WELLINGTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4318, 29 March 1901, Page 3

WELLINGTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

ANNUAL REPORT. Tho ropcrt of (lie council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, which is to i)o presented- at tho annual mooting to-day, opens with an appreciative reference to the latu Queen V.ctaria. Under the heading “North Island Railways,” the following statements are made in regard to tho Wellington-Woodville line:--The route to bo adopted for the proposed deviation of tho Rirnutaka section has not yet been decided. Explorations and trial surveys have to be made of many suggested routuq hut your council understands that, so far, no route has been found that promises better results I ban that from Lower Mutt to. Woodsido. It appears to your council that more expedition might well have he on used in this matter. The improvement of the section running from Wellington to the llutt is .still in abeyance, but your council understands that the proposed) survey hu.s bee/n put in baud. This work has an important bearing upon the question of tho much-needed improvement of the road which runs alongside the railway. On tho subject of public buildings, there is the following:—ln last year’s report of tho Chamber, it was mentioned that in tli(> Parliamentary session of 18!)f) a. sum of £IOOO had been voted for the. commencement of a new Magistrate’s Court for Wellington. Hitherto, however, this highly necessary work had not been begun. Your eimucil understands that a difficulty bad arisen a.s to a suitable site, but that the Government hallow decided upon a piece of laud adjoining tim chief police station, which it is proposed to take for the purpose by proclamation under thei Public Works Act. The necessity fer increased accommodation for the Wellington Post Office and Clistoinliou.se has often been urged bv this Chamber, and your council has learned with satisfaction that the (Jovernnulnt is taking steps to acquire the entire block between Customhon-e quay anil Fea(lierst on street upon part of which the Post Office building stands, to ho utilised in providing enlarged premises for tho Post and Telegraph, and probably'other departments. The Chambers of Commerce and Mines Registration 'Bill, the ehangfU in the Customs tariff, and tho question of Auutralinn federation are separately dealt with.

