CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 573, 4 June 1913, Page 4

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

The decisiion of the retailors of Te Kuiti to amalgamate with the Chamber of Commerce is a stop which must commend itself to all who are interested in the advancment. of the district. The interests of retailers and the Chamber of Commerce are inseparably associated, just as the interests of town and district are indissolubly linked. It. is widely recognised that the town exists largely on the country producers, and upon the development of the rural districts depend:! the progress of the business centres. It is altogether in the interests of the townspeople as a whole to combine for the purpose of developing to the highest extent the country which is served by any town centre. In a chamber of commerce wo have a recognised body established ostensibly for the purpose of safeguarding the many matters affecting the commerce of the district. In such :i district is the King Country the commerce of the locality consists entirely of the products of the farming community, and by seeking to promote the farming interests in every detail the chamber is but fulfilling the natural functions of such a body. At the present time the interests of the settlers lie chiefly in acquiring the beet, possible facilities for carrying on their business, and any action taken in furthering or hastening the establishment of those facilities mUBt contribute to the prosperity of both town and country. The detail matters affecting merely the retailers of the town can readily be administered by a committee for the purpose, and the accession of now members to the chamber should result in increased interest and weight being lent to the efforts of the chamber generally. We trust the retailers' interest in the body will not be limited to the town. The district generally is crying aloud for development, and every effort of the Chamber should be devoted to promoting the progress of the back country. The whole of the public facilities necessary for the development of the rural lands are in the direction of bringing the country close to the town, and of making the social

and business intercourse of town and country easier and rheaper. It is obviously therefore the duly of every business man in the town to contribute towards such a desirable end, and by true co-operation play a worthy part in working out tho destiny of a great district. An unexpected legal difficulty has for the moment intorferred with the complete powers intended to bo given the Public Service Commissioners in regard to Civil servants' salaries. During the course of their duties tho Commissioners have thought it necessary to increase tho remunertion of certain ofiioers. Their word is law in the Civil Service, but to their surprise they discovered one lopartment whorein their mandate was not only questioned but positively sot aside. When the Audit Office came aerosß the increased payments it demanded of the Commissioners, ho 1 understand, that their statutory authority should bo quoted. This waß a poser the Commissioners found it impossible to overcome. Doubtless, the adoption of the classification list by Parliament will solve it, but, if not, the service will be in the singular position of having to look to the Commissioners for its orders and to Ministers for its increment. The increases proposed by the Commissioners are not being paid. The improved facilities for travel brought about by the wonderful popularity of the motor car have made a big difference to the value of house property in London. People can now get farther afield with very little trouble, and fine houses in Kensington and Lancaster Gate, just west of Picccadilly and the parks, lie empty and deserted, their former owners having removed to the freßher air surrounding on the outskirts of the metropolis. Dwellings that used to be let for £3OO a year nowadays will not fetch 10s a week, and the owners and rating authorities are losing heavily. The Hon. W. 11. Homes informed a Post representative on Monday that he had completed tho purchase of 8000 acres of native land between Napier and Wairoa (Hawkes' Bay), near the line of route of the Napier-Gisborne railway.

The To Kuiti Golf Club's Jinks arc becoming very popular, and on Saturday last quite a number of players were to be seen out. The Secretary contemplates further improvements next week when the greens will receive attention and another stile is to be erected over one of the fences, and sundry other improvements made. Members are notified that all those whose subscriptions for the season remain unpaid by the 21 st insl. will receive a notice that their names have been deleted from the list of members, in accordance with a recent resolution of the Committee. Messrs Mackay and Jones have very kindly presented a first-class Brassey for competition amongst the lady members, the details of [he competition being left to the Committee to arrange. The rainfall in Tc Kuiti for the month of May was as follows: May Ist, •07 ; 2nd, .24 ; 3rd. .18: 6th, .00;' ;th, .10 ; Bth, .25 ; 9th. .20 ; 10th, 1.39 ; 11th,.21 ; 13th, .08 ; 15th, .os ; 18th, .09 ; 19th. r.o; ; 20th, Si ; 21st, .56 ; 28th, .12 ; 29th, .10 : 5..J0 inches in 1/ days. The corresponding rainfall for May 1911 and 1912 respectively was 5.04 inches on 13 days and 4.44 inches on 12 clays.

