CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Taranaki Daily News, 13 April 1928, Page 9

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

xIHtRAOKAU ROAD AND TIMBER. QUESTION OF MAKING A HIGHWAY The monthly meeting of the Council of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce was held last night. Present: Messrs. (.’. H. Weston (president), C. E. Bellringer, MA’., W. J, Penn, A. M. Purser, J. McNeill, G. Fraser, S. F. Burgess, B. E. S. Brodie, J. R. Cruickshank, W. D. Arm it, C. Carter and H. F. Mirams. Apologies for absence were sent by Me«ers. P. E. Stainton and A. R. Thompson.

Support for the declaration of the Toad from Ohura to Okau ae a mam highway and ite formation as soon as possible was asked by the recently formed Waitaanga Progress League. This would shorten the route to New Plymouth by nearly 30 miles, it was explained. The road would go through productive farming land and thousands ef acres of valuable timber. New Plymouth was the natural outlet for -.bis and for wool and produce, but at present these commodities were going through Auckland. The Government estimate of the timber to be cut was 10,000 to 15,000 feet per acre. One member of the council comment id that the Waitaanga saddle was the main obstacle in the way of making the road a highway. Undoubtedly there was a great deal of timber to get out. It was a poor farming district. Mr. Penn said that he had been told the land could be farmed profitably were it not for the high price of fertilisers, which cost £l2 a ton. Fertilisers were lhe main need.

It was decided to ask the Public Works Department whether there was i possibility of having the road declared u highway. “The gross injustice in respect to the payment of apprentices duping their leave in camp for military service,” was the subject of a letter from Mr. A. H. Atchley, of the Cambrian Engineering Company, Ltd. He said that two of his •pprentices had been summoned for the fast camp, and two for the subsequent ramp, both in the present month, apart from the others who come under the Act. This meant disorganisation and delay in. the fulfilment of contracts and, moreover, the company had to pay full wages to the apprentices while they were in camp, in addition to the 4e received from the Government. He believed this put employers in an unfair position, and he suggested a protest should be made to the proper quarters. It was explained that the matter had already been receiving the consideration bi the Employers’ Association and the New Zealand Employers’ Federation for two years, and the president and secretary .were delegated to explain the position to Mr. Atchlev.