PASSING NOTES.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 227, 17 March 1874, Page 6

PASSING NOTES.

(PY A BANNOCKBURN High profits in any particular trade, are 'g&rio^llypccjvsipned by the risk to which the inyestod is exposed. Where there is ’rib arid an exorbitant profit is de-. jkhe seller is apt to 1 be looked upon as riot’being a man'of the strictest probity. It is pot |oecomirig to make,use, of the trite njcrcaritilo pUsitude, “ Business is business”for there Hguch a thing as conscience, which I think some of the‘tradesmen of this district haye picked put of.cjfipry, as being a 'dangerous companion., Spirit tiriie ago, the' butchers took it'iritd their heads, after putting theni together, to raise the price of beef one penny per poiirid,—-tjierc not . being at the time any rise in the price of stock , or other apparent cause to warrant them in such a proceeding. Instigated by an immoderate desire ,ol acquisition, and by a knowledge of the passive, manner, in which miners will submit to any extra burden imposed upon them, such a. coriscience : proof way of carrying on business, if endured in silence, cannot but meet with' unfavourable contemplation. Onr dough manipulators,, also, still ask one shilling for the four-pound loaf. Couldn’t they manage to exist on the profits by selling is at nine-pence a four-pound loaf, say 7 At Hokitika, the four-pound loaf is retailed at sixpence, .and I opineithat flour is no cheaper there than here. But there are two sides to every question. Possibly, if miners did not live updo, rind sometimes beyond, their income,: things; would wear a different.aspect. Did they but go to the store with ready money in their pockets, they would probably be served at a cheaper rate, and in a better manner. Here is a case in point. An inhabitant of this district (not particularly distinguished for parsimoniousness), was remon-i strating with his butcher for leaving him such i inferior joints of meat, but was cut short by the reply that the Chinese, by means of ready .cash, always obtained the best cuts. And yet miners look upon arid treat the Chinese as •“ inferior animals.” Bah !

, .Unbounded prospect in his bosom roll, f And future thousands lift his rising soul; In-blissful dreams he digs the golden mine, . And raptured sees the new-found nugget shine. ; Conflicting and unreliable fis most of the accounts from the Palmer River are, it is a dreamland to some of the miners..of this clis(trijctj blissfully foreshadowing to the senses,-as depicted in the. above: paraphrased lines, by Samuel Johnson. Far-off fields are not always found to be greeny, although; the miners very frequently.are that go to them. Nearly all the .private, letters tell the same tale about the' scarcity of' provisions ; the prices do not seem to be so high for a new gqld-field, and would, hot act as a, deterrent upon experienced miners, having any"faith in the Northern Territoi’y V atlriferons respurces. consumption were sold fat a much dearer gate on the Dunstan gjtthe first of-the rush. • Still, I would advise those who like to have their .meals regularly, and ..who have no desire to bo hunger-bitten, to “ bide a wee.” Living upon the smell of an oiled rag, (which .some miners profess to he able to do when in search of gold in a new country,) is not a feat easy of accomplishment to everyone ; and yet it seems not at all improbable that a man, even if he possessed the wherewithal, would at times have no other means of subsistence on the .Palmer than by the use of his olfactory organs in the manner spoken of. The road from the Endeavour ■ to, the Palmer, says a private letter, is thronged with travellers, numbers of them without the price of a feed in their pockets. So that, paradoxical as it may seem, a miner possessing any feelings of humanity would in all likelihood find himself to be a shareholder before getting into a claim, find the calls unpleasantly frequent, unless he “passed by on the other side.”

. What unhappy Jeremiahs diggers appear to be when they hear qf a “ rush” that is likely t<) turn out well! I refer to those who evince an ardent desire to clear out, but lack the.paeans of doing so. Then it is that raurmurings are heard amongst them of the difficulty of getting employment and of “ dropping on a bit of gold.” It is then that complaints arise anent'the poverty of the conniryj its not being any good, and never having been pf 'much account, and such-like lamentations in mining phraseology. Anon, a retrospective glance at the good old times in Victoria, and a comparison between that country and Otago, (in which the latter suffers materially,) will occupy a place in their howailings. They look with dismay at the future, .and regret at the- past. They despair of ever “ making a rise” in this country, and.cast a melancholy look hack at the prosperous times they had in Australia. I wonder if they ever consider that this dissatisfied state of mind is brought about by their own want of forethought and improvidence. One sight of a digging township would clearly demonstrate to'an observant man the chai’actev of its inhabitants. A townghip composed almost entirely of public houses would be to him-a convincing proof that the most of the residents surrounding it were not .likely to be in the best ,of circumstances ; and when he heard complaints he would know at once to what they were attributable. He would not bo long in concluding that there was a deplorable quantity of money misspent, and that miners were grumbling at a state of affairs which they could have averted by the practice of a little selfrestraint, and the adoption of prudent habits.