Of course, a sketch of the Thames and its docks would be incomplete without a statement of the Legal Quays, Sufferance Wharves, and Private Warehouses now in existence. Few people are aware of their enormous extent, and it would be difficult to exaggerate the important part which they have played in the history of the port. There cannot be a doubt that the proprietors of these places have availed themselves to the fullest extent of the advantage which they enjoy, under the present state of the law, of being allowed free use of the dock-waters. Undermentioned is a list of them, and I may add that, with very few exceptions, all restrictions as to the goods which may be landed at some of these places have now been removed.
This is a view (seeFrontispiece) of the South-West India Dock seen from the western end. I have had this view taken especially to illustrate the few remarks with which I shall close my lecture. You will observe the accumulation of barges just inside the dock waiting to go out, and you will be able to form some idea of the terrible inconvenience which the presence of these craft must cause in the dock, crowded as it constantly is with shipping; and it so happens that the accumulationof these barges is greatest when there is the least room for them. I must ask you to imagine that behind these barges there are several ships waiting to leave the dock, and thatoutsidethe dock there is a similar accumulation of lighters and large vessels waiting to come in. The presence of these barges, as shown in this view (which it must be remembered was photographed on the spot, and with no thought of using it in this connection), will help to convey some idea of the delays and risk which they cause in the docking and undocking of vessels—a delay and risk which, as I shall presently explain, the Dock Companies are compelled to incur altogetherfree of charge.
Now you will have observed that all the earlier Dock Companies started with a monopoly for twenty-one years of the shipping from certain parts of the world. You will also have noticed that the object of the Government in granting these monopolies was twofold; first, by compulsorily clearing the river of a large proportion of the shipping to remove the facilities for plunder afforded by the lighterage and unprotected condition of goods; and, secondly, to secure for the docks some equivalent for the money invested inthem. Now what do these facts indicate? Clearly that the Government saw the necessity of legislative interference in the interest of the port, and that, to render that interference operative, they must offer an inducement to the public to invest their money. Thus, you will observe that the Dock Companies sprang into existence, not so much independent speculations, as a response to an appeal from the Government of the day on behalf of the port.
But this compulsory alienation of certain shipping to certain docks, of course involved the withdrawal from the Legal Quays of the profits on the warehousing of goods left in the docks, and from the lightermen much of the valuable carrying trade represented by the shipping covered by the monopolies. It also affected a number of minor collateral interests. These were, of course, entitled to compensation, and they obtained it. The total amount of the claims received was little short of £4,000,000. As is generally the case under the circumstances, many of these claims were grossly exorbitant, and others had no foundation at all. The Government were, however, disposed to take a liberal view of the situation, and, as I have already told you, actually awarded outof the Consolidated Fund not less than £1,681,000, which, of course, included the sums paid for the purchase of the Legal Quays.
But the Government not only made amplemoney compensationfor the rights which they invaded by granting the dock monopolies, they also made access to the vessels in the docks as free as if they had still discharged in the river; that is to say, the waters of the dock were to be accessible, free of charge, to anybody who wished to bring in lighters, for the purpose of taking goods or ballast to or from any vessels lying in them. The reason for this is obvious. Virtually the Government said to the Dock Companies: ‘As we have compelled ships to enter your docks, you must not tax certain lighterage to or from those ships.’ And this was perfectly reasonable and fair so long as such compulsion existed; that is to say, so long as the Dock Companies got aquid pro quofor the free use of the dock waters by the goods secured to them by the monopolies. But so soon as ships became free to go where they pleased, and the docks were left to compete with the wharves on even terms, this restriction upon their obvious right to charge for the use of their property should havebeen removed also. It must always be borne in mind that thebasisof the arrangement in regard to thefree use of the dock waterswas thecompulsory alienationof certain shipping to the docks, which had hitherto beenfree to discharge in the river; hence it is obvious that so soon as that freedom was restored to the shipping referred to, theraison d’êtreof the restriction upon the docks ceased to exist. Mr. Lindsay, an impartial witness, from whose valuable work I have already ventured to quote, cannot help noticing this anomaly. He remarks: ‘These privileges, granted originally to stifle opposition, they (the lightermen) still retain to their gain, and that of the wharfingers, but to the loss of the Companies. Surely, when the monopoly of the Companies had expired—a monopoly to which, for the time, they were fully entitled, considering the service they had rendered to the Crown, in the protection of the revenue—these privileges to the barge-owners should also have been withdrawn.’
Now the liabilities of the Dock Companies of London represent a total of upwards of £15,000,000. More than one-half of this has been spent in providing the water accommodation of the several docks, and the interest on it of courserepresents a vast permanent tax upon the revenues of the Dock Companies, towards which, although enjoying full use of the docks, the wharves do not contribute anything. The dock waters are supposed to be paid for by the dues on shipping. As a matter of fact this is not the case, although if it were, the claim of the Dock Companies to be paid for services altogether distinct from the operation of docking and undocking ships, would be in no respect weakened. For a considerable time more than half the goods brought into the docks by ships have been taken out of them again for warehousing elsewhere, and upon the tens of thousands of lighters employed in this service constantly inside, entering, and leaving the docks, the Companies are prohibited from charging one penny; so that, coupling this circumstance with the fact that the dues of the Company are levied upon the register and not upon the gross tonnage of vessels, it will be seen that, practically, the income from the shipping rates is reduced to considerably less than one-half the amount which it nominally represents.
