The Evening Star FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1870.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2207, 3 June 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1870.

Thirteen thousand pounds expended, and nothing to show for it! Such was Mr Duncan’s statement with respect to the services of Dr Hector as Geological Surveyor for the Province. It would be too much to hope that now any information will be gained from that gentleman calculated to be serviceable to Otago, and thus without some, arrangement for a systematic survey of the Province, its development must be left to chance. This is not exactly the way to make the best of our resources. What is wanted is to be able to direct the course of communication, so as to ensure the greatest possible result from the smallest possible outlay. It is impossible now to delay railway construction. The revelations that come to us from countries with populations nearly as sparse as our own, shew that railways can be made at a cost 1 scarcely exceeding that of metalled roads, and that consequently they are much cheaper because of the less expense of maintenance, and the immensely reduced rates of traffic tariff. But without a knowledge of the mineral resources of a district, it is quite possible to take a line of railway many miles apart from whore it is most likely to be useful ; and thus to postpone for an indefinite period the opening up of rich mines of wealth. Nothing is more singular than that men have dwelt for ages in districts abounding in riches, without in the slightest degree suspecting the value of the substances by which they were surrounded. Gold has been in demand from the earliest ages, but it is only lately that it hag been worked in Sutherland. Coal and iron lay unused for centuries in England, and in the Australian Colonies numbers of persons had picked up small bits of gold, without suspecting that they were indices of the nuggets buried a few feet below the surface. And so, in the same way, many valuable products may lie ready for use for years, unless the probability of their presence is demonstrated by the premonitions of science. This is tfce practical advantage of a geological survey. But there are other benefits which should not be overlooked. As under the existing system of land occupation it is the fashion to part with the fee simple, it is highly desirable that land that is rich in minerals, should not pass intoprivate hands; for then it may be shut up for hundreds of years, or only opened at the caprice of the owner. Our laws endeavor to guard against the blunder of selling auriferous land at prices only applicable to agricultural land ; but our method of ascertaining the character of the soil is only haphazard. We depend upon the report of prospecting parties, or on the hasty report of surveyors whose time is too much occupied with the immediate duties of their profession to make that thorough examinationjj of it that would enable them to offer an opinion as to its worth. It seems to us that when it is proposed to lay out an area of land foe safo, one of the first steps to be taken should be a thorough geological survey of the block. This is what, now-a-days, any nobleman at Home would do, if be had power to part with any portion of bis estate and proposed selling it. By such means only could he expect to realise its value. Wo have no objection to men of observation gaining every advantage they can fairly attain by the judicious exercise of their mental gifts;, but it is equally proper that the public, estate should be managed as judiefously. It appears now that, notwithstanding the cost of Dr Hector to the Province of thirteen thousand pounds, the work has yet to be done that that gentleman: was engaged to do; and that we have only a fractional claim upon his present services. This fractional claim, according to Mr Duncan’s theory, is onefourth ; but then comes the question of when that fourth is to be given, and how estimated. Is it to be the first fourth of his life or the last 1 How long is that fourth to occupy 1 and how are we to set about securing our due 1 Clearly the claim we have upon him as a General Government servant is not a very binding one, and may be shelved in a variety of slippery ways. It may be put off on the ground that his present occupation is Colonial and not Provincial, and that therefore Otago reaps whatever benefit may accrue from his services equally with the rest of New Zealand. Or a thousand and one excuses may be made for immediate preference of some other Province. The fact is, General Government employes are not, as a rule, available for Provincial benefit. They cannot be depended upon for Provincial purposes, for the General Government assumes to have no Provincial preferences ; or if it is necessary to temporise for the purposes of political support, sops must be distributed here and there, so as to conciliate opponents or secure the wavering. No doubt the Province has a right to expect infer-

mation from Dr Hector as to the geological formation of the Province. It ought to have been given before he left us. In all probability, if ever obtained, it will be of too general a character to be practically useful ; and while waiting for it, we may lose more than it is worth. On every ground, therefore, if geological survey is worth anything, it should be made immediately available, in order that the best may be made of the resources ot the Province in regard to the disposal ot the waste lands, and the formation of linos of internal communication.