OUR GOLDFIELDS.

Evening Star, Issue 3746, 24 February 1875, Page 3

OUR GOLDFIELDS.

To the Ediloi'. Sir, —That the produce of gold in this Province is declining there can be no doubt. Last year’s escort returns clearly prove that fact. In a case of this description one naturally expects to hear something from the powers that be as to the cause of this falling off in an industry which certainly cannot be called second to any in the I rovince. Possibly the authorities are in ignorance on these matters; possibly they are not. In whichever way it is taken, how ever, they are culpable in the extreme. The public have a right to know how one of their greatest industries is progressing ; and when a large sum of money is annually paid by the public for the proper guidance of that industry, they have a still greater right to know how that money has been expended. The question becomes: who are the parties to whom the public should look for information upon such a subject? The answer is : to the wardens and mining surveyors in charge of goldfields. The wardens’ reports, which are published periodically, are certainly not worth perusal as far as information is concerned. They are naturally bound to support the district to which they belong, and they invariably do so in a manner which suits the times. Prom the mining surveyors, at least, one would expect some valuable information, but what is the case? From these gentlemen we hear nothing! When Mr Vincent Pyke was Secretary for the Goldfields, the mining surveyors’ reports were published every six months, and the Press commented upon them. In those clays every investor of money upon the goldfields had a certain official guarantee that his money was being properly expended or thrown away. Now, on the contrary, the Press of the Colony looks upon raining with a distrustful eye, and very naturally so. The Survey Department took charge of the survey of the goldfields in 1866. and the mining surveyors were then merged into the common herd, and made to do ordinary survey work. Since that time the mining surveyors’ appointments have been filled up by men totally unacquainted with mining matters. They may be first-class surveyors, but what has that to do with mining ? The public expect a certain duty from them which they are apparently unqualified to fulfil. Anyone acquainted with the nature of gold mining will be quite aware that that industry should be making rapid strides in Otago, as it is one of the richest known alluvial gold countries in the world. The Survey Department seem quite ignorant of this fact. They never suggest anything new, nor do they attempt to offer any suggestions as to how matters may be amended. Apparently their object is to bring gold muring to as low a level as it can be brought. Mr Hanghton certainly gives tables and explanations in his annual reports, but they a* o simply condensed wardens’ reports, and these wardens’ reports are not worth the paper they are written upon. —I am, &c,, Aquafortis.