BUSINESS MATTERS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 779, 31 March 1910, Page 7

BUSINESS MATTERS.

/I MERCHANTS AT LUNCH. / :'; ;. THEJ CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. ';■■'■■'■■';"'HARBOURtBOARD POLICY. SOME RAILWAY QUESTIONS. v, The.annual meeting'; of the.Wellington- \ Chamber of. Commerce, 1 which was held ' yesterday, was.preceded.iaccording to custom, by a: luncheon,;and was the occa--n'oh of. sdnie interesting'speeches'on mat'- '■".'. ters- of "special 'interest to; the { business community.;. Mr. W; G. Duthie, President of the Chamber,', occupied thp chair. .. ' r V ; -PRESmSNT'S; ADDRESS. : ' The presiderit ; 'said,that his task was . :more pleasanj; in one respect than that of his predecessor, ■' Mr.; Harlmess, at the last; annual, meeting. ■:; On that occasion tlie report on tho. trade;of the Dominion showed' excessive imports and. contracted .exports,- resulting in a deficiency of some :;fivo or,six millions in .tlie fund yielded .' by the latter to" provide for, tho Cost of . the former:and for the;outsido interest obligations'of, the:Dpniinion.'.-The year .; ending on September. 30, last displayed, . as:mentioned in the Council's report, a . happy, recovery in this respect, and" the realisation; of' th'e output "yielded a , sum ' sufficient; to. pay:, for the. year's imports '■■"■with.:.a.: surplus but little, short of. four, millions.'an amount sufficio'nt ; to r meet all .. our interest obligations; " One .happy', result of these .movements, was seen in the. : banking returns to .the same date which disclosed" a reduction the twelve , months of .£3,047,2.54 in the advances and "an.-increase of ; in the deposits. ; .As to .the; year; now curreirt- indications ipointed to a further substantial increase lin the value , of-our'exports, while at prejsent it did not look as-though the volume -.' ■of, imports', would; show any 'matorial in-

-... crease .upon: the -.total, of last'year. If ■ this proved' correct the end of the year should sho W a .further" satisfactory ini- . i>roTement;;in tto.finandial. position..;.. : . ;.-■ ■:■.■.;■■ A Ypar : Qf,. Conferences.:;V/v - ' Theipast year had been a "'year'-'of coiU ... Jerencesof all descriptions, but. from the commercial-, point: of view the most- in-: teresting of. these , were the conferences of New Zealand of Commerce held' in Wellington,in April last; and the Coniff ess . of Chambers of Commerce of the -impire, which -took place-in Sydney in September. Among'the interesting events c % eari ier function was the declaration of the commercial community in favour of compulsory military .training in New -.Zealand.-, This yiew. was afterwards ac- : tively.. and. ably promoted by various members of.'the House and was adopted fty the legislature,. and.should:shortly.be <"» accomplished..fact. : It was to be hoped .that the mercantile , community would do their-, share.to assist: this object.-■:; This! could not be done .without , -some sao'ri.nce as it would doubtless become. neces- • fW to let employees away from work iatjinconyenient times, but' it was an ob'-" 'i i■• 5 r ich all should ■be prepared' K> their assistance even at. a-sacri- ■ ?' : ■& ?? ries of' recommendations'-were ieuDmitted;- to the". Government' • for the .iamendmtnt.of the bankruptcy law as the •suggestions- of the ! .Unite'd.,,Chambers of .-Commerce of-the Dominion. - Too ;often: in' ithe past ;the influence''of -the 'niercanjtile community in this-important: matter had been nullified by different arid ..even ..contradictory, suggestions having '•■. !?«m .made by various chambers' acting ,: of ■'■ each other. It was :■ Inopejhthat as ■α-result of this Action a' : ; Featly-improved measure 'would be ibrougnt forward in the coming- session. (Another important -outcomo of the con--..-■lerence was an agreement for an asso- . nation/of the Chambers of Commerce of (New.Zealand. ■:The 'progress of this' project ;had not been -.so- .quick as : micht" : (have .but there was reason . |W>: hope that the"moremeht:-would :Eoori to; a successful issue. The : .Ibydney conference-was-in many : respects ;*. :.very '.successful; and important. func-' . |tion,, not the- least.' of the beneficial' rc- - sulfa- was, that, so large a "number:of leading; mercantile, men' and' , manufac- '■ the'.lJnifedv Kingdom,'; Canada ; jand South. Africa had 'for. the-first time IBeen.Austriilia: ..and. ;New,Zealand,' and' ' llS ed f « m pert ?, n .observations' somert« g tr e Possibilities, the/character,' iuie trade and the requirements of the . several - communities. 'From the "inter: delegates: who ; visited : . !New, ZealandMt.was evident thaf'their .experiences m- these 'parts was a revela- :''■'':.' : \, : '--: The Harbour Board; '■: .The council's; report 'had mentioned the TOnous now in hand: by thevWelS»,?» rll ™r:Boara.';Md in connection With. this,::, while: critics had been very eevero ■ it must; not be overlooked"'. that jmost-ot the expenditure of. recent years . seemed; to be: justified .by .the: conditions iprevaihng .when; the.iworks. were, decided oil, and; when the. board :was urged to look ; ;ahead; and make; provision. for, the growling trade of the port. The following ex,:tract: from., the address, of: the. president ■ .1907 L rt r '£' I*?, ?nn»ol'meeting in 0307 .would illustrate his,meaning— '\De- . fails are 'given in" the report- of the additional accommodation, that has been, and .is bemg, provided by tho Harbour Board, end I.need..only say here .thatl believe such increased accommodation will lie available none too soon; and that the progressive pohcy-followed by; the board of flookmg. ahead and providing for the fujture remnrementa\bf. the port ".will meet: of: every member of ■••'!S U th ia K? er i^ ince - he "Port was printed, the board has. accepted a tender for ..ithe dock,'which, it is expected will be icomoleted early, m 1911." The board-was taged.to:push ahead with the provision 1?ln«-'' s J coo , nun 1 olI atio".: tut: the year }1307-8, ; instead -of an increase in trade ' iff■ » ; TCr y. W i alling-off, .which upwet the .calculations of more than the ; management of the Harbour, Board; and ;tne-time- had -now' come when extra (sources of revenue must be found They (.were again, face to face with a 'small advance in the wharfage rate,'although- if' cwas only a short time since the lastaddi.y°n .was m °d°-.. .The- members .of .the fboard did not seem to realise that every jpenmy-per ton added to tihe rate on goods probable they would not realise it until Wellington lost her premier " position among the ports of the DominioiT

