CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2031, 27 August 1880, Page 3

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

The annual general meeting of the members of the Chamber of Commerce was held at 3 p.m., yesterday. Present—Messrs Q. G. Stead (president), E. W. Roper, F. Jenkins, L. Oaro, W. Day, W. D. Meares, H. Thomson, 0. B. Taylor, W. E. McDougal, W. R. Mitchell, W. D. Wood, D. Caro, Louisson. Cameron, Fletcher, Ohry stall, J. Anderson, P. Cunningham, A. C. Wilson, Oonnal, Graham, Nathan, R. Allan, Toosey, Inglis, Palmer, J. A. Bird (secretary). The Secretary read the balance-sheet, which showed a balance in favor of the Chamber on the assets and liability account of £599 lls Id, and a balance in the Hank on receipts and disbursement account of £fi9 lls Id. The balance-sheet was audited by the auditors. The report of the committee was road by the President as follows : Your committee beg to present the twentyfirst annual report of this Chamber, and in as doing are pleased to be able to state that in their opinion the depression which existed at the time of the last annual meeting has, to a certain extent, passed away. At that date money was almost unobtainable, even on the beet securities, while at the present time large sums are seeking investment at comparatively modest rates of interest. The prevading depression has lately caused additional attention to be given to the manufacturing and industrial interests, and we take this to be one of the most pleas.ng features in our future prospects. We may especially refer to the groat increase in the output of our local coal mines. Cheap coal will be an immense advantage to existing manufactories, and will also be a powerful aid in the development of our industries. In general commerce business has been conducted upon a more prudent basis than for some years past, and the result is that latterly a marked diminution is noticeable in the extent and number of commercial failures Your committee beg to point out that in addition to the nsnal tables of impo-ts and exports a lithographed plan of Lyttelton Inner Harbor is appended to the report, which shows the large area of 109 acres of deep water, the extensive wharfage accommodation available, as well as the site of the graving dock, now in coarse of completion. Your committee particularly desire to call attention to the facilities now afforded in Lyttelton harbor to merchant shipping, faci.ities unequalled in any other harbor in the southern hemisphere. The despatch given to foreigngoing vessels during the six months ending 9th July last, warrants special notice, and it will be seen on reference to table A that forty-ei*ht of th finest merchant vessels to be fonnd in the world, aggregating 53,341 registered tons, have cleared outwards for the United Kingdom within the above-mentioned period. This fleet discharged 20,221 tons general cargo, 12,174 tons of coal, besides ballast, and shipped 32,904 bale* of wool and skins, 570,14 i sacks o£ grain, averaging only 393- days at the wharf for loading and discharging each ship of an average registered tonnage of 1000 tons, and this average includes detention from wet weather, Sundays and holidays. This despatch will compare favorably with that given _ in any other port in the Australian colonies; and as the saving in time is of great importune 3 to shipowners, it will tend to reduce freights, to the manifest benefit of the community. It is satisfactory to learn from the statistics attached that our foreign and intercolonial exports of grain from Lyttelton harbor have increased from 1,492,37(5 bushels wheat, H 7,842 bushels oats, and 78,755 bushels barley in 1878-9 to 2,181,656 bushels wheat, 282,690 bushels oats, and 160,298 bushels barley in 1879-80. The enhanced value of wool has also been most welcome to the growers, and although we cannot congratulate the farmers on the prices realised for their cereals, tho large yields have, in a measure, compensated for the low values ruling. During the present season a joint committee from the Legislative Council and Honse of Representatives was appointed to revise the bankruptcy laws, and in response to a circular telegraphic request this Chamber forwarded a series of answers to certain questions which were submitted on tho subje.t by tho joint committee referred to. It will be noted from the recently published report of Colonel Seratchley on the defence of Lyttelton that