THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1913. CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 16 January 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1913. CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE.

The' Chambers of Commerce throughout the British- Dominions are performing a- very useful service to the Empire. It is questionable, however, whether they can compare with those : of Germany' in the way of organisaj tion and influence. The Bulletin of the Amentia n Association of Com- ! merce and Trade at Berlin contains an interesting article by Dr Paul Marouse. The writer states that the main difference between, the chambers '. of commerce in Germany and those in , England or the United States is that ! the latter are voluntary associations, organised and supported by their members, while the German chambers are Government institutions, with business linns as constituents, and are supported by taxes that the chambers levy on their members. While the Conimerz Deputation organized at Hamburg in 1(505 can be considered a forerunner of the chambers of commerce in Germany, these organiza T tions in their present form were originated in France in the seventeenth century. At present chambers of I commerce exist in all the German States except the .small Duchies of Waldeck and Sehatimberg-Lippe. Dr I Ma reuse, after tracing the history of I these German chambers of commerce, j describes their organization and powers as follows:—''The organization of the chambers in the ..different States j is of course different ; even the chami hers of one State differ in their work | and importance; there are chambers I with a few dozen constituents and a I budget of a few thousand marks. ; while others have several millions of j marks as capital and a. membership { of many thousands. All of them, as it appears from what has been stated . before, have this i" common, that thev l arc institutions of the State, that all business men of the district are ipso jure members and that the .chambers aro entitled to levy taxes. Their inner organization is almost entirely | independent of the Government; they elect their officers, presidents, heads •.of committees, appoint their secretaries and .so on. Financially they ;ire also without supervision ; in Prussia and one or two other States, however, the. budget of a Chamber of Commerce which levies taxes higher than 10 per cent, of the State Tric'imc Tax has the right to dissolve a chamber of commerce, and to, order a new election. The powers of the chambers are threefold. 1. They are cnnsultivo bodies for the Government in commercial legislation and administration ; they have to furnish the State with all information requested; they

are,, on the other hand, entitled to draw the Government's attention to abuses and to solicit changes in the commercial legislation, or to point out the ways and means by which commercial" facilities may be improve*!. Commercial laws are often .vubmitt :l to the chambers of commerce before they aro submitted to the legislature and* in some States this prior submis--1 Kion to the chambers of commerce is 'even .".ompu&ory. 2. They exorcise i certain administrative powers; their main power is the supervision of the stock and produce exchanges in thajr district and they enioy important 'rights in their administration. Be- ! sides that they have the right to i>re- | sent the Government for nomination j tho commercial judges (business men who are. judges in commercial matj tors), to .appoint the official brokers, i (Bersomnakler) and court experts, to \ I issue certificates of origin, etc. In Hamburg some meml>ers of the cliamher of conim'erce are ex officio m ambers of several Government hoards; in Bremen and Luheck the chamber of commerce, has important rights in harbor and dock matters. 3. The' chambers of commerce are further entitled to exercise any powers, not contrary to the law, which serve to improve a,nd ! to foster commerce and trade, such as the maintaining of commercial schoolsand libraries, the keeping of bureaus for information, the a4lva.nee.ment of commercial .improvement and facilities and the support of other commorcial associations. It is widely recognised that most chain Iwrs of eomI merce are very efficient in all these ■I lines. The Aeltestcn der Kaufmaimj sehnft of Berlin (a voluntary associa--1 tiou) for instance, organized and 'maintains a commercial university, i Several years ago an 'Association of ' Chambers of Commerce' was formed., a.ided by other commercial associa--1 tions, which is* called 'Handelstag.! The annual meetings of this body, of which nearly all the German 'captains of industry' are members, plays an important role in the poTitica.l and , commercial life of the country."