The Dunstan Times SATURDAY, 24th FEBRUARY, 1866.

Dunstan Times, Issue 200, 24 February 1866, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

SATURDAY, 24th FEBRUARY, 1866.

‘ lieneath the rule of men rntihf.lv just, tin fun is MiOHTiKU than the swoun!”

NtoNDvYis the day fixed for the nomination of candidates for the ftoldfields and Goldfield Towns. As yet it is uncertain who will come forward to aspire to the honor of representing in the General Assembly of New Zealand either of these two important constituencies. Gold mining has now become one of the recognised permanent industries of the Province. It has put new life iuro the land, by increasing the value of every description of property, and has placed men in affluent positions who, were it not for the gold discoveries, would still have been living in their mud hovels, and grovelling about in a semisavage state among their potato fields and corn patches. The squatting interest has also been benefited largely. Station property has trebled and quadrupled in value, while the actual working expenses of a sheep run have been materially lessened The increase of population has not only reduced ,tho price of labor, but has given ocat facilities for its being readily obtainable. The cost of tranfe rtrtrrini? wool to the seaboard is.i

owing to the opening up of roads to the goldfields infinitely less, while the conveyance of stores back to the station has also suffered a proportionate reduction We have been informed on good authority that the conveyance of a bale of wool from the Dunstan to Dunedin before the gold discovery eost £5, besides there existed delay and much risk of damage from various causes, while . s.qitatters who did not possess their'own teams had to be mighty civil to" get men to do the work at all. At the present time a bale of wool is conveyed from the Dun stan to Dunedin for a sum varying

between 21s to 255. Now, after conferring all these benefits and redeeming a whiskey imbibing population from a semi state of savagery, what has- the mining population in return ? Absolutely nothing. The miner is even cavilled at for endeavoring to secure a small patch of land in some out of the way place—which patch he would reclaim from the unfruitful wold and make into a happy home for himself and family. No sooner does the miner seek to possess himself of such, although he has made it valuable, than those he has enriched cry out " You are a wanderer and an adventurer, and don't want any place- to settle down upon, and notwithstanding you might have conferred so many benefits upon us, we'll not admit you into our society—get you gone and develop more auriferous country fulfil your mission of benefiting others without doing so to yourselves." But we must inform these addle-headed Old Identities that although the mining population possesses amongst its numbers many "pure adventurers" who may be said to be its pioneers, a large majority follow up mining as a stated calling, and pursue their occupation quite as systematically and with equal industry, as in the case of wool or corn grooving.

In all now countries it is the pure adventurer with nothing but health or life to lose, who is thereal pioneer. 11 is ha ving everything to gain, taxes his energies to the utmost, it develops points ot character, and brings out ideas that could not occur to anyone unless in a similar position—consequently he leads the way. (Uhers follow in his wake, and reap the fruits of his discoveries. Occasionally the pioneer takes care of his gains, aud settles down to piofit by what he has found—but generally he is reckless, and speedily squanders his gains, but the loss is his alone, for although he may not have done himself any permanent good, he has done so to others, an ! the country is enriched thereby Improvement follows improvement. The primitive cradle and tin dish gives wa\ the water-wheel and steam-en-gine, and a systematic pursuit ol labor takes the place of what wa? previously rude and primitive, anc in risk almost equal to that o:

gambling. The mining population hear a very favorable comparison with either the squatting or agricultural. Each can confer mutual benefit on the other, and it only requires wise legislation,and the representatives of the goldfiells to be men of principle and intelligence, to secure the one against the combined agressions of the tw& As we said in a previous article, we want new men to represent us. What suited us 1863 will not suit.usin 1866 Our in-

terests have become too valuable to be trifled with. Asa specimen of goldfields legislation we quote the 28thclauseoftheGoMfieldsAmeiidment Act, on which our members pride themselves so much. Our readers will see the necessity for a change. How such a clause crept in we are at a loss to imagine, and can only account for it by the supposition that at least one honorable member was so fogged with the funies of whisky that he did not know what he was about, while another was so deeply engaged schemingand plotting lor aGovernjnent billet that he allowed the !%neniy, by a smart manoeuvre, to take, him in flank, and make his own terms. This artfully insinuating*clause says:— " Wh&Bfim after the proclamation of a Gold Field any person holding a license or lease for depasturing stock over any hinds included within such Gold Field shall make an application to the Governor to have his license or lease cancelled or suspended over a part or the whole of the lands included therein, the Governor thall ' in conformity with such application cancel or suspend such license or lease accordingly and the licensee or lessee shall ' upon such cancelling or suspension he entitled to compensation as provided in the said Act Provided that it shall not he • lawful for any person to make any such application till a period of three months shall have expired after the date of the proclamation of such Gold Field."

