Chapter VI: Commerce

_Port of London._--The extent of the Port of London has been variously defined for different purposes, but for those of the Port Authority it is taken to extend from Teddington Lock to a line between Yantlet Creek in Kent and the City Stone opposite Canvey Isle and in Essex. London Bridge is to outward appearance the up-river limit of the port. There are wharves and a large carrying trade in barges above this point, but below it the river is crowded with shipping, and extensive docks open on either hand.

Towards the close of the 19th century evidence was accumulating that the development of the Port of London was not keeping pace with that of shipping generally. In 1900 a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate the existing administration of the port, the alleged inadequacy of accommodation for vessels and kindred questions, and to advance a scheme of reform. The report, issued in 1902, showed apprehension to be well founded. The river, it was ascertained, was not kept sufficiently dredged; the re-export trade was noted as showing an especially serious decline, and the administration was found to suffer from decentralization. The recommendations of the Commission included the creation of a single controlling authority to take over the powers of the Thames Conservancy Watermen's Company, and Trinity House and the docks of the companies already detailed. This authority, it was advised, should consist of 40 members, of whom 11 should be nominated by the London County Council and 3 by the Corporation of the City (supposing these bodies to accept certain financial responsibilities proposed in the direction of river improvements), 5 by the governors of the Bank of England from the mercantile community, 2 by the London Chamber of Commerce, and 1 each by the Admiralty, Board of Trade and Trinity House. The remaining members should be elected by various groups, e.g. shipowners, barge owners, the railway companies interested, &c. Rival schemes, however, were proposed by the London County Council, which proposed to take over the entire control through a committee, by the City Corporation, which suggested that it should appoint 10 instead of 3 members to the new board; and by the London Chamber of Commerce, which proposed a Harbour Trust of _ex-officio_ and elected members. The Thames Conservancy also offered itself as the public authority. In 1902 a Mansion House Conference was convened by the lord mayor and a deputation was appointed which in 1903 pressed the solution of the matter upon the government.

Thames barrage scheme.

A noteworthy scheme to improve the condition of the Thames, first put forward in 1902-1903, was that of constructing a dam with four locks across the river between Gravesend and Tilbury. The estimated cost was between three and four millions sterling, to be met by a toll, and it was urged that a uniform depth, independent of tides, would be ensured above the dam, that delay of large vessels wishing to proceed up river would thus be obviated, that the river would be relieved of pollution by the tides, and the necessity for constant dredging would be abolished. This "barrage scheme" was discussed at considerable length, and its theoretical advantages were not universally admitted. The scheme included a railway tunnel beneath the dam, for which, incidentally, a high military importance was claimed.

Port authorities before 1909.

In 1904 the Port of London Bill, embodying the recommendations of the Royal Commission with certain exceptions, was brought forward, but it was found impossible to carry it through. In 1908, however, the Port of London Act was passed, and came into force in 1909. This act provided for the establishment of a Port Authority, the constitution of which is detailed below, which took over the entire control of the port, together with the docks and other property of the several existing companies.

The principal dock companies, with the docks owned by them, were as
follows:--

1. _London and India Company._--This company had amalgamated all the
docks on the north side of the river except the Millwall Docks.
Following the river down from the Tower these docks, with dates of
original opening and existing extent, are--St Katherine's (1828; 10½
acres), London (1805; 57½ acres), West India, covering the northern
part of the peninsula called the Isle of Dogs (1802; 121½ acres), East
India, Blackwall (1806; 38 acres), Royal Victoria and Albert Docks
(1876 and 1880 respectively), parallel with the river along Bugsby's
and Woolwich Reaches, nearly 3 m. in distance (181 acres) and Tilbury
Docks, 25 m. below London Bridge, constructed in 1886 by the East and
West India Docks Company (65 acres). Tilbury Docks are used by the
largest steamers trading with the port.

2. _Millwall Docks_ (1868), in the south part of the Isle of Dogs, are
36 acres in extent.

3. _Surrey Commercial Docks_, Rotherhithe (Bermondsey), occupy a
peninsula between the Lower Pool and Limehouse Reach. There have been
docks at Rotherhithe since the middle of the 17th century. The total
area is 176 acres, a large new dock, the Greenland, being opened in
1904.

