Seven aj
a Hall Million Dollars
Thai"» Ihe ainounl dial is needed in devel-
oping I lie ports at Moreliead City and Wil¬
mington. Tin* qu«k.stion is: will it provo a
w i.se iii\estnient for the state to make?
EVEN and one-half million
dollars is a lot of money.
That’s the sum which the
North Carolina Ports Authority,
headed by Colonel George W.
Gillette, is trying to get the Gen¬
eral Assembly to appropriate for
the development of deep-water
ports at Morehead City and Wil¬
mington. A public hearing on this
matter was held recently before
the joint appropriations commit¬
tees of the Senate and House.
Seven and one-half million
dollars!
Before the Legislature makes
any such appropriation, there will
have to be a lot of explaining, and
that's exactly what Colonel Gillette
and his associates have been doing
for the past several weeks.
In other words: will North Caro¬
lina be justified in making such an
expenditure of public funds? How
is such a proposition going to bene¬
fit the state? Is it intended solely
for the purpose of building up
Morehead City and Wilmington?
In the long run will it prove to be
a sound investment?
Sensible questions: every last
one of them.
Let’s study the proposition for
a moment.
Helping Other States
North Carolina is the only state
with a coastal frontage that has
not developed its ports. Instead of
doing this, it has been developing
the ports in Virginia, South Caro¬
lina and other states. North Caro¬
lina commodities of all kinds which
go into export channels are largely
shipped through the ports of Nor¬
folk and Charleston. That, how¬
ever. is just one side of the picture.
Raw materials and commodities
brought into North Carolina from
foreign lands largely come into
North Carolina through these same
ports of Norfolk and Charleston,
with North Carolina industries and
North Carolina consumers paying
a transportation premium.
Here's something that Colonel
Gillette said before the appropria¬
tions committee:
"I am offering the record of 1941
as that of a model year, because
By CAKL GOI IU II
the war years and those immediate¬
ly thereafter were not normal and
their war-inflated size could not be
fairly used. In 1941 the miscel¬
laneous tonnage through the port
of Wilmington amounted to ap¬
proximately one million tons, of
which 150,000 tons of cargo was
handled by private fertilizer plants
and did not and would not in the
future come through public termi¬
nals. If this 850,000 tons of cargo
were all handled by state ports, the
state would receive, (depending on
the manner of handling, in wharf¬
age, handling between shipsidc and
cars, handling between shipsidc
and storage, handling between
storage and cars, and storage and
stevedoringi a return of $8,408,500.
Out of this gross revenue, of course,
would have to be deducted labor
costs, other operating costs and in¬
surance and such items, leaving a
net revenue sufficient to liquidate
the project within ten years or less.
These figures have been carefully
arrived at. and these figures —
please remember — are for Wil¬
mington alone. Statistics concern¬
ing Morehead City naturally would
increase this return.”
Tobacco Exports
And here’s something else: if the
ports at Morehead and Wilmington
were to be developed, 175.000 hogs¬
heads of tobacco would be handled
through North Carolina ports.
Most of this export tobacco now-
moves through Norfolk or Charles¬
ton although it is largely grown in
North Carolina. The Ports Authori¬
ty has been assured by many to¬
bacco shippers that they will im¬
mediately start exporting tobacco
through North Carolina ports if
and when they are developed.
The same also may be said of a
number of other commodities.
The state of Alabama has built
up a splendid port at Mobile. Three
months ago, the Atlanta Constitu¬
tion. commenting on this port, said
editorially: "The docks have been
no financial burden to Alabama.
They have paid their way. The
original SI 0,000,000 bonded debt
has been reduced to around $700,-
000. The docks have kept up the
interest on the debt out of revenues
and have built up surpluses with
which to finance all additions.”
The same may be said of
Houston. New Orleans and other
well-established ports. What Ala¬
bama has done, North Carolina
can do — do better and do more.
The huge development at Mobile
will not cost Alabama a penny for
construction or operation. Not only
that, but it has produced a huge
growth of industry in the state, and
thereby broadened the tax base.
Two tremendous new industries
have located in South Carolina
during the past year, as well us a
number of smaller ones.
The port at Charleston was a big
factor in bringing about the selec¬
tion of South Carolina as a site for
these industries.
Business has been moving to the
South at a steady pace during the
past decade. But Business isn’t go¬
ing to a place where adequate ship¬
ping facilities and low transporta¬
tion rates are not available.
Comparative Freight Rates
Let’s take the freight rates in ef¬
fect to some North Carolina city.
Let’s take Winston-Salem as an
example.
Canned goods, in carload lots:
the rate from Norfolk per 100
pounds is 87 cents; from Charles¬
ton. 60 cents; from Wilmington. 30
cents.
Fertilizer and fertilizer materi¬
als, carloads; the rate from Nor¬
folk. per 2000 pounds, is $4.25:
from Charleston. $4.25: from Wil¬
mington, $3.53.
Petroleum and petroleum prod¬
ucts. carloads: The rate |>er 100
pounds from Norfolk is 30 cents;
from Charleston, 31 cents; from
Wilmington, 26 cents.
Sugar, in carload lots: the rate
per 100 pounds from Charleston is
37 cents; from Norfolk. 35 cents;
from Wilmington. 31 cents.
Those arc just a few items, but
( Continued on \Hige 20)
THE STATE. FEBRUARY 12, 1949
