CONTROL OF THE RAILWAYS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21707, 14 February 1936, Page 14

CONTROL OF THE RAILWAYS

PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN ' board

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRESIDENT'S VIEWS

(PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) AUCKLAND. February 13. Reviewing the year's operations, the retiring president of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Gainor Jackson, at the annual meeting this .afternoon, referred to the importance of establishing local industries of economic value which would not be burdensome to the community. He suggested wool and boot industries, but said that he did not agree with using unemployment funds for such industries as steel, the manufacture of which might seriously affect the position of our referred to the Railways Board, and said that under its control, in spile of the depression, the railways finance had greatly improved and the services rendered to commerce and to the public had been made unquestionably much better. The board held the confidence of the commercial community and the public generally, and the Government would be doing an unwise thing to give further consideration to the proposal again to bring the railways under direct political control. . _ Mr Jackson said that the Government’s announcement to reduce the exchange rate in small gradations was causing concern to business men. He felt with the Hon. W. Downie Stewart that “We are up a gumtree and it is going to be difficult to get down.” The reactions of the exchange inflation had largely worked themselves out. In the interests of internal stability it would be better if the fixing of an appropriate exchange rate were left entirely in the hands of the Reserve Bank without Government interference.