CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Colonist, Volume XLIX, Issue 11995, 23 July 1907, Page 2

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

The monthly meeting of the Nelson Chainber^of Commerce was heid last night; in| the Chamber's new Hall, formetly^known as the Dresden Mufaio Hall. There 'was a good attendance and the President; 'Mr At H.'Bißley^ocoupied the chair. ■"£ Minutes >ere oonfirmed, and "the following new members were eleoted • — Dr. James Hudson and Mr A. Drummond, junior, of Tapawera; Mr R. Win; of Murchison; Messrs T. HrHiggs, J. Hagen and G. E. Field, of Wakefield; Mr W, D 7 Harkriegsj of Richmond | Messrs Ri~ 8.l Jackson and & Webley of Nelsom The newly-elected country menlbers were appointed of the corresponding branches where such exist. . Correspondence was rtiad, which included a telegram from the Council of the Chamber to the Eight Boh. the Premier, congratulating him on his safe return to the Colony and expressing appreciation , of hid services in England, .especially in connection with reduction of postage 1 and telegraph charges, in connection with mail service, and. with Suez Canal dues. Also a telegram from Sir J. G: Ward, thanking this Chamber. A telegram from the Rotorua Chamber urged the Ghanibeii to assist in preventing the passing of the Rotorua Town Hill ; telegrams from the Chamber to the local members, asking them for information,and calling their attention to the 1 Bill; also replies from Messrs Graham and McKenzie, ;M. 'sH. Ri In each case the action of the Council was oonfirmedi A letter from Mt & .McNeej pi Murchison, was read, intimating the* calling of a meeting to form a Corresponding Branch, and urging that the railway should be continued to the Hope as early as possible, otherwise the trade would go to the West Coast. A letter from Mr Oldham referred to the Railway, and said about a ' hundred men were taken off the works in Tadmor Valley last harvest/ He urged that the Chamber Should call for the fulfilment of the promised mado' by the . tidri. Mr HallJoriea and other Ministers; The President said a largely attended meeting called by the Inland Communication League had been held, at which valuable resolutions^ had beeV passed; He thought they' might Support the League'; Mr P. Hamilton moved that this Chamber endorses the action, of the' League, and supports the resolutions adopted at the recent meeting* Mr Cecil King supported the , motion, which he seconded. Mr Bannehr alsosupportedj and hoped that all the Local Bodies in the id ist r elf . wo uld .do so". . f . Mr Hampson said the Chamber noi only represented the mercantile community in the city, but the interests of the province, and he suggested that the motion should read tbat this Chamber endorses the action of the League, and firmly urges the , Government to respect the rights of the province and fulfil the promises repeatedly made to continue the railwas towards Murchison; also, that : copies ofj the resolution be sent td iibe Premier and the Members for the district. : Messrs Hamilton and King accepted the suggestion. Mr Lock supported, and said the trade of the city had increased con- - siderably since the land had been opened up, but they would lose the trade if Westport was connected * first. Mr Field suggested thai the corregponding Brandos' should foiled.. suit and that all the Societies in th# : district, including Friendly Societies might pass similar resolutions: . The President regretted he was 1 unable to be present at the recent meetings. He considered that the fact that the railway extension was paying so well was a material argument. The line now cost £60 to earn jGIOO whereas it formerly cost . £100 to earn £104, and the further the line was extended the better it : would pay. For the June quarter there had been an increase of 2882 in the number of passengers carried. Mr Flanagan was the most live Commissioner of Crown Lands they had had, and he said there were 175,000 arces of close settlement lands available. He was struck by the remark that the Waimea Plains contained only about 40,000 acres. When they considered that they derived their living from that it wag astonishing^ In the Maruia there were 63,000 acres available ; the Braeburir estate and adjoining land would give another 40,000— equal to the Waimea in area; then there were 13,000 acred of Crown lands at Glenroy and still about 25,000 acres at Matiri, besides thousands of acres at Warwick, Hope Owen, etc. These faots warranted them in urging on railway construction and the Government in authorising same. That there was a demand for the land was shown by the fact that within the last eight weeks Mr Flaganan had received between 280 and 300 applications for land, and these came from people distributed between Auckland and the Bluff. The resolution was then carried unanimously. _ ' Mr Hampson moved that a committee consisting, of Messrs Ledger, T. A. H. Field, Roughton, Grove, and L. W. Kerr be set up -to •-co-op-erate with the Inland Com unioation League. He hoped the City and County Councils would also set up committees to work with the league. Mr Lucas seconded and Mr Duncan and others supported. The motion was carried unanimously. , Mr W. Haddow wrote on the subject of the liability of Trustees and the President said he had eoen Mr C. Harley who had kindly promised to read a paper on Commercial Law and the Liabilities of Trustees, in about two months. (Applause). Letters were received from the Motueka Branch to which the Secretary had replied. A list of Nelson exports for last quarter was read. The exports included butter, gold, hides, hops (200 bales), leather copper (49 tons valued at £468), calf skins, sheep skins, tallow and wool. Resolved that same be filed. The Special Committee submitted its report recommending a soale of mercantile submitted. It was resolved, after discussion, to adopt same as the maximum charges. The Chairman gave a report, in which he said that sheep yards at Richmond and conveniences for trucking were about to be provided as well as fmore railway carriages. In a short time they would probably have cariages with cross seats! |He mentioned that the charge for a truok of sixty sheep from Tadmor was twenty two shillings, Wakefield seventeen shillings and sixpence, and Nelson twenty six shillings, and if there was not a truck to hold sixty; sheep two trucks to be supplied at the prices fixed. He then spoke of the probability of carrying a road by way of Wangapeka to Seddonville which would tap the mineral belt at Mount Radiant, and give communication with Westport and KarameaJ (This subject was referred to the Council for consideration). The President also referred to the proposal to advertise on envelopes and said the Committee would report fully next month. It was proposed to have special blocks for Richmond and Motueka.

PREFERENTIAL TRADE. |Mr Hampson then read a very interesting paper on Preferential Trade In the course of same he pointed out that other nations, notably Germany and America bad made greater strides, proportionately, under protection than Britain had dona under her so-called Free Trade, and he contended that the time must coma when the United Kingdom must feel the effects of the gigantic efforts