The Lake Wakatip Mail. Queenstown, Saturday, Nov. 7, 1863.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume II, Issue 55, 7 November 1863, Page 4

The Lake Wakatip Mail. Queenstown, Saturday, Nov. 7, 1863.

We must return to the matter of removing the Warden from Maori Point. In another column will be found extracts from letters received from that quarter, detailing a state of things which is perfectly intolerable. Persistent neglect merges into criminality, and we cannot think of any terms harsh enough to express our detestation of those in authority. We are told by one % of our correspondents that the miners accuse us of not advocating their cause in strong enough terms. We cannot, without descending to vituperation, express our disgust at the conduct of those who have the management of the gold fields in stronger terms. And we cannot express o r show our sympathy much more for the unfortunate men who are suffering so much than we have done. The miners must now help themselves, and since the Government have evidently determined that they shall not have a Warden in time, let them fall upon some scheme whereby he may be dispensed with. This may be dbne in various ways—either by nominating one of themselves in whom they have confidence, and agreeing to abide by his decisions; or, by *6rntfng a committee who shall act as a jury, and adjudicate upon all mining matters referred to them. It is not at all probable that the General Government will delay the taking in hand the management of the gold fields, and those on the Upper Shotover must just do in the meantime the best they can until better times. We cannot, however, restrain ourselves when we think that nearly five hundred men are dependent for their subsistence upon rulers who have shown themselves the most callous and heartless in the world. The King of Dahomey kills his subjects by thousands, but in the most orthodox way, inasmuch as he chops off their heads. The Provincial Government of Otago, so far as the gold fields are affected, kill theirs by neglect, and careless and incompetent legislation. It is a positive disgrace to civilisation, and we cannot constrain ourselves to write in any terms regarding the whole management of the gold fields other than the strongest. Astonishment, contempt, and hatred by turns, are the predominant feeling of every honest man who has got any. thing like an interest in the district. Men cannot always be patient, and even the stolid miners on the Shotover are beginning to be roused into vigorous action. We shall not again return to this subject. We are sick of it, and so are the public, we dare say. A cessation of writing, however, will not prevent us from doing all that we can in another way to put an end to a regime under which men suffer so much. We do not hesitate to say that the manner in which the New Zealand Gold Fields are managed will stand upon re-

cord as one of the most gigantic injustices ever perpetrated.