HASTINGS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 54, 14 February 1911, Page 3

HASTINGS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

A meeting of the Council of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce wae held in the Council Chambers last evening. Present: Messrs. E. Basil-Jones, A. A. George. T. J. Thompson. W. A. Carter, L. de Pelichet. George Ebbett, G. F. Roach and W. C. Whitlock. In the absence of the President (Mr. E. H. Williams). Mr. BasilJones occupied the chair. Leave of absence was granted to Messrs. E. H. Williams, J. A. Fraser, AV. Hart, and H. A. Mossman. IMPERIAL NAVAL LOAN.

Mr. E. H. Williams wrote offering to donate £5/5/- towards the support of the appeal of the Imperial Maritime League to the Prime Minister of Great Britain to borrow £190,000,000 to strengthen the British Navy, on condition that the Chamber subscribed £2l. —Decided to defer the matter till the next meeting when Mr. Williams would be present. CORRESPONDENCE.

The Prime Minister wrote acknowledging a resolution passed by the Chamber expressing satisfaction at the vote passed for the Na-pier-Gisborne railway, for which he was obliged.—Received. The secretary of the Napier Chamber of Commerce wrote stating that the Hastings Chamber’s letter on the subject of Waikaremoana had come before his committee, and he had been instructed to say that they were already dealing with the matter, and to point out that their letter of November 1 with reference to the same subject had not yet been replied to. He suggested that both Chambers make a joint representation to the Hon. R. McKenzie on his approaching visit to Napier. — Messrs. H. A. Mossman and E. Basil-Jones were appointed to act with representatives of the Napier Chamber in bringing the matter before the Minister.

The Wanginui Chamber of Commerce stated that a committee had been appointed to look into the matter of the Waikaremoana hydroelectric scheme, and when the Chamber had arrived at a decision, the secretary would communicate the result. —Received. The Masterton Chamber of Commerce wrote asking for fuller and more detailed information regarding the Waikaremoana hydro-elec-tric scheme.

The secretary stated that the information had been supplied.

Letter received. The Gisborne Chamber of Commerce wrote stating that the Waikaremoana scheme had their entire support. —Received It was decided to wire to the Chambers of Commerce interested, asking them to appoint delegates to meet the Hon. Roderick McKenzie on his visit to Napier in about a fortnight’s time. TO ADVERTISE HASTINGS.

In accordance with notice of motion given, Mr. A. A. George moved as follows: —“That this Chamber discuss the advisability of asking the Borough Council to combine with it in publishing another edition of the booklet on the same lines as the one published by the Council at the time of the Band Contest, as a means of bringing before the people of all parts of the world the possibilities of Hastings as a field for enterprise and for exploiting and forwarding the industries we already have." Mr. Basil-Jones stated that in conversation with a visitor from America, he had been told that in the public halls and hotels in San Francisco there was nothing in the way of a booklet advertising NevZealand. The gentleman in question had travelled over the South Island, and was delighted with what he had seen : that he could not imagine why the Dominion was not advertised in other countries. Tn moving his motion. Mr. George said that he considered the Chamber of Commerce should be the head of the advertising department of the town. The booklet need not be on precisely the same lines as the previous one. but should deal with the various local industries. One thousand of the booklets cost only £2O. He had had enquiries for the book from all parts of the world. He suggested that a sub-committee should be appointed to go into the matter and report. The resolution was seconded by Mr. Whitlock.

Mr. Basil-Jones considered that if the Council would not undertake to join the Chamber in the matter, the Chamber should carry out the work themselves, because one of the main functions of the Chamber was to make the town progress. The motion was carried, and Messrs. Basil-Jones. George, and the secretary were appointed a committee to wait on the Council.

EASTBOURNE STREET RAILWAY CROSSING. Mr. G. F. Roach brought up the matter of opening up another of the crossings at the Hastings railway. The amount of traffic over the Heretaunga Street crossing was exceedingly heavy, and it was a matter of serious importance to the town. It was quite time that a crossing was made at Eastborne street. He moved “that in the opinion of the members of this Chamber the time has arrived when the Eastborne street railway crossing should be opened. We are of opinion that the opening of the crossing is an urgent necessity 7, and would be of immense convenience to a large proportion of the inhabitants of this town, and we desire to respectfully urge upon the Ministei - of Railways the necessity of having the work done.”

Mr. G. Ebbett seconded the resolution and pointed out the blocking of the traffic by the railway was an inconvenience to hundreds of people who would avoid Heretaunga street if another crossing was opened. He considered that they should follow the matter up, and a deputation should wait on the Minister at the first opportunity pointing out the necessity of the work being carried out.

The resolution was carried, and the secretary was instructed to forward the resolution to the Minister for Railways. NEW MEMBER. Mr. R. Gardiner was elected a member of the Chamber.

The meeting then adjourned.