NELSON AND WESTLAND WARDENS' REPORTS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1263, 16 August 1872, Page 2

NELSON AND WESTLAND WARDENS' REPORTS.

The appendix to Mr HaughtonV report on the Gold Fields of the Colony consists principally of reports and returns furnished by the Wardens of the different districts. These reports are iv some instances identical with those furnished to Provincial or County Governments ; to some, slight additions are made ; and others are written specially in compliance with the Under-Secretary's request., We propose to quote from such as have not already been published, a few of the facts recorded, or of the " wise. saws ',' to which the Wardens have given expression.

Mr Charles Broad's report on the Inangahua district pretends only to be of a meagre description, the district being itself in its comparative infancy, and he having only recently taken official charge of the infant. He, however, refers in detail to the different quartz claims throughoutthe distriot, furnishes statistics up to date— April 23 — and represents the necessity existing for roads, &c. On one question— the leasing question— he expresses Jan jopinion) which is this :— "lt appears to me desirable that the Gold Fields Act should be so amended as to make a preliminary enquiry by the Warden desirable before applications for leases should be received. At present under the 108 th section of ' The Gold Fields Act, 1866,' parties have only to apply, and immediately the. ground is protected (otherwise locked up) until the decision of the Government is known, which, even if refused, will occupy at the very least two months." He concluded by expressing hia confidence that the next annual report from the- district will show the opening up, of a large tract of country, of which very little was known before, as having become the location of a large and prosperous community. . Dr Giles, of Westport, Charleston, and Brighton, contributes a duplicate of his report to the Nelson Council, which has already been published in the ■ papers of his district. Referring to the beach workings, which are now numerous and extensive in his district, a3 they have been elsewhere, he states that some doubts have been expressed how far the beach below high water mark comes within the jurisdiction of Wardens of Gold Fields, and how far mining claims can legally be held there at all, and he adds :— " Without going, minutely into this question of law, I may observe, that, according to Blackstone, 'Between the, high water mark and the low water mark, Where

