CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22268, 22 May 1934, Page 7

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

MEETING OF COUNCIL The monthly meeting of the council of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce was held last night; present: Messrs W. H. Brent (president), A. Mumford, H. J. Guthrie. C. J Darracott, H. L. Gibson, J. P. P. Clouston, J. L. Gardiner, W. D. Lambert, E. E. Nicolson, R. C. Burgess, S. Lawn, N. Wood, Newman R. Wilson, I. M'Farlane, C. B. Barrowclough, A. C Cameron, George Simpson, Charles Baker, and the secretary (Mr H. P. West). LATE MR J. C. STEPHENS. The president moved a vote of sympathy with the relatives of Mr J. C. Stephens, and in- doing so spoke of the valuable services over a number of years rendered by Mr Stephens to the cause of education. The motion was carried, members standing in silence. NEW MEMBERS. Mr J. Fletcher (Fletcher Construction Company) was elected a member of the chamber. CONGRATULATIONS. The chairman said that members would hav v e seen the announcement of the appointment of Messrs James Begg and R. G. Hudson to. the directorate of the Reserve Bank. He wa s sure that members would all be gratified that two of their own citizens had been selected for the directorate. The appointment of these two gentlemen gave special pleasure to the chamber, as both of them were held in high esteem, and had the full confidence of the chamber. Mr Begg was a valued member of the executive, and Mr Hudson had served a term on the council of the chamber, ' Members agreed with the chairman* remarks.

"ROMANTIC NEW ZEALAND." Mr G. W. Clinkard, of the Departn-iem of Industries and Commerce (Wellrogton) wrote, calling attention to the proposed filming of a picture under the title of' "Romantic New Zealand," which should do much to make New Zealand and its resources better known ,to_ all who have the pleasure of witnessing it. EXECUTIVE REPORT. The report of the executive was as folGovernment Charges for Electric Cur-rent.—-Regarding the request of the le Awamutu Chamber of Commerce asking for our views on the question of treating the whole of the power stations and thencost on a Dominion basis, and that power boards and supply authorities should be charged for bulk supply at a uniform rate, the executive has fully considered this matter, and cannot see its way to support the proposal, as the priie charged must necessarily depend on the quantity purchased. The rate at present is uniform, but there is not a fiat rate. Visit of Mr Kurumatsu Murai, Consulgeneral for . Japan.—Mr Kurumatsu Murai, Consul-general for Japan, made a short visit to Dunedin last month, and on April 27 met members of the executive, when matters in regard to Japanese trade were discussed. . : Visit of Mr A. 0. Heany, General Secretary, Associated Chambers.— Although the meeting, on May 9. addressed by Mr A. 0. Heany, was not largely attended, those present greatly appreciated the remarks of Mr Heany, who dealt in an efficient manner with various matters of importance to the commercial community. Building Construction—The executive has conferred with the Master Builders Association in regard to the Government s proposal for the framing of by-laws tor ■adoption by various local authorities throughout the Dominion. As the Dunedin City Council will, no doubt, Rive those with a practical knowledge of building construction an opportunity, of expressing their views before adopting new regulations, it was decided that the matter, should stand over in the meantime. New Maternity Hospital.—The executive forwarded a telegram to the Prime Minister urging acceptance of the offer by the Dunedin Savings Bank of £6OOO for the new hospital. • , ' Educational Week for Young Farmers. —Mr A. C. Cameron is arranging another educational 'week for young farmers, similar to last year, and the executive has approved the use of the board room for the meetings in connection therewith. Visit of Captain Briscoe, M.P.—On May 11 members of the council met Captain Briscoe, M.P. for Cambridgeshire, England, at morning tea. Captain Briscoe, in his remarks, referred to the fine recovery being made, by Great Britain, and referred also to the question of quotas on dairy produce'. . , Mr Nicolson said he had admired the manner in which Mr Heany addressed the chamber and the matter he laid before them in that address. Mr Heany had shown a great grip of the associations affairs.—lt was agreed to thank the Associated Chambers for sending Mr Heanv to Dunedin and to inform it of the plea : sure the chamber had in listening to his instructive address. The report was received. MUTUAL TRADING.

Mr A. 0. Heany (secretary of the Associated Chambers of Commerce, Wellington) wrote acknowledging receipt of the chamber's letter on mutual trading com-, panies and setting out the position of the English legislation on the matter. The executive reported that the question of taxation of mutual trading companies had been carefully considered by the Vigilance Committee and by the executive. It was felt that in the absence of full information in regard to the question of the effect of legislation it would be advisable for the Associated Chambers to set up a small committee to gather further information before anything further'was. done. The recommendation of the executive was approved. CHARGES FOR TELEGRAMS.

The Postmaster-general (Mr A. Hamilton) wrote, on April 24, on the subject of the new system of charging for telegrams, setting out some of the reasons which led to the alteration..

For some years the telegraph system had not been returning adequate recompense in view of the capital outlay and labour. This was especially so in regard to long-distance traffic, and it was not unreasonable to call on the traffic that used long-distance lines to yield a return a little more in keeping with what it cost to give the service. In regard to the special collect fee tor collect telegrams, this traffic had not borne its full share of the cost of handling, which involved special clerical and accounting work. The Minister continued: Members of the chamber will no doubt be glad to have made available for their consideration some figures showing the effect on revenue of the graduated system of charging, and it will perhaps help them to visualise the effect of the. change better if the information is given, in the following form:—Take the traffic figures for last year that constituted the basis for formulating the new scale, and assuming that the traffic neither increased nor decreased, the effect on annual revenue of the new scale of charges would be as follows: —The revenue from ordinary telegram traffic would increase by £10,116. The revenue from collect telegram traffic would increase by £llOO. The revenue from urgent telegram traffic would decrease by £2500. The revenue from Sunday and holiday traffic would decrease by 50 per cent, (actual amount not at present available.) Ignoring the decrease of 50 per cent., in revenue from Sunday and holiday traffic, and assuming that the traffic level remained constant with last year's the net increase in revenue would be £8716 per annum. On last year's total telegraph revenue figure of approximately £272,000 _ this represents nn increase of approximately 3 per cent. But many business firms make the statement that fewer telegrams will be sent under the new rates. Therefore, it may be Bafe to write down the- increase in revenue on ordinary telegrams from £10,116 to £4OOO or less. Also, with the decrease that may take place in collect telegram traffic, the prospective increase in revenue estimated at £llOO may actually not be realised. The increase may be no more than £6OO. On the other hand, owing to the increased use of the urgent facility, the loss on urgent telegrams may not be as much as £2soo—it may not exceed £I6OO. Hence, allowing for these possible alterations in the volume of traffic, the net increase in revenue may actually be in the vicinity of £3OOO per annum. Such a figure would represent an incrase on the total telegraph revenue of less than li per cent. Thus is fully borne out the statement made at the time the new scale of rates was announced, that the schedule had been designed not with any intention of directly increasing the revenue, but rather with the idea or evplving a more equitable system of charzing under which the sender of each tele-pi-am would pay a sum more in keephig with the cost of sending his message."