; ■;:'■}[■ School Prizes. ". - \ ' :?. ■'■ jAt the last annual meeting the subject rt , a repetition of the customary, vote for school pnzes.wasoTCrlooked, and the council took upon itself to renew the offer for another year,, believing: that this -would Jutve the approval of the chamber. Thai ;the action or the chamber in this matter us appreciated and regarded aa calculated to:be productive of good results was expressed in_a letter received from the Education Board. 'Strangely enough a very different view, almost amounting to disapproval, came from tho board's inspectors, who in their annual report were 'etated to have commented thus:—"Farmers unions, chambers of xommorce, and similar associations all seem to look to •the primary schools to prepare the boy for the special vocation with which each is connected. We are pleased to note the interest that many of these bodies are taking in our educational system, but it is to the technical school and high school, certainly not to the primary school, that they should look for this special vocational training. ; Aβ a matter of fact, many of'the foremost educationists of tho day 'deprecate any kind of 'specialisation until the boy is at least sixteen; years of age. In our primary schools there should be no attempt at specialisation. Our aim should be to'select studies .with the idea that the boy to be liberally educated should be learning hpw i to learn." ■■".■;.■;'■.' ; "Absolutely Necessary Teaching;" "We have not hitherto regarded writing, arithmetic, and composition as special vooational training," continued Mr. Duthie, "or as specialisation, but rather as a pri;iaarj and elementarv course of teaching

