WATER FOR THE GOLDFIELDS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 120, 16 June 1871, Page 3

WATER FOR THE GOLDFIELDS.

The following is the Report of Mr. C. E. Haughton, the Commissioner appointed to enquire into and report upon the question of Water. Supply to the Goldfields : The subject of water supply upon the •Goldfields of Otago having been rev ferred to me by the Executive Government, with the object that I should ascertain in what direction advantage might be taken of the provisions of the Public Works and Immigration Act, 1870, I desire, before suggesting the alternative systems under which Government assistance might rationally be applied to the construction of public works, and indicating in detail the works which may reasonably be effected, to remark that, geographically and physically, the circumstances of the Otago Goldfields preclude the possibility of any general application of the scheme as developed in Part 111. of the Act, the proposed subsidy being strictly confined to " works for supplying water," while no provision is made for the construction of sludge channels in deep ground, or the rendering auriferous country accessible by means of roads and tracks. I would therefore urge upon the Government the expediency of recommending to the General Assembly such modification of the law as may render this and future subsidies available for the general encouragement of mining enterprise ; to be appropriated pro rata to the population in the several districts according to their special requirements. It will be seen by the evidence attached that this view is borne out by skilled and intelligent witnesses resident in Mount Ida and Wakatipu districts. in which the mere supply of water is not the grave desideratum, but in which enterprise is cramped and population retarded, in the one case by the want of capital to construct large works, equally important in mining with " water races and reservoirs and in the other by the impossibility, owing to the want of communication, of developing the higher auriferous land.

The printed questions show the basis upon which the investigation committed to me was conducted ; and the whole of the evidence, oral and literal, ranges itself under the eight heads there indicated. The digest appended therefore affords in itself an intelligible and complete report as to the opinions expressed by witnesses examined, who, I may say,- include intelligent men of all classes upon the Goldfields. It will be observed that I did not confine my enquiries to the mere local aspect of the scheme —the works urgent, desirable, or possible in the. several districts —but took a far wider range, and endeavored to obtain (and, I think, have succeeded.in obtaining) the views of the miners upon the policy of the measure itself; whether it is desirable to assist mining enterprise by subsidies, and if so, in what way such subsidies should be applied, and the works, if constructed by Government, managed and maintained. . As regards finance, whether it would be practicable, wljere labor is scarce, to obtain the assistattee

of the miners themselves in the construction of the works, sustenance money only being paid, and the balance being taken out in water. It will be seen that little or no difference of exists upon the question of the principle, whether or not mining enterprise should be subsidised by the Government. Public meetings at Clyde, Cromwell f Law- 11 rence, Alexandra, Teviot, and Orepuki, the Miners' Committees at Naseby and Lawrence, and the Local Commission in the Wakatipu district, affirmed this without a dissentient voice. It may be taken, then, as proven, that the policy of the measure is approved by the , miners themselves. The manner in which the subsidy should be applied and made available, ppens up much more debateable ground, and, as might have been expected, contradictory V opinions are expressed. The Act would appear to provide for actual purchase or construction of the works, with contingent liabilities for maintenance, or for the guarantee of interest at six per cent, to the contractor for the construction. In both these cases

the question of management is left open, and it is one which presents very great difficulties in its practical solution. All the witnesses seem to feel this, and tliose who, without qualification, recommend that the works should be kept in the hands of the Government, fail to indicate any plan by which this could be reasonably carried out. It would necessarily entail the keeping up of a large and expensive staff, and could hardly prove satisfactory to the miners. Certainly it would be a source of constant embarrassment to the Government. The price of water being regulated by the supply, on the one hand there would be agitation to reduce the price to a minimum, on the other the cry of interference with private interests. Legal proceed-| ings are almost inseparable from the j possession of water race property, owing to the thousand and one causes well understood upon the Goldfields. What, then, would be the position of Government, constantly in its own Courts for laches, wilful or otherwise, of its Again, there is the consideration of apportioning the supply equitably when demand is in excess of supply. Is it to be " first come first served ?" liow long is a grant to stand ? under what circumstances renewed ? Those whom I have alluded' to as being in favor of works being re-! tained in the hands of the Government, | have either not thought out these points, or have declined the responsi-' 'bilitv of entering into details. The J matter bristles with difficulties, and al-; though it does not lie within my spe- j cial function as Commissioner to advise politically, I desire to warn the Government not to endorse, without consideration, the opinions of the majority of the witnesses upon this point j Assuming that section 30 of the Acb | is sufficiently elastic to admit of the j appropriation o the subsidy in other J ways than by actual construction of the | works by the Government, or by direct 1 I guarantee to the contractor, or in view of the modification of the scheme in the i direction of a more extended applica- j tion, it is desirable now to consider the various modes suggested in which the subsidy might be rendered really available for the purposes proposed, with due regard to self maintenance and economical administration of the public funds. The evidence points to two practical ways of dealing with the question —viz., by guarantee and loan, and these resolve themselves into the carrying out of one principle—the encouragement of private enterprise. I may premise that in no case have details been in any way fully entered into, a mere sketching of the outline being all that has been attempted. It is, therefore, difficult to form a very just conclusion from premises so incomplete. The system of guarantee meets with the approval of many of the most experienced and competent witnesses. It is suggested that companies should be formed, either for the purchase and amalgamation of existing rights and works, or the construction of new ones, interest being guaranteed to the shareholders at a rate proportionate to the nature of the security. Those in favor of assistance by way of loan, propose that the money should be advanced to individuals or companies, upon the security of the works, at a moderate percentage, provision being made for the gradual extinction of the principal by means of a sinking fund. It appears to me that either or both those plans are practicable, and possess many advantages over that of construction and management of works by Government; and with regard to assistance by way of loan I would point to the admirable working of the Drainage Commission Act in England, which is based upon analogous principles. Great care would be necessary that advances should not be made unless all the circumstances were satisfactory. In the case of a company, its constitution ; in the case of individual borrowers, their character and positions, and the feasibility of the particular scheme, would have to be taken into account in each case. I believe the existing Goldfields staff fully competent to perform the duty of supervision, advising the Government through the responsible head of their department. Although not borne out by any

