The Dunstan Times SATURDAY, 2nd JUNE, 1866

Dunstan Times, Issue 214, 2 June 1866, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

SATURDAY, 2nd JUNE, 1866

'Beneath the rule of men entirely jvbt, the pbn is miohtieb than the swoed!"

Owing to a break-down in the telegraph between Tuapeka and Dunedin, no messages Lave been transmitted since Tuesday last. » The late deputation to the Superintendent from Manuherikia, on the subject of water-rights, appears to have created considerable ill feeling between the race-owners and creek and gully workers. The question at first appeared but a simple one, the dispute being merely the solution of the problem whether that water granted under the old rules should be measured by the new. This was a dfficulty which the Solons in Dunedin had not calculated upon, they probably imagined that water in this part of the country was so plentiful that ' any alterations in the mining rules which interfered with its measurement could easily be adjusted, and cause no conflicting interests whatever. But a mountain-stream scorns the trammels and formalities of " red tape" in volume it varies with the seasons, seldom there is the all-sufficient quantity, but rather "plenty" or a " dearth," and unfortnnately, when most required, the supply is the shortest. Could not the Gov= erument in their wisdom have provided for existing rights, and as an addenda to the proclamation revoking the old rules, have inserted a pro visionary clause to the effect that, where the innovation could not be carried out, the conditions of grants already made should not be interfered with, or if they had abolished the foolish old system of "heads" and substituted "inches," it would not have mattered either to the raceowners or the creek-workers how the volume of their water was measured, whether it was by means of a pressure board or without one, so long that the actual quantity was not curtailed or interfered with. Surely the mining surveyors are able to guage a given stream by the old or new measurement; it is very easily to find out the difference between say eight heads of water measure.! under the old rules, and the same quantity as measured by the new. An uniform system could be introduced with considerable advantage, and had the Government only gone about the thing in a

sensible manner, they would havi been given credit for the alteration instead of bringing down upon themselves the odium of the majority of the mining population. The report, for which we are indebted to the ' Daily Times' oi the interview between Messrs Chappie and Jones and His Honoi the Superintendent, satisfactorily convinces us that the chief of the goldfields' authorities but imperfectly understands his business ; his remarks carry us back to the old days of the Yictorian diggings, when it was necessary to cart all the wash-dirt to water, and when perhaps less than a quarter of head of that element would havebeensuf fieient for a whole gully. But here, in Otago, carting wash-dirt to 8 creek is extremely rare, there if but very little stuff that would pay for such a process, the precious metal is too sparingly distributed through the earth to permit of it? being extracted by any other thaij a rapid process, and it is only through our possessing such a ready and ample supply of water, and substituting improved means and appliances for manual labor ttiat the mining population can make their employment a remunerative one. Compel the miners to go back to the old slow and methods of releasing the gold from the soil and they would be starved out of the country; but give them every facility for pursuing their labors and they will earn excellent wages from ground which, were ii in a dry arid country it would not produce as much as would buy rici to feed a Chinaman. For what reasons does Mr Pyke supposi that milcsu pon miles of "hj ead races'' were constructed or stupendous rock cuttings made involving an enormous expenditure of capital and labor to form tail-races, but to wash the gold bearing drifts by a rapid process. Is not water now made to perform work which was formerly done by men's hands, and is it not through this improved system that we retain our present population who, although notwithstanding the richer deposits may have been already exhausted, find themselves actually in an improved condition, inasmuch as their em ployment is a permanent one, and at the same time more remunerative than ever. Give a man a stream of water and he can earn a living almost anywhere, but deprive him of its valuable aid and the gold that lies buried in the ground is as worthless as if it had no existence. The interests of the race owners and the interests of the creek-workers are doubtless conflicting ones, but they are both very valuable, in fact it is difficult to choose which of the two is the most important, at all events we cannot afford to loose either ; and we think that arrangements might be made so that both parties might continue their course of prosperity. The grand principle which should guide the wardens is, that the natural advantages of the country should be judiciously used and made the most of, there should be no waste, and the good of the many should always receive first consideration. Water, when used at or near its natural channel, can be economised more than when it is carried in an artificial course. In the first place, it is available for the purposes of the miner over and over again; but in the latter its services are seldom of avail when once used It was doubtless a great oversight on the part of the goldfields authorities to allow such creeks as Butchers and Conroy's, considering that they run an uninterrupted course of miles through auriferous ground, to be tapped at their very sources, w r hen the water could have been taken out lower down, and then be equally as serviceable to the great sluicing companies on the banks of the Molyneux. It might not be yet too late to provide a remedy. A survey of the ground could easily be made, and even should the Government, to extricate themselves from theirdelimma, be compelled to make an allowance to the race-owners for alteration in

