The Dustan Times. FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1873.

Dunstan Times, Issue 579, 23 May 1873, Page 2

The Dustan Times.

FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1873.

Beneath the Rule of Men inti belt Just the pen ismauTiß&than theswoßD.

The season of prosperity which has so greatly benefited the Province,'and which his Honor the Superintendent, followed l>y Mr. J. Bathgate, M. H.R., have taken such pains to congiatulate ns, may not be all coleur de rose, as those gentlemen?- would desire or to make us believe. That industrious portion ot Otago com prised within tbeG old: fields find things riotquite so jubilant; in fact, the great prosperity elsewhere tends rather to their disadvantage. Far from it that we should be jealous because other people are doing well; but with us and them there is this great diflerence : when the Gold-fields are prosperous it fis because the in habitants thereof, by means of hard work, indomitable perseverance, and the judicious use of improved machinery or appliances, are successful in developing the natural resources of the couptry and existing riches, which, in the absence of these means, would be of no value whatever. This may with truth be 'called real prosperity ; hut

what is the other side of the picture. At the best it must come to an end. The public works in progress, in the shape of railways, will 1 e completed some day, and then will also be an end to borrowing. These ’works may never be reproductive. In certain instances they will, scarcely he so—in thinly populated and where the “ iron horse” can go no further, or rather no where. In these cases railways will never pay the cost of wear and tear, Get alone interest on the money borrowed for their construction. To construct public works which the coming generation ‘ will be] mostly benefitted by, it is quite consistent and proper to borrow money; while, at the same time, it would bo impolitic to construct them out of the present available resources, as it would weaken

our means to carry jout present requirements in tills respect. A country is in the same position as a business man. A certain amount of capital is necessary to promote the legitimate functions of both. Whether the Colony is justified in the present lavish expenditure upon railways, and whether it is not trying to accomplish too much in too short a space of time, is a matter to be hereafter demonstrated. It is very clear that, while so much borrowed money is in course of expenditure, there must he excessive briskness, and all classes will participate in it, excepting those producers of indiginous wealth whoso labor and products cannot he affected in value by an increased demand. A rise, there-

fore, iu the price of gold—a thing impossible—would be the only means by which the miner could participate in the general prosperity enjoyed elsewhere. The Gold-fields have scarcely felt the changing circumstances of the Colony as yet; still, the dark side of the picture is beginning to show itself, and, in a very short time, the shoe must begin to pinch. Labor, owing to the iin creased demand and high wages in other quarters, is being gradually withdrawn, and is consequently becoming dearer and denser, and the result is that many claimholders who were employers of labor have been compelled to circumscribe their operations so that they can execute all the work themselves, while men who used to “fossick” about, and be content with small earnings have left for better wages at the railway and other works. The agriculturists on the Gold fields are alike sufferers from

tbe same reason, and will be move so as consumption for their produce becomes lessened.TheyJhave no other possible market; while, at the same time, like their friends the miners, must circumscribe their operations to what they can accomplish themselves orfrom mutual help societies, so that they may assist each other. The next difficulty looming up, and which has already shown itself, is the greatly increased price of provisions and material, owing to the rise in carriage.

This has?ncarly trebled itself during the last month, and, as the rdkds get » worse, a still further increase may bo expected. The winter which we have just entered upon is a gloomy' one for the Gold-fields. Even the little loan which the General Government promised ns, in aid ofwater-supply, is practically a dead letter, andjwe fancy was never intended’ 1 "to benefit the miners at all, but|to make work for a number of officials *fwho otherwise would have heenfout of a billet. ‘Mining undertakingsjprojected and started under this'delusive* bait, have had either tn bo ciibbed in their proportions, ‘orjstopped great has been the departmental mismanagement in putting this of the Public Works Act to practical utility, and'we may almost venture a conjecture that the other department,-f nf the Public Service, asTmanaged by the great theorists at Wellington, are equally in a stated of chaos’could they only he properly investigated. Gentlemen representing gold-fields’ constituencies either in the General Assembly or the Provincial Council, may rest assured they have dieir work cut out for them, as troublesome times are coming, The increased cost of labor and of every consumable and usable articlojwill, ere long, worlqmost injuriously, and unless it he tlio.se who possess good] claims, or their engagements rivit them to the spot, the remainder must seek otlur fields of employment, as their errnings will be insufficienc for^their earnings here. To maintain [the productiveness of the Gold-fields is the very key-stone of our borrowing; powers, without which public works cannot be carried on ; and, if once the Gold fields? 1 interests are permitted to languish, whosever fault it may he, punishment Jjwilljf most assuredly fellow. We arc not alarmis’s. Still, at the same time, .when we see danger looming in the distance, we deem it our duty not to be silent.