CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4961, 15 February 1877, Page 3

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

" The". committee "met yesterday afternoon. The following gentlemen were present: Messrs. Bannatyne, George, Vennell, E. W. Mills, and Harcourt. The Deputy-Chairman, Mr. Hunter, presided".. The undermentioned letters were read: — Colonial Secretary's Office;'. 'Wellington; January 19, 1877. g!E —/Referring to my conversation with the deputation from the Chamber of Commerce on tho 10th instant, Ihave thehonprto inform you that the question of removing the magazine from Mount Cook to a more isolated position is under the consideration of the Government. '•' .'■.••■ In the meantime the magazine is under strict surveillance, and orders have been issued that all gunpowder removed from it shall be escorted through the town by the Armed Constabulary force.—l have, &c., Chaß. C. Bowen, In the absence of the Colonial Secretary. The Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Wellington. Masterton, 18th January, 1877. Dear Sir,—We, the undersigned auctioneers in the Wairarapa District, beg to call your attention to the enclosed advertisement relating to tho disposal of the privileges at the Carterton-Taratahi races by'public tender, and ask you to lay the matter before the next meeting of the Chamber of Commerce.' Tho 10th clause of the Ordinance for Licensing Auctioneers, 1842, reads thus:—" If any person not being duly licensed shall sell any estate, goods, or effects by way of auction or tender, or in any way whereby the highest bidder shall be deemed to be the purchaser, either by public sale or otherwise, he shall forfeit and pay for every such offence the sum of one hundred pounds, to be recovered in a summary way." We have consulted three loeal members of the legal profession, and each of them is of the opinion that the case above stated is an infringement of the Act, rendering the defaulting parties liable to a fine of £IOO. The only loophole wo can sec is that the advertisement states the "highest or any tender would not necessarily be accepted :" but from the newspaper local which we enclose you will see that the highest tender was accepted in every instance. We notice that the same method of disposing of goods, etc., has been used to a great extent in Wellington, notably in the case of the disposal of the bankrupt stock of Edmondson, Sellar, and Co. In last night's Evening Post (January 17) there are two advertisements of the same class, viz., those calling for tenders by the Wellington Jockey Club, and J. W. Kerby for publicans'booths, etc. If these proceedings are legal, we cannot see that auctioneers gain any advantage by paying £4O per annum for the privilege of doing business that any person can take out of their hands by simply inserting an advertisement calling for tenders. We should be much obliged if you would inform one of us when the next meeting of the Chamber takes place, as we wish, if we have right on our side, to take immediate steps to put a stop to the practice.—We are, etc., William Stuart Forbes, Auctioneer, Carterton. Jno. M. Girdlestone, Auctioneer, Masterton. S. Carroll, Esq., Secretary Chamber of Commerce, Wellington. The following notice in reference to telegrams was also read:"Telegrams may be sent to Chambers of Commerce in New Zealand, notifying the arrival or departure of steamers at or from any port in New Zealand, at the rate of 3d. per telegram ; provided that each telegram shall contain only the name of one steamer, the date and hour of her arrival or departure, and destination. Every' such telegram shall be made ' collect r 'by the sender, and shall be paid for by the receive? on delivery." The sub-committee appointed at the last J meeting reported that 'they.had waited upon the Colonial Secretary and urged upon that gentleman the importance of removing as soon as possible the inagazine'from its present position on Mount Cook to'some less densely populated part of the city, or outside of it altogether ; and that in the meantime proper steps should be taken to ensure due precautions being' adopted when gunpowder was being taken to, or removed from, the magazine. The letter printed was the written answer sent to the Chamber.

The same sub-committee stated that they had called upon his "Worship the Mayor, and pointed out the importance of taking steps to render it certain that the water supply would be turned on without a moment's delay in the event of an alarm of fire being raised, and that they had received the Mayor's assurance that he was fully alive to the import-; ance of the matter, and would take care to see that a sufficient number of watchmen were appointed. It was mentioned that there is now an ample supply of water, and that it is never turned off either by night or day, except when necessary to enable repairs to be effected, or additional supply pipes fixed to the mains. The Secretary called the attention of the members to the printed notice issued by the Government, notifying that the arrival or departure of steamers from any port in New Zealand might be sent to any Chamber of Commerce for the small charge of 3d. .; The subject of providing additional accommodation for' storing kerosene, more especially before the duty on it has been paid, was discussed, and a deputation was appointed to confer with the city authorities on the subject. " It was. mentioned that for some time past; the Customs departments have been short-handed, and that additional officers were required to enable the work to be got through with proper despatch, and a sub-committee was nominated to wait upon the Commissioner of Customs and bring this under his notice. It was decided that the general annual meeting should be held on Wednesday, March 21, 1877, at the Chamber, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon". "■ • Notice was given, that seven new members would be p'foposed at the next general meeting.