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Hokitika Guardian, 16 October 1919, Page 2

ink mining conterence which was held at the County Chambers yesterday afternoon concentrated its efforts with Igood effect on practical work.. The idea was to put before the Government concrete suggestions whereby something definite would be done to aid the development of mining. Well, something was attempted, and it is to he hoped .something will result. The meeting centred its deliberations chiefly round . prospecting, the essential factor to lead to the expansion of goldmining. The i treasure lies below, and it has got to be sought, and the business of those seeking to aid the development of goldmining, is to urge on prospecting, more prospecting, and still more prospecting. A good beginning has been made. Two locations have been proposed. The first is to seek for deep level gold in the Kumaro district. The Dillmaws Lead in the old days was one of the Eldorado fields of New Zealand, but it was never worked to any great depth. Regarding the flat which spreads out from Larrikins towards the sea, there is a great tract of country, and looking to the golden treasure recovered already from a limited area of that goldfield, (curiosity at least suggests that there should bo some positive knowledge of what there is in the deeper unworked ground. So the Government is to be asked to take up this as a promising proposition. Gold wash has been found at a depth not unpayable to work, and the value of that deposit should be proved. The second location for prospecting is south of Rimu towards Ross, near the bead of Frosty Greek in a line seeking to ; pick up the Rimu-Seddon’s Terrace j gold run. In that particular locality ] previous efforts of a. semi-public nature proved that the gold was there, but funds were exhausted before its extent could be tested. Th e Conference has suggested two points proposing prac- . tical results, and it is to bo hoped the Mines Department will take up the projects and show its genuine regard for the future of gold-mining in this district. 'Hie Conference also dealt with

the question of prospecting tracks. These require to be opened. It is the best of news to learn that prospectors .ar,e preparing to go back into tlie back ranges this season. These are the men with faith in the future of the country, and they sould be encouraged in every way, both by decent prospecting subsidies and certainly with passable tracks for getting in supplies and necessaries.

In this issue a. correspondent, “Demos”, refers very dogmatically to som 0 1 comment passed in these columns couple of issues ago, on economic aspects affecting the well-being of the. t Dominion. The 'writer lias his own g line of thought which he develops in- j ' tertetingly, but- evidently he' would ) j be a destroyer before he would be a I builder. He lias a touch of the class j hatred which is so harmful to the : public weal, and the road lie would j ] j take, suggests that it is not for all, ! but for a class be would argue. Pre- J ■ sumably to him, capitalism is a crime, j ; and lie has no time for vested interests j jin commercialism. He would displace j tlie laws of trading and substitute it j with what? He believes that the wor- j | kers and the State are not one now, j ; but surely the State is made up of its j whole, and the workers are now and j will be always, the most potent econo- ; mic force. Apparently lie has a belief ; that tlie workers are a class apart—os- j ivacised from the community. But 1 who are the workers ? Are we o not all. j workers and is not the man working ; iiis own industry with his own j

capital, as much a worker as the man ; who works for another. When does j a worker earning his own livelihood by his head and hands, cease to become a worker, and become a capitalist? The accepted capitalist—say a captain of industry—lias often'"climbed to his opulence from a very lowly beginning. The spirit of emulation was in him, and. lie was not satisfied to rest in a groove, but struck out for himself and made liis mark. At what stage in his careei did he change from a worker to a capitalist? Then agaiii? our eorrespon- | eat talks of human nature changing. I Is it not a fact that the practice of j •" e is to become as human as the World’s Master who lived 2,000 years ago? The experience .of (the Great War showed how little human nature — in some countries at least—has changed from the cave man days when Brute Force—Might —was held to be Right. Yes work is the only panacea for a good healthy, useful life. 'Without occupation Satan will find something ill for idle hands to do, and work will not do l one any harm. Our correspondent need not worry about over production in. this generation “throwing thousands, possibly millions” on the streets. Let us remind “Demos” that if there is not production and more production. NOW, millions will starve in Europe •this winter. That is the dictum of statesmen who have been there to see.. As for the Liberal party it goes on. its trial very soon, and the verdict will not be a matter of mere opinion—it will bo a fact. Wait and see.