CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5679, 12 June 1879, Page 2

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

. The ordinary quarterly meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce was held yesterday afternoon. Mr. T. Buchanan, Chair-, man of the Chamber, presided, and there was a large attendance of members. CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS. The Chairman : The first business I have to bring before you for consideration is with reference to the proceedings that have been taken as to the formation of a Harbor Board for this port. In accordance with the resolution passed by the Chamber at its last annual meetiug the committee placed itself in communication with the City Council, and a conference was held in this room upon the subject, at which the committee were led to believe that the Corporation would be likely to render support to the project of forming such a body. A definite communication was therefore made to the City Council, but I regret to say the reply to that communication, received after a somewhat lengthened period had elapsed, has been unfavorable. The Council decided that, although they would offer no opposition to the formation of a Harbor Board, they would not take any steps to facilitate its formation. It therefore rests with the Chamber to decide what steps they will take in the matter, if they -will take any. The subject has received a great deal of consideration at the hands of the committee,' and they have come to this conclusion, that they will ask the Chamber to authorise them to take the'necessary steps to promote a Bill in Parliament for the formation of a Harbor Board for the Port of Wellington. They feel they would be in.a much better position if some such body as the Corporation was with them, but they consider the matter of so much importance to the welfare and prosperity of the port and the district* generally, that they urge upon the Chamber and the Government the immediate necessity for taking steps independent of the Corporation. We therefore to-day wish to obtain from the Chamber an expression of opinion oh the steps we have taken, and also power to at once take steps tor the pieparationof aßill and the promotion of its passage through Parliament.. (Hear, hear.) So much for the Harbor Board question. The committee.have also had under consideration during the Inst quarter the consideration of the present imperfect and unsatisfactory condition of the bankruptcy law. We have placed ourselves in communication with the Minister of Justice to enquire if there is any intention on the part of the Government to bring in a Bill for the amendment of the existing law, and, if so, whether ho will be kind enough to favor the Chamber with an outline of the proposed alterations, so that we may have an opportunity of suggesting such amendments and imprpyements as our recent experieuoa would enable us to make. I think it is hardly necessary for me to impress upon the members of the Chamber the great importance of this matter, for I fancy the question has presented itself very strongly to most members of the Chamber lately. (Hear, hear.) These two matters form the only business I have to bring before the meeting to-day, but 1 shall b* glad if any member will bring forward matters which he thinks might be profitably discussed. . ■ THE HARBOR BOARD QUESTION.

Mr. 11;:Xnut ; Of course members of the Chamber must be aware that the resolutiou of the City Com oil to which the chairman has referred was carried by u casting vote, and as to the delay no doubt it was caused by on oversight, or arose from circumstances to which I need not here particularly refer.

The Chairman : The fact of the resolution having been carried by a bare majority does not escape the notice of the committed, but it was felt that while opinion in the Council is so equally divided as at present, the probability of our receiving any cordial assistance from that quarter may be looked upon as very doubtful. (Hear, hear.)

