CANTERBURY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 30

CANTERBURY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

JUBILEE CEI»EBBATTON. - CHRISTCHURCH, August 27. The annual meeting of the Canterbury Chamber .of Commerce to-day was a jubilee onOy. the chamber having been formed at- Lyttekon in 1859, with 30 members. When settlement extended over the Port Hills to Christchurch tbe headquarters ■were removed to the city, and the name was changed to the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. It is now one of the strongest in the Dominion. ' Mr H. J. Marrinef, president, presided. In presenting the annual report and balance sheet, the chairman dealt with the causes of the recent depression in the money market, with the drop in the , price _ of frozen mutton and the \ condition of the wool market. He also j reviewed the working of the Conciliation Act, and the effect of cheaper cable" rates, and touched upon the canal project and the rate of exports from Lyttelton. He j also spoke of the history of the chamber during the past 50 years. Speaking as one of the pioneer members, Mr W. EU Hargreaves said that among other things that had struck him dur- , ing late years, and especially to-day, was the complaint against the high cost of living. It would surprise many who were not in New Zealand iv the early days to learn that certain necessaries of life from 40 to 46 years ago cost very much more than they did to-day. Take flour, for example. The price at present was about £10- per ton. In 1863, before the electric telegraph enabled them to keep in daily touch with the outside markets, he and his brother, who were in partnership as , '.general merchants in Lyttelton, charged £24 per ton wholesale to the baker. They paid their head storeman £2 iOs per week, which was the accepted wage. Gasual hands received Is per hour, and there was no complaint from any of them. Those men invariably had ; their small freeholds, on which they cnl- , tivated and grew vegetables without its interfering with their ordinary avocations. He mentioned that to show them the difference between the endeavours on the part of the early colonists to economise i and live within their means and the pre- J J sent-day system of living. He was not , complaining that the working man and the artisan were living under better conditions than prevailed 50 years ago, but he contended that the chief articles of consumption were infinitely cheaper now ■ than then. He did not remember in the old days selling decent tea at less than j 2s 6d per 1b wholesale by the chest. By • the half-chest and box it was dearer. ' To-day tea of equal qiiality could be bought at less than half the price. Sugar, which they sold wholesale at from £52 to £52 per ton, nowadays cost from 2^d to 2£d per lb. Foreign loaf sugar in the loaf sold at 7|d per lb wholesale then ; cow it sold at 3^d per lb retail. He did not see any justification for the outcry against the Flour Millers' Association so long as flour was quoted at from £9 to £10 10a. It -was to be feared that in many instances much of the old-time spirit of self-reliance had been extin- j guished. They needed three things nowa- | days — first, economy ; second, economy ; 1 and third, economy. Mir H. P. Murray Aynsley, who joined the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce in 1860, and became president dmnng 1862-3, said it was in full swing when Toe came out from Home in 1859. He believed he was the only surviving member from that time. Lyttellon in those days was the j principal place of business. In 1862 Mr W. H. Hargreaves joined the chamber. After the tunnel was completed the principal business offices were moved from Lyttelton to Christchurcb, and Lyttelton. became merely a port. There was a movement to start a separate chamber in Christchurch, but it was thought bettea* to move the Lyttelton Chamber to Christchurch. On May 21, 1863, a meeting was held, when the voting on the question of removal to Christchurch "was equal, and he (the speaker, who presided) gave his casting vote in favour of removal. People growled now if the English mail was a day late. When he came out in 1859 the ship had the letters of three mails on board. In those days the Government fixed a definite value for wool, and whether it brought that amount o>r not the export duty hud to be paid on the amount fixed. The business of one well-known firm of j opticians in England consists largely in the manufacture of horse spectacles. The object of _th 9 spectacles is to promote high stepping. They are made of stiff leather, entirely enclosing the eyes of the horse, and the glasses used are deep concave and largo in size. There is not a particle of opium or other narcotic in Chamberlain's Cough Remedy, and never has been since it was first offered to the public It is as safe a medicine for a child as for an adult. This remedy J is famous for its of cold^ and proup, j and can alv ays. bo depended upon. for ! sale eAcr,j where. j