The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1868.

Dunstan Times, Issue 317, 22 May 1868, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1868.

Beneath the Rule of Jlen K.vin.n.v just the rr.N- is mightier than tlieswor.n.

mated revenue of the past year, must lie looked upon (notwithstanding that t■ at gentleman has so elaborately glossed over the ugly fact) an unmistakable evidence that the Province is by no means so prosperous as it should be. It matters not that we have improved our position by £14,000 as against a deficiency with which we commenced the financial year. That deficiency was an acknowledged liabi lity, and its extinguishment was provided for out of the revenue. The basis of Circulating anticipated revenue must be the preceding year's receipts, and then most liberal allowance must be made for a falling off in paiticular items. So, by removing the superficial polish with which the Treasurer envelopes this unwelcome disclosure, the plain and unvarnished truth ;emaii,s that we are inakins a Any ob*ervant person travelling through the gold fields cannot but arrive at the painful conclusion that gold-mining, as a branch of industry, is not making progress.' It inattu-s not that we possess ;<o many natural I

advantages, when we cannot make them available. There are thousands of acres of auriferous ground lying idle for want of water being brought on to iheui, to serve as a means of extracting the gold therefrom ; and it may with truth be said, something after the style of the " Ancient Mariner :" Gold, gold, everywhere, but not an ounce to be had The question therefore naturally suggests i self: How is it that so much wealth remains untouched 1 Or, figuratively speaking, why is there famine amidst this plenty 1 Answer says that the costs of the necessaries of life are so great, and material so very deai - , and there being no outside help to enable the miner to overcome any but the most trivial difficulties in his search after the precious metal, that, excepting under the most favorable circum_ stances, gold-mining cannot be carried on with profit. It, is no wonder that we have a decreasing revenue, and it must still go on decreasing while this iinporta t branch of industry is so circumscribed, its expansion being positively prohibited by the narrowminded views taken by the Govern nient relative to the interior of the province, We will allow that the escort returns show no falling oil'during the past year ; but, remove the Mongolian population, and what would be the result then 1 One-third of the actual yield of g dd might be knocked oflf However desirable the presence among us of the Chinese population might be, still English men and women are necessary, if we desire to male ■ this part of New Zeala d our home and arrive at any eminence as a country : but, as things are managed now. the land must so >n become a sheep walk, dotted over here and there with the dejected and makeshift dwellings of the squatters? or, perhaps, the scene might be enlivened i by a few straggling parties of Asiatic j goal seekers, the sterling European | miner having left for a more congenial j climate, where the cost of living is ! more reasonable, an 1 where there i.i a better prospect of remunerative labor. j The want of a more ready men lis of communication between tin- goldfields, together with difficulties thrown in the way of people settling theml selves down upon the 1a...'. . are the chief causes of the present unsatisfactory state of all'airs. As mining operations are now being carried on, material, in the shape of timber, forms a very largo item of expenditure, and many works would lie now in operation, giving employment to hundreds of hands, could that article be procured at something like a moderate cost, leav ing out mining purposes, it is an indispensable article in the erection of dwellings, and where lignite is not procurable for fuel also. Now in a country like Otago, where there are hundreds of square miles totally destitute of anything in the shape of a tree, and where that portion of the country contains enormous mineral wealth, the profitable extraction of which depends upon a supply of timber being obtainable at a cheap rate. It shoul.i be the first duties of the Government to make communication easy by go id roads between the vast forests in the mountains, and the lowlying country, where this timber is required, but, such is not the case, the want of a simple thing, in the shape of a bridge across the Shotover River, stands in the way of the very development of the mineral rssources of the country and the comfort of the population combined. From the Wakatip. besides timber, might be also procured, grain and flour at rates considera bly below what we are now paying, but the difficulty of communication stands in the way, and through short sightedness, or for private purposes, the producing and consuming powers of that and the Dunstan District are rendered as much as possible inopera" tive. All thi:i public lo:_s '■"■ ems to be occasioned from the fact of one member ot the Executive having, (using a coloniali in) a " down " upon a cor tain memberof theCoancil,andanother ■ from being a miller, who" desires to supply the miners himself from Dane- j din, rather'.than let then: produce for ! themselves There can be no doubt

ago.

of it, but, that if communication between the Dunstan and Lakes had been as easy as it should be, the cost of bridging the Shotover, and releas ing tram private hands the objection, able punts, at the crossing places of the Kawarau River, would have paid itself long ago, by the increased employment there would have been created for the people. Communication with Dunedin is also very unsatisfactory, yet more practicable, but from the badness of the roads, the prices of goods brought from there is very much enhanced to the miners, so much so, that absolute necessaries are oftentimes dispensed with, or such shiits are made, that the consumption of many articles c.f ordinary daily use, are as limited as if they were luxuries. Living therefore under such circumstances, is a sort of constant annoyance and irritation, and causes many persons as soon as they can iicrape together sufficient capital to do so, to leave the Province in disgust, instead of Stopping and spe ding their money in it, and increasing its productiveness. Cheap material and cheap living makes employment plentiful, and will do more to populate a country, than the costly system of importing immigrants In such a case, the country would be an atttactiou in itself, and population would seek our shores at no exp use tons. Supposing that at the present moment, a batch of immigrants were sent up to the goldfields, they could not find employment ; to make a start, the new coiner must be possessed of considerable means, he would not only have to provide him. | self with food, but he must bui d a habitation, the cost, of which, would j absorb quite a little capital, leaving | alone what would bo required before j he could get fairly into some oecupa- : tion. A man with a family has scarcely any chance to start mining on the | goldfields, with (he high price of food : and material now prevailing, unless j he were comparatively in good circumstances j he would be much better off in Australia, as what he mi Jit spend fruitlessly here, would there, •place them in a fair way of earning a . comfortable living The want of a reaily means of communication by good roads, is a far more important matter I than the generality of people suppose. : and we thus place it before our readers in the hope that our efforts may I be seconded, to compel the Govern- | ment to do that, which in any other | country would have been done years