CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Colonist, Issue 9, 20 November 1857, Page 3

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

The quarterly meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce was held on Thursday, the 29th ult., in the Captain's Room at the offices of Messrs. Bethume and Hunter.

The Chairman, James Kelham Esq., in opening the proceedings, briefly alluded to the operations of the Committee since the last quarterly meeting, also to the correspondence which had been addressed to the Colonial Secretary, and to the Chambers of Commerce at Auckland and Australia, which would, in due course, be re id by the Secretary—also to the alterations, 'vhio.h were made in some of the Bye Laws at the special General Meeting held in September last, with regard to the subjects embraced in the correspondence, the Chairman said that be felt assured that their importance would be sufficiently recognised by the Chamber without any lengthened comments upon them from him. He, however, considered it as_ his duty to allude though somewhat briefly to them. The first letter was addressed to his Excellency the Governor through the Colonial Secretary, and had reference to the suspension of the sittingsof the Supreme Court snd the inability of Mr. Justice Wakefield through continued indisposition either to hold the usual quarterly sittings of the Court, or to give his attendance at' Chambers. Now, although he (the Chairman) felt assured that every member in common with himself, did and would sympathise with Mr. Justice Wakefield and his family, still the Chamber, in its position with the public, had duties to discharge, with which any sympathy, however great, ought not to interfere. In the discharge, therefore, of those duties the committee had forwarded a memorial to his ExceHency, in which the inconveniences, if not the probable losses, arising to the mercantile _ community and the public generally from the. continued suspension of the sittings of the Supreme Court were referred to, and in which his Excellency was memorialised to make inquiries into the fact and circumstances of the case, and to take some action in the matter, so that another session of the General Assembly might not be allowed to pass over without some remedy being applied. The committe had also addressed his Excellency through the Colonial Secretary in reference to ths present state of postal arrangements, both interColonial and inter-Provincial, and had cal'ed his attention to a memorial which had been addressed to him by the Chamber in November last relative thereto. Since the despatch of that memorial the Home Government had addressed the authorities at Melbourne cal'ing upon them to carry out the continuation of steam communication with New Zealand, and thus perfect the arrangements with the mother country. Your committee therefore thought it necessary that they should again urge upon the Government the urgent prayer of the former memorial, that the arrangements should embrace a steamer direct from Melbourne to Wellington for ths benefit of the Southern Provinces, and not compel them to receive their letters by way of Auckland; otherwise it would be far better to remain as we are at present, and continue the subsidy towards two fast sailing schooners which had hitherto admirably answered the purpose—the expense of which was entirely defrayed by our own Provincial Govjrnmant. By means of steam the Southern Provinces had greatly fad itated the communication between themselves, whilst with Auckland it was really suspended. The praiseworthy intentions of the Home Government might either prove a boon or an evil to us according to the way in which they were carried out by the general Government of the colony ; and he sincerely hoped that the latter would attend to our wants and wishes so repeatedly expressed upon this head. Other subjects of ano less important character than'the proceeding have been urged upon the Government having reference to limitation and restriction which at present was imposed upon judgments obtained both in the Supreme and the Resident Magistrate's Courts, whereby facilities were afforded to fraudulent debtors to escape the execution of judgment by removing, either to other Provinces or to the neighboring colonies. Hh Excellency has been asked for the introduction of a bill to the General Assembly during its next session, for the extension of the jurisdiction of the Resident Magistrates' Court, so that judgments obtained therein may be executed in any part of the colony, and not, as at present,, merely restricted to the jurisdiction of such Court. Letters have also been addressed to the Auckland Chamber of Conimere, and to similar institutions in Australia, asking for a co-operation movement with this Chamber in order to procure such arrangements with the various Governments of the neighboring colonies as should facilitate the execution in those colonies of judgments obtained in courts of law in New Zealand, and give them th^ same power and effect as if obtained in any other colonial Court and vice versa; or, in other words, to procure the establishment of an inter-colonial judgment law. These were questions in which the other Provinces of New Zealand, as well as all the neighboring colonies, were equally as much interested as cither the Province of Wellington or the colony of New Zealand, and the committee were of opinion that some efficient mode ought to be devised by which fraudulent debtors should not be allowed to escape with impunity, and thus have facilities afforded them of carrying on business in one Province or colony in,defiance of judgment obtained against them in the neighboring ones. The minutes of last meeting were then read and confirmed. The correspondence alluded to by the Chairman was also then read by the Secretary.

The Supreme Court.—The Lyttleton Times, generally very correct in its statements, gives us the following information, with reference to the steps which the General Government have at last taken, in reference to the lamentable condition of the Supreme Court: ' Owing to the late severe illness of the Chief Justice at Auckland, and the continued indisposition of Mr. Justice Wakcfield, Mr. Gresson has been requested to hold Courts at Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, under an acting commission as Judge of the Supreme Court. He will probably commence his circuit at the beginning of next year.' In the course of yesterday it was currently reported that Mr. Justice Wakefield had resigned. We believe this report is correct.