Major Elihu Church,

     It is a great pleasure for me to have the opportunity of coming here and talking to you this evening. This is not going to be a speech. It is simply going to be a discussion between ourselves of our Port Problem.

     The port problem is not a matter concerning New York City alone. Far from it. It involves the solution of the freight traffic situation in the entire Metropolitan District; and that district embraces most of the area within twenty-five miles of the Statue of Liberty. New Rochelle to the north, and Perth Amboy to the south are both included. New Jersey, with its nearby cities, has been considered just as much as Manhattan or Brooklyn.

     The fact that the territories of two states are involved for a long time hindered a proper solution of the traffic problem. The further fact that the interests of one hundred and five different communities were involved also complicated matters, because it was difficult for them to get together and cooperate to a common end.

     The problem is not alone a local one. Here we have the great port of the whole nation. More goods pass in and out of it than pass in and out of all the ports of the United States put together. That gives it a national aspect.

     Again, as this is the ocean terminal of the Erie barge canal, the shippers from the Great Lakes and the territory tributary thereto, are vitally interested in our plans for handling their freight when it reaches tide-water.

     The manufacturers in New York and New Jersey are affected by our shipping facilities for if it is cheaper for a man in Massachusetts to ship through Boston or for a man in Pennsylvania to ship through Philadelphia, than it is for our producers to export through this port, it places our people at a disadvantage.

     In this metropolitan district there are located more industries than in the next four largest manufacturing centers of the country combined. Therefore there is a great in-movement of raw materials and a heavy out-tonnage of finished products.

     Finally we have located within our borders about one-tenth of the total population of the entire country. Such a huge concentration of people makes heavy demands on transportation; for not only must they be supplied with food and fuel and the other daily necessities of life, but, there is a great amount of building material and other commodities constantly sent here to be used in the new construction that is always taking place.

     As our transportation systems are now organized we have about reached our capacity. I do not mean that we have reached our limit and cannot continue to grow. On the contrary, we can easily handle ten times the business we now take care of, but to do so it will require a change in our methods. There must be cooperation between all parties concerned, and whatever we do must be done as efficiently and economically as modern methods make possible.

     The costs of handling freight in and through this port are high. These high costs are driving away some business, are a handicap to all business located here and finally make this an expensive place in which to live. Instead of forging ahead as we should we have often stood still, and in a good many ways have slipped back.

     One of the difficulties in effecting improvements has been the impossibility of getting all concerned to work together. Officials of the Federal government, of the two states and of the various municipalities, as well as the railroad, steamship, warehouse and other interests have all been trying to work out their own local problems by themselves, without realizing that a proper solution required a clear understanding of the whole situation and a hearty spirit of give-and-take and team play all around.

     The complexity of the situation makes it impossible for a solution to be arrived at by any one group or by any one section of the community working alone. Local policies, local problems, local politics are sure to intrude themselves. In fact you would be surprized at the extent to which local jealousies have developed. A project to develop the Jersey shore is by some regarded as an attempt to get trade away from New York, and a plan to connect Jersey railroads with the east side of the Hudson by means of a tunnel was viewed as an attempt to deprive that state of some of her terminal prerogatives.

     If there was a fixed amount of tonnage coming into the port year after year, and one part of the port got more than its share, it might be considered to be at the expense of neighboring sections. The point is, however, that our tonnage is not a fixed quantity. If we provide proper facilities, give good service and lower costs of handling it, the business will grow, and all concerned will share in the resulting prosperity. On the other hand antiquated equipment, poor facilities and high costs will drive much of our present tonnage to competing ports.

     It was realized that neither the different communities, nor the railroads, nor the shipping interests could solve the problem for themselves. It was too big for them. When it became apparent that the only way in which the Port of New York could be properly developed was by an agency bigger than any of the various conflicting interests the legislatures of New York and New Jersey established a bi-state Commission to study conditions. This was in 1917, and the name given this new body was "The New York and New Jersey Port and Harbor Development Commission." Three representatives were appointed from each state. General Goethals was engaged as consulting engineer. A staff of engineers and statisticians was found, and the work of making a complete study of freight conditions in the district was begun. It was soon seen the different communities themselves were incapable of providing the necessary means of relief. None had an engineering staff that could devote its entire time to the problem. Financially most of them were so near their debt limit that funds to carry out a plan were lacking. Finally, whatever plans they had were purely local, generally failed to agree with the ideas of neighboring communities, and were lacking in any idea of making the work of the present a basis for what must be done to meet the needs of the future.

