CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 164, 23 December 1926, Page 4

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

IT will be an unfortunate happening for the town if the Putaruru Chamber of Commerce is allowed to lapse through want of interest on the part of business people and other residents. For some months past there has been great difficulty in securing the necessary quorum for meetings, and last month the regular meeting lapsed on this account. At the meeting on Monday only seven members attended, and these .were only secured after considerable trouble on the part of the president and secretary. The membership of the Chamber is good, and all that is required is for members to roll up and take part in the monthly meetings. The record of achievement of the Putaruru Chamber during the past year is one in regard to which members may feel justly proud, and there is much more which can be done. An impression seems to be prevalent amongst some of the members that now that the Town Board has come into being it will take the place of the Chamber. This, however, is not so, for the work of the two bodies is totally distinct though at times one body may, of course, be complementary to the other. If a comparison must be made between

the two bodies then it is not too much to say that there is more need now for a strong* Chamber of Commerce than ever, for the Chamber may quite well at times act as critic and proffer its considered advice to the town board when matters of policy are under discussion. It is, however, on the purely business side of the town’s life that the Chamber is of the utmost use, and in furthering these activities the Chamber is following a path which is mostly quite outside the functions of a municipal body. Nevertheless on many occasions both bodies can combine to add their greater weight when the advocacy of some particular matter of public interest is being pursued by the town board, and this, of course, tends to enhance the chances of bringing any matter to a successful issue. ' '

As we have stated, the actual membership of the Putaruru Chamber is good, but what is particularly wanted at the moment is a lightening of the burden falling on the few who have so faithfully fathered the business interests of the town, so that when one or two of these members are unavoidably compelled to miss a meetingthrough pressure of private business, illness, or other causes, the time of the remainder is not wasted by a fruitless endeavour to hold a meeting. A Chamber of Commerce can do so much to further the business interests of a community that we feel that now the difficulty menacing the local Chamber has been made public, members will rally round at future meetings, and assist in carrying on the good work which has been done in the past.