the course of their races, the outlay would ultimately prove a gain and would soon be made up in the increased consumption of dutiable articles,letalonetheexportdutyonthe idditional quantity of gold obtained. Everything that could reasonably be done should be, to retain >ur mining population, allured as diey now are by the attractiveness )f the goldfields on the West Coast; md we feel fully assured that if the present difficulty is only met judiciously, it can be amicably arranged -vith all parties. With respect to deputations themselveSj we often fancy that the Government lends them too ready an ear. A depu. iation should he properly accredited, and ;minate solely from a body of people in public meeting assembled, not from an hastily got up affair that those attending lave not had either sufficient time to consider their course of action, or as the result of a memorial which, although it may rave numerous signatures attached, is so -rom the very fact that the number of uitographs owe their existence merely to the extreme readiness to which people on the goldfields are apt to subscribe their names to any document that aray be presented to them for that purpose. That Messrs Jones and Chappel did not repre. sent the people of Manuherikia, or even a majority of the race owners there cannot :>e a doubt. The proceedings of the recent meeting at the Royal Mail Hotel quite bear us out in making this assertion; and finding that they had been misled, the indignant meeting judiciously appointed Mr Sandison to supersede Mr Chappel, as ;heir delegate, in conjunction with Mr Finlay, to present to the Superintendent the memorial, praying that a Resident Warden and Magistrate should be located it Alexandra. Mr Sandison neither represents the race-owners, creek-workers, >r the townspeople, so that as an impartial advocate save only the general welfare, a better selection could scarcely have been made. '■ e A public meeting of the friendß of Presbyterianism took place on Friday evening, at the English Church. Dr. C. Shaw occupied the chair. It was proposed and seconded that a committee be formed, to be called the Clyde Presbyterian Church Committee, to consist of five members, three to form a quorum. An amendment that it consist of seven members, four to form a quorum, was carried. The following gentlemen were then elected members of committee: —Messrs. Downing, Hastie, Kettelty, M'Connochic,"M'Pherson, Shaw, and Staite. At a committee meeting, held the same evening, at which Mr. S. M. Clarke, Blaster of the Clyde School, was present, that gentleman, in reply to the chairman, expressed his willingness to conduct Divine Service in the Presbyterian fosm every Sabbath day as heretofore. John Chinaman has at last paid a visit to the Dunstan. Ten interesting specimens of the Flowery Land arrived at Clyde, by waggon, from Dunedin, on Monday last. They have already commenced washing the gravelly beaches of the Molyneux, and appear their prospects. A public meeting was held at the National Hotel on Wednesday evening last, for the purpose of appointing a library committee. The promoters reported that the sum of £2O was in hand towards the purchase of books. Messrs. Clarke, Cambridge, Downing, Barlow, Staite, Hull, and Christophers were unanimously appointed a committee; Mr. Hull to be Secretary, and Mr. Christophers to be Treasurer. A Volunteer Corps is talked about for the Dunstan. We are given to understand that a communication has been sent to Major Cargill, asking him to accept the services of a corps. Mining matters in the Arrow district are rapidly improving. The Criterion Company's machinery works admirably, and is kept going night and day. The reef isnow between three and four feet wide, and appears to be increasing in thickness the lower it is traced. A new reef ha 3 been discovered on the Crown Range by Cotnis' and party. They first noticed indications of a reef in a land-slip, and driving in a short tunnel, came upon a compact body of a'onft, The prospects obtained are highly favorable Ou the Gtrman Reef time claims have struck the main body of stone. It is five feet thick, and gold is plainlyseen throughout. The Barracouta and Pintus Companies, on the Criterion line, have stru(k the cap of the reef, with very good prospects. On tho same liuc the Who-d a'

Thought it Company are driving. The Columbian and New Orleans Companies are preparing to sink forthwith. A fine Beam of lignite, almost equal to house coal, has been struck on the flat, on the west bank of the Kawarau River, near Frankton Falls Agricultural operations are being pushed forward with great vigor. Largo areas of ground will next season be under cultivation on the banks of Lake Hajes and at Speargrass Flat, as also in other places in the neighborhood. Taking this district as a whole things are highly satisfactory, and there is every prospect that the future will be all that could.be desired. Messrs. J. C. Chupple and Robert Finlay. from Alexandra, had an interview with his Honor the Superintendent, on Eriday last, for the purpose of presentiug a' t memdtial from storekeepers, miners, and ethers, pray-•• sng that a resident Warden for Manuherikia might be appointed. Thi memorial was bigned by two hundred and forty-eight persons. Mr. Vincent Pyk was present, and took part in the conversation. On the suggestion by the deputation that Mr. Warden Robinson should leside at Alexand.a instead of at Clyde, his Honor told them that the Government had not the means to remove the Government buildings and officials, no vote having been taken in the Council for any such purpose, and he did not think the Government had the inclination to make the change, even if they had the power.

A numerously attended meeting was held on Friday evening last, at the Eoyal Mail Hotel, Alexandra, for the purpose of taking into consideration the misrepresentations made by Mr J. C. Chappel to His Honor the Superintendent, -while a member of the late deputation respecting the water-rights question. Mr John Jack occupied the chair. Several speakers addressed the meeting, dwelling most forcibly upon the mis-stateneits made by Mr Chappel. There appeared a feeling of universal regret that the report of the interview as contained in the 'Daily Times' did not reach iManuherikia prior to Mr Chappel's departure on his present mission in company with Mr Finlay, to present another memorial asking for the appointment of a licsident WVrlen at Alexandra. After Mr Chappel's had been severely commented upon, it was proposed and numerously earned, that Mr James Sandison supersede Mr Chappel, and that he at once proceedjjto Dunedin; in the meantime Mr Chappel was to be informed by telegraph of the result of the proceedings of the present meeting. Some unimportant business connected with the details of the deputation being gone into, the usual vote to the chairman concluded the prcc edings. Mr Sandison left on Saturday afternoon for Dunedin.