CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Press, Volume XXVI, Issue 3391, 17 July 1876, Page 3

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

A special general meeting of the Chamber "wob held on Friday, the President, Mr P. in the'chair. There was a ■good attendance of members. The chairman said the meeting had been called to ask the concurrence of the Chamber in some business proposed by the committee. It was thought advisable to establish a Harbor Board at the port of Lyttelton. The -committee had appointed a subcommittee to confer with the Lyttelton Borough Council, and that body bad agreed that the establishment of a Harbor Board would be conducive to the interests not only of the port but also to the province at large. The joint committees had instructed the preparation of a draft Bill, which was now on the table. When in Wellington two weeks ago, he hod a long conversation with a gentleman -of influence, and the Bill had been drafted in accordance with many of the suggestions -then made to him. The committee asked the Chamber to concur with what had been -done, and it was t-heu opinion that the Bill should bs forwarded to the Hon E. Richardson, who, with the Canterbury member?, should be asked to endeavor to carry the Bill through the Legislature. The draft of the Bill was very long, and would take up too much of -the time of members to hear read through, but us he had it nearly off by heart he would be prepared to answer any -questions put to him. The draft had been both by the sub-committee and Lyttelton Borough Council. It had been suggested to him that the better course -would be for him to give an idea of the different parts of the Bill, and first ac to the constitution of the Board, the clause relating 4o which ran as follows :— « The Mayor for the time being of the Borough of Lyttleton shall, ex ojjicw, be a member of the Board." " The Governor shall, from time to time, by warrant under his hand, appoint two persons to be members of the Board, who ehall hold office daring the pleasure of the \ "Themembers of the Chamber of Commerce shall, from time to time, elect from amongst themselves two persons to be mem -hereof the Board." " -** The ratepayers of the City of Christenurch, qualified to vote in the election of the said city, ehall, from time to time, elect -three person?, and the ratepayers of Lyttelton 'two persons, to be members of the Board." The bulk of the Bill had been drafted from x-wbst asight be considered the good poirite of Tne vaiioue Bills throughout New Zealand, but had been drafted principally from the Bill prepared by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce and Corporation, who had given flfce matter a great deal of attention, and had, -in Ms opinion, produced one of the best ■Harbor Bills in the colony. The other im- ■ portant clause was that relating to " Endow•jnente." The cbairmau here read the clause, and continued to say that he hoped they •would get what they asked for, but waa not -quite sure that they would. The clause had been drafted after a conversation with come ■of the Canterbury members, who thought that the railways, which were so connected -with harbor works, should contribute towards these works- It was apparent enough that the railways would derive very great benefit :from the successful working of harbor Mr ffaasal asked the duties of the Harbor The" Chairman replied that they would ■take over the wharves and maintain them; build any new wharves that might be required ; take over the dredges aad work them, and also the pilot department, re •ceivitsg the pilot dues. In reply to other questions, the Chairman *aid the Board would claim all wharfage, tjoth inwards and outwards, which it was -thought would give a revenue of abont £15,000. The Board could grant themselves -tome remuneration, but the sum had been left blask in the draft It had been coa,*idered that mercantile men could not be expected to give their time without some remuneration. He believe-3 the Dunedin Harbor Board were paid, and bed just been informed that the members were allowed £l Is *t each sitting. The Bill was 60 drafted that iihey could have offices either at Lytteltou •or. Cbristchurch. The Beard could vary their ■wharfage charges. The whole control of tjerthing Tessels would be under the Boar<l; ■the committee had, however, maintained that the Board should not have anything to do with loading or unloading the trucks, and it had been thought that tbe terminal charge ■would \e sufficient to pay the railway for this work. It was proposed to take over the cranee if the Board could get them, as they would give a considerable revenue, aad it ■was thought wise that they should be worked by the Harbor Board men. It was through a suggestion from tbe committee that the -sub-committee had agreed that two of ihe members should be elected from the chamber- He did believe that the Goveniment would approve of the Bill. Every control *nd full powers would be" given under the mi.