Mr. Walter Johnston : L should like to know, sir, if the committee has asked the Government whether in the event of a Harbor Board Bill being- passed for Wellington they would transfer to the; Harbor Board the management of the wharf they are now constructing ? The City Council decline to co-operato with us, and as they seem to hold that the Queen’s Wharf is their own property, and as they have the foreshore, everything the Harbor Board should have control over is already under the ‘ control of another body. Still there is this new wharf being constructed, and I think the Government were they asked would consent to hand that over to the Board. The Chairman : In the course of a conversation I had with the Premier—l may say a deputation from this' Chamber waited upon him—he expressed strong opinions in favor of the formation of a Harbor ; Board, and announced the intention of the Government to support it ; and' further than that, although he would not pledge any particular land by way of an endowment he promised the Government support ,to the giving of endowments to a harbor to a liberal extent. (Applause.) I have no doubt in my own mind that the' Government have every intention of transferring to the Harbor Board that particular wharf. Besides that, I may say the question of the Te Aro reclamation has been considered in relation to the Harbor Board, and I believe that the question relative to the erection of wharves out from the Te Aro reclamation will be carefully considered by the Government, so that should a board bo formed any wharfage arising from' such wharves would go to the Board. - The inference I drew from the interview was that the Government would certainly see the interests of the Harbor Board were conserved. The Corporation at present have no power to reclaim. '' - Mr. Johnston : They have the fee simple. The Chairman : There is no power of reclamation, and that may be taken away on payment of a valuation. Mr. J. B. Georoe : To put the meeting in order, I move “ That the committee be authorised to take the necessary steps for , the promotion of a Bill for the formation of a Harbor Board.” Captain Mclntyre seconded, , The motion was put, no other member wishing to speak, and was carried unanimously. Mr. J. H. Wallace : Will the Bill to be introduced into Parliament be. submitted to a general meeting of the members of. the Chamber? The Chairman : I may explain there is-now on the statute-book of the colofiy a -general Harbor Board Bill, and what we-'want is merely a short Bill to bring that general Act’ into operation in respect of the Wellington harbor. Ido not think it is necessary to submit that Bill to the Chamber... It would require a special meeting to be called, and we really have very, little time. ; . Mr. Johnston : Does the general Act determine'what shall be the constitution of the Board—whether so many members shall be elected or so many nominated, and by whom % The Chairman : No. . Mr. Johnston : Because the Chamber might wish to have some indication of the views of the committee. ‘ The Chairman': The proposal put forward by the committee is that the Board shall be constituted as follows :—Two to be nominated by the General Government, one by the City Council, two to; be elected by the ratepayers of the city, one to be nominated by the Wairarapa County Council, one to be nominated by the Manawatu County Council, due to be elected by the shipping Interest, one to be nominated by the Chamber of Commerce, and the Mayor and the. Chairman of the .Chamber of Commerce, cx,off,cio. That was. the proposition we submitted to the Corporation. Vlt .seemed to us'desirable to give the country county councils representation, seeing that they have 'a direct as well as an indirect interest in the port.

Mr. Johnsios ; Then I will move, That the

Chamber approves of the, constitution of the Harbor Board as suggested by the committee. Mr. Bannatyne seconded.

Mr. T. K. Macdonald ; Can you inform us, sir, what the views of the City Councillors were upon this matter ? It is on this point the constitution of the Board, no doubt, that the greatest amount of criticism will bo brought to bear. The Chairman ; The proposal seemed to meet with the unanimous approval of the members of the City Council who met us. Ido not wish to be misunderstood, however ; they did not speak as members of the They declined to be considered as acting in their official capacity, but, as individuals, they expressed their approval of the proposed constitution. Wo have had no communication from the Council excepting this, that they declined to take any partin the promotion of the Harbor Board Bill. Mr. Macdonald ; There is another point on which I should like to ask for information. What were the views of the committee to the election of a representative of the shipping interest ? What is the shipping interestshareholders in the New Zealand Shipping Co. er what ? It would seem as if there would ho considerable difficulty in the practical working of this matter. The Chairman : It has not escaped the attention of the committee, and they propose that tho system in practice in Otago should be followed that is that the registered owners of vessels up to a certain tonnage should be regarded as the shipping interest. It was suggested that Mr. Johnston's motion should bo amended by tho addition of a few words in order that the committee might vary the proposed constitution if they found it necessary, and as the mover and seconder offered no opposition, this course was agreed to. Captain Mclntyre, to avoid anything like dissatisfaction hereafter, moved that a special meeting he called to consider the draft of the Bill to be introduced.-

Captain Holt seconded. Mr. W. S. Moorhocsb opposed the amendment on tho ground that delay was very undesirable. If they were going to get through the business effectively then they should press on with the matter at the very beginning of the session, so as to get the Bill through before a quantity of other private business crowded the Order Paper. Mr. Levin : I am not inclined to support tho amendment. We have been told by tho Chamber that tho action of the committee so far meets with approval, and we ought to give th# committee further power to deal with the matter finally. (Hear, hear.) This question has been before the Chamber to my knowledge for five or six years, and l am convinced that had we taken the bull by tho horns,' as wo are doing now, in the first instance this port would now have been in a very different condition to what it is. - (Hear, hear.) I quite agree that there can be nothing very particular in the Bill, which will be simply an enabling Bill, except as to tho constitution of the Board, which, as Mr. Macdonald has said; can be the only point in the Bill open to criticism. But that is now before the Chamber for discussien and settlement.