lhesea«bbs and flows, the common law and the Admiralty have divisum imperiutn 9 an alternate jurisdiction ; one upon the water when it is full sea, the other upon the land when it is an ebb.' It would seem to follow from this that the sea beach at low water comes under the denomination of Crown lands, and forms a part of the gold fields;" -On another 'suVject, the Licensing Act, Dr Giles expresses a pretty strong opinion, and although his rematks apply more peculiarly to the Act which was amended during the" last last session of the Nelson Provincial Council, they are probably only in an inferior degree applicable to the Act now in force. He says:— « lt has been sometimes thought expedient that the Wardens ,of Gold Fields should, in their yearly reports, notice the Gold; Field* Licensing Act, and make suggestions for its improvement. This may be useful where the suggestions relate to details in the working" of the Act. I have, however, none to make, not because I believe the Act to be perfect, for I agree with the common opinion which regards it as very inefficient, but because, I do not believe that it will ever be made efficient by alterations of detail. Suggestions in plenty are constantly being made from different quarters, which the legislature can of course consider, but there are few of these in which I can join, because they mostly involve a view of the subject in which Iby no means acquiesce. ' But the great objection which appears to me to lie against the Licensing Act is that whilst it fails to supress drinking and immorality, it produces a directly demoralising effect/ by containing enactments and; prohibitions which constitute new offences, which are not enforced once for a hundred times that they are notoriously violated. And thus the uneducated masses come to think that all laws may, be treated with contempt provided detection . •and punishment do not follow. As a Magistrate, I am bound to say that the * Licensing Act is simply a means of revenue, obtained for the most part at the « cost of impairing in the public mind the •»« sense of respect for law." • •." „,; '„■ .-.■.. ■*' Mr Lewther Broad, until lately Warden at Wangapeka and the Upper Buller, but now Resident . Magistrate, at Nelson, ap- ■ pends to a brief record of mining opera- . tions in the first mentioned district, the following decided opinion on the subject of the administration of the Gold Fields £ — " I desire to place on record my .firW conviction that there is no longer- any \ * necessity for tKe delegation of the powers under the Gold Fields Act to Superintendents. With the easy means of communication now in existence, with the whole local machinery of the Gold Fields in perfect working order under Wardens of considerable experience, - there is nothing that a Superintendent is called upon to do which could not be done quite as easily from Wellington. And the advantages of this would be a uniform sys-. tern for the whole Colony, and a Minister responsible to Parliament for the general administration of the Gold Fields as a, whole. I feel sure this general system, would be far more acceptable to thie ( miners and others on the ;Gold ; Fields.sthan the present one, provided' Bpme simpler means be found by which the granting of mining, and agricultural leases can be dealt with without delay. I would suggest that a Warden in each Province should be called Chief Warden, and have the power to grant these leases. ■ I should have hesitated to place my opinion on this subject on record were it not for the fact that during eleven years residence on the New Zealand Gold Fields I have never heard any one say a good word for the present system. The opinion of the '\ residents on the Gold Fields, I firmly be- v lieve, has always been that the present divided responsibility was most vexations and inconvenient, and that the powers,, ought to be vested solely either in the Province or in the Colony." Mr Whitefoord, iv addition to an-.;---elaborate annual report, a condensation of i which was given in these columns some months ago, addresses to the Secretary,: on the 15th June, what we may style a historical and general report of the pro* gross and characteristics of gold mining in his division of the Grey Valley. "From a report furnished by the Mining Stnv veyor, he estimates ' the extent of auri- i; . ferqus ground in the district at 348 square . miles, a very small portion of which has-^ ever been prospected. Notwithstanding"^ late disastrous floods, and the departure ~ of population for Inangahua and elsewhere, he considers the, condition of the Grey Valley in every way satisfactory, and its prospects good— -good roads, water ■ supply, arid increased cultivation being essential to its progress. On the subj ect of roads he expresses the opinion that it is imperatively necessary, if the district is to be developed, that a main dray road be made through the Valley, -irith f branches to the various mining centres^ ; and also a cattle track from Ahaura to Amuri, adding— "At present the stock consumed oh the diggings is brought via Hokitika, an absurdly circuitous route. When the position of the place, and of the pastoral country of the Amuri are taken into consideration, I am certain that the opening of • a good cattle road " from the Amuri would do much towards - reducing the price of meat to the miners." ' -■ .. :■-, ■-, -v.-.-. v ,-; U.i'-i Mr Reyell gives a detailed description of the various sub-districts in his district; and. the character of the workings in each. - He makes two suggestions with regard to public buildings and roads. As to the first he says :—" The offices of the departments of the General Government being found to be inconveniently situated at either extremity of the town of Greymouth, I beg to suggest that a central site should be procured "whilst the land • can be obtained at a reasonable rate.", J And as to the second he riaively remarks : —"The roads and: horse tracks through the district, bo far as made, have been maintained and kept in good repair, with one exception, viz., the Marsden and '-' Clifton horse track, under the supervision - of the District Road Board. This is the only public road in the distriot upon which tolls are levied. The tolls average about! L 25 per month, and if expended thereon:: would be sufficient to keep it in thorough repair." The statistical portion of Mr. Revell's report maybe thus summarised:—- - ; The population is estimated at 4,300 ""•"'■' souls, located as follows :—Greymouta^ sub-district, 2,840 j New River, 700; t Arnold, 760. The total revenue for the , ; nine months from all sources amounts to L 22,380 12s lid, as under :— Warden's Department, L262<3 Its; Resident Magis- , trate's Department, L 926 ; publicans' licenses, paid County Treasurer, L 72 0;, - gold duty, Westland, L363Q Bs.; half share Customs Revenue, L14,476 18s sd; -'

