CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 7 August 1926, Page 3

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

QUARTERLY DINNER MEETING. A quarterly dinner meeting of the Hawera Chamber of Commerce was held last evening in the Carlton Tea Rooms, Mr E. Dixon presiding over a large attendance of members. After the meal the following new members were elected : Messrs J. Auld, Stanley, E. P. Cox, AY. J. Bright, and Dr. AY. F. Buist. The chairman expressed the hope that the quarterly meetings would grow in favour. The ordinary business was then proceeded with. CORRESPONDENCE. The factories comprising the Raymondl Terrace Dairy and Produce Co., Ltd., New South AVales, asked' for particulars concerning the establishment of the Hawera Dairy Laboratory, as it was proposed to establish a. similar concern for the Hunter River district. —The secretary reported having supplied the information required. The Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire sent advice by circular that the eleventh congress of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire would' commence in Capetown on Tuesday., October 4, 1927. At the conclusion of the congress the delegates would be shown the principal cities l of South Africa, and, probably, the A7ictoria Falls. The British Imperial Council of Commerce (inaugurated hi 1911) gave notice of a change of title to “The Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire.” The Minister of Stamp Duties acknowledged receipt of the chant her recommendation that- the time .had arrived' when the rate of stamp duty nayable on cheques mid receipts should be reduced, but stated that it had been decided to take no steps to introduce legislation on the lines suggested. The Registrar of Companies asked the chain lie,r’s opinion upon a proposal to publish annually on December 31 a printed and' bound list of all companies registered 'and in existence at that date. Th cost would he 4s or ss. The list should ho' of considerable convenience to sharebrokers, accountants, and business men generally.—Referred to general purpose committee. The Railway Department advised, in reference to the chamber’s request for the removal of the sale yards, that it would' lie impossible to comply until the Hawerai station yard' was rearranged on the new site.—The matter was discussed' upon the reading of the- railway committee’s report. RAILAVAA” COMMITTEE’S, REPORT. Mr B. C. Benntt read 1 the railway committee’s report as under: I “Stock and pig yards at Hawera railway station-: A requisition is being freely signed bv residents in the vicinity, and will .be available within the next few days. “Opunake-Te Roti time'-table: This matter is being attended to, but requires further consideration previous to putting it forward. “Railway surcharge on freight forward parcels: This surcharge has apparently been found' unsuitable by theRailway Department, which advises an alteration very shortly. “Delivery charge on parcels through railway: This is only a small charge, and would, have to he met bv consignee in any way of delivery. The present method is good—alteration is not deemed necessary. ‘‘Telephone bureaux communication: This has certainly not been good l for some time past, hut some improvement has recently been effected. Lines have been tested, and the, matter is now in the hands of the district telegraph engineer of AA 7 eTlington. Failing any recent report _ from him,, it would be as well to again bring the matter up.” REMOA r AL OF SALE YARDS. Opening the discussion on the report, the ehaii'man said the chamber should push the matter of the .removal of the sale yards right up to the gates. Hawera had been a long suffering people. It was absurd that the Government was so negligent in the matter of the health of private people. They had been receiving such replies as that sent by the Government for he did- not know how long. Air L. A. Bone: “Twenty years.” Mr Dixon: “AVe have been asking also for a new station.” The public had also been held up at Tawhiti road for so long that it had got tired of waiting. As soon as the requisition was ready, the chamber would go further with the matter. Air AVellsted. the Railway Department’s commercial agent, was present at the meeting, and the members would be glad to hear what he had to sav in regard to the Opunake branch. THE OPUNAKE BRANCH LINE Air AYellstedi said the position l as far as the new branch to Opunake was concerned was how to make it pay. It appeared that even if the department did undertake to cater for passengers there would be insufficient traffic of that nature to warrant the expenditure. His department had concentrated on a goods service which was capable of handling the goods service offered. At present a train each way ran three times a week, and from September for some months a four days <al week service would- be offered—on Mondays, Tuesdays, AVednesdays and Fridays. It would be a mistake to cater for nn re passengers than could be carried in the carriage attached to the good® tj aim He had seen an account of the resolution passed- at the- Fanners’ Union meeting, but reminded the chamber that a passenger service would entail a larger staff and an uncompensated outlay.

