The Dunstan Times FRIDAY, 26th OCTOBER, 1866.

Dunstan Times, Issue 235, 26 October 1866, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

FRIDAY, 26th OCTOBER, 1866.

'Beneath the rule of men entirely ju&t, tht - pen is mightier than the sword!"

The exodus which is now taking place from Victoria to the West Coast of New Zealand, cannot fail but to ultimately prove of considerable advantage to this Province. It is a Well-ascertained fact, that the West Coast Goldfields are very much overdone, and that the many hundreds of people rushing there will fail to find profitable employment. ■ It must be borne in mind that however productive the goldfields there may be, they are nevertheless very much limited in extent, nor is it probable that their area can be extended. Beyond the occupation of mining for gold there is no other outlet for labor; the country is not suited for agricultural pursuits, and we well know from experience that goldfields cannot be permanently prosperous unless there exists other mean.? of employment save that of mining for gold. A cessation of new discoveries must bring about a collapse, the re&ilt of which, will be that a large unemployed population having nothing to fall back upon, must seek other shores to gain a livelihood. In the present conditon of the West Coast Goldfields, such an event cannbt be far distant, and the question natural'y arises, where will the ebbing tide discharge itself? It. is not likely that many will return to Victoria, the condition ot the workingman in that country is by no means an enviable one; all accounts from that quarter concur in the one general statement that the goldfields no longer present inducements for individual or even associated labor, and that iinless a man is possessed of considerable means he must be content to subsist upon a miserable pittance, and remain without hope of allevia tion—a hewer of wood and a drawer of water to the end of his days. The other Australian Colonies are pretty much in the same predicament, we hear of riots for want of bread, and nf Governments being forced to provide employment for starving multitudes. With these facts before us, it is very clear that New Zealand must and will become the favorite feld for labor, and that a large population will, ere long, distribute itself through the length and breadth of both Islands. Among all the provinces there is none at the present time that presents so many advantages either to the workman or the capitalist as Otago. Its products are of the most varied character, there is always a diversity of employment, while its climate is in every respect most suited to the European constitution; as we deal more particular y with the goldfields, we may with safety assert, that since the first discoveries at Tuupeka, they were never in a more flourishing condition, nor were the miners individually better off. The days of great finds and rapidly made fortunes may certainly be over, and places where gold was almost tolae had for the picking up are exhausted, but the real stores of mineral-wealth have as yet been scarcely tapped; the further we go back into the hills and terraces the more permanent is the supply, and there exists the advantage that neither seasons nor floods affect materially the operations of the' miner, whose employment, when well regulated, and by the use of proper appliances, is witli but few 'exceptions, unfailingly remunerative. Before many weeks have elapsed, the practical developement of our quartz reefs Will be generally known that the result will exceed the expectations of even many sanguine individuals, there exists no doubt; and with the fact established, that quartz-mining in Otago can be followed up with a reasonable hope of profit, we shall have ho more cause to complain of the want of population.