. Ports and terminal facilities . able, because it would make the cost and difficulty ofguarding the stockaded district which comprises the free zone THE FREE PORT AS AN INSTITUTION 28/ too great. For this reason the area to be included within thestockade should not be made too extensive. Supervision andinspection costs to the Government should be decreased ratherthan increased by the institution. The idea of levying duties on commodities consumed withinthe confines of the free port is impracticable of execution and atvariance with the very idea of the free port. It is of prime im-portance tha
. Ports and terminal facilities . able, because it would make the cost and difficulty ofguarding the stockaded district which comprises the free zone THE FREE PORT AS AN INSTITUTION 28/ too great. For this reason the area to be included within thestockade should not be made too extensive. Supervision andinspection costs to the Government should be decreased ratherthan increased by the institution. The idea of levying duties on commodities consumed withinthe confines of the free port is impracticable of execution and atvariance with the very idea of the free port. It is of prime im-portance that the free-port zone should not be a place of habita-tion. The only persons who should be permitted to live withinthe zone are government employees duly sworn in as inspectorsor watchmen, who should be under bond for the actions of theirfamilies. Their habitations should be built as part of the portequipment. Aside from such authorized persons no one shouldbe allowed continued habitation within the zone except crews onboard (Photo by author) Fig. 115.—At Hamburg. Customs inspectors stop everyone coming from thefree zone at the bridge leading across the canal which separates the free port fromthe customs area. To provide for the many thousands of persons employed inthe free port during the day, Hamburg has licensed the PeoplesCoffee Halls, a philanthropic society, which maintains soupkitchens and rest rooms for the comfort and convenience of suchpersons. From 20,000 to 30,000 people enter the free port everyday and leave it again. They pass inspectors coming out andmust show the contents of all packages. Under a free-port system the customs officials will be relieved 288 PORTS AND TERMINALS of one objectionable feature, the irregularity of their work. Atthe present time, days of idleness alternate with days of overworkwhen several large ships arrive together. In a free port there isno such fluctuation because the free port acts as a reservoir fromwhich goods liable to d
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectharbors, booksubjectr
