NELSON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Colonist, Volume LVI, Issue 13420, 18 March 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

NELSON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

ANNUAL MEETING. (From "The Colonist," .Feb. 24.) The annual meeting of tho Nelson Chamber of." Commence was field in the Institute Building la»t Mr W. W. Snodgrass.- tho president, being in the • chair. There \vero also present: Messrs S. Kirkpatrick, J. .H. Cock, J. O. Mercer, El G. Gibbs, H. M. Field, J. P. HarriSi'D. Edwards,. H. R. Duncan, C. King, and H. Raigent. A letter was read from the Collector of Customs saying that exports could only be. credited in the Customs official returns to the/port at which bills of lading were taken out for the vessels taking the shipments from the Dominion. This ruling would practically affect all of the butter and cheese, and a large part of the wool, produced in Nelson. Tho, output of nearly all the butter and cheese factories was purchased by firms located outside of Nelson, mostly in Wellington. Much of the butter'and cheese was sent from the Nelson district into cool storage, there to await shipment away from New Zealand; consequently the bills of lading were not taken out in Nelson, and unless* arrangements were made ,ior this to be done this district would lose the credit of. a large portion of its;exports in the Customs official returjns. Mr J. H. Cock moved that the j&hipping committee go into the matter later,,and confer with the Collector of Customs. -.■.■■•

The statement of accounts for 1913 was taken next. It showed that the receipts totalled £61 3s 9d, the expenditure MO Os sd, leaving cash in band of £1 3s 4d. The liabilities outstanding totalled £39 19s 3d, as against £50 19s last year. The president moved the adoption of the statement of accounts. This was seconded by Mr D. Edwards. It was pointed out in an ensuing discussitn that the accounts included many items of expenditure which would not be recurring, and that there was a prospect of .the, arrears being paid off during the coming year. Mr D. Edwards said it was a disgrace the. Chamber should have so many liabilities; Mr J. P. Harris suggested that in order to meet the liabilities the subscription be doubled, and the Chamber be registered. Mr Edwards moved that a special levy of 10s 6d be made on members to wipe out the liabilities. This was seconded by Mr H. R. Duncan and'carried. The statement of accounts was then adopted.' . The president, in his retiring address, said it was ten months only since the last annual meeting, owing to a new; arrangement as to the date of the annual meeting. The functions of the Chamber were to oil the wheels of commerce of all classes. To do the oiling in Nelson the local Chamber had dealt with a number of matters. Practically the only thing which came forward from the last annual meeting was the question of popularising the Maruia hot springs, and he had therefore gone into the matter thoroughly. It looked as if the head of the Tourist Department would at last see the springs in the near future. The Chamber took up the matter of the railway to Murchison, and had approached the Minister on the matter, but he had found it impossible to provide the money for continuation. The next project undertaken was to secure a more suitable steamer time-table to Wellington, and this had been brought about. . The continuous telephone had been considered, but in asking for it the members had been rebuffed by the Hon. Mr Rhodes. There was a prospect that through the Chamber' p efforts the railway service to Glenhope would soon be accelerated. The strike came along, and although not officially connected tfith the trouble the members of the Chamber and the speaker had been able to give assistance when required. He thought that the council of the Ohamber should meet more frequently to deal with 'the reference of minor matters to the various committees. He wanted to express satisfaction at the exports from the Dominion last year, totalling £23,000,----000, which was practically double the exports of eleven years ago. The imports of £22,250,000 were really too high. The exports from and imports into Nelson remained practically the same. A satisfactory feature in the Nelson province was the railway returns for last year. Without going into politics, lie thought that the increasing population showed confidence in the Administration. The prospects for the year locally were very satisfactory. The Chamber should push on with the advocating of railway extension, and telephone extensions to Rai and Murchison. The. helping forward of harbour improvements had been an object of the Chamber's operations. He thought that the collection of duos on vessels visiting the port should be on the same system which obtained in Timaru. At the latter pace the charges were on the tonnage carried by the ship, and here on the size of the vessel. This was, of course, only his private view. An advancement "society had been formed last week in Nelson, and* it would probably be willing to take over the railway and land traffic committee's work. The chairman resumed his seat amidst applause. Mr J. H. Cock said thanks were due to Mr Snodgrass for the work which he had done during the year. Referring to Mr Snodgrass's remarks concerning the harbour, Mr Cock remarked on a difference of opinion between the Harbourmaster and Captain MacDougall, the latter considering it was unsafe to bring in a vessel the size of the Rangitira. The whole future of Nelson s prosperity was bound up in harbour improvement. He moved a vote of thanks to Mr Snodgrass. * This was seconded and spoken to by Mr.W. ; S. Hampson (secretary), andc carried, ' ~ . The elation of officers resulted as follows: President, Mr W: W. Snodgrass (re-elected); vice-president, Mr P Bond (re-elected); council, Messrs A. A. Lucas, J. H. Cock, C. Kmg, P. H^ilton, D. Edwards, J. C. Mercer, T. A. H. j Field, H. R. Duncan (all re-elected); railway and land traffic committee^ Messrs F. G. Gibbs (convener), F. I. Ledger, P. Bond, T. A. H. Field, W. L Kerr, T. Harford, R. B. Jackson, A. A. I/ucas (all re-elected); shipping and produce committee, Messrs T. Neale (convener). W. Rogers, L. Frank, T Peitit, E. Hooper, J. C. Mercer, S. Kirkpatrick, J. A. Mitchell (all roelectcd). , . A vote of thanks to the chairman closed the meeting.