     In all matters of this sort it is necessary to take a very long look ahead toward what is likely to happen in the years to come. As an example of what I mean I want to tell you about a group of engineers in the office of the New York Telephone Company. Some of these men are living in the year 1933 and some in the year of 1943, yes, ten, twenty and even thirty years in the future. In other words they spend all their time trying to foresee what telephone requirements are going to be one, two and three decades from now, so that plans can be made to meet them. They realize that a new subway to some outlying part of the city will result in change, and a growth in that district which may result in ten telephones being needed where one is now used. Consequently they make provision now so they will be able to meet this new demand when it arises.

     Unfortunately no public body charged with traffic responsibilities had ever tried to figure out what was needed in the way of railroad and steamship and warehouse and street facilities to adequately handle the commerce we will have to take care of in the years to come. No one had ever done that, and it was one of the first jobs that the Bi-State Commission tackled.

     There were a great many other matters that they had to decide, and they attached them in a very interesting manner, entirely different from the way such problems are ordinarily approached.

     Those of you who have attended conferences of engineers, or a board meeting know that a general discussion takes place, and when it is over the ideas of the man who was the most glib talker are usually found to predominate. That is unsatisfactory because the personal equation of certain men plays too great a part. When a group of army engineers have a problem to solve they go at it in an entirely different way. They use what is known as the "estimate of the situation" method. Briefly it is as follows: After having ascertained the conditions that exist the army men ask themselves three questions—1st, What do we hope to accomplish? 2nd, What obstacles stand in the way? 3rd, What will enable us to overcome these obstacles? Then knowing definitely what they want to do, what stands in the way, and what will enable them to surmount these difficulties, they are able to reach a decision as to their "plan of campaign."

     When the staff of the Commission began to consider what their mission was they found hundreds of things that had to be done. They wrote them down. The more things you hope to accomplish the more necessity for writing them down. Then as the plans progress you can check off your list as one thing after another is taken care of. In this way nothing is overlooked.

     When most people were asked what it was that was most important to accomplish they replied: "You want to develop the commerce of the port." Very true—that is important, but commerce alone never made any port wealthy. To prove the point let us consider the Port of Rotterdam. Rotterdam has a tremendous tonnage passing through it, yet its people are among the poorest of any European city. What is the reason of this? The answer is that Rotterdam is what might be called a "transit port." It is a mere transfer point for goods which are brought in and then immediately shipped away, after being transferred from one carrier to another. All the city gets are some stevedoring wages and some pier rentals. You will realize that the same thing applies here with such of our shipments as merely pass through the district in their original form.

     The business of other places is so different that they are known as "entrepót ports." There the goods, which are brought in are passed through some process of manufacture before being shipped away again. This combination of manufacture with commerce is what brings prosperity. For instance, consider the raw sugar that comes from Cuba, that is refined here and finally leaves us as a finished product. For every man that unloaded the cargo, probably twenty people find employment in the subsequent processes, and as a rule they are a better class receiving higher pay. These people require homes, and food and fuel. Where they live schools, and churches, theatres, hotels and stores spring up. Banking and insurance business is attracted. Buyers and sellers come and go and the result is a prosperous community. Now we want this metropolitan district to be prosperous, so in addition to providing railroad terminals and steamship piers to meet the requirements of mere commerce, it is necessary to develop possible locations for factories and warehouses, and for all the other activities that go to make up the life of a thriving city.

     As the plans progressed the obstacles and objections, began to develop, and they in turn were listed, and studied and an endeavor made to overcome, them, and so the work went on.

     It was not an easy piece of work, and certain ideals had always to be kept in mind. In the first place something had to be done at once. Many conditions were so bad that they could not remain incorrected until some great plan could be put into effect at a future date. Some sort of immediate relief was necessary, and that meant starting in at once to make the best possible use of existing equipment, before building anything new. With regard to the new construction which will come in time, whatever is done must be in accordance with the best engineering and operating practice. The plan must be right. But that was not enough. The plan must be carried out at the lowest possible cost. Finally, the various developments must be ready when and where needed to meet the growth of business.