But this is not the only hardship experienced by the Companies. The expense and inconvenience in working the docks owing to the numberof these barges in them cannot be measured by money loss. In the West India Docks alone there have been 500 barges at one time occupying the water space when most urgently needed for the working of ships. The delays caused in the docking and undocking of vessels in consequence of the glut of craft waiting at tide time to enter or leave the docks are sometimes attended with considerable danger. In fact, this view represents the normal condition of the dock entrances whenever there is an influx of shipping. Every barge entering and leaving the docks, of course entails a distinct service on the Companies for their own protection, for which the parties so compulsorily served pay nothing; and the most startling feature in the case is the fact of the growing magnitude of this burden. Some idea of its extent may be seen when I state that the number of barges which entered the East and West India Docks alone in 1869 was 51,985. In 1874 the numbers had rushed up to 61,390—-an increase of 20 per cent. in five years. Surely these facts speak for themselves, and bear me out in the assertion that there are no other public bodies in London which, having rendered such incalculable service to the port, have been left in such ananomalous position. In fact, you will see that the Dock Companies are pretty much in the position of a man who, having been induced to build a house on a particular spot on the understanding that a tenant would always be found for it, not only loses his tenant but finds himself compelled to maintain his house in a high state of efficiency, and to keep a large staff of servants to wait upon anybody who may take a fancy to anything in it, without so much as feeing the porters.
In dealing with this question you will observe that I have carefully abstained from any arguments as such, preferring to leave the facts to speak for themselves. I might have told you that before the docks were in existence it was the practice at the wharves to charge half-wharfage rates on goods passing over them; and I might have argued that if this were recognised as right in a free river, surely the Dock Companies should not be refused some equivalent return for the use of the dock waters—a private property which has cost many millions. From this argument and many kindred arguments I have abstained; but in closing my lecture I must be permitted to anticipate just one objection. It may be said, why did not the Dock Companies move in this matterwhen their monopolies expired? My answer will be appreciated by all practical men. When the dock monopolies expired, the business of the port was not one-fourth of its present magnitude, to say nothing of the fact that the lighterage to the docks was so insignificant that it entailed no practical inconvenience. The force of this will be seen when it is borne in mind that the tonnage of inward shipping, British and foreign (exclusive of the coasting trade), which entered the port in 1827—the date of the expiration of the monopolies—was only 990,170 tons; and as by far the greater portion of the cargoes brought by vessels which entered the docks was left in them for warehousing, the lighterage was, necessarily, of very limited extent, and remained so, until the repeal of the monopolies began to take practical effect in the diversion of goods from the docks. But, side by side with the gigantic increase in the commerce of the port, there has been a corresponding increase in this gratuitous lighterage business. Its magnitude is seen at a glance when I say that in the year 1874 the tonnage of British and foreign inward shipping (exclusive of the coasting trade) had reached the enormous total of 4,671,676 tons. Of this vast tonnage nearly3,500,000 tons discharged in the docks, and of this 3,500,000 tons of register tonnage, probably representing 4,000,000 tons gross of goods, more than half was removed from the docks. Thus, it will be seen that to argue that because the Dock Companies,when their monopolies expired, did not regard the free use of their waters as a grievance grave enough to call for the interference of Parliament, ought not to complain and have no right to such interferencenow, is to ignore the fact, patent to everybody, that circumstances have so entirely changed the relations which formerly existed between docks and wharves that no analogy exists to warrant such a conclusion. It was utterly impossible for the Dock Companies, fifty years ago, to foresee this gigantic growth in the business of the port, and the complete revolution which has since taken place in the imperial tariff, by which the docks have been so prejudicially affected. There cannot be a doubt that in continuing this concession without the protection of a monopoly, the Dock Companies made a great mistake; but it is one which a grasping and selfish policy should not be suffered to perpetuate. Both competitors for the trade of the port, the docks should be as free from unfair restrictions asthe wharves; and it is to be hoped that before long the love of fair play, and hatred of oppression, of which we Englishmen claim to be so proud, will find expression in a great practical remonstrance, in which this burdensome tax upon the vitality and prosperity of the dock establishments, to the foundation of which London mainly owes its marvellous development as the great entrepôt for the commerce of the world, will be indignantly swept away.
I will detain you no longer. What I have stated is but a sketch of a portion of a subject which a dozen lectures would not exhaust; and, as I only put it forward as a sketch, I must ask you, in making your criticism, to bear that fact in view. I have simply sought to lay before you a few facts not generally known and not easily accessible, and which I hope will not fail to invest the river and the docks with additional interest to all whose business or pleasure may be affected by either. I can only trust that you have found them interesting, and that you may perhaps find them useful.
Spottiswoode & Co., Printers, 38 Royal Exchange, E.C.