absolutely necessary to. enable the pupils to 'learn how to learn.' (Hear, hear.) The common experience of mercantile offices is that written applications for employment sent in by lads who have passed tho Sixth. Standard are too often very poor in handwriting and in composition, and that their arithmetical attainments, when they enter the office, are not satisfactory, and we have adopted the best method we oan think of to bring about an improvement. ■ This seems to meet with, the disapproval of "the inspectors, but why so we fail to understand. If boys who have passed the Sixth Standard are not supposed to have acquired a fair handwriting, a decent knowledge of arithmetic and tho ability to writo a letter of twenty or thirty.-words, : the disappointing character of the applications received by merchants is explained'. However, in view of the encouragement given by the Education Board itself, ■ I : think the. chamber would do .'well, to repeat its annual vote for prizes." (Hear, bear.) Local Railway Matters. The work on the Wellingfon-Hutt seation of the railway Hue was not yet completed, but was still being pushed on, and would probably bo -.completed' in six months,.. Another point waa that up to the present there' was no suggestion of amalgamating . the two railway stations and the., building ■ of a, station which would': give the'necessary accommodation for the travelling public. At present,' it was most inconvenient to. the. public, and it must also'.be a very great inconvenience to the Department in. carrying out their .work. It was mentioned in one of the local papers, a few days ago that it was intended to.amalgamate the gooussheds; perhaps this was an indication that before long the passenger stations would also be brought together. . The chamber would bs asked later on to pass a resolution in connection with'the alter-' Nation, of the .limit of the suburban area. Some twelve or eighteen months ago the area. ■ was extended to twenty- miles, and on this a number, of ■ Wellington peoplo wishing to get the benefit pf the fresh air of the country moved their residences to Trentham and equally,distant places. : If the proposed alteration back to ten miles from the citywasniade, it. would mean a groat' sacrifice to these.people,, and such' a hardship.should'not be,caused. Wellington was in an entirely different position to other Now Zealand.towns, in that one cannot get residential sites within .•five.to six miles from the. city, and tho limit under ! such circumstances' 'should not be so restricted as ten miles. ■'-. ,

. ;. Customs Matters, • , .'A point which" had been brought before the Government by the council, but which had. not, yet been satisfactorily • solved, ■wile a small thing which-probably only required publicity .to .'have settled. It was the passing of export entries ntthe Customs.' Exporters, at present were very dilatory at passing these entries; with: the: result that; such a thing as an accurate .value of the exports of., the,-month"or' the quarter was.impossible to get.; '■ ■ ' In conclusion, the president (amidst applause) moved the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, which have.-. already been dealt with in Tub Dominion. . ' : 'SPEECH. BY MR. tEVySLEY.. V. Mr. H.-C. Tewsley seconded tho motion and thanked. the'. president for his address. In regard to compulsory, military training, he thought; they all recognised its necessitj , ,. and' the" members "of the commercial ■community would., cheer-fully-try 'to"Vadapt themselves to the Government's idea of the requirements; They-hoped that the Government, on : its' part, would consult the Chambers of Commerce as to the..time for. holding.■-the training camps, so as to cause, 1 the.least .possible amount of. inconvenience.' It was absolutely essential .that the Bankruptcy Act should be improved,, and he hoped that during the incoming.ycar.the.'chamr ber : would; urge the: Government to. place a; more , satisfactory Act on tho.Statuto . Book. The Sydney ■ Conference of:. the : Chambers of Commerce'of. the Empire was the mostirnporfant event that : had taken 'place in the ;history of the 'colonies for years., It was an eyidenco that the colonies, were no longer. ;in ■,' ewaddliijg. .clothes, or a neglected quantity, but we're younger- sons.and. daughersof,tho'. Empire. The interest that had. since b,een. shown in' the work. 'of th'e""-conference proved that its effects: were being felt at Home, and the day was not-far distant when all:portions, of the Empire/would tie ! propeirly represented' in : "matters jfer-" tainiug to their' , interests;; ..'..Those.-who' came out from Home took a great interest in the colonies .and in what : was being done out here. What they saw was an ;eye-opener to them,' and to hear their ideas of what'was: intended under tho heading of tariff reform was,; least, -amusing. ' ' : ' - -.' ■■' ■'■■•-■■■■-■■■■■"■:[''. •'■''■ The Harhour and the Dock. .The. Harbour. Board (Mr. Tewsley continued) had gone through a,trying .time, •just as: most of them had in their commerciar.carects. The lasteightcen months had: been exceedingly trying to people in every, walk, of life, and the.board was no exception. Imports had largely diminished,; and he did not think trade would go back ,to its former level until the end of: tho'year; or the beginning of next year. : The' Harbour Board was justified in taking steps to meet pressing demands, but whether ..it-bad taken the best.possible steps' he was 'hot prepared i to 6ay. -Personally/i he was. certain -that | it was .greatly to'be regretted, that the dock was .started in .tho position it was. (Hear, hear.) Looking at it. when he'came to Wellington; he, had seen that: it occupied a site-that. .must, berecjuired for ware-, hdusev'or other structures'of the kind, and that the area was too limited for the 'necessary!adjuncts of a dock. Only "yesterday- an old resident •of Auckland- had 'aavised-bini.. to use. his influence to get the place filled in and, built over, though it would,involve losing the money that had. been: spent there, and finding another, place for the dock. ' , .•■'..:■. The Chamber and the Schools. He endorsed all that the chairman had said about the.school prizes. Good handwriting,'sound, arithmetic, and the capacity to convey in brief language what, was necessary: to- be said:.in,.a letter were, three things on whioh the chamber could not place too much stress. ;It was.pleasant to hear that the system of giving the prizes, had been so successful. Hβ only regretted that when Mr. t Lee,, at the priise. distribution, made his strictures on the teachers and the inspectors, they had not; the. right of, reply..- . ■•'-,,".• ■. v t"'HARB'PUR'.MATTERS AGAIN. Mr. J. G. Harkness, speaking as- the chamber's representative on the Harbour Board, said'that he understood the president to say that every penny added to the port charges was a lever to divert trade to other; ports, and that tho board was not sufficiently alive to the fact that Wellington must be maintained in the position, of the premier port of New Zealand. Speaking for the board, he wished to; say. that every one of its members was.possessed of a very strong desire to make and maintain Wellington. as the premier port of the Dominion. (Hear, hear.), The board had lost revenue dnring last year to the. extent of -jeil,OOO. owing to. the very, thing which the chair-, man had said was the right thing to do— namely, the equalising of imports and exports. The board had, therefore, had to increase.tho port charges, and it was absolutely necessary to make a fair adjustment between ships; importers, and exporters. Tor the first time in the. history of the board, they had placed a direct.charge on exports. Some said this was a false policy, and that he, as representing chiefly the producers, should not have consented to :it..He considered, however, .that in view-of. the high level -which our exports had maintained, it was only fair, that they should contribute a little more. The new charges were not permanent, and they would be. reduced when the position warranted it. The port of Wellington was not. like Auckland, which had an income of £V>,WO or .£20,000 from ondowinents. This port hud no endowments, and had to depeud absolutely on what it made as'-income to meet its charges and keep its finances in a-sound condition. '■ '

