MINING INTELLIGENCE.

Kumara Times, Issue 1700, 11 March 1882, Page 2

MINING INTELLIGENCE.

[Bir our Sueclal Mining Reporter, j Saturday} March 11. Since my last report,- tile excitement caused by the impolitic demand made by Government for payment in advance for water Rnd use df the sludge-channel has abated, and the miners seem better satisfied after having had the opportunity of blowing-off steam, and are somewhat confident that a modification of the Government terms will be made; The Executive Committee are verymuch exercised in mind, and have held solemn conclave twice during the week. The Chairman and Secretary were two of the twenty-three men who signed tile document agreeing to the Government terms for a month. Too much study* it would appear, in this case has to £t great extent obscured their reasoning faculties, and it is quite evident that diplomacy is not their fort. It is to be hoped, however, that they are not tfih standard by which the rest of the committee are to be measured} elsfe I feat' the selection made will prove anything but a satisfactory one. ’Tis oft said a bad start makes a good ending. May it prove so in this case I In the meatitime the situation is a serious one, and it is to be hoped that on Monday evening when the Executive' Committee’s proposals are unfolded that they tnaj prove satisfactory and help to solve the difficulty. Rumours have been in .circulation that the payment in advance system was in vogue in every other place except Knraava. Knowing the quarter from which the rumour emanated, ,1 have taken the trouble to inquire into the matter, and visited the VVaimeti and Stafford, where 1 find that the I. miners are determined to make a stand j against paying in advance, and that meetings will shortly be held and resdj lutinus passed protesting against same; ! I also ascertained that on the Wainiert j Brandi less than two pounds would j cover the bad debts made by Government for the last three years. By inquiries made at Ross it appears that the water-race companies have' not fur years made any demand for payment for water in advance, and the only time tire system! was inaugurated in that district was when the Drainage Board were in existence. Mr Gordon, a member of the Board, was the reputed father of the proposal, which in the end proved most disastrous and settled the fate of the Ross Flat. The miners were compelled to borrow the money from the banks }■ wet weather set in; the engine could not pump the claims dry ; the liabilities still increased; the banks foreclosed} sold off the claims, and the miners were driven away—and Ross from that to this has never recovered. The adviser to Mr Cassius re the working of his claim recommended a course which in (he end resulted iu the. ground being swamped, and a well-known mining manager’s effigy was burned publicly by the miners of Ross. This same gentleman is now manager of the Nelson Creek Water-race where I am told the payment in advance system works splendidly. It might from a Government view but the reason the population are leaving that district is now clearly known and accounted for. Perhaps the inauguration of the Ross plague is considered a stepping-stone to a district engiueership. Some people caie not what the means used aie, so lon« as the end is attained. There is a very close intimacy existing between our present race-manager and his old friend further north, and between them, Mr Martin, young and iuexpeiiencod as he is, will require to be careful, otherwise he may have reason iu after life to regret having been persuaded to issue an order demanding payment of moneys in advance for use of water. Government have made no bad debts at Kumara. The same cannot be said for Nelson Creek; but we have no right to he punished for the sins of others. None of the Otago water-race companies charge in advance, and in my twenty years’ mining experience, I have never known water paid fur before it was used. My advice to the miners of Kumara is—remain firm, and do not allow two or three Government officials to brand one thousand upright men as rogues, without rhyme, cause, or reason, x ou have not done anything that would give sufficient cause to have your names gazetted to the world that for the future the miners of Kumara are not to have credit for water from wash-up to wash-

dp, and in many cases that period does not exceed an average of six weeks. [The remainder of this report will ap pear in Cur n’ext issue;—Eu. K.T;]