The Daily News MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 1902. THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIV, Issue 22, 27 January 1902, Page 2

The Daily News MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 1902. THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

It is to be hoped that the Chamber o Commerce is not going to degenerati into a scold. Ore of the ch : ef reason for the lack of influence on the part o many Ohambtrs of Commerce is be eauee of this tendency to find faul with all and sundry. Tbe local Cham ber on Tuesday evening indulged ii this bad habit to an extraordinary ex tent. The Postal Department, thi Borough Council, the Harbour Bjard the Railway Department, the Presi and the Government all came unde the lash, and generally things, accord ing to the speakers at the Chamber, ar< unsatisfactory. Everything has beei done that should not have been done and nothing done that should ban been done. Fortunately the Chambei had one member who recognised thai the functions of the Chamber are ti collect information end statistics, anc show what is required to foster anc promote the welfare and prosperity o! the district, instead of finding fault with others. We refer to Mr Bewley who is deserving of great credit for hii efforts to keep the Chamber on the rails and we have little doubt that mud practical good will result from thi motion proposed by him. We have nc desire to be bard on the Chamber o: Commerce, but we do tbink this die trict is suffering for the want of somi body to do as Mr Bewley suggests should be done in the case of tbe har bour,and in other matters besides. Fev districts have such vast resources lying undeveloped for the'' want of a reil liv< Chamber of Commerce continually co! lecticg and placing before the publii tbe information necessary to educate i sufficiently to cause it to insist or Facilities being provided for properly ieveloping these resources. Take th< mse of the suggested tramway or rail way to Opunake. The commerii* prosperity of the whole of Tarantk: jould be greatly enhanced by the con -.traction of this line, and surely th< work of collecting .the necessary date mould fall on tbe shoulders of the Chamber of Commerce. The construe Sion of the railway from Stratford tc Foko is a movement of the untiring energy of the Stratford Chamber o! Commerce, and what was done then sould be repeated here. On the nortl ilso there is a magnificent stretch ol fertile country, capable of supporting i rery large number of people, practical!] ying idle for the want of a railway it the present time, also, there if ilmost a famine in Mokau coal, ye< valuable seams of that coal art ying beyond this fertile area within 4( niles of New Plymouth, yet yeai ifter year passes away without an] iffort being made to secure the con itruction of a railway through thesi ands, and tapping these valuable coa neasures. Here again it seems to u: ;be Chamber of Commerce have a legiiimate field, and could do most valuable vork in placing before the public the mormous advantages of such a line. It •eally seems hardly creditable that the arge area to the north of New Plynouth should remain year after year n tbe same condition, when the contraction of less than 30 miles of railvay would render the coalfields available for the whole of our railway lystetn, and transform the whole coast.