CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 53, 11 June 1910, Page 2

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce was lield last night. The president (Mr. W. J. Penn) presided, and the following members were present: Messrs. C. W. Govett, J. Paton, M. Rudd, A. H. Glasgow, Ab Goldwater, D. K. Morrison, A. H. Arnold, C. N. Ewing, H. H. Davy, Newton King, C. E. Baker, J. D. Sole, E. Griflit:hs, T. C. Schnackenberg, R. C. Hughes, S. YV. Shaw and H. D. Bedford (secretary). -dr. C. H. Weston was elected a member of the Chamber. " INQUISITORIAL." The kelson Chamber of Commerce 1 wrote soliciting support of its protest against the "inquisitorial and iniproeticaule' - particulars asked for by the La-' bor Department in the census of 1911. in the aiiswice of any particulars regarding the nature of the .returns, Mr. Ewhig was asked to explain. He said the circular was undoubtedly of an inquisitorial nature, and to fill in the return correctly it would be necessary to keep a special clerk and a special' set of books throughout the year. Jlr. O. E. Baker agreed that the circular was just as stated. He had sent his copy to his friends in England in order "to let them see what a free and happy country this is." The matter was referred to the Counoil. BAOIvBLOCK ROADS.

In answer to a letter from the Kotare Progressive Committee it was decided to inform them that, following its usual practice, the Chajnber would do all possible to urge on the Government the necessity for roading the backblocks. The letter -made special reference to the Gkau-Mangaroa road leading to Whangamomona. • ' COMPANIES' DISABILITIES. The secretary of the Napier Chamber of Commerce forwarded a copy of a letter which had been addressed to t'he Minister of Justice, drawing attention] to the disabilities under which public companies labored. It was pointed out that a company owning -property in a borough had a vote, through its representative, but if that representative already had' a vote in his own right, he was not entitled to second vote on behalf of his company. Mr. Glasgow said that the desirability existed, and that in the local borough elections ]ie was not entitled to exercise his own vote and that of the Union Bank of Australasia, which he represented. Members were agreed that if the circular was a correct view of the law the Chamber should support the Napier protest. Mr. Hughes agreed, stating his opinion that the tendency to-day was to put too much power into the hands ol the working man. In his opinion property should have a separate vote. RAILWAY LEAGUE. Mr. E. Griffiths was appointed the delegate of the Chamber to attend a conference at Palmersfcon North regarding differential railway construction expenditure, and to form a North Island Railway League. A STRATFORD COMPLAINT. Mr. J. B. Richards, secretary to the Chamber of Commerce, wrote regarding t'he delay of goods in transit to Stratford via New Plymouth. From information before them, the trouble was evidently due to congestion of goods at ,the port caused by "the arrival of all steamers within a couple of days." The remedy would seem to be an improved steamer service from Wellington to New Plymouth, and the committee sought the co-operation of this Chamber in securing this.

The President said that the Chamber lr< already fully discussed the matter, and he ( doubted if they could do anything more. Of course, they all recognised that the protest was deserved. Mi'. King said there was no doubt that the congestion was very bad. A resolution was carried unanimously: "That this Chamber fully sympathises with the Stratford Chamber of Commerce, and suggests that the president of the Stratford Chamber wait on the •manager of the Union Steam Ship Company with the president of this Chamber."

