THE COMMERCIAL RECORD

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4319, 30 March 1901, Page 4

THE COMMERCIAL RECORD

With; the advancing years’the duties of the Chambers of Commerce of 'this country, are : increasing. That is, one feature of the, report discussed, yesterday .at the annual meeting;of the Wellington. Chamber. .Another -feature is that : ’on r the whole the.'discharge r of these .duties is. pleasing, toLthpse‘ Tyho'bear. ith.e. responr sibility. As the ■;chairman r put. it,. the Chamber has'this year to congratulate itself that so much of what. it fqrmerly advocated has found a plaice on the statute book/ while a large , proportion- is

in the satisfactory stage of having passed the line of recognition. The attention, of the - Chamber has this year been devoted to important matters. Among , these the largest are penny postage, dt-- : fence, the Pacific cable and trade with South Africa. The first is naturally placed foremost on the record by a body which understands the mercantile advantages of the great reform the Post-master-General has been enabled, after ten years of waiting, to estaolish.for the public benefit. Defence is a subject that likewise characterises a new epoch in the history of the colony, and defence found the members of the Chamber in as broad a mind as did penny postage. They were sound and patriotic on the question of the Pacific cable, and it is for the members individually to aid in establishing trade, with South Africa, which will, after the war, be a lucrative market for New Zealand produce. The occurrence of these subjects in the list of the year’s business marks the growth of New Zealand’s interests., responsibilities and prospects. The development of our material resources is of course the most important element in the,situation. That this development is at least keeping step with the growth of the public interests the report has strongly reminded the city. An important fact is that the exports of last year, after allowance duly made for wool over valuations (actual or supposed); exceeded those of the year before by not less than sixteen per cent. New Zealand has easily, paid all her annual obligations out of darnings, and swelled her productions sixteen to seventeen per cent, on prices which cannot be worse. What she will do when the prices improve along the linos on which improvement is possible, .with the increased productiveness following upon an expanding scheme of settlement, it Is not difficult to foresee. The situation is a complete answer to all the vaticinations of evil which have been one of the distinguishing features Of the last decade.

Thei discussion that followed the adoption of the report was brief and businesslike. It showed the Chamber alive to the two chief points in its charter —inland communication and outside mail services. In the first of these catagories the most important is of course the North Island Trunk Railway. The subject gave Mr Duthio an opportunity for keeping his usual sharp eye of doubt upon the Government ; but this time ho had an uusympathdtic Chamber. The Chamber, in fact, preferred the facts of the Railway League to the vague suspicions of Mr Duthie. The result of the discussion must he a general conviction that the Government is really pushing on the Northern line at the best Speed obtainable. Mr Nathan, who referred to the second point in the railway programme of the future, made, with regard to the purchase of the Manawatu line, some suggestions which are worth considering and ought to be considered in the right quarter. The discussion on freights which, followed was too short for thcl interest widely felt in the' subject, and not quite dong enough Jo enable that clear light to be "thrown-upon it which the public is anxiousto see. . If .'there welre •no trther, course open, it might bo possible to join with Mr McLollan in asking the'Harbour Board to retilico rates. But in the. present state of the) question it would be better tb see if the freights, which mean ’far ; more to the colony, might .not be reduced by competition. In this connection one expected to bear sometbing about trade with South Africa; hut the Chamber did not seem interested In South Africa. South Africa may certainly -t be best described as a “future”; but i|. the brain of the commercial commu'ni{yi.neglects r be of much use either to itself or the community. It 'would have been better also if tha meeting had gone more deeply into the question of ocean mails. On the

whole, however, the Chamber did well. By coming cut in. the character of a strong believer in New Zealand, its resources arid its future!, it has deserved well of the citizens, and shown itself to be in sympathy with their interests.