The Evening Star THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2760, 21 December 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1871.

We are glad to find from the telegram ■we received yesterday, and which appeared in last evening's number, that the subject of water supply to the goldfields is not to be lost sight of. Through want of this absolute necessity for gold mining many square miles of rich auriferous count) y have lain un■worked, that, with judicious outlay, may be made to give profitable employment to a large ] opulation. _ In what maimer the vole will le dilfcri-

buted we do nofc know. The Act docs not prescribe a fixed and definite mode. In fact this would be to defeat its own ) object, in view of the widely different circumstances in which help may bo efficiently given. Dr Hector, in a series of lectures delivered at the Colonial Museum, Wellington, in July and August, 1869, remarked that “ The most extensive alluvial diggings “in New Zealand are in this (the “ Otago) district, and they possess pe- “ cularities that distinguish them from “ most other goldfields. Notwithstand- “ mg the large quantities of alluvial “ gold that have been obtained in “ Otago, amounting to 9,518,999 ozs, “ the actual mining operations for the “ extraction of gold from the matrix, “ have, up to the present time, been “ comparatively insignificant.” This fact cannot be too frequently nor too prominently pressed upon public attention, for we have frequently shown that with care and skill no class of industry yieldsso large a return for capital invested as mining for gold. \ct no industry has been treated with greater indifference by our Provincial Ministry. Referring to the difficulties that lie in the way of successfully working our goldfields, Dr Hector said, “The “ river-formed deposits of gold of “ the interior of the South Island are “ divided into throe groups, according “ to their position and the manner they “ are worked. The oldest drifts are “ deposits at high levels, out of “ reach of the present drainage system “ of the country, so that they can only “ be worked by bringing water to bear “ upon them by a system ot ‘ flaming.’ “ In Otago such terraces have formed “ the source of the bulk of the alluvial “ gold obtained from rich diggings of “ the second class, which are marginal “ deposits of rivers or streams, or shal- “ low alluvial flats. Gabriel’s Gully “ is one instance of tins, as at the “ Blue Spur, between Gabriel’s and “ Monro’s gullies, we find a patch of “ high level older drift that has been “ tapped and sluiced down the bed of “ a modern stream which concentrated “ the gold. The remaining form of “ alluvial gold is that liberated by “ streams, which are excavating rocky “ beds ; but the amount is insignificant “ compared to that obtained in Vic- “ toria with this form of mining. The “ quantity of gold got by shallow “ sinking on false bottoms in Otago “ has naturally led miners to expect “ that deep leads will be found to rest “on the true rock bottom. The sub- “ ject requires a rigid inquiry into the u causes which have ojjerated in pro- “ duciug the surface features of the “ country.’’ Those words were uttered more than two years ago, aud should have been well-known to our leading politicians, yet nothing was doue to develop this most important industry. Months of fruitless opposition to the General Government have been wasted ; months of windy warfare have been given to devising Laud Bills, and preparing to settle some five hundred or a thousand men on starvation patches of land ; but mining has been allowed to care for itself. Between two and three years since, Otago was in a position to have adopted means to develop fully its gold resources ; but the men at the head of affairs, who knew that a ploughman could not run a straight furrow without training, and were well aware that even a horse requires drilling to do his work tidily at the plough, seemed to imagine that the more difficult operations of successful mining could be done without previous preparation. Since those lectures were delivered by Dr Hector, there have been times when the working population would gladly have employed their time in gold digging, but the Ministry of tho day ]>ocketed their salaries, did all they could to stifle progress, and did not move a linger towards opening up the resources of the Province, Just as they allowed the General Government to lake railway construction out of their hands, they j are now allowing them to utilize our goldfields. All this is traceable to the short sightedness of our settlers, who first wanted to make a tool of the General Government in order to secure their own ends, aud then opposed it because they could not bend it to their purpose. Letting the Province drift almost into insolvency, the Executive tied their own hands, and their successors, no matter how good their intentions, have no help for it but to stand by and see their functions superseded, and the Provincial Government set quietly on one side. Whatever regret might have been felt years ago, no one will be sorry now. It is plain that Provincialism has lost its hold on popular affection, because it has neglected the real for the itlcal, and latterly has failed at the very moment when it might have been of the greatest benefit.