RESIDENTIAL REPORT. In moving the adoption of the annual report and .balance-sheet, the president, Mr. W. J. Penn, said:—"l have to congratulate the Chamber upon a successful year, and also upon the attainment of its majority. The first meeting of the Chamber was held on May 29, 188!), just over twenty-one years ago, when Mr. Newton King was elected president and Mr. R. Cock vice-president, with the following as a council: Messrs J. Bellringer, F. L. Webster, A. Goldwater, T. Brash, J. iPlaul, W. Humphries, D. Teed, P. P. Corkill and P. A. Ford. A year later, Mr. King, in addressing the Chamber, gave a brief sketch of the condition of affairs in the district, and of the progress it was making, and it may interest the members .present this evening if I recaLl some of his remarks. Speaking of land settlement, Mr. King referred to the fact that not long previously there was a great difficulty in disposing of land in this province for money, ibut he was happy to say that time had passed and thatiland could then (1890) be readily turned into cash, as people were coming from Canterbury and other parts of the colony. He instanced the sale of Mr. Thomas Bayly'9 Toko land, and I have had the curiosity to ilook up the records •of that sale. It was an event of considerable importance in those days, and a special train was hired to convey buyers and others from New Plymouth to Stratford. The date was August 14, 18S1), the (place the Stratford Town Hall. I well remember the occasion, for 1 was sent out as a special reporter for the Taranaki Herald. The first section offered contained 120 acres, described as the pick of Toko. Bidding started at 25s and advanced by shilling bids to 40s, *t which figure it was knocked down to Mr. J. H. Morris, of New Plymouth. Mr. W. Walker, a:lso of New Plymouth, secured the next section of 134 acres at 3(ls. Altogether 1503 acres of the Toko A block was sold at from 20s to 40s per acre. That land to-dar is worth over £2O .dot acre. In the Toko B block 2552 acres was sold to Ml-. James Aiken, of Waitotara. at 21s That sale really opened j up the East road country for settlement and was the commencement of a new era for Stratford. '■Mr. Kinm also referred to the frozen moat tra<le. = A freezing works had been built several years earlier at Wana«i, but they were closed after a short career. In 1890" there was a .project for re-open-ins them, the 'New Zealand Shipping Co. having undertaken to send its stcumers to the roadstead for 8000 carcases of mutton or the equivalent in beef. I shall refer in a few moments to the growth of that trade, confining myseit for the present to further features of Mr. King's address. He stated that the Chamber, with the assistance of Mr. Samuel as member for the district, had i secured a reduction in the railway! freight on Iratt.er from New. Plymouth

to Wellington from .€3 5s 2d per ton to £2 8s per ton on 4-ton lots. (xo-d«-> the steamer freight is 12s Gd per ton). Speaking of the harbor and our export* he remarked that in Wellington they professed the greatest contempt for Taranaki, but at the same time they knew well that the products of this provincial district were a heavy item in what tney eent away from their port.

"That was the condition of things in this district when the first annual meeting of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce was held in 1890. Land—the pick of the Toko—was worth from £1 to £2 per ton. There was no meat freezing industry. The Government was charging £2 8s per. ton for carrying our butter to Wellington, and the port of Wellington was taking heavy toll of all our products. The shipping returns at Moturoa showed that the tonnage entering and leaving the port in 1889 was !)5,0!H) ions. The imports were 8478 tons, and the exports 7544 tons, the latter including 1571 tons of butter and cheese.

"Let me now compare the position today. That Took land is worth over £2O per acre. The exports of frozen' meat from Waitara and Pa tea last vear totalled 142,512cwt., valued at £210.527. The exports of dairy produce from New Plymouth and Patea have grown from 1571. tons to 15,007 tons, valued at £1,055,539. Our wool exports last year totalled for the province 1,801,9941ii>5, valued at £69,635. and other products brought the total value of the exports from New Plymouth, Waitara and Patea up to £1,315,Li)0. .Speaking more particularly of onr own port, I find that the tonnage of shipping; has increased in the twenty years fr0m'95,090 to 213.124 tons. The imports have grown from 8478 tons to 61,926 tons, and the exports from 7544 tons to 13,484 tons.

