THE Cromwell Argus. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1870.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 10, 12 January 1870, Page 4

THE Cromwell Argus. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1870.

The Bendigo Keefs—or the Bendigo Gully Reefs, as they are often called—are considered to he very valuable. We don't dispute their valuable nature, or their intrinsic -worth. But it is just desirable to enquire if the best is being made of these valuable resources. Approaching the question upon the clear basis of what are the quartz-reefs worth to the district, \ve shall be better able to sift their value. Mr Warden Pyke's restriction, issued when the excitement attending Mr Colclough's discovery was at its height, has not tended to promote quartz-mining in any material decree ; neither has the enforcement of the regulation malting necessary the employment of two men for every four sleeping shareholders developed the new reefs severally. We are groping, as it were in the dark, in our system of testing them. We are as desirous as any one to see the Bendigo Reefs made of general worth. But between obscure mining rules and the greater doubt yet existing as to the value of a mine'ra right claim, nothing seems to up well done. Here we have, we may sny, valuable reefs, requiring only development by Hid of capital ; but no one seems in-

elined to invest upon the security of the miner's right title. It may happen that the claims taken up are too small to bo now held under lease ; and claimholders may have in consequence serious difficulties to contend with in their efforts to develop a mining resource. How we have arrived at such results, we do not care to trace. They are made patent enough by their presence. How to solve the question is the difficulty ; and to that end wo must address ourselves.

Security of title is the first thing to submit to the capitalist. What with the registration and protection muddle, «fec, that clear title capitalists so desire cannot be given at present. Our local business men are, nevertheless, doing wonders : they are acting up faithfully to their obligations as sleeping shareholders. This cannot, however, last for ever. They will in time require to deposit their securities for advances, or otherwise deal with them. To make the resources of the Bendigo Reefs, therefore, valuable, it will be seen that it is necessary to give either security of title, if the aid of capital is required, or a proof that the claims are genuine and valuable, and actually what they are represented to be. The last generally cannot be done. Everyone, more or less, believes in their value—everyone really recognises something of their worth. But what of that 1 We may go on talking of them, but " the steed will stand while the grass grows." It drives us back to security of title, and security of title means a good deal. It means how claims are held, and how they are to be worked and developed. Capitalists, as far as we understand them, don't care to take even a basketful of miner's right securities. Owners of machinery, or those who would, in conjaction with shareholders, assist in procuring and erecting the necessary plant, would like to see the reefs a little better tested, and the supply-of-water question definitely settled. Testing the reefs, as the operation is at present pursued, falls individually heavy on the limited number of shareholders ; and we are afraid that the work is not so vigourously piirsued as it should be. Not only are the claims generally too small by just one half, but many are depending upon the testing results of their neighbours. This is a species of " gentle shepherding" that deserves no encouragement. Altogether (if our view of the position is correct) it will be at once apparent that serious difficulties and obstacles exist to the rapid development of our reefs. We are not going to take up our text, and dwell upon the deeds of the men of the Thames. We may, however, emulate thenconduct in some respects, and follow their footsteps in one or two lines of conductBy however vigorous and prompt action, by the diffusion of interests into the hands of many, the district has secured the erection of numerous and powerful crushing plants. As we cannot in this issue go fully into the various methods of working the reefs that are suggested, we will briefly epitomise some of them. First, amalgamation of claims to the extent of 1200 feet in length ; secondly, the application for a lease ; thirdly, the formation of limited liability companies ; fourthly, the creation of machinery by joint companies ; fifthly, the mortgaging of claims to procure funds in order to t-ast them, or for the creation of machinery. All these various forms, we will show in a future issue, have something of merit about them ; but in our opinion, the third and fourth propositions claim serious attention. The formation of such companies is so simple, easy, and economical; the distribution of risks so easily effected, even at a premium, if prospects justify it ; and the means of getting properly to work so much increased, that we claim, in the meantime, a fair consideration of them. We must attract capital, or utilise that which we have, if we want to improve on the past and go ahead earnestly, and we must have machinery as soon as possible. In our next, we shall, therefore, more fully deal with a subject we have only cursorily touched upon to-day.