The Dock! Started Too Soon. In regard - to the . dock, ho was not going to discuss a question (.hat was at present sab judice. It. woujd be v.toji" for him to indicate at present (he cuursn which ho thought ought to be pursued; but vherr the matter came up for settlement, he, as the representativo of the commercial community, would do his best to serve tile interests of the City of AVellington. His owu opinion was that it w.onld have been wiser never, to havo started-the dock for the next 15 years. "That is all I need say," continued Mr.

Harkness. "As to the action which I shall take, I crave permission to decide that for myself. If I am wrong, I shall bo willing to come under condemnation, but in the meantime I ask you .to suspend judgment." . Hutt Road: A Strong Protest. Referring to tho Hutt Road and railway improvement, Mr. Harkncss said the work had been going on for a immbcr of years, and was iiot yet completed. He wished to point out that when tho Government undertook, the work it was understood that the cost was not to .exceed. .£250,0(10, but tho Government took power under tho Act of 1001 to make the new road, which was to be SO feet wide, and to. have footpaths, and they 'took tho iniquitous course of providing that the cost was to .he . apportioned among the -different \local bodies. H« never heard of any thing more, iniquitous. The ■ local bodies could have made the road for half tlio money it was costing. (Hoar, hear.) , He. did not know what the cost would,be, but. when the road was made a commissioner would quietly adjudicate and allocate the amount that the different bodies" would have to pay. That was a measure which ought never to have been put on the Statute Book. He.would ask the chamber to assist him in the matter when , the time came. The city of Wellington, the Onslow... borough, the Hutt and Petono boroughs, and the Hutt connly were affected, and yet they had .had'no voice in the matter, and had , no right of appeal. No Government ought'to have imposed such a liability upon them. (Hear, bear.) . Tim report and balance-sheet were adopted. ' WELLINGTON RAILWAY STATION. Mr. W: B. Lees moved: '■ : "That in; the opinion of this chamber tho citizens of. Wellington have ■ '■ .strong ground, of complaint' as to.the '..'long-continued.'delay of the Govern- ■' ■ ment in providing in ■ this city' a " ■general railway station furnishing • suitable accommodation for the trav-r , ■ elling, public, and that the.eounoil :. be requested. to make urgent repre- : sentations. to the Government on ..the subject."'. ; The/mover pointed' out that ■■ Wellington was the terminus for ' three ■', mail trains, outwards and,three: inwards every day, besides the district, and suburban traffic;' There was also the oversea business and the traffic to and from , the bouth Island, besides extra holiday traffic. The two present 1 stations .were absolutely inadequate. The. Thorndon Mation—perhaps because it was built by a private company-was not. so bad as the other. Neither of them 'could' bo compared with tho stations at Aramohb, Timaru, or Oamaru. , . : member:. Or Paekakariki."; (Laugh- ■ The Government (Mr. Lees continued) EJoultl.bo urged.to rectify this. ■He had seconded a resolution to tliis effect at the last annual meeting, but not a brick had .yet been laid. A deputation which waited on the .Government on this matter some tinio ago had said they did not want nny- . thing like the Dunedin railway station, • I 11 that public building should always bo well in advance of present requirements, so as to save the great expense ,oi tinkering up afterwards. ' Mr. 11.'. G. Towsley.'.in seconding, the motion, said.he did not agree with the mover m, desiring anything so ornate and costly.as the Dunedin station, but it was urgently necessary for a beginning to be made with the erection of a station that would be adequate to , the needs of Wellington. . : . ■-. ■ • .The motion was .carried unanimously. .

