CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1331, 11 March 1859, Page 5

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

A Special General Meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce was held at the offices of Messrs. Bethune'Sc Hunter on Monday last, 7th instant, for the purpose of taking into consideration the reply of His Honor the Superintendent to a Resolution which was passed at a General Meeting of the Chamber on the 3rd ult., to the effect that the Local Government should be urged to take immediate steps forthe construction of a Public Wharf or Shipping Pier, where there would be a sufficient depth of water to allow steamers and vessels of large draught to lie along side for the purpose of loading and discharging. In consequence of ; the' acknowledged aDd increasing importance of such an undertaking, the attendance of Members was somewhat larger than usual. The Chairman of the Chamber (John Johnston, Esq.) not being preaent on account of some' temporary engagements, the Deputy-Chairman (George Hunter, Esq.) presided over the mesting, the following members being also present, —Messrs. Anderson, Bannatyne, Bethune, Burues, Carter, Dransfield, Duncan, Kebbell, Kinross, Levin, Levy, Martin, Moore, Pbarazyn, Pilcher, Spinks, Tame, Taylor, Turnbull, aud Woodward. Mr. Johnston was also present at a subsequent period of the proceedings. Mr. Hunter opened the proceedings by briefly ex plaining the purposes for which the Chamber had beeu convened, and then requested the Secretary to r jad the Resolution which was > passed at the General Meeting held on the 3rd ult., a copy of which was forwarded to His Honor the Superintendent, and also the reply which bad been received from His Honor in answer to it. The resolution and reply are as follows :— " Copy of Resolution and Roily from Hit Honor the Superintendent re/erred to in the annexed circular. ■ nESOLUTION. Moved by Mr. Duncan, seconded by Mr.. Bowler, and carried— .- . " That it ie desirable with reference to the communication rcceivedthrough the Deputy Superinten dent from Mr. Edward Coleman,, the Manager of the New Zealand Royal Mail Company, on the subject of a Public Wharf being erected in this Port, that the Local Government ehould be urged to take immediate steps to carry out »n undertaking of such importance to the Province with the least joisible delay. [oopr.] Superintendent's Offlct, Wellington, 10th Febniary,lßs9.' "Sir,—l have the hon»r to' acknowledge the Resolution unanimously passed at a General Meeting of tho Chamber of Commerce,'held on the 3rd , init. ,in answer to the communication addreaaed to

the Chamber by the Deputy-Sup-r'mtendmt on the a-ind of November last, on the ■ ibiect of a l'ublie Wharf. .

• " When r-ooiulder that \eiiice the matwr was brought under the notice of iho Chamber) the establishment of direct Steam communication with Melbourne, and the steps already tak«ri to make Wellington the Port or oall aud Departure in New Zealand of the Panama line of Steamers, hate rendered a Publio Wharf, more than ever necessary. • I cannot tat eiprees my regret, that in the event of Wβ not being u/iderttken by a Company, any diffioulty ehoutd oxUt in th» waj of the work being at once carried out by the Government. A» ihe Chamber express their opinion that the Government should be urged to take immediate nieps to ereci the Wharf, I deem it incumbent up on me to remind it of the following facts, viz., that the Provincial Government in virtue of a Resolution passed by the ProvinoiM Council on the 17th February, t»ST, reclaimed at a cost of several thousand pounds a considerable quantity of land in tltie harbour—that under the Aot of Council, Sees., lit., No. 14, they sold by Public Auction a portion of the land no reclaimed—that the purchasers immediately after the sale disputed the power of the Government to sell, and obtained a decision of the Supreme Court in their favour—that the purchasers (with one. or two exceptions) have, in consequence of that decision, refused to complete their purchases; a.ni have also declined to accept the offer made by the Government to cancel the purchases, and to refund their deposits with 10 per cent interest.

I beg also t9 remind the Chamber of Commerce that in the last Segaiou of the Council a Bill was passed (but vetoed by myself) to prohibit the salt of the land, and that the majority of the Council are still supposed to be adverse to its sale.

I have further to point out to the Chamber that, owing to a blander in the New Provinces Act, the 'Beclaimed Land, and all other Public Reserves of thia Province, are vested in the Superintendent of Hawke'a Bay, and that as ihls blunder can only be rectified by the Act of the General Assembly, no legUlation of the Provincial Counoil could remedy the flaw in the Act under which tbe land wa« sold, or enable the Government to give a perfect title.

