FOREIGN TRADE ZONES
ages it in the name of that city; in Emden the German National
Railway is the proprietor of and manages the railway in its own name.
Wherever the harbor railway is an independent undertaking, it is the
cause of financial anxiety to the seaport town.
Since the docks ‘are provided with entirely modern equipment,
cranes, gangways, lifting gear, etc., their manning requires trained
gangs, their upkeep a special expenditure, and payment therefor a
special cash department. Thus the conception of the dock adminis-
tration as being an office independent of harbor construction arises,
viz, a works and traffic administration separate from the construc-
tion administration. It is natural that such an administration is
only for the general traffic. Special depots, as, for instance, for tim-
ber, ore, and coal, and industrial depots, are often best utilized by
being leased.
The dock administration limits itself to one part of the port traffic;
the shore work of transshipment. The latter comprises the shifting
of goods in the quay sheds and the work of the lifting gear. The
ships’ -work therefore, in discharging and loading, does not come
under the dock administration, but is the work of the stevedores.
The improvement of the lifting gear, such as hydraulic moving of
grain cranes, has brought about the fact that a division between ship
and shore work is often no longer possible, so that in such cases the
ships’ work is also undertaken by the dock administration.
By engaging dock laborers for the work of transshipment, the dock
administration associates itself with the other harbor managements in
labor questions. The administration is an employer and, as it has
no regular workers such as municipal employees, it is obliged to
engage its own dock laborers. As a rule, it is, therefore, a member
of the employers’ union (Hafenbetriebeverein). The work for mixed
goods and piece goods is for the most part manual work; machinery
for conveyance on a small scale and for stapling goods is only just
being developed. The upkeep of the expensive and sometimes very
delicate lifting gear requires special skilled labor and special workshops.
This technical department needs the closest cooperation with the
construction works, so that daily experiences can be utilized and
advantageously employed for new undertakings. A fusion with the
construction works is, however, not to be recommended.
The difficulty of making a profit from the dock administration has
always been a source of anxiety, and since the war the situation has
become more acute, as the competition of the foreign harbors of
Antwerp and Rotterdam, as well as the struggle of the German ship-
ping companies for their position in the world, tend to keep the dock
dues low. Although the dock administration has never been an
important source of income to Bremen, the question of a subsidy for
it is now receiving consideration. It is therefore all the more necessary
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