The Port of London Bill to be introduced next Session
by Mr. Lloyd-George has been publicly advertised. It takes the form of a private Bill, apparently to give it a better chance of being passed• than it could have if it jostled for place with the other official measures. It proposes " to establish and incorporate a Commission as the port authority of the Port of London, and to vest in the Commissioners all necessary powers for the control, management, improvement, and preservation of the Port of London." This Commission will supersede the diverse authorities who at present control the Port. It will be given powers to buy property and build docks, and it will pay compensation for vested interests which are displaced. We believe that the need has been shown for a single authority over the whole Port of London, which, by the way, now extends officially as far up the Thames as Staines, but which under the Bill would only go as far as the tidal water,—i.e., up to Teddington Lock ; and as for Mr. Lloyd- George, he has already proved his fitness to deal with a large administrative problem of this kind. More one cannot say at present, as the Bill as advertised is only a declaration of principle. We hope that the scheme for a Barrage will not be forgotten. The evidence is insufficient for laymen to declare a final opinion on that subject, but the proposal is primc2 facie so attractive that it is worth careful examination, and should at least be referred to the new Commission.
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