Show nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn LONDON DOCKS DEAL y Biggest State Undertaking That Was Ever Attempted General Public Now Responsible for Vast Stores of Goods Including 56 Miles of Wine Casks and 45 000000 Worth of Tobacco London When tho clocks struck 12 at midnight tho London docks passed out of tho hands of the companies which had previously owned them London and India Surrey Commercial Commer-cial and Mlllwall and became public property to be administered in the public Interest by the now port of London authority t No similar transfer of such magnitude magni-tude has ever taken place before The docks are the biggest enterprise that has been socialized so far No such vast undertaking has hitherto become a state undcrtaiUng The price paid to tho various shareholders amounts to 112500000 Tho effect of the transfer will bo felt all over the world Considering tho magnitude of the interests involved it seemed only natural na-tural to suppose tnat as tho fateful hour struck there would be some formal for-mal handing over of authority some ceremonial befitting the great occasion occa-sion As a matter of hard cold fact nothing took place at all At midnight tho dock house Instead of being brightly lighted and full of activity was dark and still Leaden hall street had Its usual quiet undisturbed undis-turbed nocturnal appearance All tho officials old and new wero far away tucked up snugly In bed The hour struck on a number of neighboring church clocks There was nothing whatever to show that tho morning was different from any other morning or that a new era bad begun in the history of London in tho commerce com-merce between Great Britain and tho rest of the globe That is tho way of business men They have no time for theatricality They make arrange i ments for matters to go on In a busl I ncssllke way and have no use for formality or ceremonial I I Mr Philipson tho new temporary Ito I secretary was at tho dock house and to take charge of tho offices and at j I fairs Uut he said emphatically nothing will happen to mark the occasion oc-casion nothing at all There Is something fine and quite I as Impressive to the Imaginative mind In this unemotional as a ceremony f I this severely businesslike way of effecting ef-fecting so tremendous a transfer All tho 1602 acres of Immensely valuable land and tho C45 acres of water and the 521 acres of warehouse flooring I handed over without a word I All the vast stores of goods in the warehouses the 66 miles of wine casks tho 45000000 worth of tobacco tobac-co tho wool tho wheat tho ivory the spIces the rubber the feathers 125 000 worth In ono room alone the tea the silks the carpets and all the Innumerable In-numerable other wares which the 700 cranes are hauling In and out of ships holds ovory day For these tho dock companies are no longer responsible Their soy erelgnty Is over Tho port authority meets and begins Its reign Hut still there was no formality Tho work of the otflces and time work ut tho docks was on just tho same as usual Thcro was nothing for the moment to show the public that any change has been made lioforo long however there Is ground for hopo that tho change will bo apparent to everybody The authority au-thority will begin to discuss the 1m krovement of the dock accommodation and tho construction of a new dock capable of admitting the huge vessels which havo revolutionized the shipping ship-ping Under Sir Hudson Kearleys able guidance tho carefully chqsen managers will approach In a progressive progres-sive spirit the task before them that of making London which Is still the greatest In point of commerce tho best equipped port In the world |