The principal railways have wharves and through connexions for goods
traffic, and huge warehouses are attached to the docks. The custom
house stands on the north bank, a short distance from London Bridge,
in Lower Thames Street. It dates from 1817, the body of the building
being by Laing, but the Corinthian façade was added by Smirke. It
includes a museum containing ancient documents and specimens of
articles seized by the customs authorities.

The chief authorities concerned in the government of the Port of
London till 1909 were:--

1. _Thames Conservancy._--For conservancy purposes, regulation of
navigation, removal of obstruction, dredging, &c.

2. _City Corporation._--Port sanitary purposes from Teddington Lock
seawards.

3. _Trinity House._--Pilotage, lighting and buoying from London Bridge
seawards.

4. _The Watermen's and Lightermen's Company._--The licensing authority
for watermen and lightermen.

Besides these authorities, the London County Council, the Board of
Trade, the Admiralty, the Metropolitan and City Police, police of
riparian boroughs, Kent and Essex Fisheries Commissioners, all the
dock companies and others played some part in the government and
public services of the port.

_Port Authority._--The Port of London Authority, as constituted by the act of 1908, is a body corporate consisting of a chairman, vice-chairman, 17 members elected by payers of dues, wharfingers and owners of river craft, 1 member elected by wharfingers exclusively, and 10 members appointed by the following existing bodies--Admiralty (one); Board of Trade (two); London County Council (two from among its own members and two others); City Corporation (one from among its own members and one other); Trinity House (one). The Board of Trade and the County Council must each, under the act, consult with representatives of labour as to the appointment of one of the members, in order that labour may be represented on the Port Authority. The first "elected" members were actually, under the act, appointed by the Board of Trade. The undertakings of the three dock companies mentioned above were transferred to and vested in the Port Authority, an equivalent amount of port stock created under the act being issued to each. The Port Authority has full powers to authorize construction works. All the rights, powers and duties of the Thames Conservancy, so far as concerns the Thames below Teddington Lock, were transferred to the Port Authority under the act, as also were the powers of the Watermen's Company in respect of the registration and licensing of vessels, and the regulation of lightermen and watermen. The Port Authority fixes the port rates, which, however, must not in any two consecutive years exceed one-thousandth part of the value of all imports and exports, or a three-thousandth of the value of goods discharged from or taken on board vessels not within the premises of a dock. Preferential dock charges are prohibited and a port fund established under the act. The authority has powers to borrow money, but for certain purposes in this connexion, as in other matters, it can only act subject to the approval of the Board of Trade.

_Commerce._--The following figures may be quoted for purposes of
comparison at different periods:--

_Value of Exports of Home Produce_ (1840), £11,586,037; (1874),
£60,232,118; (1880), £52,600,929; (1902-1905 average), £60,095,294.
Imports (1880), £141,442,907; (1902-1905), £174,059,316. These figures
point to the fact that London is essentially a mart, and neither is
itself, nor is the especial outlet for, a large manufacturing centre;
hence imports greatly exceed exports.

_Vessels entered and cleared_ (foreign and colonial trade):--

+-----------+--------------+------------+
| Year. | Entered. | Cleared. |
+-----------+--------------+------------+
| | Tonnage. | Tonnage. |
| 1694 | 135,972 | 81,148 |
| 1750 | 511,680 | 179,860 |
| 1800 | 796,632 | 729,554 |
| 1841-1850 | 1,596,453 | 1,124,793 |
| (average) | | |
| 1881 | 5,810,043 | 4,478,960 |
| 1895 | 8,435,676 | 6,110,325 |
| 1905 | 10,814,115 | 7,913,115 |
+-----------+--------------+------------+

In the coastwise trade, in 1881, 38,953 vessels of 4,545,904 tons
entered; in 1895, 43,704 vessels of 6,555,618 tons; but these figures
include vessels trading within the Thames estuary (ports of London,
Rochester, Colchester and Faversham), which later returns do not.
Omitting such vessels, therefore, the number which entered in the
coastwise trade in 1905 was 16,358 of 6,374,832 tons.

