AUCKLAND. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Otago Witness, Issue 2399, 22 February 1900, Page 17

AUCKLAND. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

AUCKLAND, February 15.

At the annual meeting pi the Auckland Chamber of Commerce the retiring president (Mr John Burns) gave an address. The balance sheet showed a credit balance of £249, an increase of £65 for the year. The chairman's address dealt with commercial matters and the products of the province and the colonj r during the outgoing year. He said : The year past has been one of quiet, steady progress. Our exports and imports were larger than those of the previous year, and a fair volume of business has in consequence passed through the hands of our mercantile firms. Our timber industry has been more than usually busy, the local demand having been greater than the ordinary, while the exports to the south and Australia have also increased. Our mines are being steadily worked with, upon the whole, fair results, although some of them have not fulfilled expectations. The gold returns for the year are well in advance of the previous year's figures. Kauri gum has , had another record year, and our other staples all show an increase. The outlook for the coming year, however, is much more cheerful. The grain and nroduce trade business has shown a considerable advance in volume, but prices have ruled low, with the exception of maize. Towards the end of the year an unusual demand for horse feed from South Africa had the effect of advancing the prices of oats. The price of the staple, wool, advanced considerably towards the end of the year. The state of affairs in regard to the dairy industry within the Auckland province is very satisfactory. We have an increase of about 50 per cent, on last year's production, and this would even have been extended If dry weather ha/I not set in very early and continued co long. Our port is now, in fact, the third largest exporter of butter in the colony. Last year the total shipments of frozen meat were equivalent to 20,000 carcases of 601b each, and this season already we have sent double this quantity away, and it is to be hoped before the season closes to reach 100,000 carcases. The present dry season may affect the quantity, but it is to be hoped that, as there is every appearance of a change, stock will come on again. The quality of the beef is equal to any produced in any part of the world, but for mutton and lambs there is still s;reat room for improvement. Stimulated "by a strong demand from Europe and America, our flax industry shows a very marked increase, both in the quantity of the manufactured article exported and the value realised. The production has been nearly doubled, and the increase in prices realised has been about £5 per ton on an average. The immediate cause of this phenomenal improvement may be traced to the war trouble in the Philippines. It is to be feared that the present range of prices cannot long be maintained, as already there are signs of an approaching settlement. Referring to the exhibition surplus, the President said : Our legal claim to the surplus funds cannot be gainsaid. It ■has been duly put jorward, and I have no doubt the amotint will shortly be available for the erection of a building such as the Chamber urgently needs. The members of the Chamber formed the majority of guarantors, and as exhibitors contributed very largely to the' financial success of the exhibition. The out-lay of the members of the Chamber in this way could not have been less than £3000. Mf Samuel Vaile was then elected president.