This clause is supposed to amend clause X. of the Gold-fields Act oi 1862, passed before we possessed representatives at all in the General Assembly:— " When any Gold Mine or Gold Field shall be discovered and proclaimed upon any Crown Lands held under License or Lease for depastnring purposes it shall be lawful for the Governor at his di»cretim to cancel the License or Lease under which such land shall have been held in occupation as regards the wh»k or a»u part of the lands so held under such License or Lease or with the concurrence of the Licensee or Lessee to suspend such Lease or License as regards the whole or any part of such lands." Our readers will plainly see by this that we are in a worse position than ever. On auy future proclaimed goldfieldno land comprised within a squatter's run can be taken up for purposes of occupation or cultivation without the Government purchasing the whole of said run, a course they could not well pursue on account of the want of means There nowexistsnoaltcrnati vebetween the total eessationof all settlement on the land or the opening up of new goldfields than the absolute ruin of the Provincial Government, merely to satisfy the u;reed of thes qnatter. This fraternity require all this in consideration of the paltry sum of £1,500 per annum which they pay for the leases of their runs—totakepossessionofany one of whichas provided by theGoldfields Act, a sum ranging be:ween £20,000 to £40,000 Avould be required. The clause haves no discretion—it distinctly states "over the whole or part of the lands" included within the lease or license, and that the Governor "shall" upon application suspendsuchlcase or li^

cense also that the holder shall be compensated as provided by the said act Such a barefaced act of scheming could never have been successfully perpetrated in any other country under the sun. and must have had the connivance of the Goldfields representatives—they alone are responsible for it. They highly paraded their talents before their constituents for introducingandcarryingthe Act through and were lauded to ihe sky for doing

so, for the simple reason that they gave their own account of what they had done. The act then was not in black and white for everyone to see, but now such being the case, the tables are turned, and it becomes glaringlyapparent that those in whom we put our trust have grossly deceived us, in fact, sold us, and led us like lambs to the slaughter. I lowcver, we must take measures for our protection, and not record our votes in favor of anyone who does not pledge himself to do his best to repeal this obnoxious clause, It is plainly to be seen that we have wily enemies to deal with, and we must have equally wily representatives to defend and uphold our cause.

Tha Secretary of the Dunstan Hospital begs to acknowledge the receipt of £25 10s from Mr John Cox, amount of a stake wen by his horse Harkaway. at the late Dunstan and Manuherikia Race

Meeting. _Z A rather interesting discovery was made at Black's No. 1 on Monday last. While some men were engaged cutting a race on the side of a rocky gorge near the crossing place of the Manuherikia River, they discovered about a foot below the surface, remnants of four human skeletons. One of the skulls with the exception of the lower jaw was entirely perfect, and contained five double teeth. The worn condition of which would in.dicate that the skull was that of some person at least of middle age. The bones were of course much decayed—the whole would not weigh ten pounds. Judging from the position in which the remains were found, the bodies must have been buried side by side. Nothing, however, gave the slightest indication that the place was used as a burial-ground, nor can any other conclusion be arrived at that the remains are other than those of some wandering tribe of aborigines. All the prizes won at the late Dunstan and Manuherikia Race Meeting were paid over by the stewards on Monday evening last, all other claims were also discharged, and protests finally adjudicated. The handsome sum of £7O still remains in the hands of the stewards, which will go towards next year's races. The newly formed Jockey.Club has become quite popular, and already boasts of a large number of subscribers. The meeting of 18G7 will doubtless be the crack event in the Province.

