The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1872.

Dunstan Times, Issue 524, 3 May 1872, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1872.

Ecncaih the Rule of Men entirely just the pen is mightier than the a word

No speculation appearing to offer a .chance of good profit seems to come

amiss to the firm of Brogden and Sons. It seems to have no special role. It can have many irons in the fire, and get them well hammered when hot-. It can raise coal, manufacture iron, make railways, harbours, export an army of artisans and labourers to any portion' of the globe, supply any town or city with water and gas, condescends to apply for a gold mining claim and a water right, and promises if so accommodated to bring water from the head waters of the Mikonui to the auriferous terraces of Redman and Ross. Coal on the Grey, quartz onCorarnandel, Bnmton’s tin on the West Coast, and fish- at Stewart’s Island, may perchance, all be carefully considered as offering means of supplementary items of profit to our Government Contractors Bill, and Contracts. The firm located at Lyndi, in Glamorganshire that could not be content with being placed within easy reach of the two main seaports of the Principality, Cardiff and Swansea, for the export of the coal it raises and the iron it manufactures, must he, one would imagine, either difficn'tto satisfy or discontented with the natural advantages most firms would be content to possess. Some two miles and a half from Bridgcend, on the South Wales line will be tound part of the workings belonging to the Messrs. Brogden. Leaving your carriage at Bridgend, you walk across 'the line to the Synoi Siding, enter another carriage and in a few minutes are at the office door connected with the works. Some five miles from Bridgend on the coast of the Bristol Channel, is an old Welsh fishing village called Porthcawl. There is an indentation of the coast at this place and a natural boat harbor in consequence. Running * a railway from Synoi to Portcawl, and u turning the boat harbor into one where barks of five or six hundred tons burthen can load and unload, with much cost and equal sagacity the Messrs. Bi ogden have a railway and harbour of their own, for what coal or iron they may choose to export, oi pitwood they may choose to order from’lreland or Norway. They evidently have shewn they are not behind their manufacturing and producing competitors, and what appears still more to our pin-pose well adapted to seize on the advantages and appreciate the merits of speculations. Most men of exclusive English education can only run in one groove. They can be boot blacks, or iron founders, and generally that alone. They have not , that'diversity of occupation or means of gaining a livelili n ocl'Colonial vicissitudes compel. It appears to be the fashion of many of our contemporaries, and even of many private’'individuals, to condemn this multifold phase of speculation the firm of Brogden and Sons .seem willing to [identify themselves with in New Zealand. Unable to take advantage of the’ numerous openings for making money that are open in a new Country, like’ the dog in the manger, unable to fatten on hay, they watch every speculation 1 of the firm with envious eyes—watch every mouthful ot metaphorical fodder swallowed, regretting it is not a'morsel to swallow or a bone - to hide. Not satisfied witli the Messrs.|Brogden, in being willing and able to fulfil their contracts, and [considering nought of the manner in whichj'Contract No. 1 lias been modified. They enviously , watch everything done by the representative of the firm as so much actual cash taken’out of their own, pockets, and so many resources of the country alienated from its proper destination. For two years the people of Westland liavo been talking and trying to raise funds to bring .water from the head wafers of the Mikonui to Donnelly’s and Donoghne’s. They* have spent some 1,200/. in forming a company and surveying their race, only to find the outlay was beyond their means, even with the aid of Government subsidy at seven and a half per cent, per annum. Fortunately for the people of Ross they have a Secretary to their moribund company who is something more than an ordinary mechanical animal that generally does service for such companies. He is a Member of the House’of Representatives (though a new one), a man of sound commercial training and intelligence ; a man who has the wants of his constituents at his fingers’ ends and at heart; and, seeing the impracticability of securing by local aid this boon for his constituents, lias been fortunate .enough to induce the Messrs. Brogden to undertake what his constituents were unable and the Government too supine to perform. All

honor to MrTribefor his perseverance,, and all honor to Mr. Brogden for his pluck. The Tribes and the Brogdens are certainly the people wanted in New Zealand Most of the capitalists who have come to New Zealand have, nearly all hitherto had wool or wheat on the brain/ To grow large clips of wool or cultivate some thousands of acres of land has hitherto been their ambition. Fortunately we have in this importation a man of another stamp. A miner—a fortunate one j —one of our own class, who can see into mines and their probable profits, and is not afraid to invest bis capital or the credit of his firm in those speculations our wool and wheat growers glance at obliquely. The benefits that will result from Mr. Brogden’s visit will not end with the public or private works he undertake—their conclusion, results, or his departure. It will tend to make our large resources more generally known at home; induce a different class of immigrants to visit the colony, bring another class of speculators among us, increase our revenue, extend the knowledge of the fact that we have valuable mineral estates untouched for want of funds to' open them ; and render, by the increased amount of British capital invested among us, the tie that binds us to the Mother Country, and our status among the dependencies of the British Empire, mure important.