AUCKLAND.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XIII, Issue 552, 17 February 1868, Page 3

AUCKLAND.

[FHOM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] 10th February, 1868. Our Provincial Council, which met on the : 28th November last, is still in session. The principal business they have had to consi- 1 der is the financial state of the Province. 1 On that question all others have hung, and ' the solution lias not appeared. An attempt fit yftfcyAyi nli ma» f, hna hAAn marl a. font, it lias been uncertain and arbitrary. Considerable reductions have been made, but the task of reducing expenditure within income ap» pears almost hopeless in the face of our falling revenue. Many of the former officials have been set free, to seek for pastures new; but yet dignities have to be maintained. A Law Officer’s salary, and a Speaker’s salary ought not to appear on the estimates of the Province, and if ever there was reason to omit them, now is the time. Surely a gentleman could be found possessing sufficient public spirit to be Speaker without salary. The Council and Executive have differed several times, each charging the other with hindering the business. Possibly, both are partly in fault. At first the Executive did not lay before the Council a clear statement of the position, and it appears probable that the reason for the omission is comprised in one word—ignorance. But what an unsatisfactory state of affairs when those who undertake public duties are unable to understand the accounts which pass through their hands! A committee of the Council, after enquiry, reported a state of affairs differing considerably from that given by the Govern ment. So doctors differ.

Probably some of our ex-offioials will petition for compensation, &o.; but seeing that officialism has eaten up, not only the present revenue, but a large sum out of the future or, to use a homely term, “ bled the Province to the point of death,”—-they ought to be satiated, and never more taste the spoil.

Two of our coal fields are being gradually, though slowly, developed; these are the Wangarei and Kawakawa fields.

The Hauraki gold-mines are sending up from 3,000 to 4,000 ounces monthly, which ought ere long to relieve the pressure so long felt. I believe that over 4,000 miner’s rights have been issued, so that tho yield bears a very small proportion to the number engaged seeking it. The glowing accounts published here sire most unreliable data—the only certainty being the accounts of the arrival of so many ounces from Hunt’s, Barry’s, Tookey’s, or other of the rich claims. I would venture a guc-s—----that four-fifths of the gold exported has been got from ten claims, if not even from a lower number. Suppose 3,000 miners are working (and the “own correspou dents ” of the Auckland press would state a higher number), the yield has not yet reached one ounce and a half per month for each, which, at £2 15s the ouncemore than the average yield—would only give a trifle over £4 the month. I believe the average return, if the proper data were available, would prove a less sum than the above. Plenty of men are to be met seeking employment, and some hundreds have worked various terms, from two to five months, whose returns are nil, So much for the past and present. To the future we look hopefully forward. When mnchi ■ ery is more plentiful, and the rates for crushing reasonable, hundreds of tons of comparatively poor stuff may pay for the labour, which, “at present rates,” would be a positive loss to those who ventured to pay for carting and crushing, ns has been the case in more than one instance already. Probably twenty machines might find full employment on the Karaka block. Up to the sth inst., three only had operated, and one of them, a mere dandle, unable to crush a ton daily. Three more are building, two of them about completed ; and two or'three more are talked about, so may be commenced some day. As a sample of the correctness of the “ own correspondents,” about October last it was stated and printed that a tramway was in course of construction to Hunt s claim, &c. ; whereas the said proposed tramway was actually commenced on the 25th of January 186 S, and and I believe las since been stopped through a dispute with tho holders of the claim between Hunt's and the beach. There is a great deal of litigation in the Warden’s Court. We are proverbially given to lawsuits, and certainly our miners are not likely to improve our character on this head. The Warden has no sinecure ; but hitherto be has scarcely displayed that capacity for grasping the issues raised that is so desirable in his position. In several instances the public interest has been sacrificed to that of individuals, especially on questions of right of road. Although the laud is private property (maori), yet the Government have, or ought to have, power and authority to reserve the most available lines of roadway with consent of the authorities, fenced in, or even built on, the only practically available route; in either case the public may eveutusl’v be obliged to pay for damages when recalling privileges that ought never to have been granted.