THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1916 CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 218, 17 October 1916, Page 2

THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1916 CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

"We nothing extenuate, nor set down auaht in malice."

The first annual dinner of the Pukekohe Chamber of Commerce, to be held next Thursday, has been promoted with a view of, if possible, securing unity between the traders of the town of Pukekohe, cohesion on the part of the business and farming communities and residents generally, co-operation as between business interests and local authorities, and last but not least a joining of forces of the different Chambers of Commerce of the Lower Waikato for the district's good.

In Pukekohe for some ieason or other extreme indifference has in the past prevailed as to local interests. Business men have more or less worked independently of one another and the welfare of the town has practically been a secondary consideration. " Unity is strength " is an old and true saying, and the aim of the Pukekohe Chamber of Commerce is to ensure the progress of the town by one and all being in accord on matters of public concern. Working quietly and unobtrusively, the Chamber alone has secured the postal and telephone facilities that are now so appreciated in Pukekohe, but this has only been brought about by constant " hammering " at the powers-that-be by the Chamber. Railway matters, too, have received very mature consideration, and it is not through want of energy on the part of the Chamber that the Railway Department has not seen fit to recognise the claims of the district for a better train service than now exists. At the same time the stopping at Pukekohe of the main trunk express on Sunday was directly due to the Chamber's direct representations and nothing daunted by previous unsuccessful endeavours a deputation from the Chamber is to wait on the Minister of Railways at an early dite to renew the request for the main trunk trains to call at Pukekohe on week-days as well as en Sundays The relationship between Chambers of Commerce and local authorities can be instanced in regard to the appeal that is being made to the Government to assist in the maintenance on a more liberal scale than in the past of such main arterial thoroughfares as the Great South road, and it is on this point that Mr E. Anderson, president of the Auckland Chamber of. Commerce, who is to be present at Thursday's dinner, will probably furnish some interesting information.

lii the broader sense of the Dominion's welfare and the nation's benefit, Chambers of Commerce are assuredly destined to play a most important part on the conclusion of the war, and iti is in this way that cohesion between the different Chambers of Commerce of the Lower Waikato as well as of all other districts becomes practically imperative. In a letter expressing his desire to attend the dinner of the Pukekohe Chamber, which at the time of writing his public duties rendered it very doubtful of accomplishment, the Hon. A M. Myers, M.P. (the Minister for Customs and Acting-Minister for Finance) well summed up the future situation in the following word*, viz.:—" The great war at present raging in Europe foreshadows many economic and commercial problems which will require adjustment at its conclusion and Chambers of Commerce will, by affording opportunities for full discussion of the various questions which will be raised, be able to render valuable service to the community." This expression of opinion by Mr Myers well justifies the existence of Chambers of Commerce, and on Thursday his views are certain to be endorsed by other suth authorities as the Hon. G. W. Eussell (Minister for Internal Affairs and Commerce) and Mr J. A. Young, M.P. for the Waikato, both of whom will be present on the occasion.