The Fielding Star. SATUEDAY, MAY 18, 1889. Bubble Companies

Feilding Star, Volume X, Issue 134, 18 May 1889, Page 2

The Fielding Star. SATUEDAY, MAY 18, 1889. Bubble Companies

It is an invariable rule that when an era of prosperity commences in a country, a spirit of gambling soon begins to Bhow and make itself felt. New Zealand is no exception, and we observe that to take advantage of that feeling of excitement, or elation, too common among the ignorant and unreflecting when they, or their neighbours, are doing moderately well in whatever pursuit they are engaged, the country is being flooded with all sorts of proposals to form companies for the " development " of all sorts of sources of fabulous wealth. The favorites just now appear to be goldraining companies, and largo numbers of shares in these are being purchased or taken up by a too confiding public. The blind faith of these innocents is remarkable — but pitiable. They Burely must know that not one goldmining company in a thousand is ever worked profitably for the shareholders, and that the remaining nine hundred and ninety nine are eithev.worked for the benefit of a knowing few, or burst into " everlasting smash" after a few brief months of miserable extistence. The man who hopes to get dividends from gold iniuiag scrip now r after the best of the gold, fields have been prospected and. wi>rked over and over again by the most experienced, miners in the world, has a confiding faith which, in this age of agnosticism, ought to-be a novelty. But it is not. Carlyle' fcaid. there were a lot of people in this world — mostly fooiß, and hi* opinion receives confirmation every day. Let a prospectus be issued with the most dazzling lies in every paragraph, the bigger and more absurd the promises, the more effective the bait proves : to catch the fools, great or small, who actually seem to be on the look out f or " the astute ones" to hook, or drag thetn into their nets and make these simple ones their willing prey. We have known a whole community to be almost eoinpletely ruined by this dreadful spirit of gambling. Take the town of Greymouth for instance. Before the discovery of the gold bearing quartz at Reef ton, Greynrouth was one of the wealthiest and prosperous towns on the coast — or we may even say ia 'the' colony. Afterwards, when the reefs were opened and gambling in scrip took possession of -the people, they went mad, and in their insanity wasted their hard-earned substance in pursuit of the veriest •• Will-o'-the-wisp" that ever made an old Lincolnshire woman shako in ; her pattens. What is tho consequence? The rich are now poor, and the poor are badly off indeed. Ten Greymouth men totalled up their united losses, and they reachad £'100,000. Huudreds of .Other men trace their past ruiu and present distress to that infernal spirit of gambling, which was gorminated and fostered by the craze for forming companies.. In the end nobody was the richer while the money spent, as well a9 the gold got out of the ground seems to have vanished into thin air. Who ever saw h rch .reefer, or a wealthy mining spw ul ltor ?

.. Not only.dq we object Jo gol.dmining -feompahies, ' biit to '. all companiea' wbjch are of a Bpeeuktive character. Ab _we ; hay®. ? U M i" .* jireyious article, we' strongly a^ri-e settlers r.itj ' this district to "uti ise their capital in enhauciug the numbers and value of 'their Vt ck VH'e'ther aJroefji 1 orcattle, or in improving their far.ns. and leave" to dtiiers the f'lly of specu« luting in compaaies' of whateyer kinr] or description.