bor--with the exception of three com- paratively small pieces--is owned by the state and city, and is administered by the board of port commissioners. Pri- vate capital cannot build a wharf, erect a warehouse or put a terminal on any of this land. Neither can private capit- al lease for any period, no matter how short, any of this land, or buy a foot of it outright. This restriction to public ownership is largely responsible for the great lack of facilities for handling vessels and cargoes which now hampers the deep- sea and inland commerce of the port. In the opinion of the association of commerce, public ownership as carried on in New Orleans, has been a failure Policy of Municipal BY H. H. DUNN and the cotistitutional convention will be asked to remedy it. The remedy to be proposed to this con- vention is that of allowing private corporations, firms and individuals to take long-time leases on _ publicly owned waterfront lands and to erect wharves, wharfhouses, sheds, ware- houses, and terminals. No one is to be allowed to erect such buildings for rental, or for other than the use of himself or his firm, company, | or corporation. Buildings so erected ar2 to become the property of the state and City, at any time-the board- of port commissioners decides it to be expedi- ent to take them over by paying the actual cost of such buildings to the owner, said cost to be filed in a swora statement with the dock board at the time of the completion of the building or other improvement. Would Enable Rapid Development 'This method will retain the land itself in possession of the state and city, but will make possible rapid development of the port. At present, all harbor and port improvements must be done by the board of port commissioners with the public funds or with moneys bor- rowed in advance, the loans predicated on public funds to be available for this purpose liter. Approximately 14 miles of the 4l-mile waterfront of New Or- leans is improved, of which four miles is fully equipped with adequate wharves and steel sheds. It is estimated that at Domination _least ten miles more, if properly equipped today, could be put to immediate and effective use. The port facilities committee of the association of commerce, which initiated the movement and which is taking the leadership among the commercial organi- zations of the city for the rearrange- ment of the port system, has given the following statement to the correspondent of Marine Review: "We find the policy under which the port facilities of New Orleans may be provided is so narrow as to exclude, in a very large measure, financial co-opera- tion by steamship lines, shipping con- cerns, warehousemen and others, who at other ports invest large sums in creat. ing the 'facilities they require for the economic conduct of their enterprise. Thus, the port of New Orleans is he- ing denied the great impetus such in- vestments would give its development, while carriers and commerce generato:s, lacking .responsibility to the port which heavy investments in terminal facilities would create, are free to withdraw ser- vice from the port on the slightest provo- cation. "The case of the port of New York, where public ownership is not the plan offers a striking contrast in development. The Cunard line, for example, is now investing $40,000,000 in creating terminal facilities for its ships. This investment makes the Cunard line a part of New York, and New York may always de- pend upon the sustained co-operation of ' COTTON SHIPMENTS FROM NEW ORLEANS ARE FREQUENTLY DELAYED BY DOCK CONGESTION Inadequacy of the public wharves has led the city to go before the state government and call for a complete rearrangement of port develop- ment and management so that private capital may participate 250