The result in, that a earn of nearly £10,000 is lucked up—that the Government is prevented from proceeding with the reclamation of the land—that the Town of Wellington is debarred from the bene. fits of an annual expenditure of «oms £20,000, and the Province is mulcted of the Revenue that would accrue from the sale of the lands in question, amounting st least from £5000 to £7000 β-vear. With these facts before them, the Chamber of Commerce cannot fail to psrceive that, until the embargo upon the aale of the reolaimel land be removed, the Government ia not in a position to undertake the ertction of a Wharf, the cost of which would be little short of £10,000. -At the same time I desire the Chamber to clearly underttan-l, that if the parties who have purchased i will either pay their purchase money, or abandon the purchases on receiviug back their deposits witk interest, the Government are prepared at once to undertake this great public work—as they are satisfied that there would be uo difficulty in selling the land on the Government undertaking to perfect its title, as soon as the Provincial Council were in a position to legislate on the subject. ■ I have the honor to toe, ; Bir, ' Yosr most obedient Servant, I. E. FEATHEBSTON, Superintendent. The Honorable John Johnston, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, *c., Sα., lie. Mr. Bannatyne, after observing that the two last paragraphs in the reply appeared to him to solicit some co-operation on the part of the Chamber to assist in the removal of some alleged obstacles, which had not in his opinion any reference to the subject alluded to in the resolution, and which were foreign to the objeotn for which the Chamber was constituted, and, after rematking that the sooner the matter was again brought under the consideration and attention of the Executive the better, concluded by submitting to the consideration of the. meeting a resolution^' the terms of which embodied all that hefelt - desir6us of saying - on the subject.

Mr. Moore most cordially concurred in the view 3 expressed id the resolution. He thought that the obstacles alluded to in the latter part of the reply had not' any relation whatever to the prerious resolution of (he Chamber, nor could he in any way recognise any connection between them and the purport of that resolution. He did not rise with the express view of seconding the resolution before the Chamber, for be should prefer that some other member should second it, he was however prepared to do so, if necessary. Mr. Johnston said that he could not altogether approve of the resolution. He thought that'the tenor and spirit of the reply had been in a great measure misunderstood by both of the gentlemen who had mored and seconded the resolution. He could not, for his part, recognise any solicitation, either direct or implied, fur the co-operation of the Chamber, in assisting to remove the obstacles alluded to in the reply. That those obstacles proved a very serious difficulty in the way of the Government for so great an undertaking he had no doubt, and it appeared to him that the intention of the reply was only to allude to them in that light, and nut as calling upon the Chamber either to assist in removing them or 10 offer any suggestions for their removal. Mr. Moore again expressed his opiuion that the language and tenor of the reply was both plain and clear. The reply, moreover, appears to him to have no definite object: It had not any relation or bearing whatever to the resolution to which it professed to be an answer. It distinctly referred the question of the obstacles to the Chamber, and to his mind infeiuntially asked it to assist in removing them. The only thing that the Chamber could do in bis opinion was, again to refer the matter to the consideration of the Government, and again to soliict the necessity of its immediate attention to it After iome brief. observations from Mr. Dransfield who supported the resolution, and from Messrs. Taylor and Woodward, in so low a tune that we could not distinctly hear them, but who, we believe, expressed themselves in opposition to the resolution.

Mb. Dunoan said, that he eatirely concurred in the opinion which had been expressed by Mb, Johnston as to the terras of the resolution before the Chamber. The circumstances connected with the passing of the resolution at the General Meeting of the Chamber Oα the 3rd ult,, would perhaps be in the recollection of Members, a communication was addressed to the Proviccial Government by Mr. Coleman, the Acting Manager here of the New Zealand inter-Colonial and inter-Provincial Steam Navigation Company, on the subject of a Public Wharf being erected at this port. That the communication was referred by Mr. Fitzherbert, the then Deputy' Superintendent, to this Chamber for its consideration, and after some discussion, he (Mr. Duncan) under the impression that the Local Government was-tho proper party to undertake so important a public work, submitted a resolution which was unanimously passed, and afterwards forwarded to his Honor the Superintendent. In answer te that resolution a reply had been received from his Honor the, Superintendent, in which certain obstacles are pointed out, as imposing a serious difficulty in the way of the Government in undertaking the

erection of the wharf, but he could not conceive that there was any invitation on the part of his Honor in that reply to the Cb,i'm!)er li> assist i» the removal of those obstacles. It was the mere assertion of a fact that certain obstad|.. did exist, and that they proved a very great hi pediment. He should certainly be ver • j;| ai | to see tlie parties alluded to in the last pir.igraph of the reply give way, auJ «o f tr r ' 2 . move the ob»tncles which at present stood in the way of the Gjrerume.it .it once undurUking such a srt.it public work. He would, howerer advise that the G«vennnent should be again' urged to u'i lort.ike thu erection of tbe wharf for which there appeared to him to be a daily increasing necessity. The Chamber hail hitherto Uken prudent an 1 correct acttun in the matter, and lie xbuuld much regret seeing any resolution passed which would have the effect of in any *ay disparaging the efficiency or value of its deliberations. He felt assured that such an effect was far from the intentions of either of the gentlemen who had moved and seconded the resolution.

