DUNEDIN.

Dunstan Times, Issue 289, 8 November 1867, Page 3

DUNEDIN.

(FROM OCR PERIPATETIC CORItESFOXDEXT.) DUKEDIN, NOV. 4. Trade has teen excessively dull of late and everybody is complaining of the bad times. Many and various reasons are given for this gaining of prosperity, the main being attributed to the late unhappy differences between the General and Provincial Governments. In my humble opinion the great depression of trade arises purely from loWl causes, and, what is more, over ■which we have control, and a speedy remedy could soon be found if our leading men would only give themselves the trouble to malce themselves acquainted with the facts, and a remedy would soon suggest itself. It should be apparent to everyone that, unless the country districts arc prosperous, it is impossible for the town to be so ; and whaterer may be done by shoTt-iighted people in dredging muddy and hopelessly siltedup harbors, or spending money on palatial buildings not required by this young community, the expedient is only a temporary •one, and when the wotk is done and the money spent things are &3 dull again as ever, and, what is far worse, we are ever so much the poorer, the expenditure not being reproductive. The "Daily Times," in a hading article, on Friday last, asks for suggestions from correspondents as to the

best means of opening np new goldfields, the editor firmly believing that there is room for many more to be opened ; but from personal knowledge of the Province, I beg to differ from that gentleman's opinion. There is no room left for any more Tuapekas, Dunstans, or Wakatips. The whole area of Otago is very small, and almost every portion of it has been more or less prospected. There will, no doubt, be many minor discoveries made, as in old Bendigo at the present day, but nothing more. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to make many minor discoveries : we have no population to spare for prospecting. The returns from the goldfields show that every miner is profitably employed at the present time, and of cours there is no need for them to prospect. From what I can learn from the goldfields papers every drop of available water is employed in sluicing, and, as it is upon that principle of working marly all mining at the present day is carried on, no more diggers could be employed even if they were to come, and consequently the population continues small. Now I believe this is about the real state of affairs on the goldfields. It seems to me that, to make things better in Dunedin, and to restore some of its wonted prosperity, an increase of the population is indispensable ; let us therefore inquire how this can be best performed. To make an addition to the number of miners they must be provided with the means of setting t« work, and that can only be done by increasing the supply of water for sluicing purposes. This matter is very easily accomplished by the cutting of large races from some of the principle sources of water supply, but it is beyond the means of the local residents to do so. They have done very well already, and outside assistance must be rendered. 1 am strongly of opinion that money which has lately been fooled away in Dunedin niightj with much more advantage, have been expended upon such works in the up-country districts. The increased salaries lately given to the Superintendent, Treasurer, and Secretary would go a I'iig way towards making preliminary surveys. By-the-bye, our Treasurer is a great man for retrenchment, but, unfortunately, like most men who are at the top of a tree, content themselves with lopping off the minor branchesI should say, lop all alike, and, if neces ary, apply the axe to the old and decayfng wood. Bead the Victorian newspapers, and see what the Government there have been doing in the shape of .supplying the miners with water. And what has been done here ? Absolutely nothing ! The next matter of importance is giving people inducements to settle d wn. At present nothing has been done to give the mining community an interest in making the province the'r home ; so their only alternative is, when they have either worked out or grown tired of their claims, to pack up and go away. Some months ago rive thousand area blocks were to be taken out of the squatters' runs for settlement; but nothing has been done in the matter yet, nor is there any likelihood of such unless you kick up a row, for, to tell you the truth, some of the gentlemen forming the Provincial Government have strong sqnattoric predilections and do not sympathise with the poor man in his desire to possess the soil. It seems to me that the province can't be prosperous unless inducements arc held out fur people to settle, ami up in the faraway goldfields the land should be given f'eeor upon very easy terms to those who are willing to settle upon it. Anyone with a family of children should have at least two hundred acres. Even this would l.e a saving of time and would be b tter than importing immigrants. The land being occupied and plenty of cultivation going on, the cost of the necessaries of life would be greatly reduced, and consequently there would be more money in the hands of the miners to develop the m'neral resources by the construction of works and by prospecting ; labor would be less desultory, and a man, or new chum, or whatever you like to call him, could find employment in agriculture or mining and be retained up-country, instead of returning to Dunedin and joining the ranks of the unemployed, and thus become a terror to the Provincial "bigwigs." The resources of Otago ore doubtless very great, and are permanent likewise, and all that we want is men of liberal ideas at the head of the Government. The Superintendent will be up among you the moment the Delegated Powers arrive, which are expected daily, and then you must sieze the opportunity of making him personally acquainted with what you require, and I am 6ure that he will do his best for you when once ho understands your exact position. As I said in the beginning of my letter, things are very bad down here, so don't be afraid to ask for anything that will add permanently to the prosperity of the conntry. The business in the merchants' stores in Dunedin cannot be improved but by an incr ase of up-country orders, and how can that be brought about but by an increase of customers. The movement made in your district for tho establishment of Mining Boards is looked on with much favor by the Government, and every assistance will be given by the Superintendent and Treasurer; they must be a rare go-ahead lot at Alexandra, and deserve tho best thanks of all the miners in the Province. It is high time that the Mining community mado their own laws, what with incompetent representation, and the discretionary powers of tbe, Wardens, there has been tnade a nice hash of things. It is said that there will be great reductions in tho Wardens' staffs on tho Goldfields; about five Wardens will be the future number, whilo a whole host of Officers in Charge, JJeeeivcrs, Clerks Bailiffs &c. will get tljeir walking tickets, this I believe will colM fittm tho General Government, who are by no means such good employers as the Provincial. MessrsMackay and Baird have been provided

