NELSON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12459, 8 February 1909, Page 2

NELSON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

» ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the -Nelson Chamber of Commerce took place at the rooms, Hardy street, on Saturday evening. Mr A. H. Bisley (the President) occupied the chair, and over thirty members were present. Messrs H. F. West and F. Hurley were elected new members. The balance-sheet, typewritten copies of which were circulated, disclosed a satisfactory state of affairs. The receipts for the year were : — £123 2s 10c! (including a balance from last year of £36 17s lid), and the expenditure was £95 15s 9d, leaving a credit balance of £27 7s Id. Memr bers' subscriptions amounted to £85 2s sd, with £80 9s 2d stilj outstanding. On the motion of Messrs Lock and Duncan the balance-sheet was. adopted. The election of officers was . then proceeded with; Mr H ; R. Duncan, who had been vice-President for the past two years and who had hitherto declined nomination for the presidency, was,; on the motion of ..the Chairman and Mr.H. Baigent, unani-mously-elected President. Mr T.A. H. Field' was unanimously elected vice-President. • After a ballot the following were elected to the Council of the Chamber: Messrs. J. H. Cock, F. W. Hamilton, C. King, D. Edwards, A. A. Lucas, A. H. Bisley, and H. Baigent. ' ""-.■."-• ,: - Messrs F. J. Ledger; E. E. Grove, W. J. Moffatt, P. Bond, T. A. Field, W.-^L. Kerr, F. W. Fairey, W. A. Roughton, and F. G. Gibbs, y with; power to add to their number, were elected the Railway and Land Traffic Committee: . Messrs* W. W. 1 Snodgrass, L. Frank E. Hooper, W. Rogers, T. Pettit, J. C. .Mercer, -and T. Neale, with power /to add to their number, .were elected the- Shipping and Produce: Committee. Mr W;' Rout, junr, -was re-elected Auditor. - ' ••;'•' '■■■•••■ . "Mr H. Baigent moved that the. Chamber records its high appreciation of the services rendered -by ! the late President (Mr A. H. Bisley) during, his' term of office. They all knew how he had worked in the interests of the Chamber by the great number of -members he had brought forward, and by the formation of Committees in different parts of the province, which had done good work. -.:■■ Mr H. R. Duncan, in seconding the motion said that Mr Bisley had worked hard for the Chamber. The 'number of members ha liadintr.orliicpd was sufficient to show that he had the interests of .tbe Chamber at heart. In succeeding Mr Bisley as President, he felt that "he would be, comparatively speaking, a failure,, but if he could. only do hah 5 as well as_ Mr Bisley had done he would consider that he had served the Chamber, well. There was certainly more life in the Chamber than when Mr Bisley took office. He had brought forward a tfiuiriber of matters for the consideration of the Chamber, such as the establishment of telephones in outlying districts, new railway carriages, and other things, which had been accomplished. Mr F. W. Fairey, in spealnng to the : motion, said that before Mr . Bisley- took office the Chamber of Commerce had been- looked upon' by ; outsiders as a select body. Mr Bisley had done • much ' to' popularise the,Chamber and make known its usefulness, and he was deserving of the best thanks of 'the district for the energy and- enthusiasm he had dis-. played during his term of office. The motion was carried.unanimously, amidst loud applause,. Mr Bisley expressed his sincere thanks for. their kindly remarks, and said ;that as a councillor he would ■ take the same interest in the ChaTnber as he. had.done .in, .the. pastW-The ramifications of the Chamber extended throughout the whole- province, and the Committees were all _ workinp for tbe benefit of the- district. On the motion of Messrs W. S. Hampson and C. King a hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr 3: Hornsbv for his gift of copies of the "Textile Mercury," which the proposer said was a most useful paper. , .-" " Before leaving tTie chair Mr Bislev said he wished to thank the Council for the assistance rendered him during'the past year. •'• They had held twelve -or thirteen meetings, and he could not have wished to work, with a better lot of. men. The Railway arid Land Traffic Committee had done pood work' and lie especially mentioned Messrs F. I. Ledger and P. Bond in tbat connection. He also tbankod the heads of various Government Departments, mentioning Messrs ' F. W. Fla,napan.' (Commissioner- of Crown LahdsVl "T. Edwards (Railway manager) and E. V. Senn (Chief Postmaster) who had readily supnlied the Chamber with information when asked. It was a pleasure to work with such officers as these who- were riot bound up; with red tape. , He also desired to thank .the corresponding Committees. \While perhaps some had not been so active as they should like ■ to have seen they had. greatly assisted 1 in the advancement of the. Chamber. He hoped the , new ' President and incoming Council would pay great "attention to these Committees." : One thing to be settled was' the mode of matiagefnent of these branches. He thought they 'should be/treated in a very liberal way and suggested that they should be allowed 75 per cent of their own receipts to defray their expenses. The Press, too, were de-' serving of thanks for theiliberal amount of space they had devoted to reports of the Chamber's proceedings. The newly elected: President (Mr, H. R. Durican) tha"riked: the Members, for electing him to the position, and; said they would 'agree that he was, wise in declining office before, as Mr Bisley had been very successful during his terms of office. , ,He i hoped ■he would have the co-operation of the Council, and would-dp hisVbest in . the interests of the Chamber. . . This concluded the business.