Cromwell Argus AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, December 1, 1874.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 264, 1 December 1874, Page 5

Cromwell Argus AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, December 1, 1874.

Very tmfbrtuha-tely, the bes!> considered a'ftd most genuine mining speculation ever laid before the Cromwell public as a local Venture, has been at the Outset of its history the victim of a'mistake. But, it is a mistake that has arisen'ih a 'manner easily to be explained'"; and we pftfpose shortly to narrate the circumstances finder" which it occurred; kotj tidi : ■ '■ Two or three working miners at Bendigo, of whom Mr Ck B. Douglas,—a gentleman connected with quartz mining there since the beginning/—jwas the mouthpiece' as it Were, projected a scheme by which they thought a fair test might be given to the "question of Bendigo's reefing wealth. It was a humble scheme; conceived in the fairest of spirits,, and put forth modestly and honestly. A company was to be formed, with a capital of ; the shares to number 40,000, at ss. each, and ■contributions to be at the rate of a penny *end half-penny per share. Tt was projected with the view of being a miners' company, Jand the share list (which was publishedin "■jlast weak's issue) shows that working miners at Bendigo thought well of it, and were ready and willing to invest in it. The promoters were doubtful; they and their fellow-miners at Bendigo were well enough persuaded regarding it; but the 'doubt was, what might be the outside feeling. A trial of Cromwell in the matter ■of the disposal of shares soon dispelled all fears on this head, however. The shares 'were simply rushed, because the scheme was believed:to be a good and honest one. ~So far, all was well; and now to give the history proper of the mistake we have alluded to. The Bendigo promoters, too fearful to believe that their scheme would be so well received in 'Cromwell, gave power to Mr Thomas Logan, who, as a Bendigo miner, believed in it most thoroughly, to dispose of 6000 shares in the companv, in Dunklin. Whrm they found tb* venture so highly thought of in Crom\vell, Mr Douglas, the principal of the promoters as we have.said, telegraphed to Mr Logan, asking him to close his Dunedin list before the sth November, and on that •date to send particulars of his sales. To show that in Cromwell a desire to deal fairly with Dunedin capitalists existed, and to show at the same time the feeling of fearfulness on tha part of the promoters, we may state that at a meeting of Cromwell shareholders it was proposed to increase the share list of the company to 60,000, ■and to reserve 10,000 more for allotment in Dunedin. But the promoters, having received no word from Mr Logan,*declared it would be useless to attempt the sale of another 10.000 in Dunedin,—6ooo were apparently so slow in going off; and so the proposal was lost. Mr Logan on the sth November did telegraph to Cromwell that he had disposed of the whole 6000. on his list; but he telegraphed not to Mr Douglas, the promoter, or to Mr Marshall, (who at the meeting spoken of had been appointed manager pro tern.,) but to Mr C. Colclough, whom Mr Logan thought to be the manager, an opinion which was strengthned by the fact that Mr Colclough, as well as Mr Douglas, had telegraphed to him for information on the matter. Mr Colclough, not understanding Mr Logan's views as to the managership, considered his telegram a private one, and made no mention of his information ; Mr Logan, in telegraphing, was convinced he had done his duty to the Dunedin applicants ; while the promoters and manager, hearing nothing from Mr Logan, could come to no other conclusion than that Dunedin capitalists were shy of investing in Bendigo reefs. From the sth of November" to the 17th things went on quietly. On the latter date, another* meeting of shareholders Was held, and then for the first time, something definite became known as to the Dunedin shareholders ) and Mr 'Colclough innocently produced the telegram, which, if it had only come to the promoters or the manager. Would have averted the whole difficulty and misunderstanding which has afisen. The temporary board of directors, be it understood, had fixed the sth as the last day for receiving applications for shares; and the psrmanent board, appointed on the 17th, sustained their decision, and threw overboard tha Dunedin applicants. The necessity of this explanation arises from the fact that a misapprehonsiou of the facts exists in Dunedin Lisewhere •

toe print a sjml] paragraph which appears in the 'tyqily Timed, in roferentSe to the subject, which mildly gives the apparent reason for the rejection of the Dunedin applications. The Guardian, however, goes a great dea\ further, and in a leading article in its issue of Friday; last simply..blackguards the promoters and the whole of the shareholders in the m'osb absurd fashion. We do not wish,.to follow the Gtiardian writer) and, td return mud for mud. ftis statements, for they are more than insinuations, will in all probability furbish the ground for an action fdr slander". But we wish, to point oYit that he. .has "fc?e6ri hasty, and . that his information is defective. Without taking the trouble to ascertain the real facts as regarded the Organisation of the company, he finds a strong basis; j for all his assertions in the. false notion that the capital .is £40,000. Seeing that the prospectus of the company was advertised in this journal, three or four Weeks . ago. there can be no excuse for so glaring a mistake.. Our space, however, will permit us to pursue the matter no further. But, to conclude, we may inform the Guardian that, with regard to this Bendigo Deep Level, Company, instead of there existing "no confidence in any of the persons concerned in it," the very opposite is the case: the greatest confidence is on all sides felt in the bona fides of the whole concern. • It is universally believed that the company is not " based Gn deceit and constructive fraud." And as for the threat that Dunedin capitalists will have nothing more to do with Cromwell district speculations, Cromwellites can surely afford to laugh at it, if Dunedin " capitalists" afe so extraordinarily and profusely speculative as to aid them by offering to take lots of from 100 to 250 five-shilling shares in a company which, to use the Guardian's own words, " would have done more towards the development of the district proposed to be experimentalised upon than a score, or indeed many scores, of ill-directed individual efforts!" If the district's "growing prosperity" is to be "impeded for years," Cromwell capitalists and Cromwell speculators will not be to blame. The Guardian has grossly misapprehended the facts of the case, and has foully slandered a most respectable body of men, in whom locally the highest trust is put; and its utterly unfounded and entirely Undeserved attack, will, we are sorry to be forced to confess, go only too far towards effecting such detriment to the district's interests as it seeks so falsely to lay to the blame of local speculators.