The Dunstan Times FRIDAY, MAY 27, 1870.

Dunstan Times, Issue 423, 27 May 1870, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 1870.

Beneaththelluleof Men entirely just the pen" is mightier than theswoßD

The quarterly report of Mr. Warden Pyke, pu’dished in our last issue, cannot be read otherwise than with great inteiest by every resident in ih . district. The Dunstau slid maintains its position as the largest producer of gold, and, in juxtaposition to this, we find the district superior to all others in the number and vaiiety of its workings and appliances for e::tiacting and saving gold, We will not go so far as Mr. Pyke in saying that the ful’er development of our mineral resources would appear to be only now commencing, because everybody knows that we have gone much further in developing the mineral resources of the province than any other district, and yvc have now the most perfect machinery at our command. We will therefore content ourselves with saying that a season of mining prosperity is before us. and our rate of progress Yvill be in exact proportion to our exertions; in fact, it will depend upon ourselves to vela,in our position as the chief mining centre of Otago. To the energy and enterprise of our miners must be attributed the satisfactory results pointed out by Mr. Pyke. Ouv in creasing yield of gold does not proceed so much from new workings, but from the superior manipulation of the old ones, for we find that, in oases where improved contiivances are used.

Y ground, which formerly would not pay wag's, is now Yielding handsome returns. This is particularly nodcable in ground sluicing, where, by judicious of application ot Yvater and effective means for saving go’cl, pl«ces. at one time deso; ted as not containing suffice ciont gohl to be woith working, are n- nowpiofilablyoccupied,and aswe goon or making impiovements all the old and abandoned workings, or what are supposed to he such, will be made to yirkl handsomely again. The nr st satisfactory results may bo anticipated f'om dredging.'which bran Ji of milling - interest is doubtless still capable of improvement. The bottom of the Molyneux, without a doubt, contains u | untold wealth. Time will give us ri some contrivance which will place us ie in possession of the gold concealed in the rocky crevices now unapproachable. Quartz-mining may bt- considered as in its infancy, and, judging from appearances, we have much to learn iti this branch of industry The Cromwell reefs have proved a u . success ; but, unfortunately, there are >e exceptions It is apparent to every 10 one that the surrounding hills must contain re fs in which gold is largely prevalent. The number of pieces of gold-bearing quartz found in the alluvial workings and upon the hills themselves are substantial evidence of this; but the difficulty of finding the 11 ° reef appears at the present time not u S3easil - V got over as we could desire Perhaps, a tunnel driven into the heart -of one of our quartz-bearing hills might prove something : at all events it would he worth trying, and , public moimy might be expended upon it. Farming operations, though rapidly extending, have not progressed so rapidly as we could desire. The throw--1 iag open of laud at Tiger-hill, Black’*, and Bald-hill Hat has caused a num her of perso is to become cultivators, but the area of land available for cultivation is far below the require- , ments of the district. Nor will the blocks proposed to be opened at the e llaYvea and Lindis be sufficient. We do not advocate a mania for farming, n because the difficulties of transpoit are so great, leaving out the fact that, ! > at the very best, the area of laud on j the goldfields available for cultivation I is naturally circumscribed, that the I district must as a rule look to local consumption for a market. Tuapeka and the Lakes are at present exporters, but they must cease to be so when we become producers for ourselves, and t the Provincial Government are doing us an injustice until they place us in > a position to grow our own cerials. ’ Farming, to be remunerative, must but keep pace with mining at this distace from the seaboard, and the two industries will be most prosperous Yvheu legitimately supplying each other’s wants. It would be folly for - a man to waste his time in constructing a fence or breaking up land when the p’•educe will not pay him for his toil and his time might he profitably employed in digging for gold. In this case he is not only a looser himself, but his misdirected labor is also a loss to the community at large, and the , same would be the case did we place the miner in the position of the cultivator. The greatest good to the greatest number must undoubtedly result from both industries being equally balanced. This fact appears , to have struck our neighbors at the Lakes, or the petition against the opening of Messrs. Boyes, Brothers’ I? run would not have resulted. There a is doubtless as good cause for our 3 friends to cry out, “ Hold : enough I” as we have to clamor for more. It is j the duty of the Government to do 3 equal justice to all districts in providingthem with a sufficient supply of land, when the interests of all will ■4 he best secured, and the extension of the agricultural lease system followed t by the most beneficial results.

