CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19809, 28 November 1919, Page 3

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

o | QUARTERLY MEETING. The quarterly meeting of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce was held last night. The quarterly meetings have been held in the afternoon for many years, hut it was decided to hold, tlie meetings in the evneings in the future to meet, tlio convenience of mem- J hers, many of whom are buss every afternoon of the week. Mr ■!. G. Herdman (president.) presided over an attendance of, about, twenty members. PH ESfDENT’S REPORT, The president, in his report on questions dealt with by the council since the previous quarterly meeting, said that provision was made during last session of Parliament, for the. appointment of a. Minister of Industries and Commerce, lint, it was doubtful if it, was meant that an additional Minister should be appointed, or if the portfolio should bo taken bv one of the present M misters. It. was particularly wished that there should be an additional Minister. Tlie position in regard to American exchange was not becoming worse, but it could not be said that there was any material improvement. The only remedy l seemed to lio in tlie balance of trade being equalised as soon as possible. It bad been decided that instead of forming an association of produce agents in London, the chamber's Exportiws' Conuniitrteo should act in conjunction with the association and deal with questions of interest to exporters. Nobody could deny that prosperity was reigning in this Dominion, and there seemed no reason, if the country was in future controlled by a sensible and sound Government, and prices for exports kept up, why such a state of affairs should not continue. Re supposed that in the history of tlie Dominion there never had been a greater demand for agricultural ami pastoral properties than at the present time, and the, prices paid for all classes of land were evidence that, the, ianning community had every confidence in the future. Then reviewing the position from the commercial standpoint, the fact that tor some time past, investment stocks of practically all descriptions had been in keen demand gave further evidence of confidence. Business men were inclined to think that there would be a day of reckoning before long, but it was qucstipnable whether, alter all, the public generally were not the best judges ns to what a country was capable of doing. It was possible that they might in the future have a permanent higher level of prices lor all classes of produce. The Government, Statistician had recently issued figures that exports from •January 1 to July 31 of this year were ■£13,000,000 in excess of those for the corresponding term of last year. Those figures were certainly interesting, and instructive, but were apt jo be misleading as the present time-, ns, owing to the irregularity of shipping and accumulation of produce in store for some time past, the figures probably might include produce that had been awaiting shipment for perhaps several years, For that reason it would be. hard to follow the trend of exports until they again approached normal conditions, ft was satisfactory to think that for some produce, such a.s wool, tallow; flax, etc., considerable relief had already been given in the way of shipping, and port stores should not in the future be congested through want of space, as had been the case during the past few' years. With regard to meat and dairy produce. particularly meat, the ontlook was not so cheerful, owing to the inability of the Imperial authorities to obtain sufficient insulated ships. There, was still a large accumulation of meat in the works, and there appeared just a doubt as to whether during the coming season tlio freezing works would be able to keep going right, through working full time unless tjie Imperial authorities wore able to obtain some insulated steamers in addition to ordinary traders. It seemed to him that pressure should be brought to bear on the Imperial authorities to continue the telescoping process even if a certain amount of loss was being sustained, ununtil the commandeer ceased. According to the reports as to the prices that the Imperial Government, was receiving on. Now Zealand meat, it seemed that they could well afford to stand nnv loss that might, he caused by the telescoping process being continued. The requisition of woo! bv the Imperial Government would cease at June .10 next, and as far ns one could see at present the Dominion was likely to resume normal conditions with regard to disposal of the. 1920-21 cups. As far a.s frozen meat was concerned, the present arrangement with the Imperial authorities also would expire on Juno 30 next, hut if the i Imperial authorities Inter on saw that | there was likely to be a large accmmnlation oi meat in stores in the Dominj ion when the present .arrangement ceased, it wag possible, a,ml oven prolv aide, that the requisition scheme a$ far as moat was concerned would be continued ; hut whether or not on the same basis as at present remained to be seen It would seem a. reasonable thine that the freezing works should bn'Tairlv clear of meat, before normal conditions again prevailed. The position rega.rdim. - frozen meat as far ns Canterbury was concerned was that there were’equ.v to about , 10,000 uncut freight carcases at present in store for which 'no had been allotted. The tota' capacity for all Canterbury works wa.s about 1.t0b.000 micnt freight carcases he, present restrictions regarding hiclesjiad proved most unfair and iim sat factory, and still, although repeatedly the matter had been brought under the notice, of the. Government "no remedy wag forthcoming. These restrictions were brought in with a, view to keeping down the cost of Icatherware but as far as one could see there was no noticeable improvement in that direction, aiul in the meantime the producer was suffering, as, under present conditions, an interior hide mbdit realise as much as one of the h«st“qunlitv I hero appeared only one, remedy to th.ii state of affairs, namolv J that tlio government, should remove’all reriric tions ami allow a free market, or'comnianncor the whole output of hides of the .Dominion. It was a groat feat for this country, during the past few years, out of a total of eighty million’oounds of loan? raised, to raise forty-throe millions in i s own shores. It was quite within the bounds of possibility, if nrosperons times continue, that the Gnvcrnmeni might not have to look outside the Dominion when borrowing for development. . Tlle shoi'p returns, taking tlie Dominion as a. whole, showed a. decrease ou the, previous year’s figures. Strangely enough, the Caiitorlniry-Kaikonra disl'o U onn Sl ?rT cd a " intTOi ’ so of nearly 1.1.000. That was all the more remarkable when people remembered the losses sustained by snow during the previous winter. The increases in the Ashburton and A\ a.imate districts were probably responsible for more than making up ihe deficiencies in other parts of the province. There 'appeared little doubt that in the near future New Zealand would h' ,Vf> uu jnffiiA of immigrants from the United Kingdom and other parts. That should he largely encouraged; aa it was what this country most, urgently required in order to/s in every wa.y, assist in the increase of production and tend to make the country more self-support-ing and assist in lightening tlie burden ol heavy debt. When the Imperial Government control of the main produce ceased there seemed every possibility 'ol prices for tlie principal exports maintaining (he present high level, and it was not, improbable that new' markets might open mi. for meat particularly, in some of the European