Mr C. M. Strachey, who has come from Christchurch to organise the work of the Bible in State Schools League in the Auckland province, is now in Te Kuiti. On Saturday he will meet local people willing to help the League, as well as delegates from Taumarunui! and Otorohanga, in gSt. Luke's schoolroom on Saturday mom ing at 11 o'clock. In view of the Prime Minister's promise to provide a metalled road from the railway to Matiere as soon as weather permits, the Ohura County Council has decided to drop the project of laying a tram from the twelve mile point. The council had offered to provide a sum of £SOO towards the cost of the train. * In proposing the toast of "Parliament" at a luncheon following the opening of a bridge at Trantbam, Mr T M Wilford said: "It is an awkward subject to talk about, but while I have been sitting here I thought I could best illustrate the subject by telling you a little story. You don't want any long theory of politics Tfee Amercan Ambassador a few months ago stated that he met a very prominent American, and said: 'I hear you don't believe in the Monroe doctrine. I needn't go into the Monroe doctrine ; you all know what it is. The man turned round to the Ambsiador and said: 'lt is a wicked lie; I never said I didn't believe in the Monroe doc trine. I would die for the Monroe doctrine. What I did say was that I didn't understand it.' Gentlemen, "'The Parliament of New Zealand.' " The progress of the district is always indicated by the increase in school attendance, and for some years past the increase in population at Te Kuiti has necessitated frequent additions to the public school. It is litt'e more than a year since considerable additions were made to the school, and already the building is over-crowded. Dr Mcllwraith, Inspector of the Education Board, who recently visited Te Kuiti, has recommended that two new class rooms, to accommodate a hundred and twenty children, are urgently required.

Madame Cassigno], the wife of the well - known international billiard player was electrocuted in her bath last week at St. Cloud. Sha touched a button controlling the electric, light while she was in the bath, from which the water was running. A circuit was formed, and a tremendous current passed through her body killing her instantly. Her arm was found charred to a cinder. The blarkened hand was still pressed to the electric button, showing how the accident had occurred. General Miles, in an interview, said tha if Japan were so foolish as to declare war, no invasion of the United States wouW follow. The chances of war were remote, and the Japanese, as fighters, were greatly over-rated. The Premier of South Australia has cabled from London that the moneymarket is very hard for colonial borrowing. The market is disturbed by large foreign loans at high interest, and it is impossible to float a loan on advantageous terms at present. It was provided under the Native Land Amendment Act of 1912 (the first measure of the kind put through by the Reform Government) that the Governor may by Order-in-Council, on the recommendation of the Native Land Court declare any person to be a European. In last week's Gazette four such Orders-in-Council are published, the natives who are Europeanised being Mary Spooler, of Raketapauma, Heni Te Rau (Jane Brown), of Auckland, Agnes Takarea Mcßae, of Aotea and Bessie Te Wenerau Grace (Te Wenerau Kerehi), of Blenheim. The following school committees have nominated Mr G. J. Garland, present chairman of the Board of Education, as a candidate for the West ward- Mount Albert, Pukekohe, Mount Roskill, Te Kuiti, Matiere, and Onehunga. Mr Garland has represented the West ward on the Board for the past six year?. The election wll take place at the end of July.

A sitting of the Native Appellate Court will open at Auckland on Wednesday next, June 4, Judges MacCormick and Rawson presiding. There are 37 appeals set down for hearing. On Friday, June 6, the same judges will sit as a Native Land Court to hear compensation claim against the Government cancelling an area of about 3000 acres taken along the banks of the Mokau River, for scenery preservation purposes. The compensation claimed is anout "512,000. The King has invested Lord Islington, ex-Governor of New Zealand and chairman of the Indian Service Commission, With the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. All barmaids who had not applied for registration up to Saturday will become illegible for employment in that capacity. A test case in connection with the position of those serving in private bare is to be heard in J Wellington this week. The law renuiresthat a barmaid, wishing to be registered, must have been employed for a period of not less than three months between November 21, 1909, and November 21, 1910. Five out of the seven unregistered barmaids in Auckland are unable to comply with the regulation, and are therefore ineligible for registration. An outbreak of fire occurred at Messrs Laidlaw Leeds' warehouse, . Fori; street, Auckland, on Saturday Avenine The outbreak was soon got under bv the fire brigade, but a great deal of damage was done by water. The stock, a great portion of whicn is a total loss, was insured in the North British and Mercantile Company for £34,000. The mutton shipped from Lyttelton in the hold of the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company's steamer Tamm which collided last week with the Pacific Steam Navigation Company s steamer lnca off the Spanish coast is reported to be damaged by water. The eheese and butter are not damaged,