The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1874.

Dunstan Times, Issue 631, 22 May 1874, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1874.

BencatlitholluleofMenentip.kcy just the PKN'is mightier than theswopD.

Whatever changes ov so called amendments may he made in the Gold Fields’Act this next Session of the General Assembly, or what course legislation may take in respect to gold-fields’ management it is difficult to divine. One thing is, however, certain, that the sale of auriferous lands will be attempted ; the key note has been.sounded by his Honor the Superintendent, but has not met with a very favorable rospmse, still, when the matter is brought before the House of Representatives the anti gold-fields’ party may possibly succeed in carrying through a measure whish will place mining and mining pursuits upon a far different footing than they now occupy The spirit of speculation is rife throughout the Colony, and every possible scheme by which money can be made is eagerly sought after. A.s'yot, the gold fields ot New Zealand, more especially Otago, have not proven profitable fields! for the capitalist, not that there is . any doubt iu their capabilities of doing so. but something has always occurred which has placed capital at a disadvantage. What these causes may bo is a matter for conjecture, but cer- j tain it is, whether, for want of effici- j ent management, Or the inability to j control labor, or possibly its dearness, I the laboring man has boon the onlv party benefit ted, whether successful or not, the.scheine has proved favorable towards him, his labor has been paid f>r whoever might ba the loser. Such a state of affairs must, as a natural consequence, have aroused the cupidity of the monied classes, and they see the panacea for all these accumulated evils in making the goldlie ds private property, and have resolved to do so. Now do not think that the miners ‘themselves are to blame, because Mr. So and So Moneybags has entered into a mining speculation and lost, they have not conspired against him ; his misfortunes have arisen because ho has entered into a company, die success of which was also doubtful, and which had it been otherwise, his assistance would not have been >ought. As a rule, no large mining speculation, where labor has had to be extensively employed, have ever paid in Otago, the reasons being that, except what might have been accomplished iu quartz reeling, no alluvial entovpise lias proved ot sufficient extent to remunerate others, than the persons ac family interested, and who execute, for the most part, the work themselves. There are instances of course, like the terraces of the Upper Shotover, where something resembling a defined mu of gold has been found, hut as a rule, the area of our auHfe- • rous deposits are so circumscribed, 1 that extensive works tiro out of the 1 question, and capitalists will find it s much better to assist the miners to 1 operate more extensively themselves, : than to take the gold-fields from them : and convert them into servants. As a rule, miners working on their own recount, work harder, and for far less wages than any other class of labour-e-s, and how can it be possible to pay . lb cm more than they now earn, and expect a profit from their labor. No- : d> ng can bo more systematic than . d e gold-fields’ workings, the most is made of everything, and nothing that , science can invent is more effective j than the present system of -hydraulic sluicing, water is the motive power, and it is unnecessary to say that the intelligence of the minor has learnt him to make the most of it, and we j vcribly believe that in hydraulic min-

ing little room is left for improvement. Circumstances may of course alter cases, but they must have time, and the best course we can do is to leave the miners as untrammelled in their operations' as possible. To deprive him of the means of providing himself with work is a suicidal policy and ecjuivalent to the old fible of “ killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.” With the prospect of the gold-fields becoming private property, the race of miners will gradually be come extinct, the charm of their being theii own masters, and wnich has borne up so many under difficulties, none others would encounter,. will be lost, and when the time comes that the highest aspirations of the goldminer must culminate in working on wages for a company, the business is at an end for ever. The auriferous lands of the Colony can be applied to no other uses than being mined upon, sav° and except the grazing of sheep, but this pleasant and profitable occupation can only be enjoyed by a few. It is no reason that because wool is dear, the gold-miner should be deemed an incumbrance, or that his toil should be made the means of speculation, when he desires otherwise. Mi uing freeholds will not prove an advantage, or stimulate mining labor or enterprise, and it is better to remove the many disadvantages the miner labors under, leaving his calling as free as possible from vexatious legislation and class taxation, than to be continually meddling with an industry rarely understood, .where it is not pursued. Gold-mining has worked wonders for the Colony, and why not leave well alone.