this important matter has net entirely escaped attention ; at the same time we cannot bat regret that no practical steps have been taken to p ace in position the valuable guns imported so mar,y months ago. Early in the present year the head-quarters and staff of the Commissioner of Railways for the Middle Island were remove,! to Dunedin, notwithstanding the many weighty reasons urged against the expediency cf this change by a sub committee of the Chamber at several interviews they had with both the present and the late Ministers for Public Works The attent : on of the Government has been drawn to the inequitable railway tariff at present in force, more especially with reference to the exceptional rates levied on the Lyttelton and Christchurch line. Your committee, when addressing the Minister for Public Wo ks on this subject, strongly urged the advisability of differential rates being imposed, basi d on the cost of working the several lines. While on the subject of railways, your committee desire to place on record their appreciation of the able manner in which the Canterbury railways have been worked under the present traffic manager. The quantity of grain forwarded during the past six months by rail was largely in excess of that sent during any similar period hitherto, and notwithstanding this fact the traffic manager was able to cope with the heavy traffic demands without a single block occurring on the lines. V our committee received a circular letter from the Board of Trade of the dominion of Canada proposing a convention of delegates from the various colonial chambers of commerce, to be held in London next year. Your committee are at present in communication with the leading Chambers in New Zealand on tho subject. As you are no doubt aware, the president and committee selected from members of the Chamber have acted as a local committee for the purpose of receiving and forwarding exhibits for the Melbourne Exhibition. The proposed increased taxation is causing groat anxiety throughout the colony. No donbt the prospect of a heavy property tax has tended to retard any material advance in the value of landed estate, as well as to check the improvement in commerce which should have followed here in sympathy with the recent recovery in trade throughout Europe. Pour members have been elected during the year, two former members re admitted, and five have withdrawn, leaving 108 subscribing members on the roll. The usual financial statement, duly audited for the year, is appended hereto, together with the various tables bearing upon the commerce of Canterbury. The President, in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, said—l ask your permission to refer to the time when our last annual general meeting was held. It will be in your memory that New Zealand wag then passing through a commercial crisis, the severity of which was intensified by the partial failure of the harvest in the early part of the year. The farmers, however, had just been favored with an excellent seed time, and had succeeded in putting a very largo area of land into crop, so that both agriculturists and traders were in good heart, and were looking forward somewhat hopefully to the future. These anticipations, however, have only been partially realised, as although tho crops this year were abundant, the unremunerative prices ruling effectually checked the hoped for improvement. Another favorable seed time is nearly over, and the farmers, with indomitable perseverance, have again put a large breadth of land into crop, and we can only trust that the results, upon which so much depends, will prove more favorable in the future than was the case in the past year. Fortunately the enhanced value of our leading staple—wool—has counteracted to some extent the .poor results of the harvest, and this, combined with the extreme caution of traders, has had a reassuring effect upon commerce ; and I feel justified in stating that notwithstanding the long and severe depression—which depression we must admit still exists —commercial credit in Canterbury _ is fairly healthy, os stocks are low, liabilities comparatively light, and few transactions are entered upon, unless it is seen that engagements can be faithfully met. Tho work of the Chamber during tho past year, having been so fully dealt with in the report, I will not take up your time by entering into details of the failure of your oommittss to obtain an