Mr Day said that, after the chairman's explanation, he did not think the Chamber would object to support the Bill. There waa one clause in particular he approved of, viz, the power reserved to vary the wharfage charges if found necessary. He would move —" That this Chamber approves of the action of the committee in drafting a Harbor Board Bill for the Port of Lyttelton, and recommend that the Hon E. Richard - eon be asked to have the Bill carried through the Legislature, and that all the Canterbury members be written to, asking them to assist in having the Bill passed at as early a date as possible." Mr A. Duncan seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. The chairman said the next business was the consideration of the new Bankruptcy Bill, which had been sent to the Chamber by the Hon Mr Bowen. The Bill had had very great attention from the committee, after which a sab committee had been appointed to consider it, and they had arrived at the conclusion that the better way would be to submit the Bill to a Select Committee of the house, with power to call for persons qualified to give information on the subject. The committee had not altogether approved of the Bill, and had brought up the following report:—" The committee have considered the Bill forwarded them by the Minister of | Justice. They venture to express the hope that before it has proceeded any further the whole subject will be referred to a select committee of the Legislature. By the present Act, whatever are its faults in detail, the control of the affaire of an insolvent debtor is substantially vested in his creditors, a principle from which they trust the Legislature will not consent to recede. The proposed Bill enablee the debtor to make ! himself insolvent without the concurrence of his creditors, and reproduces the expensive and dilatory system of deeds of arrangement for purposes which either are or can be effectually provided for by a simple resolution of the creditors. The committee prefer the existing Act with the suggestions by chambers of commerce to those alterations- They would beg respectfully to adhere to the recommendations which have already been sanctioned by the Chamber. If it be deemed advisable to appoint an official trustee to discharge the duties at present vested in the Registrar, the committee hope that he will be paid by a salary tsharged on the consolidated revenue. " The committee would also mention that a case has been brought before them affording a strong illustration of the inadequacy of the present law of arrest to provide means cf stopping an absconding debtor. They are aware of course of the general principle which has for a long time precluded arrest, except in cases of felony, but they would seriously raise the question whether this principle has not already been enough trenched upon to justify a farther extension of the power to arrest to the present case, and whether there is any good reason why the telegraph should not also be made use of." The last clause he (the chairman) desired to cay had been brought about b> a letter received from Mr Wynn Williams, who instanced the case of a debtor whose creditois were even on board the same steamer with him when he started for Wellington, and were yet powerless to detain him. There was no steamer sailing for that port for a day or two, and the Wellington police did not care to act upon a telegram, and the man was on the high seas before he could be reached "by the existing process of law. Mr Stead moved —"That the report of the sub-committee on bankruptcy be approved, and that a copy be forwarded to the Hon the Minister of Justice." Mr Haeaal seconded the motion, which was agreed to. The chairman said the next matter he had to put bef ore-the Chamber was a resolution passed by the committee on a letter from Mr Bishop, which appeared some short time since in the Zyttelton Times relative to the wreck of the Strathmore on the Crozet Islands. Mr Bishop had enclosed a copy of that letter to the* committee in one containing several suggestions, and requesting the Chamber to communicate with the Government to take some action to prevent n repetition of the Bufferings of the Strathmore's passengers to other unfortunates who might be similarly situated. The sub-committee had taken the matter into their consideration, and thought the Chamber should draw the attention of the Government to this, believing that if it were brought under the notice of the Imperial Government, instructions would be given to have a supply of provisions left on these islands, and periodical visits paid to them. It was their opinion that the Commissioner of t'ustoms should be communicated with, and a resolution had been prepared which would be submitted to the Chamber. Mr Macpherson said that he had been on the subcommittee who had prepared the resolution, but be had since seen in the labt number of the Australasian to hand, that a committee of Lloyd's had brought the case spoken of under the notice of the Imperial Government, and had received a promise that the islands should be visited by the Flying Squadron. Mr Haesal was exceedingly glad to hear that some action in this direction had been taken by the Imperial Government, but he still thought that the Chamber should write to the Commissioner of Customs, as the Imperial Government would doubtless Rive greater weight to the representations of the Colonial Government than they would to those emanating froai the committee of Lloyd's. He would move—" That a copy of the correspondence from Mr Bishop be forwaided to the Commissioner of Customs, with a recommendation th»t the Government of New Zealand communicate with the Imperial Government in' the matter." Mr Goes seconded the resolution, which was agreed to. In reply to a member the chairman said that Mr Bishop's letter had been acknowledged, and thanking him for his suggestions. The chairman said the next business wae to consider a Bill called the Warehouse Goods Act, which he had received from the Hon Geo McLean, and' which the committee considered in many respects to be very satisfactory. Aβ one clause had not been thought sufficiently explicit, he had tel egraphed to the Hon Mr McLean as follows: " Under your new Act will any merchant's warehouse be considered a free bond for storage purposes, and merchant being warehouseman, can he issue warrants for any part of his own stocK." To this he had received the following reply—" No; not intended to Rive any such power to free warehouse." The committee considered that a responsible warehouseman should be enabled to obtain a license from the Commissioner of Customs for hie free store at a nominal charge in which free goods could be stored and warrants change hands without delivery of goods being taken. They wished that clause 10 should be altered in this direction, and had proposed the insertion of some words into it to give it effect. The object of the Bill was to make goods negotiable without delivery. It also settled a matter as to the right of holders of warrants for bonded goods, which was deemed desirable. By the desire of members the secretary read the Act, and after a discussion of a conversational nature on clause G, Mr Nathan moved — " That the Hon George McLean be informed that this Chamber approve of the Act submitted, but would recommend the insertion of the following words in clause 10, fonrth line, after bnildinge, ' Licensed by the Collector of Customs at a nominal fee of £1 Is. , " Mr Hassal seconded the motion, which was agreed to. The chairman said that was all the special business he had to lay before the Chamber, bat he wished to draw the attention of m*mbere to the fact that the annual general meeting would take place on the 17th of next month. He knew that a custom had obtained of members coming there withont having made up their minds as to whom they would vote for. The duties of the committee were by no means light, and « members would turn over in their minds toe names of those they intended to eket on the Committee and come prepared to jote, a great deal of time would be saved, lie intended to bring forward a new role at the text general meeting.