The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-10-10
LOCAL MATTERS.

~ y
MErcI:-Tnu PIESlpENT's REpoRT-ELECIIoS
or OrFIcFEs.-rhe annual meeting Of the
mcmbcrS Of the Richmond Chamber Of Com
mcrcc w.is held Yesterday afternoon. ltwas
called to order by David J. Burr, Esq, and
on lis motion Mr. T.. q. Noting was called
to the ch1ir ana Z. G.. Coghlan appointed
secretary 10 the meeting. The president,
David j. Burr. Esq, then read the annual
rCpGrt. as follows:
With the return Of another October the
President and Directors present to tie an
INA! meeting lhrir customary report.
The internal condition of the affair: Of the
Chamber exhibits q reasonable degree OF
nruSpclity. The nHmbcr Of members 1T pre-
,.rt up9n the rulii, one hundred and twenty
two-a slight falling oil from The member
| ship uf 1871, which is probably attributable
| 10 the increased rate Of subscription. FL
nanciaIlv. however. the Increase OF the an.
n,ial sub.crilticn from five TO ten dollars has
proved 70 hv quite beneficial. iiy the treas
| ur,rs report f1I The year, herewith submitted,
| il appears liut the association l. "ut ni d"Ni
and there remains Il laAuc" Of c%;j2G9 in the
treasury.
For obvUil, reasons we cannot present
| here detail OF the general proceedings OF
| the Board. or ;l.c laiAors Ut the standing and
| special commuters upon Il variety OF sub
| acts. All matters. great or small, affecting
| he general concerns Of trade. or an: par
| ic:iar department Of business, lave ro-
| oeivcd due attention as they have been
| brought TO their notice. And we repeat The
| request, heretofore made more thar once,
| t!i9t wherever there may be grievances in
auy branch uf trade which call for remedy
! 4 statement Of the case be laid before the
Hoard in writing for itS consideration and
action.
Among the labors of your Board during
| the past year the amendment to the pilot
| laws has been a paramount object. For Il
| long time this commercial community ila'
| been striving to gct rid OF the compulsory
feature of those laws, by which the river
| commerce has been practically burdcned with
| The charges Of both tonnage and pilGta-c.
| The necessities OF trade require the tug-boat,
and he provisions of the law as it stood gave
| he pilot right 10 add the pilot fees i'll every
case where tug was employed, although il
| such case the pilot was OF no practical benefit.
| The effect was to more than double The
| charges on thc river OH almost every craft
| destined to this port. When we reflect how
| small an item Of extra cost will divert YES
| scl- and cargocS from one polt to another,
and how inevitably rcightS will be advanced
to meet This extra cost, we see plainly the
disadvantage under which our commerce
| md manutac. uves have laborcd in compete
ton with more favored points. The Com
mittcc on Outward Trade, under instruc-
lions from the Board. Were at work during
the Whole Of the last session OF The LcgiSl.-
tlre in the endcavoT to remove this artificial
obstruction from the channel oi the river,
4 4 II i. I
by which compulsory p!loiagc is removed
above Hampton Roads, ana the river Is now
virtually Il free highway.
| Another object which has long engaged
public attention and been regarded as an i'm
portant addition to the interior connections
of Richmond has at length been attaned. in
a measure, through the inSlrlEncntaiity of
this body. 1t appearing, from represents
tons made to your Board, that the compile
ton Of the C!arbsyilc and kcysyillc cytcn.
sion could probably be secured by a small
bonus from this city, resolutions faYorlng The
appropriation were passed, and committee
appointed to urge the policy Of extending
this aid upon the Council. The committee
met with success in their application, anC
the result is that the work is begun under
auspices which leave no doubt oil its com
ulctiou in reasonable time. Thus large
! section Of interior, important III numbersR Rnt
resources, will he added as feeder to oul
commerce and market for our manutAc'
lures Mt an expense to the city Of little moro
than the cost of building and c4uippinS one
mile Of railroad.
| The Committee on Manufactures is agt,
engaged In the eudeavor TO obtain from eacl
manufacturer such details as will enable then
10 prepare q full aud accurate statement o
the various character and extent oi the
manufacturing establishments OF this city
The dissemination OF such information VIII
I undoubtedly attract attention to this point
as manufacturing centre, and become pro-
titabIe to the manufacturer himself, as wei
as furnish data of which our progress or de-
cline in each branch Of industry can be mca
sured from time to time. Nothing can be Of
more interest than the figures which tell o
| the growth of our manufactures, for upon
| ,his basis mainly rests the future prosperity
| Of our city. Hence we take this occasion Il
nr,re general response to the circulars o.
| this committee.
| Thc Improvement of the channel Of the
| river is another matter of general public con
| cern. in which our future prospects ;ue III
volyrd. and towards which the efforts OF thl>
| Chamber have for many years been directed
| Nv the courtesy and wise policy OF the tltI
| CounciI onc-haif of the committee on lha'
! imnroyement is now selected from this BODY,
the other half consisting of melnbeIs OF tle
| Council: and under the management OF TINS
| Joint committee very decided progress mas
haen made in removal of obStructions ana
increase of the general depth of water In the
channel. The recent extended report 0!
their operations leads us to look for the most
valuable results, though the full accomplish
| ment Of such work must necessarily pro-
| ceed by slow degrees.
Our secretary is now engaged IN procuring
| STATISTICAL data and other valuable matter 1or
sddition to and continuation of his Report
of Is71 upon the Trade and Commerce OF
richmond" That report, of which four or
five hundred copies were issued in printed
namnLjet Of over two hundred pages, was
The The first attempt nt anything like statlsticai
or n.y. condensed information relating to our IN.
dustrul interests, and has been mucn sousnt
after at home and abroad. For u iun com.
nrehension of its merits in this respect we
must refer to the book itself.
Reduced and uniform rates OF Waarlage
have long been desideratum with sIippers.
Within the last week or two speciai COM
nIttee las been charged with the prepalatson 2
of such a tariff OF rates, which, upon tneiI !
report, has been adopted by the boaro, anu ea
now only awaits the general consenI W aas