Mh. Johnstox again expressed his opinion that the tenor of the reply appeared to him to state distinctly ihat the Government would be prepared at once to undertake the erection of a wharf, provided that circumstances that were at present unfavourable wosld admit of it, and certain obstacles which were at present a serious impediment were removed. •, Mb- Ba.vsait.ib saij that lie did not wish to impute to the Croveruraent any unwillingness to the undertaking, but he was, nevertheless, still of opinion that the obstructions alluded to in the reply lia I no connection whatever with the subject matter of the former resolution. He shauld, however, seeing that the feeling of the meeting was rather against the resolution which he had submitted theu in favour of it, offer any opposition to an amendment, provided that it did not altogether ignore the spirit and terms of the original resolution.

Mr. Cautkb did uot doubt but that the obstacles alluded to in the reply were a very serious impediment to the immediate undertaking of the work b ; the Government. He believed that the Government was not only anxious, but would even be prepared to commence the wharf at once, provided those difficulties were removed, but that at present it did not find itself in a position to meet so large an expenditure as the completion of no great an undertaking would require. The future of Wellington depended very materially upon the erection of a Public Detp Water Wharf, at the earlist possible moment, and if the Government was not, nveiag t> certain circumstances, in a positional present to uudertake the entire construction ofthewharf.it would be far better that the cost should be divided between tliose representing the Commercial interest* of the Port and the Government, than that the matter should be any further delayed. He should wish to see a co-operation betweeu the Chamber and the Government in the undertaking, for he was afraid that if the Chamber stood out that the work should be done wholly by the Government, it would in the present state of thiigs, be some considerable time before it wasf completed, and very great advantages, might in the meantime be lost. For the beneficial effects of such mutual co-operation, he need only refer to the advantages enjoyed by the inter-Pro-vincial services of the Wonga Wanga. Mr. Duucan having drawn up and submitted an amendment, it was opposed by Mr. Moore on the ground that it altogether ignored the terms of the original resolution, Mr. Moore again observing that he could not conceive that the obstacles were of such a magnitude as to stay the execution of so necessary a work. He, for his part, could not admit the insuperable nature of the obstacles pointed out, and he must again deny their relevancy in any way to the subject matter of the previous resolution. Mr. Burnes expressed his opinion that the shorter the answer to His Honor's reply the better, for by far the greater portion of the reply, nearly the whole of it- in fact, alluded to matters with which the Chamber had nothing whatever to do, and had reference, almost wholly, to a mere political squabble which had agitated the community for now upwards of a twelvemonth. He considered that the resolution which had been submitted by Mr. Bannatyne took a correct view of the character of bis Honor's reply, and he shuiild therefore support it. He trusted that the Chamber would keep aloof from mixing itself up with political questions of any kind, and thereby remove the possibility of inoui riug censure from any quarter for interferiuß in matters which were extraneous to its principles and constitution, and he would therefore call upon the Chamber to pass the reply by as a nuttier with which they had nothing whatever to do. •

After some further desultory conversation the following amended resolution was moved by Mr. Bannatyne, seconded by Mr. Moore, and unanimously adopted:—

'' That thi> Chamber iavins been invited by Mr. Fitzherbert, vrheu aciing as Deputy Superintendent, during the absence of Dr. Featherstoa at Melbonrne, to offer its suggestions on the subject of a letter from Mr. Edward Coleman, recommending tic capstruction of » public wharf for the accommoftuitrt of steamers and vessels of large draught of water, passed a resolution at a General Meeting, held on the 3rd ultimo, urging the I'rovincial Government to take immediate steps for carrying out an undertaking of such importance to the interests of the Port of Wellington; and having considered His Honor the Superintendent's reply, begs to acknowledge his communication, and regrets to be informed fiat, in the opinion of the Government, any obstacle should exist to the erection of a public wharf, but tru.ts that all difficulties hi the completion of this important work may soon be removed; at the same time most reapectfu ! ly suggests that the Executive should take prompt measures for the erection of a deep-water wharf. Further, that a Copy of this Resolution be forwarded to His Honoi the Superintendent,"

The business for which the Chamber had been convened having terminated, the meeting separated after a sitting of upwards of two hours.