CANTERBURY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5502, 29 February 1896, Page 7

CANTERBURY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

«■ QUARTERLY MEETING. The quarterly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held yesterday. Twenty members were present, and the President, Mr I. Gibbs, occupied the chair. '■ The President, after making a few introductory remarks, proceeded to deal with the various matters that had engaged the attention of the committee- since the last iquarterly meeting. Tenders had, he said, been invited for the Chatham-- Island mail service, commencing on April 1 next, and the Government had promised to, give full weight to the recommendation of the Chamber that Lyttelton should be made the first port of arrival and the final port, of despatch. A communication has been received from the Wellington Chamber of Commerce asking, that . an effort should, be made to induce the ironmongers of Christchurch to adopt the trade terms which are used by other branches of trade, and at a meeting of thoie interested it waa decided to -agree to the proposal provided the ironmongers in Dunedin would follow the Bame course. A sub-committee of the Chamber was appointed to wait on the Premier during his recent visit to Christchurch, and an appointment was arranged with the Premier's Secretary, but the Premier did not keep the appointment. The President then referred to an extension of the mail notices in the daily papers, and to the claim of the Navy League upon the support of the community. He referred at some length to the despatch forwarded by the Secre : tary of State for the Colonies , to !the various Colonial Governors on the subject of trade between the United Kingdon and the colonies. "It is to be regretted," he said, "that the frequent strikes of workmen in England create a timidity on the part of capitalists ond seriously hamper manufacturing en- '" terprises, with the result that trade is >' *gradually being forced into other channels; as soon as the workmen realise this fact and work with instead of against their employers, one step forward, will have been made in the direction of overcoming foreign competition. It appears to me that sooner or later it will be necessary for the protection of the British race for the colonies to impose a differential tax on goods of foreign manufacture, and as - a further means of meeting the competition it will probably be necessary for the Imperial and Colonial Governments, to follow the course adopted by Germany and France, and render aid in cheapening, the cost of transit." Speaking of the Midland Eailway, he said, "The decision of the Hon E.Blake in the. arbitration case between the Government and the Midland Eailway Company came as a great surprise to a large number of persons in Canterbury. No doubt the decision is 'in accord with the strictly legal terms of the contract, but I cannot refrain from expressing the opinion that when the company undertook tiie construction of the railway to connect the east and west coasts of this island the work was regarded as one of national importance, and it was expected that the Government would add the company in every possible way. The general feeling among those who have made themselves acquainted with the circumstances has been that in the various modifications of the contract proposed from time to time by the company the Government of the day would have consulted the interests of the colony by meeting them ih a more liberal spirit, and so have ensured the completion of the railway. At any rate the company had a rigj&t to complain, from' the very outset of their operations, of direct hostility in the " — colony, and undue depreciation by men in authority of the value of the' concessions made by the Government, especially of the land grants, which depreciation necessarily affected the credit of the company in London, crippled their resources, and compelled them to raise money on exorbitant terms. WTbatever the reasons may have ■ been for the attitude of the Governments' whioh dealt with the' contract; the.- present^ position is that,* according to the last balance-sheet of the company, .£1,273,646 15s lld has been expended in the construction of the line and in incidental expenses, and the colony has an unfinished railway. It is admitted that the work which has been, executed by the company has been well,, done, Wh6n we remember the large public meeting held, in Hagley Park,' at which resolutions were unanimously passed in support of the proposal to construct the line ; when we call to mind the time and energy which have been devoted in furtherance of .the work by the business men of Canterbury, the question is forced, upon üb, Are all those efforts to go for nothing?. If the reasons for the construction of the railway were sound and strong in 1885 they are sounder and stronger to-day. The large tracts of country on the West Coast withdrawn from the lands open for selection by the contractors in payment for the railway, very clearly indicate the opinion of the Government of its vMue for mining purposes, and the information recently received from London that Mr Ziraan has obtained a Large amount of English capital to g carry on extensive gold - mining, operations hi the district appear to me to add to the arguments already advanced in' support of the undertaking. The advent of new capital will give an* impetus to the . mining industry ; and to enable Canterbury to participate in the prosperity which an increased output of gold and an increased population is sure to bring to the West Coast, it is necessary that railway com- \ munication should be established with as little delay as possible. I am somewhat surprised at -the apparent apathy of the business men -of Christchurch in a matter which so . seriously affects the trade of tliis city and the interests of the agricultural community of. this province. It is to be hoped some effort will Dow be made to urge the Government to make arrangement? for completing the railway." The President concluded his address by reviewing the markets for the principal colonial products and congratulating, the Chamber upon the condition of trade, which he said was of. a sound character, and . showed signs of increasing in volume since the commencement of the New Year. Mr Turnbull moved :— " That in view of the importance of the work to North Canterbury, and of the difficulties under which the settlers at Cheviot; suffer in connection with marketiug their produce and fully developing their holdings, the Government be respectfully urged to placo a sufficient sum on the estimates to complete ab an early date the railway to Cheviot from either "Waiparn. or Waikari and that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Minister of ' Railways and to each of the Canterbury members." The settlers experienced great difficulty in marketing their goods and also in getting" rid of their live stock, and. the trade was going to Wellington. . Unless a railway l was taken through from Waipara or Waikari they would lose it altogether. He understood the expense, would not', fee great. Surveys had already been made. If they work were commenced during the coming, winter itwould relieve the labourmarket, and would be of more benefit to taxpayers than the levelling of river banks. Mr Meares thought such a large matter shoidd not be dealt with until it had been before the members a sufficient length of . time to enable them to thoroughly consider it. So far as he knew the arguments which were advanced against the proposed railway in past years still held good. Mr Martin opposed the motion. He thought the colony as a whole considered that Cheviot was rather a mistake, and they would think it more so if the whole of the colony were to be charged with the heavy expense of such a railway. Cheviot already had a water-way, and the Government were fully aware when they took the estate over that there was no railway communication. Mr Strathers thought the question was whether the time had come for such a railway. He thought Canterbury taxpayers had a claim on the Government, and what fchey had to consider, was how . that claim ihould be satisfied. . He thought the' day jf as not far distant when a railway to Kai-

koura would be required, and then a line might b 8 taken from the Hurunui to Cheviot. The business men of Christchurch should see that there were feeders for the city. Mr Staveley thought they had not sufficient information before them to decide so important a question. He moved that the matter should be referred to a Special Committee. Mr Struthers seconded the amendment. Mr Turnbull objected to delay, and said that before, another meeting of the Chamber was held Parliament would have met, and the winter, would have set in. Ho .Kougli. there would be more chance of getting a line to., Cheviot con.structed than to any other place, as that settlement was a special scheme of .the Government, : Canterbury had not: for years had a reasonable share of the public expenditure. He suggested .that : Mr Staveley . should .. alter his .^amendment so that the, Speoial C6mmi*ttep.shpvdd report to a special meeting of the Chamber to be held within a month. Mr Staveley accepted the suggestion, and altered his amendment to read—" That the questionof the construction of a railway to Cheviot be referred to a Special Committee consisting of the President, Vice-President, Messrs A. H. Turnbull, W. D. Meares, W. Eeece, W. Chrystall and E. Struthers, to report at a special meeting of the Chamber to be held on March,27." The amendment was put and carried without dissent. Mr Martin moved a hearty vote of thanks to the President for his excellent address. Mr Turnbull seconded the motion, which was carried .unanimously. The meeting then closed. -,