equalisation of the railway rate* upon the Lyttelton to Christchurch and the Port Chalmers to Dunedin lines, or of thw efforts c f your committee to prevent the removal of the headquarters of the Commissioner of Railways from Christchurch. With your permission I purpose quoting, in a condensed form, the agricultural statistics, and the imports and exports of Canterbury and of the whole of New Zealand. These figures show the progress this province has made in agriculture as compared with the rest of the colony, and also that the balance of imports over exports at the port of Lyttelton contrast favorably with those of the whole of New Z-alard. Comparative Agricultural Statistics for Canterbury and for New Zealand for years 1875,1876, 1877, 1878, 1879 and 1830:

You will thus see that during the sis years under review the acreage of grain has increased in Canterbury by 242,945 acres, or 171.4 per cent., and the yield has increased 8,131,430 bushels, or 190.8 per cent., while the increase for the balance of the colony (exclusive of Canterbury) is only 135,494 acres, or 98 3 per cent., giving an increased yield of 4,292,391 bushels, or 90.6 per cent. The import and export returns for the same term of six years ending 30th June, 1830, show that the gross imports at Lyttelton amounted to £8,199,870, and the exports to £7,868,874, or a balance only of £330,996 of imports over exports for the whole period. Upon comparing the imports with the exports for the whole colony it will be seen that the gross imports amount to £46,233,939, and the exports to £34,656 617, or a balance of £11,577,322 against the colony in the short space of six years. These returns show that although Canterbury has fairly held its own, the foreign trade of the colony as a whole is not on a satisfactory footing, especially when we consider that, in addition to having to provide for the deficiency caused by the imports exceeding the exports, wo have to meet the interest due to foreign creditors upon our national and private debts. Wo of course are aware that immense sums of money have been spent during the past few years in improving landed estates, as well as upon public works and the introduction of immigrants, and that the bulk of this money has not yet had time to give an adequate return for the outlay, but I think it may be taken for granted that the amount so capitalised does not equal the extent of our increased indebtedness during the same period. Seeing then that the exchangeable value of our annual products falls short of our annual consumption, it is evident the colony is not living within its revenue, and consequently its capital is decaying in providing for the annual deficit. In other words, we have been paying current expenses out of capital instead ot out of income, and to this we may mainly attribute the long continuance of the depression. The colony’s extravagance, as shown by the excess of imports over exports, is no doubt the outcome of a feverish attempt to get rich by speculation instead of by steady industry, and this speculation has been engendered by the lavish expenditure of borrowed money upon public works. To remedy this, it is obvious severe economy must be carried out by all classes until the balance of trade has been re-adjusted and the present depression has become a thing of the past. We have built railways, telegraphs, bridges, post-offices, public buildings, &0., &0., and have a civil service that would suffice for the requirements of double our present population; and we need more producers, both manufacturers and farmers, to utilise these conveniences, as the burden of maintaining them is almost beyond our power. The wages question also requires grave consideration, as, whilst most industries are depressed as they are now, the working class must accept such terms as will leave their employers a profit, or they will drive elsewhere the capital upon which their very existence depends. We cannot forget that capital is cosmopolitan, and always seeks remunerative markets for employment. The recuperative powers of New Zealand owing to its genial climate and fertile soil are very great, and they contain within themselves elements that must ultimately ensure its prosperity. But, neither onr grand climate nor prolific soil can support us if we continue as extravagant as we have hitherto been. We need rigid retrenchment, domestic, commercial, and political, and a determination to reduce our expenses within our income ; and, on the other hand, we need to increase the gross earnings of the nation, as well as of our public works, and this must be effected by adding to the number and extent of our productions and manufactures. Having referred somewhat fully to a subject of colonial interest, I wish, before concluding, to mention a local matter of a pleasing character. From the railway returns, I observe that the tonnage of grain and agricultural produce carried upon the Christchurch section of the railways, from January 10th to June 20th, 1880, inclusive, was 156,117 tons, as against 80,035 tons for the same period in 1879, being an increase of 76,082 tons, or slightly over 95 per cent.; and that the tonnage of grain and agricultural produce that passed through the Lyttelton tunnel by rail from Ist January to 31et July, 1830, was 84,738 tons, against 41,798 tons for the same period of 1879, being an increase of 42,940 tons, or nearly 103 per cant. [Applause.] This groat increase in the traffic on the Christchurch section of the railways bears evidence that Canterbury continues to progress, notwithstanding the depressed state of trade in the rest of the colony, and I can only hope that it will be the pleasing duty of my successor in the presidency of the Chamber to report at our next annual general meeting that Bomewhat similar progress has been made on the rest of the railway lines in New Zealand. [Applause.] I have now to move the adoption of the report and balance-sheet as read. Mr Harley said that he understood from the report of the committee that it was said that the export of wool was stated at 32,904 bales. Now, he had taken out the returns, and up to the present date over 43,000 bales had been shipped. The President said that great care had been taken to get the figures out correctly. Mr Cunningham said that Mr Harley’s year commenced in December, whereas that of the Chamber commenced in January. Ibis would account for the difference.

Mr A. O. Wilson seconded tho adoption of the report. The speech of the president had shown them some of the difficulties in which New Zealand found herself. He might say that he thought they should express their regret at the recent loss of the Hydaspes, not alone because they knew Captain Babot and that the vessel had been here, but because she had on board the refrigerating apparatus. Thus tho starting of that industry would bs delayed. He had seen a question asked in the Houie aslco whether the Government intended to etart a mint, but it was stated that it was not, which, he thought, was correct. It was a remarkable fact that the Mints of Sydney and Melbourne together appeared to coin as much as the yearly average of gold coined at the Royal Mint. A significant fact of the depression which had existed during 1879 throughout the world was that in that year tho total value of gold coins struck by the Royal Mint was only £37,613, or less than one-hundredth part of the last ten years’ average of £4,056,000 per annum. In addition to this, there was a diminution of no less than £1,156,000 in the importation of Austra lian sovereigns into England daring the same year. Tho removal of the Commissioner of Railways to Dunedin had not been attended with tho fearful result that had been anticipated by some. The trains still ran occasionally, and the grain traffic had been very satisfactorily handled, [Hoar, hear. 3 As to-

gsrded the question of defenee, he thoaght that the time had arrived when, is addition to the defence of their ports and their coaling stations, that they should also make some provision lor the defence of commerce of the