Tho statement of the exports of the colony for the past season is considered by the council to he very satisfactory, even if allnuance is made for an overvaluation of the shipments cf wool. Tho figures for the last four seasons were a.s follows: —Total Now Zealand produce—--1890-7, .09,501.725: 1897-8, ,£10,304,198; 1898-9, £10,932,302; 1899-1900, £13,477,000. According to the official figures, from which those .just given were compiled, the ‘Miipments of Now Zealand produce showed an increase in value of £2,545,064. Included in this increase, however, there is an excess of £805,380 in tho value of wool and sheepskins, which cannot he accepted as real. Everyone will remember the terrible revulsion in the wool market which occurred tho London sales of January, 1900. A high and "xcited market crusted at the C"d of 1899. end in the opening we”k- of 1900. HII the sensational (Icon in the London January ; s;i!«*s came like ’a bolt from the h'nc’ on j ♦ astoni-led trade. A few of the e«r- , ! : e> of Hie New Zealand auctions bene-j li'ed by (lie high prices the?! ruling, and as regards the wool sold at those auctions tho h : gh valuations are justified. Subsequently sellers were loth to accent tho altered circumstances, and wool was largely shipped Home on owners’ account, mdv to ho realised at last on a slid more depressed market. Ft is iinppasihV to arrive with any approach to certainty at,' an .avfffajro’ price, but it is safe to assume that, at nil events, it was not an improvement en tho preceding year, Th > averages of the valuations for tho two seasons WHO a chade oypr 7d tuir lb for the vunr 1698*9, fills! S.'lHd for ifWIMOOO. If, !i<’'vi>Vfu’, tlm npimront pm Iff on wnn| ■and shun nklps 1m nhamlonea as unreal, 1 1 i”n still I'iuniiln" «n inern'iso nn other PtrfL of 1T.740,278, which Is boyoml ino ,t!au. f!f this, over £400,000 muses from frozen met, uear’v £410,000 from P' ftin. whole and around, ever £329.000 i 'on butter mid cheese, and nearly £207,(’OO from hemp, while geld, kau-i gurn. j tallow, timber and other New Zeeland j produce combine to make up the differonce.” . Every line in a table showing Wellington's contribution to the escorts of the country shows a substantial in. crease, and if wool be eliminated the remaining items show an improvement j of £493,171, equal to over 48 per cent.. ; ns ’compared with 1898-9, of £550,'.66. or 83 por cont. h.s - mu. or £667,4Q0, or 123 per cent, as compared with 1896-7. The heaviest increase is that in hemp, and it is interesting to note, that out of r. total value of ,£3>>B.937 for the colony, the shipments of tc*s commodity from WeluiK-ton district re- ■ present £274,257. or over 76 per cent. ; 'PI ese figures, however, represent on ~ , tho value of products from the W • ■ liuvinn district, while the port or \Vclh igton reallv servos, as has been rointc Tout before, e much lar'"** district. presented bv t-he por’s oi New B-\-mouth. Wait-.irn, Pa ea, Wanganui. VVmran, Picton and Nelson. These are all situate on or contiguous to Cook Strait, end send a large proportion o, the n rod nee of their respective districtto Wellington for shipment by the drier t liners which load at that port. Adding the recorded exports of these ports to those of the Wellington district, as given above, the council arrives at the following totals ns representing the value of exports thac left the port ol Wellington in 1899-1900: -—Wellington, £2,411,910: Cook Strait ports, £1,144.720; West Coast ports, £382,270. The figures for tho preceding year, 1808.9, were as follows ; —Wellington, _£ 1,771,380; Cook Strait porta, £,1,019.440; West Coast ports, £381,787. While ir is iv> doubt true that a proportion of the exports of Cook Strait ports are despatched from those ports, it is also certain that much of those from West Coast ports given above, and even a proportion from more distant and more important places, leave the colony from Wellington. Mail services arc referred to as fol- : ’’Tho San Francisco mail service, ns formerly carried on, has been brought to an end. and a fresh service started under now conditions. The present service i‘> in tho hands of an American contractor, and carried on exclusively by American boats. The interval between mails has been reduced from four weeks to throe, and the running is so timed that tho incoming mail reaches Auckland two days aflor the departure of the outgoing one from that port. Now Zealand and New Zealand's convenience and uitere Is have received no consideration in the arrangement of this seryice. Your council Inis ventured to submit to the (levcriiiuent recommendations in favour of a service via Vancouver, and ol siieh arrangements as would enable New Zealand to connect once a forti jiiffhfc wit-11 the weekly inmls )ei.\ip£ii V 1 Sydney via. Brindisi. These :service? •' would have tho advantone .of tair carried under the Bntish fia^and, 6f *l2 1-encouraging local enlerprislet M the instance of some of those interested in the trade, tho. Agricultural Departmnit recently appointed an oH<-

eial grader for New Zealand hemp. The Department asked the opinion of the council on the details of the proposed scheme, and a special committee of those intei-p-.lcd in Urn trade’ met Hie .Secretary for Agriculture. Mr Hit-i-liie, in conference on the subject. A.s about 811 per cent, of the exports of New Zealand lierno leave the port of Wellington, the question lias especial interest for tho Chamber, and it is Imped that the system will Re, so carried out as to establish confidence in the (pialil v of the staple in the markets of consumption. It is desired under the new system to maintain uniform standards of quality throughout the colony.

Considerable accessions to the membership of Hie Chamber were made during the year, and the roll now numbers V2H members, the highest total yet attained. The finances of the Chamber arc also in a hotter position than has been the case for many years. It is to he hoped, says the report, that the .signs of increasing vitality shown, not only in tho Wellington Chamber, but also in kindred bodies throughout the colony, may be the precursor of an era of increased usefulness and influence for these institutions.

The report also deals'-with the following matters: —Conferences of Chambers of Commerce, association of New Zealand Chambers of Commerce, penny postage, the Pacific cable, defence, trade with South Africa, trading stamps, the fliltt road, the cost of telegrams. a telephone to the Cape Pal-li-er lighthouse, the appointment of a siiiveyor to Lloyd’s Register, the uillatring of cargo from Loudon, and Wei. liugton harbour works.