The chairman asked if the Railway Department had 1 considerad connections between the branch line trains' and the north and south mail trains. Mr Wellsted said motor services provided the necessary connection. The department’s aim mas to keep down unnecessary expenditure to a) minimum. The chairman thanked' the railway expert for his explanation. HAWERA STATION YARD. lit reply to Mr B. C. Bennett, Mr Welsted said that .he had only found out in the course of the day thatV the sale yards question was a; vexed one. He would go into the matter with the engineering department. It should be remembered, however, that it was the department’s intention to shift the Hawera station some day (laughter), and it would he unwise to put the yards where they would not coincide with the new site. TELEPHONE SERVICE. Mr 'SV. O. Wa.lkley brought up the question of the telephone service. On a. trunk call, he maintained, nine out of ten times it was not possible to hear what was said at the other end; nevertheless, a full charge was l made for the service. He did not reflect upon the Post Office staff, which did its best. In the course of the last half-hour he had been in communication with Manaia, and had been unable to hear distinctly. Better mechanical service was. required. It was 1 all very well for the engineer to “consider” it; he should come, up .and fix it. In reply to the chairman, Mr Bull (post-master) .said lie hoped the difficulty would be overcome by the installation of the automatic telephones.

Upon the motion of Mr B. C. Bennett, seconded by Mr L. A. Taylor, it was decided to communicate again with the Post and Telegraph Department upon the matter. SURCHARGE ON PARCELS,

Mr B. C. Bennett maintained' that the 25 per cent surcharge on parcels was indefensible. Mr Wellsted said the: Railway Department had instituted its present system in order to come, into line with the Post and Telegraph Department. The same system pertained in England, Australia, and: other parts of the world'. Some difference had to be mode between prepaid and to-pay parcels, and the 25 per cent surcharge was made to mark the difference. There had been some adverse comment, but it had 1 lieen generally acknowledged that the system was sound. The department had 3io intention of departing from its present policy in this matter. He hoped the mercantile community would come into line, and that the of parcels would become general. The chairman said he bad instructed those wtih whom he did business to stamp his parcels. Mr Bennett persisted that the surcharge of 25 per cent was unwise when the department was doing everything to get additional business. Not only unwise—it was a. shocking charge. Parcels would only suffer two days’ demurrage on the average. A percentage of 24 should meet- the case. All- Bull: Why not have all parcels prepaid. Mr Wellsted said the department might have refused to take to-pay parcels, hut instead they gave the public a loophole and accepted a 25 per cent surcharge. Air F. W. Horner said the railway bad security in the goods it carried, but the post office did not.

All- Wellsted reiterated' that the system operated well in England.

Mr T>. A. Bone said the best plan was “Prepay your stuff.” The present was the finest system ever in operation. (Hear, hear.) The matter was referred back to the railway committee. INSURANCE.

