CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5427, 30 November 1895, Page 7

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

QUARTERLY MEETING.

The quarterly general meeting of the Cantorbury Chamber of Commerce waa held yosterday afternoon. The president, Mr I. Gibbs, occupied the chair. Fourteen members were present, and two apologies for absence wero received.

PBBBIDENT'S ADDBESS.

The President made the following address :— " In occupying the chair for the firat time as President of this Chamber, I take the opportunity of thanking you for the honour conferred upon me and of asking your kind indulgence for my shortcomings. lam consoions of my inability to worthily fill the position to whioh you have appointed me; nevertheless I will do my best, relying on yonr kindly sympathy and support. Following the usual, practice at these quarterly gatherings of the members, I propose to briefly refer to the matters which have engaged the attention of the committee during the past three months, and then make a few remarks with reference to our principal exports and other matters of interest.

" Secretaryship.— l have to inform you that since the annual meeting held in August, Mr J. A. Bird resigned the secretaryship of the Chamber, which position he has held for nearly a quarter of a century. The resignation was accepted by the committee with great regret, and it affords me muoh pleasure to publicly acknowledge the high appreciation with which I am sure the members regard the valuable services Mr Bird has rendered to the Chamber during hiß connection with it. The committee voted Mr Bird a special bonus in recognition of hiß long and faithful services. The position of secretary has been filled by the appointment of Mr Walter M. Ollivier, who occupies as an office the room adjoining the Chamber.

'! London Chamber of Commerce. — Messrs John Beaumont and George Jameson have been appointed delegates to represent the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce at the Congress of Chambers to be held in London next year.

" Customs Tariff.— Your committee protested very strongly against the action of the Govornmentin not placing all importers on the samo footing with regard to the duty paid during the time the tariff was under discussion by the House of Representatives ; but I regret to state that our efforts in this matter wero not successful.

. " Training Ship.— The committee have had under consideration the report made by Mr J. E. Maroh to the Hon the Minister of Lands with reference to the establishment in New Zealand of a training ship for boys. The gradual disappearance from this trade of the sailing fleets of the Now Zealand Shipping Company and the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company, in which a large number of colonial-born boya were trained for the mercantile marine, renders it neoesßary that some provision should be made by the Government to educate youths who desire to follow a sea" faring life. Your committee have therefore communicated with the Government recommending the establishment of a training ship, and it is hoped the necessary stepß will be taken as early as possible to prooure a suitable vessel. The committee do not advocate the establish* ment of a marine reformatory; it will be diffioult to obtain employment for boyß of that class in the steamship lines trading to the colony. What I think is required is that reasonable facilities should •be placed within the reaoh of New Zealand boys of good charaoter to obtain three or four years' training aB sailors. As supplementary training the boys could be transferred to the Government steamer on her periodical visits to the lighthouses and southern islands and also to - the cable repairing steamer. Arrangements, no doubt, coald ho made with the ownera of the intercolonial and coastal steamers and the direot liners to take suitable boys from the training ship aB vacancies occur in those services. At present New Zealand boys appear to be debarred from taking up a seafaring occupation for lack of proper training, which it is the duty of the Government to assist to provide.

" Delayed Telegrams. — An Order-in-Council appeared in the Government Qaxette of Nov. 14, intimating' that after Dec. 1 delayed telegrams will not be posted by the receiving office until after office hours. The effect of the new regulation is that delayed telegrams will not be delivered until the morning following the day on which they are despatched. The practice of conducting correspondence by delayed telegrams is now generally adopted Iby all business houses, and if the proposed alteration is brought into force the communications at present made by that channel will be sent by letter. The number of ordinary telegrams will not be increased to any appreciable extent, and the revenue of the department must suffer rather than benefit by the change. A resolution passed by the committee setting forth some of the disadvantages of the new regulation has been forwarded to the Postmaster-General, and other Chambers of Commerce have been asked to make similar representations. To the present no reply has been received from the Postmaster-General.

