The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 1870.

Dunstan Times, Issue 404, 14 January 1870, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 1870.

Beneath the Rule of Men entirely just the pen is mightier than theswoßD

Dunedin capital is once more directed towards the goldfields. In the Daily Tidies of the sth instant, we find advertised the prospectus of the Bendigo Quartz Mills Company, capital, 6,5000£. in 1,300 shares of 51. each. The return of .confidence in mining speculations must he received with feelings of unmingled satisfaction by residents on the -goldfields, and also by every other person interested in their prosperity. Dunedin people have for a l,p ( ng time past been charged with a wilnt of sympathy with the mining population, amounting to a decided unwillingness to invest in mining speculations or to assist in forwarding the interests of the goldfields even when no call was made upon their pockets either for speculation or patriotic purposes. It is to be hoped that this idea is for ever disa bused, and that the new Crushing Company for Bendigo Gully will "unmistakably prove that wherever there exists any legitimate opening for the investment of capital, the capitalist will gladly avail himself of the opportunity for investing. As yet, mining speculation through Ihe medium of Joint Stock Companies have proved anything but satisfactory, Quartz Com panies, both at Waipori and Skippers turned out egregious failures, and the same may bo said of Water race and Sluicing Companies, the moro extensive the operations the more disastrous the failure. The case will be far different now, the reefs at Bendigo Gully have been proved by repeated and thorough trials of their

richness, and experienced practical iriiners all concur in one opinion, that , there is plenty of stone that will pay for crushing, and all that is wanted to open up this productive field is a more efficient supply of machinery for reducing the quartz. A public crushing battery is the precise thing that is wanted, and-should onlv a moderate modicum of success drown the speculation, (of which there is very little doubt), there will be no more need of complaints, that capitalists fight shy of the goldfields. That success has not hitherto attended the operations of public mining companies not to any particular scarcity of the precious metal, but rather to the want of knowledge in managing what had been undertaken. We find that scrip was sold in quartz companies, and at high premiums, where not so much as the vestige ot a reef had been struck. In other cases, extensive and elaborate crushing machinery was erected where there was but very little stone, and then no trials had been made to test its permanence or its value. With respect to water companies, some of their races were so badly and unscientifically surveyed, that the water would have been required to run up hill before it could flow through them or the flaming and earth works were so badly constructed, that they either fell of their own accord or were blown down by every passing gale of wind, while in many cases, they were brought on to ground that a week’s trial with a cradle would have shown that it was impossible by any known process of extracting gold they could prove remunerative. We all learn wisdom by experience, and this axiom seems particularly applicable to mining companies in the early days of a goldfield. As we have said before this arises from a want of sufficient experience in the matter in hand, and as we become more technically acquainted with the various details of gold mining, so will our success be proportioned to the knowledge we possess. It took time to develop the famous deep leads of Ballarat, and many were the losses and vexatious delays which took place before their riches were proved, one company was being constantly built up upon the wreck of another until the work was satisfactorily accomplished. That we should possess faith and not look back after having once pur our hand to the plough is amply demonstrated by recent occurrences at Bendigo Gully. The rich claim of the Cromwell Quartz Mining Company was once in the hands of Dunedin capitalists, who if they only had possessed the courage to proceed would have been the undisputed owners of this valuable property. The establishment of confidence between the capitalist in Dunedin and the miner on the g-ddfields will be mutually beneficial to both parties. A proper understanding between the man with sinews and the man with money is indispcnsible to the development and prosperity of our mining industry, both sides must view the question in a broad and liberal light, looking more to future and permanent benefits, than to present and uncertain gains.