_Business._--The City has been indicated as the business centre of the metropolis. Besides the Royal Exchange, in the building of which are numerous offices, including "Lloyd's," the centre of the shipping business and marine insurance, there are many exchanges for special articles. Among these are the Corn Exchange in Mark Lane, where the privilege of a fair was originally granted by Edward I.; the Wool Exchange, Coleman Street; the Coal Exchange, Lower Thames Street; the Shipping Exchange, Billiter Street; and the auction mart for landed property in Tokenhouse Yard. The Hop Exchange is across the river in Southwark. In Mincing Lane are the commercial salerooms. Besides the Bank of England there are many banking houses; and the name of Lombard Street, commemorating the former money dealers of Lombardy, is especially associated with them. The majority of the banks are members of the Clearing House, Post Office Court, where a daily exchange of drafts representing millions of pounds sterling is effected. The Royal Mint is on Tower Hill. The Stock Exchange is in Capel Court, and numbers of brokers have their offices in the vicinity of the Royal Exchange and the Bank of England.

_Manufactures and Retail Trade._--No part of London can be pointed out
as essentially a manufacturing quarter, and there is a strong tendency
for manufacturing firms to establish their factories outside the
metropolis. There are, however, several large breweries, among which
that of Messrs Barclay & Perkins, on the riverside in Southwark, may
be mentioned; engineering works are numerous in East London by the
river, where there are also shipbuilding yards; the leather industry
centres in Bermondsey, the extensive pottery works of Messrs Doulton
are in Lambeth, there are chemical works on the Lea, and paper-mills
on the Wandle. Certain industries (not confined to factories) have
long been associated with particular localities. Thus, clock-makers
and metal-workers are congregated in Finsbury, especially Clerkenwell
and in Islington; Hatton Garden, near Holborn Viaduct, is a centre for
diamond merchants; cabinet-making is carried on in Bethnal Green,
Shoreditch and the vicinity; and large numbers in the East End are
employed in the match industry. Silk-weaving is still carried on in
the district of Spitalfields (see STEPNEY). West of the City certain
streets are essentially connected with certain trades. The
old-established collection of second-hand book-shops in Holywell
Street was only abolished by the widening of the Strand, and a large
proportion then removed to Charing Cross Road. In the Strand, and more
especially in Fleet Street and its offshoots, are found the offices of
the majority of the most important daily newspapers and other
journals. Carriage and motor-car warehouses congregate in Long Acre.
In Tottenham Court Road are the showrooms of several large
upholstering and furnishing firms. Of the streets most frequented on
account of their fashionable shops Bond Street, Regent Street, Oxford
Street, Sloane Street and High Street, Kensington, may be selected. In
the East End and other poor quarters a large trade in second-hand
clothing, flowers and vegetables, and many other commodities is
carried on in the streets on movable stalls by costermongers and
hawkers.

_Markets._--The City Corporation exercises a control over the majority
of the London markets, which dates from the close of the 14th century,
when dealers were placed under the governance of the mayor and
aldermen. The markets thus controlled are:

_Central Markets_, Smithfield, for meat, poultry, provisions, fruit,
vegetables, flowers and fish. These extend over a great area north of
Newgate Street and east of Farringdon Road. Beneath them are extensive
underground railway sidings. A market for horses and cattle existed
here at least as early as the time of Henry II.

_Leadenhall Market_, Leadenhall Street, City, for poultry and meat.
This market was in existence before 1411 when it came into the
possession of the City.

_Billingsgate Market_, by the Thames immediately above the custom
house, for fish. Formerly a point of anchorage for small vessels, it
was made a free market in 1699.

_Smithfield Hay Market._

_Metropolitan Cattle Market_, Copenhagen Fields, Islington.

_Deptford Cattle Market (foreign cattle)._

_Spitalfields Market_ (fruit, vegetables and flowers).

_Shadwell Market_ (fish).

Of other markets, the Whitechapel Hay Market and Borough Market,
Southwark, are under the control of trustees; and Woolwich Market is
under the council of that borough. Covent Garden, the great mart in
the west of London for flowers, fruit and vegetables, is in the hands
of private owners. It appears to have been used as a market early in
the 17th century. Scenes of remarkable activity may be witnessed here
and at Billingsgate in the early hours of the morning when the stock
is brought in and the wholesale distributions are carried on.