The -progress committee’s report was presented to the chamber by Mr F. W. Horner, who said that the underwriters classified the towns into various tariffs, A, B, C, D, 33 and F. The basis of classification depended .largely upon the fire-fighting appliances, the water supply, and 1 the manner in which the buildings were arranged as regards concrete walls and other counteracting effect on the spleading of fires. The tariffs were again subdivided by the letters X, Y and. Z. These letters' denoted the various classes of buildings in regard to their particular risk ini a particular town. A detached dwelling would be W, a shop X, and a hazardous risk Z. Hawera’s present classification was in D and F tariffs. As a town got nearer to the A tariff the rates became, lower. Dwelling rates in D worked out at 10s per £IOO, whereas under the A rate they would work out at 9s. Fit-ham and Inglewood were both under the same tariff. Parts of New Plymouth were under A and B, as compared with Hawera’s D and F. It was for the members to compare the fire-fighting services and other circumstances of New Plymouth and Hawera. Oama.ru and Timaru were both under the A tariff. The speaker omitted l the four centres, because they did' not come under the same standard of comparison. Invercargill was classified as B. As to fire-fighting appliances, Hawera compared more than favourably with all other fire brigades. The local corps were -awarded- 78 -points l at the last competitions against only half as many points scored by the nearest competitor out. of all the brigades in New Zealand. During the past six months the best fire engine procurable- had been purchased,. All 'the equipment was now right up to, standard. Anything the superintendent asked for was given by the Fire Board. A Duplex fire alarm system—the best in New Zealand—had been installed, with 23 call boxes. The water supply also was the best possible. A further .point was the fact- that the construction of the buildings of the town provided for resisting the spread of a. fire by the frequent intervention of concrete walls in blocks of wooden buildings. The continuity of wooden edifices was broken right along High street. The condition of affairs in the town had been improved since the last tariff was fixed by the Underwriters’ Association. It was due to Ha-wera now to move, up to _ the A and B tariff. A further point- was the compactness of the borough ; the brigade" could be on the scene of a fire in a - very few minutes. Mr Horner’s final point was the fact, that during recent years there had I men phenomenally few fires, and the town had been- a good investment as far as the underwriters were concerned. Referring again to New Plymouth, Mr Horner said in Devon street, for instance, there were many wooden buildings not broken by concrete- walls such as were found, in the Hawera business centre. He moved that in view of the efficiency of the fire-fight-ing appliances, the water supply, and the construction of the buildings' in Hawera, that the underwriters lie asked to place the rating for fire insurance in- the A and' B tariffs. Mr L. A. Bone seconded the motion, which was carried. RIGHT-OF-WAY. Upon the recommendation of Mr Dixon, seconded by Mr Bone, it was resolved to endeavour to .secure l an extension of the new right-of-way beside the Magistrate’s Court from Princes street to Albion -street-. LAND SPECULATION. Mr F. C. Spratt drew the- attention of the meeting to advertisements appearing in Taranaki papers regarding the sale of land in Auckland. It was common knowledge that Auckland was overrun by agents of a firm from abroad which sold sections for £5 down and 5s a week. They had exhausted Auckland as a. ground for .selling “s-pees.” Thousands 1 of pounds were locked up in sections from five to twenty miles out of Auckland. It- was said that in Auckland a seaside or suburban section had been sold for every man, woman and child 1 in the town. The speaker said; it should he brought home to the people, of this province that there was better land for sale in Taranaki than in- Auckland. Mr L. A. Taylor said that it was estimated that there were 30,000 sections for sale in Auckland. Mr Spratt stated that he had been offered a. section of land in- Auckland by a lawyer (“What! a. lawyer!”) at half the price that had been paid for it, TOWN-PLANNING. The chairman took the floor on the question of the Bill to Enforce, a Regional and Town-Planning Act. He said there was no reason at all to he carried away by antagonism to the measure. The public had been asking the Government for 15 years for a town-planning measure. While the speaker had l>een Mayor of Hawera lie had attended three, conferences of representatives from the whole Dominion. fie could understand objection to some clauses in- the- Bill, but he failed to see reason for objection- to the Bill as a whole. The provision of three years in which to bring down a town-

planning scheme was quite legitimate. There were men .present in the room who could draw up .such a. local scheme which would do Hawera. no harm at all. The. only objection the speaker could see was in regard to the betterment clauses. A town-planning Bill was long overdue; at the same time the speaker regretted that the local bodies had. not been given an opportunity of fully discussing its. provisions. Mr W. G. Walkley said the Borough Council had taken up a. very proper attitude. He approved of town-plan-ning, but there were features of the Bill which he did not approve of. The control board was a very ill-considered body. Tt was not right that betterment should be a charge _to the borough before —as he. took it to he the case —even mortgages. The .arbitrary nature of the Bill savoured of Communism. The pi-oper course was to refere the Bill to the Municipal Association .

Mr L. A. Bone congratulated l the Borough Council on the attitude it had taken. The betterment clause was the trouble. Ratepayers might find themselves paying increased values due to scheme which might*- never be: carried out.

Mr H. X. Lester 'said the Borough Council was opposed to the Bill going through in its present form. If the council had not taken up that attitude the chamber would not have been, discussing the matter that evening.

MV W. G. Strange also supported the Borough Council’s attitude, and said it acted as it. did to stop, 'among other things, the betterment clause in its oresent form.

Mr F. W. Horner: From: the press accounts nobody had a. good word to sav for the Bill. Mr W. G. Walklev: “I would like to vindicate the press.” He proceeded to mention features of town-planning which he had approved at the Borough Council meeting. The chairman moved: ‘‘That the Chamber of Commerce congratulates the Government on bringing down a Town-Planning Bill that is long overdue; at the same time it protests most strongly against the betterment proposals, and regrets that copies were not supplied to local bodies interested. This would have enabled them to have an opportunity of expressing reasons for ohiections to clauses- contained in l the Bill.” Mr Walkley moved as an amendment, and Mr Bone .seconded, that the words..” and recommends that the Bill be referred to the Municipal Association' for consideration” he added.

The mover agreed to the incorporation of the amendment in the. motion, which—thus amended—was carried. RETAILERS’ ASSOCIATION. Mr J. M. West away thanked the Chamber of Commerce for the invitation. to the retailers’ representatives to attend the dinner. The chairman said there should he an. avenue for co-operation between the chamber and the Retailers’ Association, which might act as a special committee in connection with the retail trade. The meeting then terminated.