Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1872.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 150, 24 September 1872, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1872.

During the lengthy and protracted dW —protracted beyond all necessity or JH —which lately took place in the Assemß upon the merits and demerits of theS Ministry, nearly all public business ■ allowed to remain at a standstill ■ J» thing was deferred until the sbH-lo*.jH the question as to which party shouljS proclaimed the "ins," and which the " OQ I For something like a month, have qjK bers "aired their eloquence" upon IS matter; not to much effect, if it b e X that oratory changes no votes. And X when this all-important question kW cided,—only for a short time, we fJB the real business of the session is X rushed through, to save expense totl Colony as far as possible,—rather a 9 cible illustration of the old proverb reX ing the locking of the stable-door aftefß steed is stolen. Eeading " Hansard" lX has been but a dull pastime ; each nieX beginning his speech with the same vI worn apology, for that such a humble X vidual and poor orator should weary fl House and honorable members by the ■ fliction of what must necessarily* be to great extent a reiteration, and" general spinning out their tedious platitudes tot extent of several pages of this expend medium of intelligence between the fi liament and the people. Among such; unprofitable lot of rubbish, it is q D j refreshing to fall across the following i t resting question by Mr MacandkewV WATER SUPPLY, OTAGO GOLD-FIELDS. Mr Macandrew asked the Minister for Pa! lie Works,—What practical steps the Gove, meat propose to adopt, with a view to theimo, diate applicition of a portion of the public worl loan towards water supply for Naseby, Black Carrick, and other gold-fields in the Province, Otago? He might be allowed to say that il Province of Otago contained an enormous amoti of auriferous deposit, which could not beret dered available unless a supply of water tj afforded, a commodity which was exceeding abundant in the Province. The Cromwell $ trict contained a vast number of quartz reef* and some 50110 acres of al'uvial deposit, um which water could be brought to bear, whit would give profitable and permanent empty ment to a large population. The same remifi applied, in a greater or less degree, to the otto I districts he had mentioned. He might add tha; | but for the action of the Legislature in prot ! biting the Provincial Council from bommin | money, he had no doubt that at this momal j there would have been three times the numl« jof miners at work, and that three times ti. 1 revenue would have been derived from the Otij i gold-fields. He had i>o hesitation in saying thai | if £IOO,OOO of the loan was handed over to th Provincial Council for expenditure on wate I supply on gold-fiells, an additional reveiul ! woulff accrue to the Colony of at least £50,0001 | year.

Mr Reeves said that the Government was fullj aware of the importance of the subject which formed the gist of the question, and had had it under its careful consideration for months past; but he must appeal to the honorable gentleman! for reasons which would probably suggest themselves to his mind, to postpone the question k a few davs.

Of course, while it was still unsettled as to who should have the power of disbars iug the money for.the future, no satisfactory answer could be given to such a qn» tion. But we hope to see some good result from this reminder by Mr MACtt drew ; and that, if anything in the shape of " practical steps" were decided on by the late Government, after months of careful consideration, their plans will not fall to the ground. In such case, we suppose months more will elapse before we hear anything further of the matter: one of the happy results of a change of Ministry. Since the above was in type, we perceive that at a later stage of the session,—on the 18th inst., —Mr Macandrew renewed his question. On this occasion, the answer was given by Mr Reid, who simply gave his assurance that " the money would be expended in the most advantageous manner possible, after full enquiry being made." Upon this.—(we quote from Daily Times telegrams,)—Mr Macandrew moved:—-

" That in the opinion of this House it is expedient that out of that portion of the Immigration and Public Works Loan applicable for Water Supply ou Gold Fields, a sum not exceeding f 100.000 be placed at the disposal of the Provincial Legislature of Otagp, to be by it applied exclusively towards the development of the mining industry in that Province, such sum to be charged against the revenue of the said Province."

Mr Stafford opposed the motion. He said | the proposal, was virtu illy one to authorises j Provincial Borrowing Bill, and was in direct opI position to the principle the House affirmed the | other day, that the sole control and responsibility I of the expenditure should remain with tfceGene- ' ral Government. The Government would, howI ever, glady co-operate with the Provincial authoI rities, and avail themselves of the local niachij nery. The Government fully recognised the | importance of developing the gold-fields, ani j would do all in their power to do 30.

flfe hope that this motion will be car.j The obtaining of monetary advances f anv gold-fields work from the General (jovernmeht is hedged about by so many hstrttctions that it were time some simnler pl an P l ' oce^ure were instituted. w e believe that in Provincial hands the money would effect a much greater amount t good and be allocated • to better advantage than if expended under the direction (/the Colonial Government; and with half the roundabout and dilatory harasses that at present pertain to its dismal ITfT .

}{ b etings have been held all over the goldfields of Otago to take into consideration the Gold Mining Bill which was recently introduced into the Assembly by Mr GisBOBNR Everywhere and by everybody have its provisions been condemned, and its whole constitution declared to have been framed with the sole object of imposing further taxation on the already most heavily taxed class of men in the Colony. Jt certainly speaks well for the miners as a body that they have so decidedly and energetically entered their protest against a measure so disastrous to their interests. But it really seems to have been by the merest chance that the Bill was not passed and made law before anything was known, by those most interested, of its nature and provisions. As the Tuapeka Times, in mentioning that they have not received a <|>py of a single bill introduced during the Wsent session, very truly says, "It is absolutely essential that the general public should have as much, and as early information as possible, regarding the actions of Parliament, and the best way to secure that end is by the Government forwarding to the various newspapers in the Colony copies of measures about to be introduced. The Gold Mining Bill had passed its second reading before any inkling of its provisions had reached the gold-fields of Otago, and the copies that were received were forwarded privately from Wellington." We wonder indeed why copies of such measures are not forwarded for the information and criticism of the Press. By nearly every mail, we receive hosts of papers, on all imaginable subjects,—some of them, of course interesting and useful; but some of them not worth the paper they are printed upon. For instance, recently we received jan enormous qnantity of printed matter ; headed " papers relative to the development of coal mines, etc.," accompanied.by [agreat number of "sketch maps" of different coal-fields, with their geological formation most minutely delineated. The expense of the printing and lithographing in connection with these papers must have been very considerable ; and we must say we think the money is thrown away,— these papers will hardly bear the title we hear so much of now-a-days of " reproductive works." At any rate, we know we could well do without such useless and uninstructive masses of matter as these ; and shpU be glad if, instead of them, the Government would furuish us with copies of at least the more important measures designed for introduction to the Assembly, and intended to become "laws to the people."