CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3525, 23 May 1905, Page 2

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

The adjourned meeting of the newlyformed Chamber of Commerce of Foxton takes place this evening, and ,we seize this opportunity to again urging the importance of membership to all who ara in any way concerned in the progress and prosperity of the town and district. He who sets before ns what trade will do does good, and thus a combination that

will inform «s of the benefits of extended commerce and how we may obtain our share of the good thereof should- be welcomed. Writing'nearly two hundred years ago Daniel Defoe, in bis “ Humble Proposal to the People of England ” for the increase of their trade he urged that the country depended for its importance upon trade, and that trade depended for its growth upon its honesty. “ The short inference is," he said, “ that as by trade the whole kingdom is advanced in wealth, and the value of lands and the product of lands and of labour is so remarkably increased, why should we not go on with vigour and spirit in trade, and, by all proper and possible means, increase our trade and commerce ? ’’ How truly may we apply those remarks to-day to the circumstances of our own little centre as part of a growing community! The wisdom of Defoe’s counsel in 1728 to the merchants of England has been proved,—how much more, indeed than even his mind could have conceived possible—and we as part of a young nation may be in our turn on the threshold of a period of unparalleled prosperity. Though individual efforts, or even the endeavours of a community, may be unfttyo, Iff UK »4va*tftff»

Of diiy gfdiil A combination of the various comnltiriKie's comprising the whole body politic will undoubtedly possess potentialities which cannot fdil to benefit. Such a combination, with »ucil iii influence for good, through the medium of ir’Sdft development, is a Chamber of Commerc'd, and we trust that the organisation just established in this town will prove no haif-Kddt'fddl affair. Nor, indeed, do we expect that it will set Manawatu on fire ; but we de hope that it may, by judicious exploitation of new outlets for our products, with improvements in their treatment in manufacture or preparation tor market, contribute in no small degree to the enjoyment of a time of prosperity in this colony such as not yet been dreamed of. The co-operation of individuals for the common good is essential; indeed it forms one of the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, of which we treat to-day in a preceding article. Therefore it should be a pleasure to every man to whom national pride is anything more than a meaningless phrase to add his small endeavour toward the working out of our national destiny, even in the bumble manner of becoming a member and interesting himself in the doings of the Chamber of Commerce. For from the orderly co-operation of many, good wilt result; from disjointed actions or from worse in the shape of the dry-rot of trade—indifference—commercial failure and national decadence must follow.