CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Grey River Argus, 9 July 1927, Page 3

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

MONTHLY MEETING. The usual monthly meeting of the Greymouth Chamber of Commerce was held iu the Secretary’s office, yesterday afternoon. There were present Messrs J. McLean (Chairman), J. W. Greenslade, A. Naylor, J. E. Williams and T. Jones. Apologies for absence were received from Messrs W. B. Cunningham, F. A. Kitchingham,, IL B. McCullum, P. Beck, J. Ring and L. B. Miller. The Chairman stated that the Railway Committee had not met yet, but he had personally attended to various Railway matters. The Department had now agreed to keep the goods sheds open on Wednesdays in the afternoon. A notice board had been fixed up, giving the times of trains going to Runanga. The matter of adjusting the gates at the cemetery had also received attention, together with various other matters. The Railway Committee had a lot of work to handle, and he thought that an endeavour should be made to call a meeting of the Committee as soon as possible. Mr Greenslade said that he very much regretted that the Railway Committee had not met before, so that they might deal with the matter of securing cheaper freights for the transport of firewood, as had been proposed. He pointed out that there was any amount of firewood available, and with so much unemployment, the matter was one which required urgent attention. He realised that the Chairman had carried out his share of the work, but he would like to see the Committee do its share in the matter. The Chairman said he appreciated the remarks of the previous speaker. He explained that some delay in calling the Committee together had been occasioned, owing to the fact that exception had been taken in the appointment of the Farmers’ Union representatives; and they had not received a notification of this appointment at the ( previous meeting of the Chamber. It v. as, however, now to hand, and it was proposed to call a meeting of the Railway Committee within ten days. Mr Greenslade moved that the mat rer be left in the hands of the Chairman, Secretary and Mr J. Vv. Cald .• ell.—Agr- ■d ’ to. A !<•!!<:■ was received from the Sec-i nt irv < ( f .!•<• .Master Grocers’ Federation (Mr .1. Heaton Barker), stating tunl .-J i il.c annual conference of the Federation, held at New Plymouth, a i< >ohit'i;.n vus pa-sed urging support for ;h“ Summer-time Bill. The Bill I was set down for hearing in the House '(>;] ie i.’th ins',, and the Chamber was 1 t’i'’ed to give its support in the mat-| The Chairman said that he strongly suuported the proposal, and moved that the Member for the District be asked to support it. From what he ‘knew of people who lived under such conditions, thev could not tiimk wh\ it had never been adopted in New’ Zealand. Mr Navlor, in seconding the motion, remarked that it was the best thing 1 thev could adopt in New Zealand. j The motion was agreed to. I'lie ,Hi<|d:ary of Hile r Farmers’ Union (Mr F. W. Baillie) wrote advisling that Messrs A. McDonnell (Totara [Flat) and D. Jellie (Arahura.) had been nominated to represent the fainter> on the Railway Advisory Board.— Ri reived. The Assistant Under-Secretary, Department of Lands, wrote re Point Elizabeth Scenic Reserve, stating that a full inquiry had been made into the matter, and it appeared that the leasing of the reserve for grazing purposes had not been under consideration, and lhat there was no intention of inter-, fering with the reserve in any way. The Chairman: That’s very satisI factory. I Air Greenslade commented that it was a good job that the local bodies had taken action in the matter. He had an assurance from Hokitika that the reserve was going to be taken from them. letter was received from the Minister for Public Works re the GreyI ruouth-Westport coast road (in reply to telegram from President of the Chamber), advising that Cabinet approval had already been obtained to the acceptance of a tender for the Gentle Annie section, and final arrangements regarding the contract were at present being attended to by the Resident Engineer at Greymouth. The Chairman moved that the Minister be thanked for his action, and that the Department be urged to have the road completed as soon as possible, and asked to notify the Chamber as to what further steps were being taken in the matter. He had noticed that the matter had now become of Dominion-wide interest. Tlie motion was agreed to.