"Our .products continue to pay toll to Wellington, but the time is not far distant when the bulk of the produce—butter, cheese, wool, frozen meat, etc. —will Jb'e shipped at Moturoa direct for London, without the expense of coastal freights and transhipment charges, and when a large .portion of our own imports will be landed at the wharf here direct from the Home liners. Within the next two or three weeks the first cargo of merchandise direct from Home will arrive at tlie breakwater, and about the same time the 'Harbor Board's new dredge may be expected. 'A fitting occasion will then 1 present itself perhaps to refer at greater length to the new prospects being opened up for this port'and district on account of the improvement of the harbor. It is a theme upon which I should like to enlarge did I not fear of wearying you. Let me, however, express my firm conviction that there is no part of New Zealand where the immediate prospects are so bright as they are m Taranaki, and especially in New Plymouth. The dairying industry is in a particularly flourishing condition, and if the value of land is in some cases on the high side, if the prices of dairy cattle are going beyond what cautious men care to pay—well, we must farm the land better and get a higher average of butter-fat from our herds. Then this is almost the largest beef-exporting district in the Dominion, and beef is worth a high figure in London to-day and likely to remain so for some time. The extension of the iStratford-Ongarue railway into the Whangamomona country will give an immense impetus to production in that rich district and bring much trade to the port. In fact, on all sides may be seen evidence of steady development ot the natural resources of the land, anil when \ve can give accommodation to ocean liners at the wharf at Moturoa the bulk of the trade of the province must pass through this port. "Apart from the products which have hitherto formed our exports, there is now, pleased#t° say, something more than a (possibility of another industry being developed. I refer, of course, to petroleum. The prospecting operations have gone so far and resulted ! so encouragingly that nothing can now prevent their further prosecution on a. much larger scale, and if, as I firmly believe, a large field exists here it is aihnost impossible to picture the future in too bright colors. There will then be a mubh wider scope for the energies of this Chamber of Commerce. At present its sphere of usefulness is somewhat limited—too limited, in the opinion of some of its critics, who ask what the Chamber does to justify its existence. It must be confessed, if we look back lor several years, that our activities have been confined to narrow limits —railway facilities, harbor and improvement and shipping conveniences, and roads in the back-blocks have occupied most of our attention. In these matters we have, I think, done all that such a body as ours could do. Twenty years ago Mr. Hughes (brought up the subject of metalling the ■East road from Stratford, and we are agitating in the same direction still, with the addition of other roads. The Chamber has always evinced a very warm interest in the harbor, and on occasions, I think, has given valuable assistance. So also in railway matters, and in this connection I might mention that the concession we obtained in July last in freights on light bulky goods on the breakwater line is worth a great deal to some importers. As an instance one importer tells me that he has saved on general draperies, etc., as much as fifty per cent, in his railway charges, While on fancy goods, light furniture, etc., the saving is even greater. There are many other matters of more or less importance which the Chamber has dealt with, sometimes with effect, more often, perhaps, without. But Ido not think we can rightly be charged with neglecting anything "which we should have done. It has not been within the Chamber's power to compel the shipping companies to run more frequent services, nnr is it within our functions to form 'local companies to own steamers or build freezing works. We could not compel farmers to pay more attention to pig breeding or to the export of poultry; we could not go out in a body to construct country roads. But I think I may claim that the Chamber has throughout the twenty-one years of its existence used such influence as it possessed for whatever seemed to be for the good of the community, and so has fully justified its existence." And in this .connection 1 should like to welcome the resuscitation of the Stratford Chamber of Commerce, with which it will, I am sure, always tie the aim of this Chamber to woriv in iui'mony for objects of common interenr. "f have trespassed upon your patience at greater length than I intended; therefore in conclusion allow me to express my thanks to the vice-president and council ior the kind consideration and assistance they have afforded me during my term of office; and also to our worthy secretary, Mr. Bedford, for the efficient way in which he has carried out his duties. 'You also, gentlemen. I thank for the patience with which you have listened to what I have had to say this ovening." Mr. Govett. m seconding the motion, thanked the President for his personal report. He said that as many of the members were getting on in years it did them good to hear such a report of the achievements of the Chamber and the progress of the district. Six weeks after his reeenf, arrival from his trip to England he had written that everything, pointed to the year" 1010 being a record i one for Taranaki, and the farther tihey; got into the year the rnoiw justified was 1 that remark.

The report and balance sheet were adopted. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The following officers were elected:— President, Mr. E. Griffiths; vice-presi-dent, Mr. S. W. Shaw; Council, Messrs. Newton King, J. B. Connett, W. Ambury, C. H. Burgess, W. J. Penn, C. N. Ewing, Ab. Goldwater, T. C. Schnacken'berg and J. Paton; auditor, Mr. Hugh Baily. THANKS. 'Mr. E. Griffiths moved tliat the Minister of Railways be thanked by this Chamber for having altered the time table so as to meet the requirements and convenience of the people of Taranaki.—Seconded by Mr. King, and carried.

Upon the motion of Mr. Hughes the thanks of the Chamber were tendered to the retiring president, vice-president, and the secretary.