THE Evening Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 1869.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1951, 6 August 1869, Page 2

THE Evening Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 1869.

The long threatened speculative mania so much to be dreaded has set in, and companies lor working the reefs on the Auckland Goldfields are rapidly forming. Northern advices show that upwards of three-quarters of a million is proposed to be invested in various claims, and there can be little doubt that amongst those who are about to try their fortunes are many in this province, as well as in all parts of the Colony. Apparently no experience is sufficient to deter men from investing where there is the faintest shadow of attaining wealth suddenly. Journalists owe a duty to the public which they must perform, although they know warning in most cases is useless, and that from the d te of the Tulip mania in Holland to the present day, speculation in scrip as worthless as the painted flowers, has gone on in spite of the knowledge of the oft-recurring wide-spread ruin. We have already pointed out that the excitement respecting the Auckland gold-fields is based on voij

slender Two claiin^^^ve turned out rich, by* that is nothing strangeTn goldfields experience. There are always exceptionally rich spots to be found. But because the Long Drive or Hunt’s claim has turned out well, no valid reason can be shown why the very next claims to them should not prove “shycers . It is singular that this fact is not generally acknowledged; and, moreover, there are other motives to caution which they who are itching to invest in the Auckland goldfields should not overlook. It is consistent alike with reason and experience, that ascertained rich reefs in established goldfields never need come into the market. Where a large gold-mining population is congregated, men of experience with capital to invest are constantly about, seeking information, and taking advantage of it. They know well what is worth going into, and take good care that only the risky and speculative claims shall be thrown upon the share market. Besides, there is a large class of men who never intend to invest at all, who seek to make fortunes by getting up companies, with or without prospect of getting gold. Sharebrokers, men with nothing to lose and everything to gain, seeking employment, take advantage of seasons of excitement, to get command of capital. Bubble schemes are got up, the scrip is thrown upon the market with a flaming prospectus headed by names of directors, engineers, and secretaries. Flying rumors of the unheard-of richness of the quartz are set afloat, shares go to a premium, and the game of beggar my neighbor is carried on; scrip passes from hand to hand, the wary ones watching to get out at a profit, until the last holders, generally capitalists seeking bona fide investment, are fleeced of their money, and they find too late that they have been made the victims of unprincipled schemers. It must be apparent to every one who has carefully watched the Auckland papers that the process has begun. But really there is nothing in the yields, excepting from two or three claims, to justify the excitement. The truest test of the value of a goldfield is the rate of wages paid upon it, and even now wages are higher in Otago than in Auckland, and more gold is obtained by the miners here than by an equal number of men in that Province. The difference is, that in Otago mining has become a settled industry, and men are not startled at the results. The gold comes to them iu the customary course of events they use the means, and fairly calculate upon the return. In Auckland, notwithstanding the labor of years, rich results are something new. The goldfields in that province, though worked for so long a period, have only lately been discovered to be valuable; and the extraordinary yields have been so widely blazoned forth in the papers, that, instead of two or three rich claims, fame has multiplied them into legion. Could the experience of many who have labored long in search of gold in Auckland be told, it would be known how patiently they toiled in hope, making but the barest living by their labor, and forsaking the enterprise as a fruitless task on the very eve of the discoveries that have made the Province famous. Their unrewarded effort should stand forth as a beacon, warning those who see but the bright side to pause before they rush into unwarranted speculation. It is unsound to assume, because two claims are rich, that all must be so. Two Ballarats have not been found in Victoria. Two Gabriel’s Gullies have not been found in Otago. It is quite possible they may exist; but many poor spots have been explored in search of them. Ballarat and Gabriel’s Gully have become famous. So have Hunt’s Claim and the Long Drive j but who knows anything of the thousands of acres of ground that have been prospected and yielded nothing? Like prizes in a lottery, success is trumpeted forth. The two or three lucky winners are held up to public envy ; the thousands of losers are scarcely thought of. Let those who feel inclined to trust the Northern speculators with their money weigh well that— What is hit is history ; What is missed is mystery.