countries where soldiers had been supplied with it during the war. The are i sown in grain this season, particularly wheat, must show considerable deficiency over last year’s figures. Grain crops of all descriptions were at the present tune looking well, and, taken a,s a whole, present indications were for norma,l yields at the coming harvest, i he control of wheat during war times wn»s justifiable, but after this season a tree market should be permitted. They had ample land suitable for wheat growing in the Dominion, and it did not seem right for them to have to depend on Australia, to make, no any deficiency, the prevalence of droughts in that country made it all the more essential that New Zealand should not .lave to depend on it for even a portion of the Dominion’s supplies. All classes of live stock in the country just now were realising good prices, and the indica.tions at present were that they would continue throughout the coming season. the report discussed. Mr V. Davidson said that the president should he congratulated on his able report. Air K- ,T. Marriner said that the Chamber should press the completion of the Otira Tunnel to the utmost.. The .Noith Inland line! four tiriitt ns ninny men on ils railways as there were on laihvnys in this part of flip Dominion. t aim had a much larger share of public. expenditure. The completion of the line from Christchurch to Picton also should he urged in accordance with promises made, by several Ministers. Canterbury wanted to see larger - sums on the estimates in order that those important South Island works should not he dropped. Mr A. F. Carey said that the attention of the associated banks should he di awn to iho similnvity of onp-poiuul notes issued by one bank tc the tcushdling notes of another hank. The chairman said (bar Um Council would be pleased to consider that question. Mr 'I. F. Gibson endorsed the chairman s remarks in regard to the. system ot telescoping carcases of frozen sheep. Ho said Mint it was a serious question, especially to shipping companies. He moved " That in the opinion of this meeting the disconl innanee of lire practice of telescoping carcases of mutton and lamb will bare u serious effect on our frozen meat industry during the coming season, and urges the Prime -Minister to communicate immediately' with the Imperial authorities and endeavour to hare the restrictions removed during the continuance of the commandeer, or until sufficient shipping space is available to clear accumulated stocks.” , Mr Marriner seconded the motion, which was carried. Mr H. H. Smith said that the Ministel toi Fnhlit; orks should he asked to furnish quarterly nrogross reports on the work at: Otira 'funnel Xearlv eight miles of lino near the tunnel would hare to b P relaid after the tunnel was completed. He moved that the council should mane n request to the Minisfofp 011 the lines ho hart suggested. Tlie motion was seconded by Air K. P. Hopkins and carried. Mr Davidson said that, {.here should he a railway hooking office in the centre of Christchurch. A motion was carried urging the Department to take steps in that direction. . mutinn was passed heartily thanking the president for his report. AIjISOELI /AfNEOUS. The following new members were .elected:-Messrs C. Albisfon. G. rAitken, T. H- Baker. .1. H. Blackwell, r.i , 1. Canu j v. E Af chettle, R. Dm hie, A. Good hart. ‘.L ■ (r ?, es T r n ‘ p ‘ Hobbs, AA. J. .7 en _ km. G- Mannermg W. NichoTls. A. C. *■ *■ ... special meeting it, was decided to alter seven of the articles of assountion to provide that a rompanv or Jt P h°p r S° n u' g t a P r lf < tpd a member of the Chamber, and that anv manager director, or representative ’ nominated ny the company or corporation should subject, to the approval of the council’ rn.|or the privileges 0 f nembersMp arid 'fj Hie, member, pronded that the body, immediatelv affp r nli /i^ 1011 of a representative supP tl(, d Ins name to the Chamber. - P