The petition presented to the Provincit al Council by Mr. C. E. Haughton, 1 from certain labourers, mechanics, - and operatives, praying to be provided 7 with a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s 3 work, is capable of a variety of r interpretations. Viewing the subject i as it appears, it presents a strange a anomoly to the well-known prosperity 3 of the province, for, in spite ot the s few commercial failures in Dunedin, 7 we were never more prosperous. p Because a few people choose to b e - extravagant and overtrade their t capital, and have elected to undergo 3 the process of whitewashing, it is not 3 1 necessary that the province is insol , vent. “ Desperate diseases require j

Y desperate remedies,” and when we set ourselves to the task of curing old e j rankling sores a disagreeable smarting s must necessarily follow. The nnomb ployed, like the pno'-, we have always e with us, and, whether new countries - are prosperous or not, there seems s always plenty of the unemployed, or i rather those who designate themselves I as such. Their complaint is a chronic - one. It was the same in the Austra--3 lian Colonies before the goldfields 15 were discovered. It was the same 1 during the height of their yield, when ' the streets of Melbourne, figuratively f speaking, were paved with gold. The : unemployed has become a colonial 3 institution, and will, in all probabili y, 3 continue to lie such. It may lie said 3 to consist of the idle, the lazy, the 1 drunken and the dissatisfied, who ■ really imagine that broad should be - put into their mouths without flie - trouble of working for it. Tie Go--1 vernmeut of New South Wales have boldly grappled with the evil, and ■ caused letters to be written to seventy ! employers of labor, skilled and unskilled, and we take from the Argus a fir sample of the answers received : *■ Mr. , steevedore.—There is ‘ plenty oi work for labourers who : “ are not afraid of work. Last week 1 “ I knew of men who were ■ eceiving “ 7s. per day striking for Bs.” Mr. 1 “ , cooper.—“ During the past 1 “ five months I have declined orders “to the amount of 1,0001, through “ want of hands, and I intend sending “to London for coopers.” Mr. , “ builder —“I believe every carpeutir “can find employment” Mr. , “ publican.—“ Ido not know of a “ single man out of employment.” “ Mr. , bootmaker.—“ 1 believe “that every bootmaker in Sydney can “ find employ raent if willing to work.” “ Mr. , bricklayer and plasterer. “—“ There are no persons in my line out of employment.” Now, were our Government to do tho same, precisely the same answers would bo returned, and it would be found that in no branch of employment was the supply of labor sufficient. On the goldfields labor is exceedingly scarce. A man may be temporally out of work, but it is merely a question of a few days. Anyone willing to lab >r may, j | as a rule, find constant employment, | either at mining or among the farmers. As a proof of this (notwith- 1 standing the cheapening of all kinds of j the necessaries of life) wages have undergone no alteration. Take the j Chinese laborers as an example. We never find them out of employment or making complaints of the want of it, and, doubtless, greater difficulties present themselves upon landing in a new country than is the case witli Europeans. There are none to hold out the welcome hand of friendship to them, they are looked upon as interlopers, and generally considered as undesirable additions to the community into which they intrude. The Chinese apparently understand the difficulties of their situation, and they work for what they can get, and live within their income, let it he over so small. The result is that they gradually work themselves into something better, and, commencing opera ions upon some of the poorest ground they soon possess the richest The unemployed is a social evil, which would be very soon cured were immigrants to accept such employment as first presented itself to them on landing, and, like the Chinese, live economically and wait the course of events until they obtained that which was best suited to their several capabilities. Employers of labor all tell us they do not so much grumble at the high rate of wages as the quality of the services rendered, and so long as people are required to pay the highest wages for the worst possible quality of work, there will always be a difficulty about want of employment, We bear every day persons complain that it will not pay to employ labor, but if they do their work themselves they find it remune rative. What can be better evidence than that those who seek employment require payment for labor which they do not desire to perform. The workingman must learn that labor is only a merchantable article, and if the employer of it finds that his return is not worth the outlay, he must cease to employ it, and continue to make tire best shift for himself. The cooperative system appears to be wovkinor well in the large manufactoring districts in England, and we see no reason why it might not be introduced with equal success into the farming and agricultural districts of this province. The subject is certainly well worfhy the attention of our legis--1 lators.