COMMERCE CHAMBER

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 127, 11 March 1930, Page 2

COMMERCE CHAMBER

licenses for hawkers. RETENTION OF EARLY EXPRESS, CHANGE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. The council of the Ashburton Chamber of Commerce met last evening, the president (Mr H. L. Barker) piesicuug over a good attendance. The Canterbury Chamber forwarded a number of bulletins on subjects of interest to the Chamber. The president referred to the value of bulletins that emanated Horn Lincoln College, making special mention or the bulletin dealing with minerals and stock feed and stock licks. With regard to itinerant traders, the Milton Borough Council forwarded, a copy of its by-law deuling witli such, and ’stating that one conviction had been obtained in the Court against an offender. Mr E. W. M. Cole said the matter should be placed before the Borough Council. He said these itinerant traders stayed only a short time, had no interests in the Borough or County, paid no rates, and left nothing behind them. It was agreed to send the correspondence to the Cqnncil, with the object of some action being taken. The president said this matter brought up an allied matter. This was the matter of the door-to-door hawker. Some of them were honourable people, but others were the scum of the earth. He did not suggest a heavy penalty on them in the way of fee, but they should be made to wear some badge bearing their name or their number, so that ill-behaviour could be reported. Mr H. M. Jones related a disturbing instance of the call of a hawker at one house. v

Mr A. Brown agreed that some of them were .very nasty, especially in the country, where .they found mostly wonien. It was stated that there was some form of license for these hawkers, and it was agreed that inquiries be made regarding the licensing of these men. Mr Brown said the character of these people should’he inquired into before a license was issued. The president said this had been the intention, but there had apparently been a little laxity. The Mid-Canterbury Provincial Executive of the Farmers’ Union wrote thanking the Chamber for its assistance in the past year. Speeding Up the Mails. Mr J. S. Laing referred to the railway time-table for the winter, with reference to the mail services, and said that mails from overseas were often kept in Wellington 12 hours before vtliey left for the south. It was possible for Wellington people to deal with a matter 24 hours before Ashburton and other South Island towns heard of it. A cheque presented in Ashburton on Friday' was not finally dealt with in Christchurch, only 50 miles away, till Tuesday or Wednesday. An early train should -be run every day, or motor transport put on to deal with mails more expeditiously. He would suggest that the Chamber should ask the Department to' retain the early train to the soqth and the late train to the north every day. The president said the matter had been before the Chamber before.

The secretary (Mr G. V. F'urby) read letters from the Invercargill Chamber, which did not support the Ashburton, views. The Canterbury Chamber had discussed the matter and had got into touch with the Timaru and Dunedin Chambers. Oamaru had supported the proposal for an early train'. Dunedin held the opinion that the proposal would not suit conditions thtfre, either by the early south train or by the late north train. The Transport Committee of the Canterbury Chamber had advised against it. The president said there was ample evidence that the Ashburton views were not wholly shared by other Chambers. They all knew the disabilities under which the New Zealand railways were run. Mr Laing said the Chamber should go on with the proposal on its own. He did not see why Timaru should not join with Ashburton in the matter. Oamaru had brought the matter up in Parliament, so they must be affected. He would like to see the question subjected to the Railway Department and. the Post and Telegraph Department. The president sai'd it seemed to be mainly a question of the delivery of mails. Mr Jones seconded the motion. He did not see why some improvement could not be made. He would have thought Timaru would be glad to fall in with Ashburton. Mr R. Houston said the Railway Department would not run trains for fun, and two trains could not be run each day in winter months. ' Mr E. C. Rawnsley said the Christchurch Transport Committee had gqne into the matter very thoroughly, and had advised against it, so it seemed that it was not worth while going, any further with it. The president thought the discussion was quite futile in view of the evidence. There was a suggestion that the summer service would be retained in the winter if the traffic warranted it. Mr Laing thought the Railway Department had all manner of ways of bluffing the Chamber. * A protest should be made. The night express largely helped, and would .practically solve the trouble if it ran every night. Mr T. G. A. Harle said it did not seem to be so much a matter for the railway service -as for the postal service. Service cars could bring down the mail on the off days complained of. Mr G. Clark (Postmaster) said that as the service cars left Christchurch soon after 8 a.m. they-'would not serve any purpose on days when the ferry arrived late. The Post Office had a very efficient toll service and the remedy was in the hands of the banks. The amount of Ashburton mail did not warrant a special service. Mr Laing said he never asked for a special service. He wanted what they had at present, only at a different time. The motion was lost, only Messrs Laing and Jones voting for it. Government Grain Grader. The president saicl that it was now an accomplished thing to have a Government grain grader in Ashburton. Such a one was established in an office here, and his work would mean a big saving to growers. The grader had been appointed by the Government. Mr H. Wills said the farmers wanted a grader who would be independent of the buyers, who, lie understood, paid the grader. The president said the grader would be found to be a quite disinterested party. He could assure Mr Wills that he would be absolutely unbiased. The question of the Rangitata traffic bridge proposal was mentioned by the president, who said a fund to undertake such work had been established, and the proposal should be kept to the

fore, otherwise the money might be diverted to some other question.. Arrangements had been finalised for the taking of a census of the traffic affected. Mr Jones said a great saving could be brought about by the bridge. It was a matter to be pressed and stressed. Mr Houston said the cost , was a. charge between the Ashburton and Geraldine Councils. The Main Highways Board was not too anxious to “lash out” at present. There was eight miles of road to be constructed to meet the bridge, and the route was only tussock now. The whole job would cost about £IOO,OOO. The president said it seemed clear that the bridge would be erected at no very distant date. If the Chamber displayed sufficient enthusiasm, and being backed up by other local bodies, its voice would be listened to.. It was agreed to hold over further discussion till the traffic census had been taken. Air Rawnsley said tljere had been a shortage of trucks on the Methven line, and some representation to the Department might have some effect. It was not a matter to make a fuss about, but it should be looked into. The president said the Department had stated that it'would put on 300 new trucks. Where had they gene? It was agreed to ask the Department for increased trucking facilities on the Methven line. The president spoke of the premature closing of the Rakaia bridge, causing some inconvenience to motorists. Air pole said the bridge guards were instructed to allow certain time for a vehicle to pass over The Chamber should ascertain just what time the keepers’ instructions were, with a view to representations being made to the Department. It was agreed to carry out Air Cole’s suggestion. In reply to the president, Air Houston said the County Council intended to open the present traffic bridge at the Ashburto-n River as a stock bridge when the new bridge was opened, and had no intention of dismantling it. Alembers agreed that this was very satisfactory, and an excellent solution of the present troublesome stock problem. The president said the removal of sheep by motor-lorry was becoming more popular and it seemed there should be some better methods of unloading from motor-lorries at the saleyards sidings. The matter was referred to the Railway Advisory Committee for-a report, Mr Jones referred to the carelessness of some motorists and the lack of traffic control at the intersections in East StreeLand some other streets, and said he would like to see some representations made to the Borough Council. The president said this was rather outside the scope of the Chamber. Traffic control these days seemed to be much better now than formerly.