This is a view (_see_ Frontispiece) of the South-West India Dock seen from the western end. I have had this view taken especially to illustrate the few remarks with which I shall close my lecture. You will observe the accumulation of barges just inside the dock waiting to go out, and you will be able to form some idea of the terrible inconvenience which the presence of these craft must cause in the dock, crowded as it constantly is with shipping; and it so happens that the accumulation of these barges is greatest when there is the least room for them. I must ask you to imagine that behind these barges there are several ships waiting to leave the dock, and that _outside_ the dock there is a similar accumulation of lighters and large vessels waiting to come in. The presence of these barges, as shown in this view (which it must be remembered was photographed on the spot, and with no thought of using it in this connection), will help to convey some idea of the delays and risk which they cause in the docking and undocking of vessels—a delay and risk which, as I shall presently explain, the Dock Companies are compelled to incur altogether _free of charge_. Now you will have observed that all the earlier Dock Companies started with a monopoly for twenty-one years of the shipping from certain parts of the world. You will also have noticed that the object of the Government in granting these monopolies was twofold; first, by compulsorily clearing the river of a large proportion of the shipping to remove the facilities for plunder afforded by the lighterage and unprotected condition of goods; and, secondly, to secure for the docks some equivalent for the money invested in them. Now what do these facts indicate? Clearly that the Government saw the necessity of legislative interference in the interest of the port, and that, to render that interference operative, they must offer an inducement to the public to invest their money. Thus, you will observe that the Dock Companies sprang into existence, not so much independent speculations, as a response to an appeal from the Government of the day on behalf of the port.