CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1199, 22 February 1895, Page 42

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

The annual report of the Council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce deals, as usual, not only with subjects -which have engaged the attention of the Chamber, but with events and matters of general or mercantile interest in the Wellington provincial district and in the Colony. NORTH ISLAND TRUNK RAILWAY. The great event of the year in regard to this work, says the report, is that it has been conclusively demonstrated that no better route can be found for this line than that denned by the North Island Main Trunk Railway Loan Application Act 1886, and that the agitation for a departure from this route that has been kept up for so many years had no reasonable or justifiable foundation, and has only resulted in a lamentable loss of time and waste of money. The party that was exploring for a route from Taranaki to Waikato has reported that the suggested line bv way of Urenui and Mimi Valley offers no advantages over the already condemned Stratford route, and it has therefore been 1 abandoned. Another party was engaged

in ascertaining what alterations and improvements would be required in the existing line between Wellington and New Plymouth, in the event of the Legislature

deciding to adopt that route as a portion of the Trunk line, and the probable cost of such works. The Council is informed that deviations to the extent of some 28 miles, involving an expenditure of .£271,130, would be needed, but as the proposal is abandoned the work will not now be done. The heavy expense of these two surveys is therefore wasted. The third survey party was charged with the duty of ascertaining whether improvements could be suggested in the central Trunk line. It has found certain minor improvements to be practicable, and is continuing its labours in this direction. Construction work on the central route has during the past year been prosecuted at both ends. At the northern end about £ 12,000 has been expended. Formation is virtually complete as far south as the Poro-o-tarao tunnel and plate-laying is about to be begun. The Government last session announced its intention to continue this line to a point about 10 miles further south where it will meet the junction of the StratfordOngaruhe road at Kawa Kawa, so as to effect the desired direct communication by road and rail between Auckland and New Plymouth. At the southern end considerable work has been done on the section between Manganoho and Pawhakaroa, on which over .£20,000 has been expended. Rails have been laid as far as the Makohine Valley j and plans are in active preparation for the viaduct to cross the valley, tenders for the construction of which, at an estimated cost of about ,£30,000, are to be shortly invited. The construction of this viaduct and continuation of the line on the further side are works of great importance, as they will open up for settlement large areas of valuable country and facilitate the carriage of produce to a market or port. WELLINQTON-WOODVILLE LINE.

The whole of the formation work on this section is either complete or in hand and so far advanced as to ensure its completion before next winter. A. contract has also been let for a large bridge over the Mangatainoko River, to be finished by next December, and it is expected that the,work will be completed before that date. MANAGEMENT OF RAILWAYS. The railways of the Colony have again been placed in charge of a general manager under control of a member of the Ministry, who takes the title of Minister of Railways. The Chamber has viewed with disfavour the return to political control, remembering the evils to which this system gave rise in the past. THE WELLINGTON-MAN AW ATU RAILWAY. During the past year your Council made several ineffectual efforts towards the adoption of less inconvenient hours of arrival and departure at the Wellington terminus for the trains of this line. Finding it impracticable to bring about a conp.iirrfinfifii of views between the directors of

the line and the Commissioners in charge of the Government railways, which was a necessary preliminary to any alterations, your Council urged upon the Minister for Public Works that the time has arrived for the Government to exercise its right to acquire possession of this line, and now learns with satisfaction that the first steps are about to be taken to accomplish this object. WELLINGTON HARBOUR. The extensions of the Queen's Wharf and the Jervois quay staging, which were determined upon at the date of the last report of the Chamber, are.now fairly started. That they were not undertaken a day too soon is conclusively proved by the fact that on recent occasions the berthing accommodation has been insufficient for the requirements of shipping in the harbour, and a steamer has occasionally had to await the departure of another vessel for an hour or two before it could be berthed. Further storage accommodation has also been found necessary. TARIFF REVISION. For some years past we have, from year to year, been promised a measure of reform in the Customs tariff. This question is now relegated to a Royal Commission, the composition of which, however, gives an impression that the mercantile community has more to fear than to hope from the result of its deliberations. The longcontinued suspense and uncertainty affecting this question cannot but be prejudicial to trade, and is no doubt one of the minor influences contributing to the want of confidence which prevails in the Colony. BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY. At the suggestion of the Chamber a Bill was introduced into Parliament last session by the Colonial Treasurer to provide for the extension of the operation of the Beet Sugar Act, 1884. It was hoped that its adoption might have had the urgently needed result of adding another and a remunerative industry to the resources of