L - ■■•■>•■• -^ ■*•-"•■■ ■ ...— ■ total, L 22,380 12s lid. The number of cases disposed of in the Resident Magjstnto'i and Warden's Courts Va» 1277. The following number of rights, licenses, registrations, and leases have been granted or applied for during the same period, vi«. :— Miners' rights, 728 ; bnsiness licenses : yearly, 31 ; hal-yearly, 67; quarterly, 35. Registrations : Five shillings, 275; two shillings and sixpence, 48 ; one shilling, 833. Licenses : wholesale, 7; bottle, 3; retail, 6; town do, 24 ; night, 6. Eleven yearly conditional licenses ; 30 half -yearly do do. Twenty applications for extended claims (six Cted). Two applications mining leases, applications special claims (granted). Thirteen applications agricultural leases (three granted). The statistical returns show further 347 head-races, 177 tailraces, 314 dams and reservoirs, and five ground sluices, as registered in the district at the value of L 32,256, and the mining plant at L 14,431, making a total of L 53.887 sterling. Mr Price estimates the population of the Greenstone district at 560, of whom 400 are mining. There are 34 head waterraces, conveying 156 Government sluiceheads ; one, the Hohonu Water Race, about five miles in length, formed at con■iderable expense and capable of carrying 40 sluice-heads, being one of the beat constructed races in the country. The other works are 12 tail-races, 30 dams and reservoirs, one of which is five acres in extent, and 38 ground sluices. Their present approximate value is estimated at L 62,134. The gold revenue— such as minsrs' rights, business licenses, &c.— for the twelve months amounted to L 1335 ; the yield of gold is computed at lo,ooooz. Of the prospects of the district, the Warden says :— " Taking into account the ground which the present supply of water commands, and the known auriferous nature of some 14 or 15 square miles of country still unworked, it may be safe to anticipate that this district holds' out prospects of highly remunerative mining occupation to a considerable for a number of years to come.'' Mr Price reports also upon the Waimea, distributed over which, he says, there are 397 head water races, many of them five, six, and seven miles in length,' conveying 490 Government sluice heads of water, constructed' at considerable expense, and entirely by private enterprise ; 500 tail races, 584 reservoirs and dams,

(For continuation of Neux, see 4&h page.)

439 ground stakes. The present appro* imate value of the whole may be put down at L 41,000, although thair original cost of construction was very much more. The local gold revenue for the past twelve months amounts to L 2,966 2s Od. It is difficult to ascertain the correct yield of gold, becauae it finds its way out of the district unchecked, but the amount may be safely estimated at the very least as 20,0070z. Both the Kanieri and Totara districts are reported upon by Mr Aylmer, the reports being accompanied by maps, diagrams, and tabular statistics. They are closely descriptive of the localities, but we prefer to quote a fe* passages which are suggestive to magistrates and miners in other localities. Describing the workings at Woodstock, a few miles from Hokitika, Mr Ayldner says :— " Mining operations have for some time past been carried on there with great negligence and want of proper care, which has resulted in many accidents having occurred, most of them, I am sorry to say, terminating fatally. During a period of twelve months, I find no less than eleven Coroner's inquests have been held in the locality, which clearly bears out my statement." He describes both the making and drainage worts at Boss, referring, in connection with the latter to "The Goldmining Claims Drainage Act 1868," of which he remarks :•— " Owing to this Act being most unsuitable, and constantly clashing with the Gold Fields Act and the Gold Fields Mining Regulations, great difficulty' has had to be contended with, and heavy law expenses incurred on the part of the Board in trying to recover rates. I would suggest that this Act receive the immediate attention of the Government towards its amendment. Since the coming into operation of this Drainage Act 2000 yards of drainage tunnels have been driven through Jones's Flat to lead the water to the drainage engine, at about L 4200, or 14s per foot. The expenses of working the engine are about LBO per week in fine weather, and Ll2O per week in wet weather, so that even in fine weather the few claimholders on Jones's Flat are very heavily taxed for the drainage of their claims." Of the Mikonui water-race he expresses this opinion: — "Some objection has been made to the amount of ground asked for by Mr Brogden along the line, butl am inclined to think that so large an undertaking— A 8 miles, at L2OOO per mile— can only be carried out by dealing with the applicants in the most liberal manner. Of one thing I am certain, that should the race be brought in our population and export of gold in a few years would be doubled, and country • opened up for mining purposes that at present is useless." A pretty straightforward and strong , opinion Mr Aylmer gives on the licensing system. v During the last year," he says, "I have been compelled to refuse to recommend any new applications for dance house licenses, as I found that the proprietors of these establishments were in the habit of making trips to Melbourne and Sydney, and in many cases importing into the district a class of girls neither fit for wives nor domestic servants, in fact, S'rls of the lowest class. The Public ouse Ordinance requires considerable alteration, as at present any one who applies .for a license obtains one, so that the main portion of tho town of Boss consists of nothing but drinking bars, without the slightest hotel accommodation for travellers. This evil requires to be remedied, as not only it encourages drinking, but liquors of the worst description are vendtd over these bars, driving many to the lunatic asylum." Mr Tizard's report on the Okarito district, and Mr Turnell's report on the Collingwood field, contain. sufficiently interesting particulars to justify us in qnoting from them on somo other convenient opportunity.