CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14869, 18 September 1918, Page 3

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

ANNUAL -MEETING-

Ihe annual meeting of the Nelson vnomber ot Commerce was held'at the Institute last evening, the President <Mr C. R, Fell) in the chair. Ihe 'balance-«hect showed « credit balance of £8 12s od.

ANNUAL REPORT. • The annual report prepared by the' President was a-s follows:— 'Owing to war conditions the work of The Chamber has again lieen restricted And wifcli a number of members at the iront or m camp and with those renajumiig having to carry on shorthonded the work must continue to bo restricted until peace is declared.'. "Matters dealt with >y the Council . miring the past year were: "Electoral Boundaries. It is much ! to be regretted that the strenuous of-: forts made to have the proposed changes in boundaries made have not beeu successful. The inclusion of part • of the Waimeas and Upper Mafeueka, valley in the Wairau electorate entirely ignores the questions of community of interest :md facility of communication and is merely an arbitrary fixing of boundaries to give the requisite number I of electors. The Chamber was strong- '- iy supported in this matter by the country districts but thoxigh we sem, a deputation to Wellington "to interview the Prime Minister and the Boundaries Commissioner and also lodged widely signed objections, nothing was done to remedy the matter. * "■ _ \ "Harbour limits. The Chamber's ' efforts to have these increased, to the limits of other ports werci also unsuccessful, the Marine Department being ; content.'to allow facilities to Auckland and Napier and other ports which it refuses to Nelson though 'the conditions hero are 'certainly as favourable ' for the extension of the limits as in j any port in Nov. 7"Zealand. " ■ j "Land,s for returned soldiers. A ; consider o bio number of our returned" soldiers have been financed -by the Government in the purchase of land in the' district, but no land has been purchased for soldiers* settlements though : very large sums have Leon spent 'by the Government in other parts of the Dominion. : "Upper House. Duving the year the '_

Hon, \. T. Mnginnity died and his loss will be much felt in the district which he ably represented in the Upper House.-5 Though a number of ..appointments to the Upper' House have been made since Mr Maginnifcy's death no one has been appointed from the Nelsou district in spite of representations from the Chamber. It is to be hoped j that thi« condition of affairs will not ; continue after the return of Mr Massey land Sir Joseph Ward. ■ "Telephone communications. The improvement and extension of these have boon. before the Council on numerous occasion? and as soon as material is available it is expected the postal department will extend the telephone communications. "Wharf charges. These have been before the .Council, which was successful m having the receiving charge recenti.-v imposed, taken oft' again. The new I sorting, charge still remains, however. = ''Railway, extension. Jt is still fe-lt that owing, to. the war conditions no expenditure should be asked for under this heading, but it is hoped, as suggested 'by the Stoke Progressive Association, that if the wharves are purchased by the -Harbour Board the purchase money w:ll be earmarked for extension of the Nelson end of the ; Midland railway. This; would be but [i\ small repayment towards the credit balance handed over to the New Zealand Government by die Nelson Provincial Government against the debits of most oh the other provicces, on the abolition of the provinces, and would greatly help to develop the back eoun- ■■ tryI "Curtailment of shipping in Cook Strait. I.ills i.. a serious matter for the town and district and if it continues into tins spring and summer will mean :« very heavy loss m trade and a loss to our produce export-ens. It is hoped 'that the Government will deal ; with the matter promptly so that normal runnings of steamers may be shortly resumed. The Chamber is being represented at the conference now being held.in Wellington In conclusion the. Council of the Chamber "wjukl tirge upou all business people to further support the work of the Chamber of Commerce. After the.war tnere Vvill bo a great desil of work in. adjusting business to the. new conditions and in purely local matters it is of importance not only to city neople 'nit to the dis-

trict as a whole to have in existence a' strong and active Chamlier of Commerce." . ■ Speaking to the report, Mr. Fell said that nothing had been said about the future, and ho thought the chamber should' adopt the suggestion made by 111. Ifcussell and take steps to advertise the district and push its development. The repatriation of soldiers was an, important matter, and schemes for the absorption of the soldier should be . further ahead than they were. Other matters he would, like to see kept in view were the extension of the Midland Railway from Glcnhope, and possibly the electrification of the railway j fronl the Gqwan river, and a light raiiI way from Richmond to Riwaka, to link ' Tip tue fruitgrowing districts. There j was legislative power for this to be | done, and it should be of great benefit. jto the district. He moved the adoption of the report, which was seconded iby Mr. T. A. H. Field and carried. | Officers were then elected as fol- ! lows -.—President, Mr. C. R. Fell (re--elected); Vice-Presideut, Mr. P.. Bond; : Council, Messrs A. A. Lucas, V- King, :J. H. Cock, T. A. H. Field; M,]> S. Kirkpatrick, H. R, Duncan, W. W. ■ Snodgrass, 'and the President of the ) Stoke Fruitgrowers' Association (Mr. 'A. Gilbert); Land Traffic Committee, ; Messrs F. G. GibV.s (convener), F. I. I Lodger, W. W. Snodgrass, P. Bond, W. L. Kerr, JL B. Jackson, T. A. H. '! Field, M.P., A. X> Lucas, and T. EdI wards; Shipping and Produce Commit-i-tee, M.essrs T. Neale, W. Rogers, L. J. Frank, T.. Pcttifc, J. C. Mercer, S. Kirkpatrick J. A. Mitchell and T. Edwards; auditor, Mr. W. Rout. CORRESPONDENCE. It was resolved that the chamber be ! represented at the conference of Chambers of Commerce to be held at Wei- ; ling-ton on October 30th and 31st, and i that the Nelson delegate be directed to • support a remit urging that banks and Government offices close on the same ! holidays as business houses. :It was resolved to instruct the Nelson delegate to support 'various matters brought forward by the . Dominion executive in connection with restrictions on bills of lading, etc. I'ne Napier Chamber of Commerce wrote asking for the co-operation of the Nelson chamber in urging that a

uniform scale of-charges by land agents he adopted throughout1 the- Dominion., The scale of charges made at present; showed considerable variation. It was resolved to support the suggestion. The Palmerston North Chamber of Commerce wrote asking the chamber tv support "daylight saving" during thesummer as a war regulation. It was suggested that the clock should be put oh one hour between September Ist and March 31st.—Alter some discussion'a motion by Mr. Field to support the suggestion was declared carried on the voices.

Arising out of a letter from Mr. W. E. Burs, it was resolved to urge the expenditure ot the Government grant on the bridge over the Hope river, and opening a road to the Lake. . My. Neale, referring to the president's report, strongly supported the proposal for a light railway connecting Hope with Riwaka, and said it would' be of immense benefit to the district in bringing fruit and.produce to an overseas port. He believed if the Bay residents could realise the benefit 'they ■would /ultimately receive they would heartily support the proposal. Mr. 11. T. S'add, late Commissioner of Crown Lands no Nelson, had suggested the possibility ■of a 'tunnel 'through.- the Titknka hills to connect TakaKa with Motueka-, and if tin's project was carried out "together with alight-railway he believed it would receive the unanimous support of Bay residents.

Mr.. . Hamuson said that the pre-war cost of a -light railway to Motueka, without rolling stock, was estimated at £.40,000 ' «A general discussion followed , the proposal receiving the warm support of members present. This concluded the business, and the meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the president.