     To further complicate the situation, the staff could not start their work on a clean slate. It was not a case of beginning from the beginning. Nothing so simple as that. There are millions and millions of dollars worth of structures here that cannot be consigned to the scrap heap merely because they do not happen to fit in with someman’s idea of what would be ideal. Only where plant and equipment is so out of date, that the savings to be effected by something new will more than cover the cost of making the change, can such a change be made.

     Still there are many things that can be improved at once. Take some of the piers in the harbor for instance. Most of them are too narrow. Few of them have double decks. Many that should be are not equipped with aprons (a space between the side of the pier shed and the side of the pier) where tracks can be laid and cars spotted alongside the ships, and again many are lacking in any direct rail connection. Some of the old piers are not even strong enough to carry the weight of up-to-date labor saving machinery.

     It is often claimed, and I think correctly, that transportation men are not nearly as progressive as manufacturers in adapting the latest appliances. American industry has forged to the front the way it has largely because of its willingness to scrap old equipment as soon as something really better comes along.

     Again with the growth of the various communities in the district and the consequent shift in the centres of trade and manufacture many yards and terminals, many piers and warehouses are no longer where their owners wish they were. But there they are, and what’s to do about it. They represent huge investments of capital, and although often they are a relic we have inherited from the past, still there is little that can be done in many instances.

     Nor can long established business practices be ignored. Consider for a moment the way market produce is shipped into the Washington Market section of lower Manhattan. That may seem unreasonable when you realize how much of it goes back over the way it has come for local distribution, still there has to be a center for the sorting, grading, sampling and selling of the fruits and vegetables. It is the custom of the trade. For years Washington Market has been that center, and what ever change is made to move to a different location or to cut down rehandling and back-haul, will cause more or less dislocation of trade conditions. Such changes are not easy to bring about.

     That brings us to another point. New York is a going concern. Nothing can be done which will in any way interrupt the regular carrying on of its activities. Hour after hour, day after day, the business of the port must go forward without let or hindrance and what ever is planned must ever have this fact in view.

     Having taken up some of the limitations affecting the work let us now turn our attention to what can be done. As this is a great shipping center suppose that we first take up the problem of the ships. Steamships require adequate channels. The construction and maintenance of channels is done by the federal government acting through the officers of the Corps of Engineers of the Army. But appropriations are limited. Only a certain amount of money is available in any one year, and there are always more projects clamoring for attention than can be undertaken at one time. The most important ones must receive first attention. What ones are most important? It all depends on the way developments are taking place on land, and a progressive plan for the development of land facilities answers the question.

     The ships require adequate piers after they get through the channels, and I have told you that many of our piers are not best suited to the uses to which they are put. All too often there is a gap between the pier and the nearest railroad and it sometimes costs more to truck the freight across this gap of say, half a mile, than it costs the railroad to haul it from New York to Buffalo once it is loaded in the cars. This is a burden on transportation that must be removed.

     Any port where the "turn around" time of ships is excessive is necessarily an expensive place as an ocean terminal. Prompt unloading, reloading and the immediate return of the vessel to its real function as a deep sea carrier is essential. To do this requires an adequate system of warehouses for the receipt of inbound freight, as well as convenient places where the return or outbound cargo can be accumulated even before the ship which is to carry it away, has arrived in port. The question of storage and warehousing is as important as any other.

     Next let us consider some of the needs of the railroad. In so far as a railroad handles import and export freight it should be able to place its cars alongside the ships. To do this a system of waterfront belt-lines back of the deepwater bulkheads, with spurs to the piers, is necessary. A system of these marginal lines was laid out by the Commission. This will make it possible for every road entering the port to have direct access to every part of the harbor, and to expeditiously handle freight to and from ships wherever they may be berthed.

     Another great need was for better methods of interchange between railroads entering the district. At present most of this work is done by car floats, a method far from satisfactory. A number of interior belt lines several miles back from the waterfront were therefore planned. All roads coming into the district will tie into this system with connecting tracks. When a freight tunnel is built under the upper bay, between New Jersey and New York, every railroad will have direct all-rail access to every part of the district. This improvement was also made a part of the plan of the Commission.

