CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2010, 14 October 1869, Page 2

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

The annual meeting of the Chamber was held in the lower room of the Athenaeum this afternoon. There were present- Messrs G. M'Le'in (in the chair), R. Oliver, R. B, Martin. W. A. Tnlmie, J. Ross. E. Herbert, W. H. Reynolds, J. Cargill, E. B. Cargill, P. Selby, G. Turnbull, J. T. Walcott, J. L. Butterwortb, and I. S. Webb (Secretary). The Chairman read the following letter which bad been received “ Colonial Secretary’s Office, “ Wellington, Oct. 5, 1869. “ Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Honor’s letter of the 11th nit., transmitting, with your recommondation, a letter from the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, requesting that the Otago portion of the English mail via Suez may be brought on direct from Melbourne by the first steamer after the arrival of the mail there. “A decision on the question will not be of any practical importance, as, in consequence of the resolution of the House of Representatives last session, the mail arriving here from Melbourne on the sth of next month will be the last under the existing contract. I find, '.however, after enquiry, that the adoption of the recommendation of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce would not, judging from the experience of the three last monthly mails, have expedited the arrivals of the English mail at Dunedin. The three last English mails arrived there by their present route on the following dates respectively :—July 17, August 14, September 10; and if they had gone direct to Dunedin from Melbourne by the Omeo (the first after the mail steamer), then the dates of arrival at Dunedin would have been July 20, August 17, and September 15, ‘ ‘ Moreover there is the question of expense on account of gratuities; for whether the Dunedin mails are or are not on board the subsidised steamer, the subsidy is still the same.—l have, &0., “W. Gisborne, “Colonial Secretary. “ His Honor, “The Superintendent, Otago.” The Committee in their report stated that the business which had been before the Chamber during the past year has been both varied and important, and it was with satisfaction that the Committee found itself able to report that it found itself able to report that on several instances the discussions and recommendations of the Chamber had led to the removal of causes of just complaint on the part of the mercantile community. In regard to other subjects, the Committee still had a legacy to leave to its successor, a remark which specially applied to the long standing grievance of delays in the discharge of shipping at the port, and to the refusal of the Government to permit general searchers of the register of bills of sale. Tne Committee submitted some lengthened remarks on the transactions of the Chamber during the past twelve months, which may be sum* mansed as follows : Delays in the discharge of ships. The import shed promised last year by the Government, had been erected on the Rattray street Jetty, and one division of it had been placed under the lock of the Customs. Owing to the dredging operations, it was hoped that the shed might be used as the railway sheds at Melbourne are, and the fullest facilities given to the discharge into it (through the medium of lighters,) of inward cargoes under permits. The following difficulties to this have been pointed out by tbe Collector of Customs;—lst. That no labor is provided at tbe sbed. 2nd. That lighters usually go to the old jetty, on account of the greater ease with which they can discharge there. 3rd. That to permit the discharge of cargo from the same ship indiscriminately at either jetty would entau considerable trouble, both on the Customs Department and importers ; and 4fch. That tho shed is not, like those of Hobson’s Bay Railway Company, the property of a Corporation giving heavy bonds to the Customs in respect of the goods stored there; nor is it of such a character that high duty goods could be allowed to remain in it over night; and, sth. That the practice of delaying entries is still persisted in. It appears very probable that some of these difficulties will not be practically got over until railway carriage is substituted for the present lightering system. With regard to the delay of entries, the remedy was now in the hands of the agents of ships. There was a long discussion on this subject, but no resedutiou was arrived at. Tho opinion of the meeting appeared to be that home ships should be allowed to discharge cargoes under general permit ip the same way as Intercolonial steamers, Bills of Sale Register .-—Notwithstanding the pains taken by your Committee to make known to the members of Assembly the reasonable grounds on which the Chamber asks for the right to continue to take copies of the Bills of Sale register, or the substitution for it of a right to examine the index of the register, the amendment cf the law proposed by Mr Reynolds was thrown out by a very large majority. Tbe Committee trusted that further efforts will bo made by the Chamber to obtain the privileges now refused. In the meantime, it had been arranged that tbe Secretary shall, when called upon, act as the confidential agent of those members of the Chamber who desire to have a particular search made, and that where such search reveals th<* existence of a bill of sale, tho foe* for the search shall bo paid as heretofore by tho Chamber. — In a discussion that ensued, it was pointed out that the Dunediu Trades Protection Society and tho Canterbury Chamber of Commerce obtained tho desired information. The Secretary was instructed to make enquiries. Drawback upon G-ods ; —The application made to tbe Government by the Committee had received favorable considers tic n, Vnt the request had not been acceded to..

Stamps on Interprovincial Bills drawn in sets : A prompt response was made by the Government to the Chamber’s request on this subject, and the schedule of the Stamp Act had been amended, so that in future all bills which require to be transmitted by sea fall under the same regulations as to stamps when drawn in sets, as foreign bills. High School Medals : —At the suggestion of the Rector, one gold and two silver medals had been substituted for the single medal which the Chamber had undertaken to provide for a prize for proficiency in arithmetic. The medals will be competed for by boys of different ages ; and in the case of the gold modal, an examination in those branches of geography most useful to those entering on business pursuits will be added to that in arithmetic. Good handwriting will also be made an imperative condition. Customs Union :—The Committee recommended that the result of the conference of representatives of the different Colonial Governments shortly to be held sli'mld be awaited before the Chamber pronounced its opinion on this important subject. Trade of the Province The Committee gave some important statistical information on this subject, which we are reluctantly compelled to omit. The balance-sheet presented showed that the income last year had exceeded the expenditure by about L 6. Mr Henry Tewsley was unanimously elected a member of the Chamber. The election of office-bearers resulted as follows Chairman, Mr R. B. Martin; Vice-Chairman, Mr G. Turnbull; Committe, Messrs Oliver, Butterworth, Cargill, Brodrick, Herbert, and Davie. A vote of thanks to the retiring officebearers concluded the proceedings.