Chamber of Commerce.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXV, Issue 9791, 17 March 1908, Page 2

Chamber of Commerce.

TIIK SIZK <>!•' fitIINSACKS. •Ii„. inference organised l.v tin I'lii.niliiT of Commerce I-. consider (be ollc-t'l.m .if ;i suitable corilsa.k ill order ,'„ ~„„piv with 111.- Hallway Peparlincnt :. 'hv-l-iw 'to operate alter l-chruary ]M. l'joa. limiting tli.- weight to 20011.:,. n,. i this attcruoon. live Chambers ivm- ivoriented as follows: fiinl.-rl.nry--M.-sM> \ Page and I'. •!. Howell: South Canterbury Messrs Newman. White. '1 inner. ■m.l Young: llnn.-ilni Mr frosl.y M c: In-.ercar.'ill—Mr Thomas Fleming; Hainan,. Messrs A. I-Vasc. W. 11. Kosv, \\ .) :11 -.liiif. W. 11. Sie-.-nsnii. .1. M.utl.-m.l .locs, ami W. 11. Meek. Apology for absence was received Iron, the President of the Hainan! Chamne, (Mr W. 11. Moiisonl. Apolngav, were also , v , ; ,. iv cd for ,l,e al.seme <■! Mr llcnry W". <:<! (flirjsUimr.il) ami for Mr 1.01.e.t Milligau (< latmiruj. Mr A. Fra.ser. a.s lWlem of the Camaru fhaniher. occupied the ehair. .in.l w.-l.omed the delegatus. Mr l-'raser ho)H-.l thai the . onlereli. e would lead to niiiiiiiniitv in whatever might he .lone m the matt;-i- of the si/.c of cu nsa, ks. lie ,ailed upon Mr Ko.sc to lay tile matter hefore tin- Conference.

Mr Hi' Si' addressed th" meeting as follow..: "I have been deputed byoiir Chamber f, place before this Coiiiercme Hi- busiues,' which has bronchi lis t..•,.-!her on ll.is occasion. 'Dint it is iiii]iort:int hiiMiifss 1 think mav lie judged by the !'i"scne o. seine of mil leading lonimcrcial men ir.un other centres. I hhiill endeavor to deal with tho cornsack question in as . "in is<a manner as possible, so as not to tivnih upon tho lillll' nl tin- meeting. 'Hi" .-.-iie-ds of this ..inference will be found in the new l.v.liiw issued l.v til" lion. 111. Minister ot'Kaihvays and gazetted on loili Noxenil.er. 1907. to tli" .-fleet Hut on and alt,.i- l.st February. 1909. tin- maximum weight of anv sack containing wln'.it. harI, i-' or oats.'to hj" carried l>y th" railway shall 1." 2001 lis. Anv sail; ' containing • > .-nater weight than' 2001 l.s shall be charged for a Kmr times th" rat" oj frci.dit. .\ "innlar issued by tin- llencral Manager of Kailwavs. datod 24th .lauuaiy. lOOS.'speciallv mentions that llu- 2001 hs shall he ii"tt weight, i.".. exclusive of th" weight of tin- sink itself. 'Hi" siiini- unii. l.ii- .state*: iint as it is intend.".] In allow th,- stock of <otiis,i< ks in hand and lei order for tin- coining gram season to hj" utilised, the hvdaw will not take .-11. ..t mi. til Ist Fchruarv. 1909.' Assuming thai there is no alternat in- hut to adopt and work under this liy-law. w" . oiisi.ler.-d the ipiestion opened up was of mi.li mi porianee as to warrant a join meeting <« [hose more .-spe, ially inteiesled in Hi" question, and in order to make the Conference as useful as possible we ban- en ih-avored to ohtniii rcliablt- informal foil to pla.e het'ore ynti. Y.m are aware that this matter lias lieon dealt with, up to a e.-r----lain point at all events, liy our nci.ghboiH in ili<- t'otiinioiiw.-altli of Australia, and w<- placed ourselves in communication with tin- Chambers of Commerce in Sydney, Melbourne. Adelaide, Hohart, and l.aunceston. The only reply to hand, so far. however, is from S'vdncv. and it puts the mat. tor verv clearly'. LM'r Kose read the letter. | \ow. tin- interests involved ill this change to a .smaller sink ar<- of the giealc.-t im IMit'lanii', fin- it all'ccts tlie fanner*, millers, merchants, storage providers, and shippers, and we nn: faced with the fact that the three l>riii' ipal grain-glowing districts in tin? Dominion has each il.s own pet sack at present —e.g., t'aiilcrhury has its 48iu. t-aek. North Olago its 'l6in. rack : Southern tl'.ago ami Southland remain'loval to the old Mill. sack. 1 think we mav' narrow the points for considcratiov. -id-dav down to three, thus: —(1) Is is possible for the districts named In unite in fixing a uniform size of sack 7 (2} If so, shall it he a spccially.madc sack to "Hold 200ih of wheat ; |3| Shall w" ion. tiniii- to import what 1 might term a utility sack—i.e., one of the stock sizes in. which we need to pack only 2001 hj« of win at. hut which still could he used a.s at, present, for other grain, flour, and mill produce, chaff, elc. In order to help in the discussion I have had a couple of special sacks made and lestid. The first- is 11 in. x 2oin.. weighing 2.',1b, same an tli" Commonwealth " sack, hut it only hold.-. ITOlhs of wheat a.s. against our neighbor's 2CCIhs. The second is 4'lin. x 2-IJin. weighing 2ilKs. the capacity of which I give in com par is. m with the -11 in. x 25iu. sack , thus: 'Win x 211. 41in. x 25in. Wheat ... 2CO " 170 Flour ... 170 150 Oats ... 141 111 Barley ... 167 137 rota toes ... 167 137 Then, the other matter which 1 think calls for our attention is that_ of railage on carricd-over stocks of this season's wheat, for we are bound to have a good deal in store on February Ist, 1909 in present-day sacks, and it is hardly fair to penalise this by charging four times the ordinary railage. You will remember that in 1903 this trouble was not over by exempting such grain from the operation of the regulation, and no doubt, the Minister of Railways will meet us again in the same fair spirit."