with billets in the Bhape of Inspectors of Crown Lands, what their peculiar functions are, I cannot tell, or what particular object they will inspect. The programme of your Tiace Meeting took every one by surprise, and many visitors will pay a visit to the Dunstan during the racing season ; people say that you are the only sporting men in the Province. 1 paid a visit to the Lunatic Asylum on Friday evening last, and was present at the weekly Ball and Concert given to the patients.. I had a chat with your townsman Mr. Joshua Lazarus, we sat conversing together alongside the piano for some time, and really he did not appear to have much the matter with him, at the same time the patients are under such admir.ble restraint that it is impossible to form a correct opinion of their exact state of mind.—A Ball at a Lunatic Asylum, dancing with Lunatics, and hearing Lunatics sing, is something so novel, that I had better describe it for the edification of your readers. Arriving at the Asylum shortly before 8 o'clk I was admitted by the Superintendent, Mr. Hume, when in company with some others we were led through a large corridor to the dancing or amusement hall, a very large room, unfortunately not large enough, but another is being built; the room was crowded, aproportion of about three fourths of those present, were inmates, the rest were visitors like myself, and the officers of the Establishment. Two of Mr Hume's daughters, assisted by another young lady presided at the piano, and whether executing an Overture, playing a Duet, or accompanying a son<», they displayed exceeding skill and proficiency on the instrument; in the dance music, one gentleman acempanied witli a violin, and another with the cornopean. Everything seemed admirably managed; the unforinnare inmates were scrupulously clean, well behaved, and seem ed as happy as if they were in their own homes, and in all probability many were far happier ; they went through the dances with admirable precision, and in the "tirst set" "lancers" or "Sir Roger" were quite adepts. The patients wee about equally divided as to sexes, many aged and many young ; there was one, qiv'-e an inter >tui<» little girl, not more than eight ypav3 of .ige, setting opposite to me, and poor li e'e filing she took so much no Jce, and appeared so happy that had it not hive bsen for her quai it ways, I should not have defected that she was mad, she seemed so affect ionate and lovi lg with another Huh girl about her own age (a visitor) and was supremely happy when the Other kissed her cheek, which she was coi'i-.i.ii'ly prescting. At ten o'clock the "National Anthem" was played, aid we all left highly delighted with the entarfcamuiait. In my hurry I did not have time to express to Sir. Hume, the Superintendent, the pleasure my visit had given me, but I hope that when he sees this in print, it will answer for my apology. Another place I pa : d a visit to lately, and that was Mr. Bicha-df on's Flour Mill at Wnst Taieri, I know that y..i people consume a deal of bread made from the Hour ground at thin mill, and rorn.ithmg about how thj matter is accomplished, may not be amiss. The mill is situa'.e on a Creek about a qu irter of a mile from the bridge, an.l is an ad irra'ily managed affair, the motive power is derived from wafer conveyed some distance by a raue, and finally by fluming on to a thirty font oveiohot wheel, which drive, the machinery; the mill is just such a one you ought to hove on the Dunstan. I presume that plenty of wheat will some day be in your district. The proprietor, assisted by his son, a youth of se/enteen or eig'iieea, dues all the work, but 1 must tell you that everything is so well arrange.l, that after the sacks of jjfaiu are emptied iulo a bin, there is nothing required 'out to till them again with flour, no hard labor whatever being, necessary till then. Mr. Simmons's letter to the Bishop of Brechen has caused qi : le a commotion amongst the various religious bodies, and is also the subject of general conversation amongst the wicked ones, or non-church goers. Naughty Mr. Simmons to be so bold as to tell the truth, an 1 far naughtier still, the too confiding Bishop to publish it looking impartially at the letter it is substantially correct, and had Mr. S'mons been less severe upon the Pre -by tori: ns and the diggers, not much fault could be found, the affair will do Mr. Simmons a great deal of injury, and t'jj opportunity t:> do him harm will iwt 1)3 lo.it by bis enemies, however he is a first class schooling ter, and gets the boys on wonderfully, and should any parents of children be silly enough to remove them from the High School on account of this obnoxious and indiscreet letter I can only say they are very foolish. I wonder what would be said of Mr. Simmons's detractors, were all their doings and writings to be published. There are great complaints of the dearth of news in the newspapers, but that is the fault of no one ; if there arc not enough rob berios or murders committed, the Newspaper proprietors are not to blame ; hy-thc-bye, don't we all understand the Stamp Act, and Ttates of Postage down here ; as to the latter, the "Daily Times" have it steriotyped, the matter has become so interesting to the public, who doubtless read it both night and day ; any boy att Sliding a Dunedin School, can tell you the exact rates of Postage to Timbuotoo, Abysinia, or Ports in the Mediterranean. I see the Postage rates are actually in the "Daily Times" Stimmary, published this morning for the Panama Mail, how the people in London will bo edified. Your friends Haughton and Br.idshaw havc returned from Wellington, they are to be provided for, it is said by the General Government; the new County of Westland is to be equally divibed, each half to be presided over by one of those gentlemen in the capacity of a Warden or Commissioner.