tlie Colony, and furnishing employment for a large number of hands. It was, however, abandoned by the Government. NATIVE LANDS. Additional legislation on this question was placed on the Statute Book last session, which with previous recent measures maybe productive of some good results. There is still, however, need of a comprehensive enactment to simplify the entire law relating to Native lands, remove the intricacies, anomalies and uncertainties of the existing Acts, and provide the means to speedily throw open the large areas now lying waste to useful and profitable oceuption. TELEGRAPH VOCABULARY. The protest which your Council made against the proposed new telegraph vocabulary, the use of which it was contemplated to make compulsory in all code messages, had the sympathy and support of the Government, and has since been taken up by the leading Chambers of Commerce of Australia. It is hoped that this concensus of opinion will have due weight. BIMETALLISM. Your Council was invited by one of the Southern Chambers to express an opinion upon this vexed question, and to support the views of the bimetallists. The members of the Council, however, hesitate to take up a question involving considerable study and research, and in view of the fact that statesmen and high authorities at Home, possessing all possible advantages for arriving at a satisfactory judgmpnt, seem to hold widely divergent opinions.

MAIL SERVICES. The establishment of a mail service between England and the Australian colonies by way of Vancouver is still under negotiation, and the New Zealand Government is endeavouring- to secure for this Colony a satisfactory participation in such a service. IN MEMORIAM. It is again the painful duty of your Council to record the death of one of its members. Mr John Hugh Bethune, who had been a member of the Chamber from its inception in 1§56, and who sat for many years as a member of the Council, passed away on the 10th August. His loss will be greatly felt. SUPREME COURT BUILDING. Nothing has been done during the past year as to the building of a new Magistrate's Court for Wellington, so as to leave the present building for the sole use of the Supreme Court, as originally intended. This matter should not be lost sight of, as the rapid growth of this city causes the inconvenience resulting from the present arrangement to become each year more acute. ADMINISTRATION OF LAW. The importance of placing the appointments of. District Court Judges and Stipendiary Magistrates on a footing to secure a position of proper independence to those functionaries, and the proposal to dispense

Iwith the services of special juries in mercantile cases, are subjects which have also received attention during the period under review, and as to which the views of the Chamber have been submitted to the Government. BANK LEGISLATION. The year just passed will be memorable on account of the special legislation in reference to banks and banking which was therein enacted. Six Acts of this character were .placed on the Statute Book during the session of that year, three of which had special reference to the Bank of New Zealand. By the most important of these Acts the Government of New Zealand became responsible for preferential shares to the amount of .£2,000,000, which the Bank was authorised to raise in extension of its capital. In consideration of this guarantee the Colonial Treasurer was invested with certain rights and powers as to the control and management of the business of the Bank, which materially altered the status of that institution and its relations with the Colony, and the head office of the Bank was removed to Wellington. CENTRALISATION. | In addition to the Bank of New Zealand I the National Bank has also during the ' past year removed its chief office to Wellington, which thus becomes the headquarters of four out of the six banks doing business in New Zealand. Other public companies are also moving their head offices to this city, the position of which as the capital of the Colony is yearly becoming more confirmed. RECIPROCITY. A free interchange of products between the various colonies would in the opinion of your Council be a most desirable arrangement, but the agreement recently entered into between New Zealand and. South Australia, is not one which seems to merit the approval of the Chamber and the mercantile community. The stipulation by which New Zealand is precluded from making similar compacts with the far more important colonies of New South Wales and Victoria, as the condition of the free admission of four of our products into South Australia, is most objectionable. The arrangement is, however, ultra vires, and can have no effect until sanctioned by the Imperial Government, besides requiring to be ratified by the respective Legislatures of the two colonies.