"Navy League.- A communication has been addressed to the Chamber of Commerce by Admiral Hamilton with reference to the formation of a branch of tbe Navy League. The general aims of the League j are as follow •-— (1) To spread information Bhowing the vital importance to the British Empire of the naval supremacy, upon which ! depends its trade, empire and national : existence. (2) To call attention to the enormous demands which war . would make upon the navy, and to the fact ! that the navy is not at present ] ready to meet them. (3) To call attention from time to time to such measures bb may be requisite to secure adequate preparation for .the maritime defence of tho Empire. (4) To urge these matters on public men and in particular upon candidates for Parliament. This movement has been energetically taken up by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, and no doubt it will receive the support of other Chambers throughout the colony. The maintenance and increase of the strength of the British Navy appear to. me to be of vital importance to the colonies. New Zealand with its immense seaboard is specially in need ot protection by well-manned and well-armed cruisers, and I think one of the objects to be kept in view by the branches of the League whioh may bo formed in New Zealand, ia the obtaining of one or two warshipß, manned as far as possible by New Zealand«ro, to be stationed on our coast, and to aot in conjunction with our present land forces in the defence of our territory and shipping in' case of need. The committee considered this matter of such importance tbat a subcommittee has been appointed, consisting of the president, vice-president, Messrs Humphreys and Beece to take the necessary steps to form a branch of the League in Canterbury. It is earnestly hoped the members of this Chamber, and aleo of the

W. Stbanob ahd Co. are now showing enormous stocks of carpets, floorcloth b and linoleums, and invite inspection.

Persons who sympathise with tho afflicted will rejoice with D. E. Carr, ot 1285, Harrison Street, Kansas City. He ia an old sufferer from inflammatory rheumatism, but haß not heretofore been troubled in this climate. Last winter be went up into Wisconsin, and, in consequence, has had another attack. "It came upon me again very acute and severe," he said. " My joints swelled and became inflamed, sore to touch or almost to look at. Upon the urgent request of my mother-in-law, I tried Chamberlain's Pain Balm to reduce the swelling and ease the pain, and to my agreeable surprise it did both. I have used three fifty-cent bottles and believe it to be the finest thing for rheumatism, painß and swellings extant." For sale by WalijACE and Co., Chemists, Christohurch.

Dutt on Teas reduced 2d per lb. "Three Teas" blend ls 4d per lb at T. t aylos'sj Cashel Street. Try it— [Advt,

Oif./ Council, Harbour Board and other ; public bodies will support the movosunnt. j " The proposed treaties. with South Aus- ; tralia and Canada.— At the last annual ! meeting my predecessor in this chair spoke very etrongly against tho proposed treaties » with South Australia, and Canada, and j the manner in which those remarkable j documents were received and rejected by J Parliament shows that the view 3 than I expressed by Mr Humphreys wore hold by j a large number of the representatives of - the people of this colony. Tou ara all j aware tbat the treaty with South Australia, having b9en reintroduced by the Government, was passed with several j amendments, which do not appear to meet • with the approval of the Legislature of i South Australia, and we shall probably hear nothing further of it. The colony is ! well rid of both treaties. {

"Bank of New Zoaland. — Since the voting of > £2,000,000 by both Houses of Parliament in aid of the Bank of New Zealand this Chamber haß taken considerable interest in the various developments which have taken place, and now that arrangements have been finally made for taking over the business of the Colonial Bank I venture to express the opinion that the torms agreed upon between the Directors of the two institutions are fair and reasonable. While the shareholders of the Colonial Bank have been relieved of their liability for uncalled capital, and ultimately obtain return of a portion of ihe capital they have paid up, the Bank of New Zealand has acquired a large and valuable businesa connection, which should materially augment its profits. With strengthened resources, increased busiuess and capable management, the Bank of New Zealand should now have a useful and prosperous career before it.

