MINING REPORT.

Kumara Times, Issue 1077, 13 March 1880, Page 3

MINING REPORT.

JFbomA-r Special Mining Reporter.! r v Now that we are about to have a visit from the Minister of Public Works, every advantage should be taken of the opportunity to urge upon the Government the necessity of pushing ahead the main sludge-channel. There is everything to be gained and nothing to be lost in pushing the work .ahead. When the present contract will

be finished there will be very little ground available for sluicing, and till the channel is pushed ahead somewhat further there will be little benefit to this district for its construction. There is nothing to be gained by waiting till the present contract is completed, as the stuff from the next contract will have to be raised, to the surface by means of a shaft, so there is no reason why it should not be gone on with at once. The sooner the channel is put to some profitable use the better for all concerned, as the timber can only last a limited time however careful they may be in selecting it. This district at the present time can barely retain its present population, with the means of working now in vogue, and unless a more extended system is put within the reach of miners, I am afraid there will be a serious increase to the already alarming list of unemployed in New Zealand. On the other hand, with our sludge-channel completed and our water supply increased to the then requirements of the district, there would be no difficulty in relieving the labormarked to the extent of 500 or 600 men besides what are now on the field. Ido not hold with districts straining every nerve to squeeze all they can out of the Government in the shape of public works, but when a work of this nature can be shown to the Government to. be the very thing that the colony is most in need of at the present moment, with her hundreds of ablebodied men working at starvation wages, I think when such facts can be shown to the Government, it would be their duty to do all in their power to hasten to completion such a work. No doubt there are other works in the district that deserve consideration, but I think the majority of them will sink into insignificance compared with the lengthening of the sludge-channel.

Were the committee of the Borough Council who were appointed to bring under the notice of the Minister of Public Works the requirements of this district to take the trouble, it would be easy to show that the system the Government have adopted of subsidising prospecting, associations, is not adapted to this district, or I question any other district in New Zealand, A little assistance from the Government, coupled with well-directed energies on the part of an association, may very soon prove to be of great advantage in laying bare the resources of this district.