Mr. Hunter ; I think the Chamber should come to a unanimous conclusion and leave the committee to work out the details. If we go on discussing the details perhaps we shall have a slip among ourselves, and come to ho satisfactory conclusion, (Hear, hear.) Captain Mclntyre rind Captain Holt obtained leave to withdraw the amendment. _ Mr. Hunter: Discussing the composition, of the Board, I would suggest that the nomination of one hiember by the Chamber of Commerce should be foregone in order to remove one cause of ‘ opposition. There have been some public remarks upon that point, and perhaps it would'be as well for the Chamber to be content with its chairman being an ex officio member. Mr. Levin : We only propose what has been carried out in Canterbury. Captain Williams urged that there should be a large number of members, in order that there might be no difficulty in forming a quorum. It must be remembered that, in all probability,, the representatives of Wairarapa and Manawatu would not always be able to attend. Captain Mclntyre thought that the importers should have influence in the Board, and the only way they could acquire that would be through the medium of the Chamber of Commerce. ' The Chairman pointed ont that as two members were to be elected by the ratepayers, two nominated, by the City Council, and as the Mayor was to be a member ex officio, there would in reality be five members representing the general body of ratepayers. Mr. ANDREW Younq inquired whether the members nominated by the Government would be nominated for life. The Chairman thought not. In other cases, such as the Christchurch Board, it was not so. Probably they would be appointed for three years, or even less. The motion, as amended, was then put and carried.:; . conference of chambers of commerce. The Chairman mentioned that there had been, communications between the Committee and the Dunedin and Invercargill Chambers, with reference to requesting Sir Julius Vogel to represent all the New Zealand Chambers at a conference to be held in London. Before this communication had been entered into the Chamber had requested Mr. Pearce, one of its members, to represent it, but it'was doubtful whether he would not have left before the Conference began'! : and they bad therefore agreed to fall in with the idea of the Dunedin and Invercargill Chambers, contingent upon Mr. Pearce having left. ! The action of the committee was approved. • ■ THE WEST COAST -RAILWAY. Hr. T. Macdonald enquired whether the committee .had done anything in the way of urging onT theVGovernment in reference to the construction of the West Coast railway. He understood the Government had given a pledge that the work should be proceeded with before the next session of Parliament commenced, and ho thought it would be well if the Government were requested to fulfil that pledge. The Chairman said the' committee had taken no recent action in that direction. However, the matter should be brought before the committee at once,-and something done. Mr. Macdonald moved,—-That the ' committee be requested to urge upon the Government, the necessity of at once commencing the West Coast railway. ' • Mr. J, H, Wallace seconded. Agreed to. : rußLio buildings. Mr. Levin said as the committee might appear to have been somewhat dilatory in the interests of the place, he might explain it had been arranged al deputation should wait upon the Government to urge them to proceed with several public buildings for which votes were taken last session prior to the end of the present month, when the votes would lapse' unless the works.were commenced. These were the Supremo Court House, post office, telegraph office, railway station, and other matters. However, the committee had now written asking the Government to appoint a day on which to receive the deputation. The Chairman explained that delay had occurred in this matter owing to the letter sent by the Chamber of Commerce having been mislaid at the Corporation offices. The matter would, however, be brought up at the meeting of the Council on Thursday evening; and a joint deputation would then wait upon the Government to urge on these matters. SYDNEY EXHIBITION. Mr. George : Before we separate there is one little matter which X should like to mention as deserving the attention of the Chamber, that is with reference to the Sydney Exhibition. ■; A snb-dommittea was appointed to look after the matter, and they made a personal canvass of the city, but' they did not think it necessary that they should do more—that they should appoint Some one to do the drudgery, seeing there Was a paid officer in the town.' _ It seemed however that the exhibits were coming in slowly, and it would be well for the members to, urge their friends to do something in the matter. ■ BANKRUPTCY LAWS. The Chairman intimated that as soon as a reply was- received from : the Government on this subject, a special meeting of the Chamber would be called to consider the whole question. The meeting then adjourned.