seven Australasian colonies, which now amounted to over one hundred millions sterling per annum, which was more than the amount of English commerce forty-five year* ago. He thought that necessity existed for some more efficient protection to the commerce of Australasia than the five or six small ships of war now on this station. [Hear, hear. - ] He had now much pleasure in seconding the adoption of the report. The President then declared the following office-bearers elected for the ensuing year, viz, - President, Mr A. 0. Wilson ; vice-presi-dent, Mr John Oonnel; committee, Messrs Cunningham, Ohrystall, Inglis, Meares, Maopherson, L. E. Nathan, G. G. Stead, 0. W. Turner, and the Hon. J. T. Peacock. Mr Anderson moved—“ That a coidial vole of thanks he recorded to the retiring president and vice-president,” and in doing so took the opportunity of paying a tribute of praise to the president for his admirable review of the aspects of trade, not alone -in. Canterbury, but in New Zealand, and the work of the Chamber during the year. Mr Palmer seconded the resolution, speaking also in terms of commendation of the work done by the president, vice-president, and offics bearers. The motion was put eud agreed to. Mr Stead briefly responded. Mr A. 0. Wilson said that the president had taken a large amount of interest during, the year in the very important aubj- ct of the differential rates on the railways. He would desire to point out that the necessity for this was amply shown by the fact that the cost of the maintenance of the railways differed from £l2 to £l6 per month per mile on the lines from Amberley to Camara, whilst from Camara to Palmerston and lower it cost £23 per month per mile. This showed most particularly that the differential rates were necessary. Mr C. B. Taylor moved a rote of thanks to the committee. Mr Allan seconded the motion, pointing out that there was a good deal of Canterbury produce which went south and thus tended to swell their returns. Then again there was a large quantity of goods imported coastwise, which would not appear in the returns spoken of by the president. He only mentioned this to prevent the figures quoted by the president being challenged at some future date. The President said that he was glad that Mr Allan had spoken on this ma'ter, because it gave him an opportunity of calling the attiou of members to the fact that the figures quoted by him, as they would have heard, referred solely to foreign and intercolonial exports and imports. There was no doubt that, as stated by Mr Allan, a very large amount of goods were exported coastwise, and also that there were large imports in the same direction. But he desired to call the attention of the Chamber to this, that the figure# scarcely gave a correct statement of the exact value of the exports for the first five years in question, as during that period the values of wool per lb. and of wheat per bushel were declared at the time of shipment by the exporters, so that the results varied. The Customs authorities had, however, adopted during the last year a scale of value per lb. for wool and per bushel for grain, which had this effect, that as it was somewhat lower than that taken in past years, their exports looked smaller in comparison with preceding years, although the gross quantities shipped were very greatly increased. By taking the figures of the Customs authorities they would however always have a reliable reference in case of the challenging at any time of their statistics.

The motion was then put and agreed to. Mr Meares moved a vote of thanks to the auditors.

Mr Cunningham said he would second the motion, but he wanted to say that he did not think that they were right in passing the assets and liabilities account at the figures they bad. As their landed property was worth now some £ISOO, their assets should have shown a balance of £I3OO or £1406 instead o£ £590.

The President said that he took the blame of this upon his shoulders. He took it that it was the safest plan in a Chamber such as theirs, which was not like a j int stock company desiring to declare a dividend to keep their property at the value they had paid for it, rather than that which it might fetch in the market. [Hear, hear.] The motion was then put and agreed to unanimously. Mr B. Allan said he desired to ask, as there was no reference to the new building in the report, whether it was intended to be carried out.

The President said that last year’s committee had consulted with Mr Armeon on the subject, and were of opinion that they were not in a position to erect such a building as they would require for their accommodation, or as should be erected on so valuable a site.

[Hear, hear.] It was, of course, for the incoming committee to say what they would do. This terminated the business.

Cakterbcrv. Total acreage Gross in wheat, yield in oats and bushels, barley. 1875 ... 141,676 4,261,826 18/6 ... 146,812 5.173,750 1877 ... 178.496 5,141.616 1878 ... 247.827 6,131,629 1879 ... 319,341 7,230,291 1880 ... 381,621 12.393,256 Acreage in Canterbury increased 242,945 acres, or equal to 17l"4 percent. Yield in Canterbury increased8,131,430 bushels, or equal to 190.8 per cent. New Zealand. Total acreage Gross in wheat, yield in oats and bushels, barley. 279,451 9,000,230 283,710 10,214,277 320,010 9 563,582 456,463 12,943,154 570,770 15,137,214 6571890 21,424,051 Acreage for remainder of N.Z. increased 135,494 acres, or equal to 98.3 per cent. Yield for remainder of N.Z. increased 4,292,391 bushels, or equal to 90 6 per cent. Comparative statement of the value of Foreign and Intercolonial Imports and Exports at the port of Lyttelton and New Zealand for each twelve mouths, ending 30th Jane, 1875,1876, 1877,1878, 1879 and 1880:— Lyttelton. Imports. Exports. 1875 ... 1.181.976 1,031,187 1876 ... 1,205,910 1,274,218 1877 ... 1,149.683 1,242,311 1878 ... 1.457,283 1,461,528 1879 ... 1,950,868 1,495,050 1880 ... 1,244,145 1,311,580 Totals 8,199,870 7,868,874 Balance of imports over exports in six years, £330,966. New Zealand. Imports. Exports. 6.373.111 5,463,600 7.417.111 5,619,573 6,894.098 5,467.694 7.391,551 6,226,126 9,204,022 6,181,190 6,954,040 5,668,434 46,233,939 34,656,617 Balance of imports over exports in six years, £11.577.322