The Press. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1885.

Press, Volume XLI, Issue 6054, 10 February 1885, Page 2

The Press. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1885.

The address of the President of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce yesterday dealt with a number of questions of considerable interest to the community and which may with advantage be discussed here. As our readers are aware, the Chamber of Commerce have from the first taken an active part is the discussion of the, question of railway rates. Boring last ■■■■■-—- «h«j winter the members took « fall share in tne agnauou noioa ««*- ---mately drifted into a political one and ended at the general election in the return of members representing Center-, boxy who were pledged to do their utmost to bring about a change. The .session, however, passed without anything being done to remedy the evil. But the Minister of Public Works was not permitted to forget his election promises. On the occasion of his visit to Christ* church, shortly after the dose of the session, he was waited upon by a deputation of the Chamber of Commerce, when, the question of the railway rates formed the! subject of discussion. • The members; placed before the Minister the urged? necessity of making- a reduction. They need almost precisely the same kind of arguments which had besn employed with such, telling force at an earlier stage of the discussion. But Mr. Bichabdson

appeared to be resolute in his resolve not to yield. "The Government," he told the deputation, " e*me in with a revenue calculated oa the present rates," and if they were reduced the railway revenue would seriously suffer. The impression produced by Mr. Bichjlbdson's remarks" was that he was strongly disinclined tOj give way, and it was not until it became apparent that a fresh agitation was about to be started in Canterbury that he yielded. Then it was that the force of the arguments employed by the Chamber of Commerce had some effect, and as a result a revised tariff was decided upon. Mr. Oookb is under the impression that the public are fairly satisfied with the concession, although the tariff of 1883 has not been reverted to. Bat this is probably the ease simply because people are tired of continuous agitation, and are waiting for a convenient opportunity for marking in a fitting way their sense of the manner in which they have been deceived. But the authorities are not free ef agitation after all. If the new grain tariff has been quietly accepted, the Chamber of Commerce have made up their minds to get the charges for hand* ling goods in Ljttelton reduced. The matter was referred to in the President's address, and the Chamber subsequently passed a strongly worded resolution on the subject. Another matter which received some considerable share of attention in Mr.' Cookk's address was the state of the frozen meat trade. Attention was called to the fact that the price of frozen meat had reached the low level ef 5d per lb in England. In the face of such a feet it is imperative, if the trade is to be maintained, that the total charges ahould be reduced to cay 3d in the lb. This, Mr. Cooira points out, would leave a net return of 2d per lb for the earease to the shipper, which, with the addition of the skin and fat, would enable him to work at a profit. It is no doubt of argent importance that the charges should be reduced to the lowest possible limits, and if those interested in the trade set about the task of getting them reduced they will probably ultimately suceed. But it is also in the highest degree desirable that everything should be done at home to secure the best price when the meat reaches the London market We admit, as the President of the Chamber of Commerce points out, that diversity of opinion prevails amongst the Sflgluh consignees regarding the mode of sale. Moreover, it is only too obvious that it will be no easy task to get the ponegneee to come to a definite under-

standing amoogefc themselves. Aβ lonfl as conflicting views prevail in the eolonw it may be impossible to bring eufficienl I pressure to bear upon the London hn porters to causa them to alter thea methods. But considering the enormotC interests at stake the difficulty is !not insurmountable. There was a tune! when the want of concerted action on the part of wool importers was pro* during equally disastrous results. But these difficulties have been overcome, and the wool sale* are now regulated by rules which all importers recognise. It may not be possible to deal with frozen mutton precisely in the same fashion; but if the London consignees realise that the colonial producers are in earnest we cannot help thinking that a change will be brought about. Were a Council of Importers formed, charged with the task of seeing that our frozen meat was placed on the market in such condition and in such quantities as would result in it being absorbed at full rates, we ehould speedily feel the benefit, and a stop would be pnt to the competition between rival salesmen, which has on various occasions recently tended so much to depress the market.

There is one passage in the ad(L ss of the President of the Chamber o.Q Commerce which will be read* with interest. We refer to his rema. a on the prevailing state of trade. Hβ was in a position to congratulate the members on a perceptible improvement in business at the last quarterly meeting, and he is happy to say that the change for the better then noted is more perceptible now. We do not pretend to be in a poeition'to give a definite opinion upon the point, and we can only hope Mr. Cooke has sufficient evidence for making the cheering announcement. There is undoubtedly every prospect at preeent of the grain being secured in sound condition, so that at the low prices ruling something will be realised for it. There seems, however, to be a considerable diversity of opinion as to the immediate future of grain growing. The low prices ruling must tend no doubt to limit the area of the wheat crop throughout the world, but it remains to be seen how long it will take to bring about such a change as will materially affect prices. The gigantic visible supply in America— estimated at some 5,000,000 qnarfew— does not encourage us In hoping that any very decided change in prices will be experienced in the immediate future. At the same time, as Mr. Cooke indicates in his address, there is probably no cause for " increased anxiety " on the soore of prices; and if our farmers are only careful not to run unnecessary risks, there is every prospect, we hope, of the price of New Zealand wheat approximating once more that obtained for the Australian product. '