CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 220, 13 August 1930, Page 8

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

MONTHLY MEETING. OVERSEA MAIL TIME-TABLE. Th© monthly mooting of the council of the Palmerston North Chamber of Commerce was held yesterday afternoon, Mr M. H. Oram presiding. Those present were Messrs W. IdBrown, F. Cousins, J. J. O’Shea, J. H. Stevens, A. P. Stuart, J. R. Wood, S. A. Goldingham, M. A. Eliott, A. Shelton and V/. G. Ross. Apologies for absence were received from Messrs It. A. Noedl, F. S. Goldingham, W. Devine, W. E. Winks and L. H. Colhnson. A statement by the secretary of the General Post Office, regarding a re_i J r ~ rangement of the time-tables of the incoming and outgoing trans-Pacinc mail steamers, so as to permit mails received by the inward San Francisco steamer being distributed at least one day before the closing of mails for despatch by the next outgoing mail vessel, was received through the Associated Chambers. The secretary stated that the mail contractors had informed lnm that the improvement desired was not possible of achievement. It was essential that the mail vessel should, under normal circumstances, depart not later than the fixed time, as otherwise there was a danger of missing the Atlantic connection. Mr Shelton said that the grievance was one of long standing in W ellington. Mr Eliott: Business men have no time to reply to letters at present. Mr Shelton said that urgent correspondence could be sent via Suez and despatched by air mail from .Karachi to England. "The surcharge was tkl or 7d. Air mail sometimes saved as much as six days. The position was not as bad now as it had been. Mr Ross referred to a recent instance when the English mail had united in Palmerston North on the same day as the San Francisco mail went out. Mr Shelton said that it took a calender month for correspondence to reach England from New Zealand by air mail. TELEPHONE INDEX. Replying to a communicatiqn from the chamber in which exception tt as taken to the omission of the numerical index from the telephone directory, the secretarv of the General Post Office advised that, for purposes of economy, and in view of the fact that the cost involved was not justified by the value generally to subscribers, it had been deemed expedient to eliminate the feature from the directories of all but the four chief centres.

REMITS FOR CONFERENCE. The secretary of the Associated Chambers of Commerce invited remits to be submitted to the annual conference at Mount Cook in October. A subcommittee comprising Messrs Ross, Cousins, and Oram was set up to prepare remits, and it was agreed to circularise members for suggestions. FRUITGROWERS’ REQUEST. The Associated Chambers of Commerce advised that the following resolution had been received from the New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ federation: “That the attention of all chambers be drawn to the fact that orcliardists are dependent too largely on imported requisites and suggests a field tor cateiing in orchard implements, spraying material and other requisites. The president: I do not think there are any industries in the city that that would apply to. Mr Stuart: What about fruit cases? Mr O’Shea referred to the importing of cheese crates. The secretary was instructed to secure further information from the fruitgrowers’ association. general. The Associated Chambers of Commerce forwarded a copy of the Gazette notice relating to proposed trade agreements between Australia and New Zealand. , , ... Air M. A. Eliott forwarded an invitation from the Wellington Harbour Board to view a relief model of the harbour. The offer was accepted with thanks. , ... - Formal advice of the decision of the City Council that cars be not allowed to stop nearer than 30 feet from any street corner was forwarded by the town clerk. The president: That 13 quite satisfactory. The letter was “received.” A donation of £2 2s was made to the funds of the farm competition. Mr Gram said that the competition was a valuable one, and would react to the ( benefit of both town and country. The president, who, was authorised to confer with the secretary and Mr J. A. Nash, M.P., in consideration of the Unemployment Bill, said that a letter supporting the proposals had been forwarded to the authorities. “The bill appears to me to be a genuine attempt to put into operation the recommendation made in the second portion of the select committee’s report,” said Mr Oram.