     The loading and unloading facilities that make it possible to reduce the turn-around time of cars are of the utmost importance, for while cars are in terminals, not only are they not earning anything for their owners, the railroads, but they are occupying trackage. This terminal trackage is located on fearfully expensive real estate. Anything which can reduce the amount of it that is necessary, or that can postpone the day when growing business makes it necessary to add to it is just that much money saved to the carriers.

     As railroad men you are apt to think of "transportation costs" largely as the money which is paid the railroads for hauling the freight. That is far from the facts of the case. In many instances the incidental costs of making a shipment cost the carrier many times what he pays in railroad tariffs. These costs are so great that they discourage many a movement of goods, that were they to take place would greatly increase the business and profits of the railroads. In order to stimulate railroad business the best thing the railroad man can do is to help the shipper reduce these expenses.

     To make the point clear you must consider that the total cost of a shipment, begins with the expense of packing, boxing, or baling the goods. It includes the expense of getting the goods to the railroad at the point of origin, and the additional cost of moving from the freight station at the point of destination to the consignee. These items often amount to many times what is paid to the railroad for the line haul. They must be reduced, and fortunately the opportunities for reducing them are many and good.

     Consider the matter of terminal trucking for instance. The vehicles used for this work fail to render the full measure of service of which they are capable because they are generally underloaded, they are subject to unnecessary delays, they travel at low speed and they travel unnecessarily long distances.

     The ideal condition would be where trucks move with a full load, for full time, at full speed over the shortest distance. How can this be brought about? In the first place if the railroads had unified freight terminals as shipper could often send all his goods on one truck to one station, instead of as at present sending out several trucks each but partially loaded to the separate stations of the several carriers. The problem of increasing the speed through the city streets is largely a matter of municipal traffic regulation which will reduce street congestion. When it comes to keeping the trucks moving a greater proportion of the time there is a great deal that the railroads can do to help their customers, the shippers. Trucks with out-bound freight are often delayed because of inadequate tailboard space at the freight station, or because of lack of cars to load into. Remember it costs the shipper about six cents for every minute you keep his truck waiting, yet at any freight station, due to lack of facilities provided by the railroad it is no uncommon sight to see scores of trucks often waiting for an hour or more. this is not fair. It is not good business.

     Finally the matter of long haul to and from freight stations is largely due to the inconvenient location of terminals. Much improvement in this respect is possible and in many instances offline stations will have to be established.

     The motor truck is rapidly developing into a long distance carrier and is actively competing with the railroads for a great deal of business that was formerly all theirs. This development is only natural as the truck can give a door-to-door service, that elimates the cost of the terminal haul when goods are sent by rail. Furthermore, goods to not have to be so carefully packed when shipped by truck, and the service is much more prompt. Some of the 1. c. 1. short haul tonnage which the trucks are getting away from the railroads is a business which the railroads can well afford to lose. If the railroads will only adapt themselves to changed conditions they can make the truck a valuable feeder.

     After making its investigations in the matters that I have just outlined, the Bi-State Commission formulated its recommendations and following instructions presented a "Comprehensive Plan" for the development of the freight handling facilities of the entire Metropolitan District. A compact between the states of New York and New Jersey was entered into. It was ratified by the Federal Government. The Port Authority thus came into existence as the successor to the old commission. The Port Authority then had hearings on the "Comprehensive Plan" at which all interested were invited to attend. The engineers of the various trunk lines entering the port had months of conferences with our staff. The plan was modified till all were satisfied. It was then submitted to the legislators of the two states. They approved it, and directed the Port Authority to carry it into effect as rapidly as economically possible. The plan thus became part of the law of the land.

     The expression "as rapidly as economically possible" is of particular significance. The Port Authority has no powers of taxation, nor can it pledge the credit of the two states. It can only get the money necessary to carry out its improvements by the sale of bonds. Therefore the savings which will be made must be sufficient to pay interest on the bonds, to amortize them and carry on the operation. Every one of our projects has to be most carefully measured by the economic yard stick of dollars and cents. Before any work can be undertaken it must be proved that the work in and of itself will pay for itself.

     You have now heard something about conditions as we found them, and an outline of what must be done to better them. I will now show you a few reels of moving pictures which will illustrate some of the Port’s traffic problems, and then show how the Port Authority proposes to help solve them.

     (3 reels of motion pictures then followed.)