"Wool.— When the condition of the wool, chiefly owing to the dry opring, is taken into consideration, the result of the sales held in Christchurch on Friday last cannot be regarded as altogether unsatisfactory, although the prices realised were not up to the expectations of growers. Eecent reports from Sydney and Melbourne indicate that prices have- boen maintained and that there is keen competition for wool of the beßt classes. The November sales in London opened on Nov. 26, with brisk competition. For wool of good description the prices realised at tbe close ot last sales are maintained, but for inferior wool a decline of 5 per cent is reported. It is satisfactory to note that no fall in price has taken place in the best descriptions of wool. It should ba borne in mind that tbe bulk of the wool offered at the November eales iv London is composed of the remnants of clips, and, as far as New Zealand is concerned, bub a very small quantity, if any, greasy wool is offered at these saleß. Prior to the SeptemberOotober eales, in consequenco of the higher prices ruling in London, a shipment of nearly 25,000 bales of wool was sent from Now York to London, which is rather a strange state of affairs. lam not aware that stocks were held in America sufficiently large to enable such a shipment to be made without curtailing tho supply in that country, and if holdora havo been induced to part with their wool to such an extent aB to leave the American market bare, tho prospect certainly points to an increased demand from there later on. The quantity of New Zealand wool offered in the London July-August sales was 128,195 bales, the average price over the May ealea being 10 per cent. In tbe September-October series there were "77,741 bales, the average price over the May soles being 15 per cent £o 20 per cent. It is estimated that the colony has benefited by the rise on last season's clip to the extent of about .£250,000. I can only express the hopo that the rise iv wool ■{fill be maintained until this season's clip has been placed on the market, so that the whole of our growers may reap the benefit of the advance in prices.

"Frozen meat. — Producers of frozen meat hardly expected that tho price which best 'Canterbury mutton reached in October, viz., 5d per lb, would be maintained, bub we were not prepared for the rapid drop to 4d, which is the latest quotation for prime Canterbury on the London market. The fall in price cannot bo attributed to over-supply of New Zealand mutton, as the total shipments during the past four months only averaged equal to about 140,000 carcases per month, as against an average of 224,000 carcases per month for tbe previous six months. It is probably the result of competition of shipments from the River Plate. A Press Association message which recently apr psared in the papers, informed uo that owing to the Timaru, with a cargo of Australian mutton, having been sent to Manchester the Argentine growers threatened a war of prices, and had reduced the price to 2sd per lb. This reduction has no doubt affected the London market, which has been further depressed by the shortness of feed in England and on the Continent, and the consequent forcing of large quantities of meat upon consumers. When it is remembered that there are 136.000,000 sheep in South America (the total for Australasia beiDg 124,000,000), we realise what a formidable competitor South America will be in the frozen meat trade, especially in view of the improvement in the flocks in that country, which is gradually beiDg carried out. If New Zealand is to continue to hold the foremost place in the frozen meat trade and maintain a satisfactory price for ita export, it "can only be accomplished by raising mutton of tho primest quality, and confining tho shipments to that class of meat. With reference to the disposal of our meat in London, I freely admit that it would ba preferable if it were always sold on its merits as New Zealand mutton, but I cannot ace that the practice of selling it as English, about which we hear so much", is a disadvantage to the colony ; rather the reverse. v What the producers here have to look out for ia that Kiver Plate and inferior Australian is hot sold to the consumer as New Zealand mutton.

"Wheat.— The acreage sown in wheat in Canterbury last year was 73,297, and the estimated gross yield was 1,667,285 bushels ; the totals for 1891 were 122,117 acres and 2,330,766 bushels. It is estimated by those best informed on tho subject that the acreage under wheat crop in Canterbury this season ia fully 20 per cent in excess of last year's, and that if present favourable prospects continue, and no adverse conditions intervene before the crop is harvested, the yield per acre will bo 20 to 25 per cont above that of Ibbc season. The statistics of tho grain crop of the world, compiled by American and Continental Governments, show that the supply is less than for mauy years past ; and in view of that fact, and the probability of the Australian Colonies having to import grain later on, the prospects are in favour of a satisfactory price being obtained by growers of wheat in this district.

" Trade generally doea not show any appreciable increase in volume, but it is of an exceptionally Bound character. Traders aro buying well within their meana, paying for gooda in cash, and the amount of bill accommodation is decreasing each month. The Customs revenue for the quarter ending Sept. 30 amounted to .£438,681, being an increase of £29,883 ovor thu receipts for the corresponding quarter of last year. The exports for the same period amounted to £1,311,125 as against £1,291,334, an increase of £19,291. The value of gold exported was £282.906 against £220,090, an increase of £62,816, Theee figures, although they do not indicate any large expansion of trade, are on the right side, and we are encouraged to look to the future with confidence. I trust the coming year will be a prosperous one for the agricultural, pastoral aud mining industries throughout the colony, with corresponding activity in all departments of trade and commerce."