FOXTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2725, 26 April 1924, Page 2

FOXTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

ANNUAL MEETING

The annual meeting of members of the a hove was held on Thursday evening, presided over hv Mr Hornhlovv ( president). There was a good at tendance of members.

The following is the annual report :

Your Council have pleasure in -mhmifting the following report of the work done during the past year: The monthly meetings of the Council have been well attended by the. majority of members appointed: lint there are a few of the member.-. who have attended very irregularly and this shows that the Chamber should he careful to apjioinl those who will lake an interest in the work and who have the welfare of the town at heart. The quarterly general meetings have been very disappointing, very few members outside of the Council attending same. During the year we had the misfortune to lose the services of one of our vice-presidents, in the. person of Mr J. Hollas, who removed from the town. During Mr •Hollas’ connection with the Chamber he proved himself very enthusiastic in any. movement that effected the welfare of the town.

During the year many important matters have been dealt with, not only of local interest but of interest to the Dominion as a whole.

This year the Chamber was not represented nt the annual meeting of the Associated Chambers of Commerce held in Auckland hut we had the satisfaction of knowing that the only remit sent forward ftHat of urging a revision of the railway tariff) was unanimously approved. WHARF CHARGES. Again and again this Chamber lias endeavoured to obtain a reduction in the handling, sorting, and other charges imposed by the Railway Department on goods coming over the wharf, but so far without result. SHIPPING FREIGHTS. After prolonged negotiations your Chamber was successful in getting si earner freights to Foxton consid-

erably reduced and we appreciate the action of the manager of the Mamiwatu Shipping Co. for attending one of our meeting and discusmug the whole question; and also of his company in agreeing to the 11 duct inn. NEW SHIPPING. No stone has been left, unturned in the endeavour to obtain more In in t s to trade to one port. this question, -.o vital to the progress of’ our port. Inis had our continual consideration and it is with the greatest satisfaction, we are able to report that shippers have now ceased to view Foxton port with disfavour and that two more boats, the s.s. Waverley, and the a.s. Kohi have commenced trading here: also that the Canterbury Stopping Coy. are having a steamer built especially for t lit" trade. COAL VIA FOXTON. This i rf another important matter your Chamber has endeavoured to | bring into operation. After full in\esligation it was proved, that, the Railway Department could make a considerable saving by having all its coal requirements for this and sin rounding districts shipped via Foxton and it was considered that ti the Railway Department could be induced to adopt this proposal, that the coal trade of the port would revise and the district generally would participate in the saving of reduced costs of coal. The aid of the Fox lon Harbour Board and the Palmerston _\. (Jhamber of Commerce was evoked and we appreciate the way these two sister bodies applied themselves to the subject with the result that a deputation waited on the Minister and GeneralAi imager of Railways in Wellington and we are in hopes our suggestion will soon be given effect to. NEW POLICE STATION. After strong representations by .your Chamber, backed up by the persistent efforts of the Hon. Ed. Newman and Mr J. Linklater, M.P. tins bus become an established fuel. NEW COURT HOUSE.

Our President also took advantage of a visit to Poxton of the Minister of Justice, to evince the need of a new building and this matter is now under consideration by I be Department. 11VDRO -ELECTRIC POWER.

In order tiiaL citizens should fully understand the scheme and proposals of the Horowhenua Power Hoard, this Chamber arranged for tlie chairman (Mr Monk) and the engineer (Mr Overton) together with the local representative (Mr A. Ross) on the Board to address a public meeting in Poxton. These gentlemen gave full information as to the various activities ol the Board and the approximate costs to householders. Dux - best thunks are due to these gentlemen for so readily complying with our request.

ELECTRICITY BOR THE BEACH. As there was some doubt of the Power Board going on with its original proposal to supply the Beach with electricity we have made a very strong protest against the matter being dropped and we are pleased to state that owners of houes at the beach have now taken the matter’ up and no doubt satrafacory

arrangements will be made for eartying out the work. WfHROTvINO AND SHANNON ROADS.

These matters have also received very full consideration and on our suggestion the Manawafu County Council invited the Minister of Public Works to visit these localities, and although he has not done so, he has had Mr Furkitt, Chief Engineer of Public Works report on same; and we understand Hint as far as tbo Public Works is concerned the wlmli matter has been Sett in abeyance until the Main Highways Bill come.- into operation. In the meantime tlie Mamiwatu County Council has put tlies t . roads into very good order. DAIRY FACTORY. ’ This is another matter that has had attention and we hope that ere long a factory will be established in Foxton. MAILS PER CHAR-A-BANC. Owing to the train services cutting out the midday mails on two days per week, your Chamber requested tlie Post Ofliee Department to have the mails on these days carried by the eliaf-a-bane. This was agreed to. and this sendee is now the most convenient of any. J Many other matters affecting the welfare of the town and district have been dealt with such as Shannon Bridge, Levin-Greatford Railway; Ma nawatu-Oroua River Board, continuous telephone service. Beach Road, improved streets, etc. In conclusion we regret the lack of interest shown by a great many of our prominent- citizens in the work of the Chamber.

In many instances the Chamber has had to stand alone in matters that vitally effect the progress and prosperity of the town.

Chambers of Commerce are 'recognised all over the world as being absolutely necessary institutions as they weld together for the common good all shades of political opinions and they are able to deal with questions outside the realm of other local bodies.

We trust that the coming year will see all interests more fully united and that all will work with a view of making Foxton progress, and to be one of the best sea ports on the coast.

Tlie audited balance-sheet showed total receipts £23 9/8 (including £8 15/8 carried forward from last year) and expenditure £l6 15/-, leaving a credit balance of £6 14/8. The report and balance-sheet were spoken to by several members and adopted.

OF OFFICERS. The following officers were elected : President: Mr D. Christie; vicepresident, Mr Admme; Council: Messrs Horublow, A. N. Smith, J, Moir, Ad mo re, Perreau, Winstanlev, Jno. Ross. G. T. Woodroofe, C. A. Pearson, E. Healey, R. MeMurray and 11. Osborne and tire Mayor and Mr J. Lin kin ter. M.P., ex-officio members; secretary; Mr R. McMurray: treasurer: Mr E. Healey; auditor.' Mr S. H. Poole; lion, solicitors: Messrs Moore and Bergin. Complimentary references were mode to the services of the out-go-ing jin-sident and the secretary during the post year. NEW MEMBERS. Messrs Goldingham and Beckett and Mr Win Stanley were elected members. Pin* resignation of Mr Thorpe was r« reived with regret. (’(* KKKS PON HENCE of a formal nature was read and n reived i roiu the General-Manager of Railways re cause of strike; Canterbury Shipping Co., re steamer for Eoxion trade and Levin and i <>. re snipping. MEETINGS. 11 was decided Lo hold the uiunttiE meetings on the third Thursday in each mouth. HARBOUR BOARD AND WHARF. The following motion was carried unanimously-:—“Thai this Chamber congratulates the Foxton Harbour Board upon its successful negotiations with the Minister of Railways to temporarily lake over the control ■>f t lie wharf in order to facilitate shipping to the .port and destribuiioii of cargo and pledges itself to support the Board in its undertaking.” GENERAL. it was resolved to recommend to the Borough Council that a trough be erected at the junction of Spring St. and Avenue Rd. That the Borough Council be requested to straighten the road leading from Russell St. across the railway.

That ibis meeting agrees with the object of the establishment of a District High Seoul for Poxton and urges parents of pupils eligible for secondary education to sign a petition to be forwarded to the Educat ion Board. It was decided to convene a special meeting of the Chamber to deal with local strike conditions should t tic necessity arise.