COMMERCIAL PARLIAMENT

Northern Advocate, 21 December 1929, Page 11

COMMERCIAL PARLIAMENT

MEETING OF ASSOCIATED CHAMBERS. AVHANGAREIDELEGATE REPORTS

At the general meeting of the Whangarei Chamber of Commerce, the newly elected president, Mr .1. H. Walker, who attended the annual eoui fere nee of Associated Chambers of Commerce as delegate, presented a very comprehensive report of proceedings. Mr Walker dealt with each of the more important remits separately, an outlining of his remarks following:— "In presenting my report of the meetings of the Associated Chambers of Commerce, which I attended as delegate from Whangarei, I must first say how deeply I was impressed with the importance of these meetings. Here were met together the concentrated essence of the business community of the Dominion, and although there may be, a tendency to belittle the importance of the smaller chambers of commerce, it is an undoubted fact that the influence of those Combined chambers is very far-reaching. This is evidently recognised by the Government sending the Permanent Secretary of Die Department, of Industries and Commerce, till Public Service Commissioner, and - a representative of the Railway Department to answer questions arid give information regarding the remits that affected their several departments,

“At |6 a.ni. op Monday the delegates were received and welcpfricd by His Worship the Mayor of Auckland, and the conference was officially opened by the Minister of Industries and Commerce. His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner was also present during the whole proceedings, and gavci an address on Imperial Commercial Relations. Dr. E. ’Marsden also spoke on Scientific ,and Industrial Research, telling what science had done and was tryipg to do to assist commerce. “Remits No. 0 on ..State Trading arid No. 28 on the Crown,'Suits Apt were taken together on the /second day, aflcr the conference had listened to an interesting arid learned address by MrR. L. Ziman oh The Crown in Business. This dealt with the prerogatives of the CroWn when the 'State enters into competition with private enterprise. As far as the remits are concerned, they were very fully reported in the Press, so I will first mention those that I wa® instructed definitely to support, Nos. 3, It), 16, 23, 25, 26 and 30, “No. 3 refers to the Companies Act and 'Was'Carried after a fair amount of discussion, all pointing out the urgency of the matter.

. ‘‘No. 10, Depreciation allowances for income tax purposes, was carried. »■'

“■No, .16, was that New Zealand im- ' y v '; pose a high tariff pn all goods pending reciprocal treatment of our products. After a discussion on the wording of this remit, it was carried in an amended form/ the Government to be recommended .to'impose special duties. A second amendment, ■that ‘American’ be deleted and ‘foreign’ be‘lnserted was lost by a large majority.'

“No. 2S on private sidings was carried. A .representative of the Railway Traffic Department spoke against this. The proposer of this remit , mentioned, an . instance wßfere the owner of a siding -had outlet to ‘three other users and the Railway Departments'drew rdnt from the four users. ; I

“No. 25, on the Trade Commissioner in 'Canada, was withdrawn as unneces‘sary, following an appointment. “No. 26 was on bankruptcy. A further clause was added and carried. . “No. 30 dealt with vocational guidance and, was carried. ’ With onfe exception the other remits went through, the exception being No. 8a re affiliation. fees.',, This was withdrawn, as the .'proposing chamber was not financial, A remit that was carried in an amended, form wa*s No, 4, on fire loss. It was ■resolved that a commission was likely to be costly and futile, and the remit ‘was amended to ask the Government to see if enquiries cannot be held in Cases of fire.

“Nos. 7 arid 8 were postponed for a special committee to consider. Their report was that the executive be given power to act when contributing chambers have approved. It was estimated that the cost of this organ,isaion would be £I2OO per annum, which amount Should be guaranteed by the four centres, but subscribed by the principal chambers.

“No. 11, on retrenchments of civil servants, was amended so that 9a sufficiently covered this. Discussing this remit, the Public Service Commissioner stated that the increases were brought about by services required by the public.

“No. 21, amendment of Chattels Transfer Act, was referred to tho executive for reconsideration.

“No. 22'dealt with the -election half-holiday. It -was pointed out how hard this Act'is on-shops, while it did not affect bffiees and factories. The remit was opposed by Dunedin, “In conclusion, I would like to 'stress the value of sending delegates to these conferences whenever possible. It helps to push Whangarei to the front arid brings us in closer touch with the larger chambers, -and gives ns a better idea of what is being done by these chambers to further the interests of commerce and industries.” At the conclusion Mr Walker was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his-able •summary.