Mr. Vincent Pyke, Secretary for the Goldtields, was entertained at a public banquet by the inhabitants of Tuapeka, on the 12th inst.. at the Camp Hotel, Lawrence. The attendance was a very large one. Mr. John Mouat, M.P.C., was in the chair. The Provincial Treasurer (Mr. Moss) and Messrs, Hughes and Brown, Members of the Provincial Council, were present. Mr. Pyke, in a speech of some length, defended himself against the malevolent charges brought against lrm by certain sections of the up-country journals respecting his late journey to the West Coast. He sa : d that, although Dr. Haast got the credit he only found the pass, while he (Mr. Pyke) discovered the road. The speech was loudly applauded. Mr. Moss, in a most able manner, eulogised the conduct of Mr. Pyke, both in his official capacity as secretary for the Goldfields, and as the discoverer of a practical and safe route to the West Coast by way of Lake Wanaka. Messrs Wright, Robertson it Co.'s monthly report supplies the following : " Fat Cattle. —The market has been well supplied by numerous small lots coming in, and prices are about the same as last quoted. We have sold, at the yards and privately, IG3 head of cattle at prices averaging frorii I'll 10s to £l9 10s, according to weight and quality. We quote prime beef, 45s per 100 lbs; middling to inferior, 40 to 42s 6d. Dairy Cows are in request at from £l2 to £2O, according to quality and character. Fat Sheep. The market has been fairly supplied, prices continuing stationary. We have sold about 2,300 for delivery on station and in town, from 4d to 4|d per lb, which may be taken as market price. Fat Lambs. Demand limited. We have disposed of a good many at our weekly sales at the yards, at from 10s to 19s, the average price for good ' lambs being about 15s 6d to lGs. Store Sheep. —Breeding ewes and mixed lambs are in

good request. We have sold 1,500 maiden ewes from 18s to 19s according to the place of delivery, &c. One lot o! 3000 from the Canterbury side, to be delivered at Oamaru, we sold at 18s The following is from the " Bruce Herald :"—" In an article on gold in the last number of the ' Quarterly Journal of Science,' we observe that the extraction of gold from quartz, or from association with other minerals, is greatly facilitated by amalgamating with the mercury a small portion of sodium. Experiments have been tried with one per cent, of the latter, *nd with very marked success. Some of chis amalgam thrown into mercury intensifies at once its attraction for gold, so that it catches up what would otherwise have slipped away with the waste. It is effective chiefly where the 'tarnishing' of the gold (arising from the presence of sulphides, arsenic bismuth, or tallurium) prevents the action of simple mercury. The atoal. gam seizes upon the tarnished gold, and also, when 'triturated' with certain minerals containing gold, it picks out the precious metal much more keenly and completely than plain quicksilver."

It will be seen, by our advertising columns that the Rev. Mr Christie, Presbyterian minister of Waikouaiti, will preach to-morrow afternoon at 3 o'clock, at the Clyde Church. We take the following from the " Tuapeka Recorder:"—On the afternoon of Monday last the Hospital Committee met Messrs. Moss and Hughes in the Court House, for the purpose of urging certain matters connected with that institution upon their notice. In a few general remarks Major Croker introduced the object for which the interview had been sought; after which Mr. Brown exp f ained at some length that, in consequence of the delay on the part of the Government in making prompt payment of moneys due to the institution, it had been put to serious loss and inconvenience. At present they had an overdraft from the bank to a very large amount, while in reality the Government owed them much more than would cover all their liabilities. An addition to the House Surgeon's quarters was likewise very much required, such an addition to be made available for meetings of committee. ' t present they had to meet at the Court House, and it was found to be very inconvenient, as it often happened to be necessary for them to meet upon the building, in order that its requirements might be pointed out. There were also some repairs in the shape of painting which he believed were very much Avanted Dr. Stuart said the painting was very much required. In the event of an epidemic breaking out the paper and calico lining at present on the walls would require to be torn down. Mr. Moss replied, that, beyond the £I,OOO already voted for the institution, he did not think that any further pecuniary assistance would be granted to the Hospital, unless under the usual conditions of being given as subsidy for money collected by subscription. The repairs and alterations they referred to would not cost much, and he sugsrested

that a portion of the amount required should be raised hy voluntary subscription, ■which would be subsidised bv the Government in the usual way. With respect to the complaint of the Government not. having forworded remittances, the lilnine lay with the committee alone. Had the accounts of the institution been forwarded at the proper time the votes and subsidies would have been sent in return at once After some further conversation, the committee thanked Messrs. Moss and Hnghes for their attendance, and the meeting broke up." The "Southern Cross" says:—"The native difficulty to prospecting in the Thames district appears to be in a fair way of removal, and recent results confirm the opinion that the precious metal is to be found in that district in at least payable quantities. A parcel of black sand, con taining gold, has been left with his Honor

'the Superintendent, a small portion of which was washed, and produced about 30 per cent, of fine gold. A few of the larger particles stood the test of nitric acid. The locality where the sample was found is situate between Mercury Bay and Wan gapoa, on the east coast of the promotory" at Cape Colville. Alluvial gold has also been discovered at Mataharakikif about four or five miles north of Kennedy's Bay. Some of the native owners of the land have agreed with Mr, Mackay, Commissioner, to permit Europeans to prospect on the same terms as those proposed in the Coromandel district, and, should a payable goldfield be found, to make arrange- : ments for working it."