:'" ;'•■'• -SUBURBAN AREA. ; On the motion of Mr. J. B. MTEwan seconded by Mr. Harkness, it was unanimously, resolved: . ''-..;-... "That the council bo requested to ' draw the attention of, the Government to the hardship and un'reasonabkiiess ;■ of restricting' the suburban area for railway purposes', in the case.of Wei- '•-. -.-.- lington to a distance of ten miles from ■the city, and to urge'that tho subur.banarea as how recognised bo not -.- altered;'''. ' ■ ;: ; ' ''a'cus'toms grievance. . : oved:' ,-.,- ..,.:. ■ i'fTMat' the attention. ; df . the . Hon. ' Minister^of Customs bo drawn to the ; injustice and hardship arisin'g.oiit" of :! ■ deoisiqns and interijrjita'ti'oris'.'of the tarilF, grid that ho be" requested "to, ' have all ; such gazetted. in future and made applicable |» all ports'of entry." ; As'ah-instance of; hardship, the mover said.that dental chairs had formerly been imported 1 as "manufactures- of iron with some other material," the rate being 20 per cent.; but the Minister had decided thatthey should be classed as "furniture,not otherwise enumerated," '25 per cent. At every-landing-waiter had' a different way of deciding'some points, and it was doubtful whether appeals that were made ever reached the Minister. Heiice there were local decisions. Houses with branches in 'difforent ports could import their, 'goods-.where, the decisions we-e most in-their favou. , . (A voice': "Hardly."); Others who: were only in a position to import at one port of entry, but sent, tho goods'to. different parts of the Dominion,, were placed at a disadvantage. Owing to this cause, his firm had lost some-business to the South Island, and it had taken.them three years to get it back. ..-.', . .'.■■-. . ■Mr.:T. S.'Young seconded the motion. He said that he also had found that goods were admitted at different rates in different ports, ■- I Mr..L. H-B. Wilson said, that all the decisions. that were considered of importance were.. published, and all were re-fwred.-.to the Minister. There was also a: Customs, audit: He thought dental chairs were rightly classed as furniture. It was to the interest of the whole community that the full duty be 'paid'in all cases. He thought the motion was an unjustified reflection on the Customs Department.' . .' ; . Mr. Tewsley thought'there was no such general grievance .as Mr. Gray-had'as-serted. He suggested that the motion be withdrawn, and, Mr. Gray ~ could then bring any 'grievance' he had. before the council, and it would receive every consideration. .' . ... ■ . . •The'motion was withdrawn! : SCHOOL PRIZES. The council was authorised to devote 21 guineas to prizes, for school children on .the same.lines as heretofore. . . NEW COUNCIL. The following' were elected to form the .Council of the Chamber during the ensuing year:—Messrs. H. C. Tewsley, J. G. Harkness, J. Macintosh, C. W. Jones W. G. Duthie.'E. G. Pilcher, D. J. Nathan, A. E. Pearce,A¥. Allan, A. A. ; Corrigan, J. M'Lellan, and G. Wilson.. It was; resolved .that, unless otherwise arranged , by. the .council,. the three mem-; borsto become ineligible for re-election for. one year Bhpuld be those who had been most • frequently absent; from the meetings of the council" during the year. Messrs. G. P. Powles and P. W. Haybittle were thanked' for their, past services as, auditors, and re-elected.