weight of evidence, tw<> ot!u;r schemes are proposed, both oi which contemplate the separation of the management from the construction. The Government are to construct, and there their function is to end. Some witnesses propose that the works should be handed over to a local board; others that the right to their use should be sold annually by public auction. I fail to see that these propositions are supported by any valid reasoning, while both are open to very grave objections. The efficiency of maintenance, and the security of the creditor would be alike imperilled; while equitable distribution of what should be a public benefit would be impossible. Before quitting this branch of my Report, I would call attention to an argument used by one advocate of the guarantee or loan scheme as against Government construction and management —viz., that all interference with existing rights is avoided. This is a matter of no slight importance, and universally upon the Goldfields I found great anxiety expressed as to how far these rights were likely to be affected. I hardly see how they could be secured under a system of the supply of water at minimum rates fro in Government races or reservoirs. Opinions, I may add, were also freely expressed that works conducted by the Government were certain to be unproductive of revenue ; and that it was not just that the community should be taxed for the benefit of a necessarily limited number of claim-holders.

The evidence will be found arranged according to the several Wardens' districts, so that it can be at once perceived what works in each are considered desirable and practicable by the residents themselves.

In any recommendation which I may offer as to specific details, I have steadily adhered to one principle — that in no case should any works for the supply of wa f er be initiated unless satisfactory evidence exists that there is a sufficient area of auriferous land available, as well as a permanent source of supply within the limits of the possible expenditure. Referring to this district, the Report says : MOUNT IDA.

The Mount Ida district is very extensive, comprising the various diggings of Hogburn, Kyeburn, Hamilton, Hyde, Macraes, St. Bathans, Serpentine, and Maerewhenua. The evidence leaves no doubt that in all these there are portions of auriferous land not commanded by the present water supply, and that tor the existing workings a larger supply is urgently required. As a rule, all the easily available streams have been already taken up, but no provision is made for the storage of water accruing in times of flood, or even ordinary moist weather. Mr. Warden Robinson, Mr. Carew, and others suggest that if Government races are constructed, it is to this waste water they should look for a supply, and state that by the construction of large reservoirs the present supply might from this source be doubled. I gather from this that what we may call the natural supply from continuous sources is absorbed and limited, or could only be procured from points far distant from the several workings, at the risk, probably, of interfering in the new enterprises in their more immediate vicinity. The construction of reservoirs at a heavy cost, merely for the conservation of waste water, would, I think, be a hazardous experiment financially, nor can I in any case recommend the initiation of such works unless there exists a constant feeding power from a natural supply of water. The principal workings are in the neighborhood of Naseby, where there remains a large area of auriferous land unworked, and from natural circumstances, without a further and very extensive water supply, unworkable ; the want o. a main channel to carry of the tailings already severely embarasses the present claimholders, and threatens the very existence of the G-oldfield, the debris from the ground worked silting up thegullies to an extent upon which the water available produces no appreciable effect. It is unnecessary for me to enter more j fully upon this phase of the matter, general attention having been for some time called to the existing danger, and

able reports as to the facts of the case by Mr. Pyke Mr Burr, and others <ie• ing in the hands of the Govern.ueut. The information obtained intue coarse of my investigations points to the probability of a remedy to this very serious evil, by the bringing upon the ground sufficient water at a high level to flush and keep clear an amply sufficient channel. 1 may here observe that the mere construction of a sludge channel without a large wat er supply must inevitably prove a failure,it being simply a matter of time, and not a very long time, when it would be silted up, and the large expenditure incurred consequently wasted. The Little Kyeburn, a stream which sends down a copious supply of water all the year round, is distant from Naseby only about seven miles, and it is probable a race from it could be brought in about 20 miles. Mr. llobinson expresses his opinion that although such a race could not be made available for sluicing the high-lying ground, it might be brought in at such an elevation as to prove of considerable value in furnishing a supply of " flushing water " to sweep away the tailings, the constant accumulation of which is the most serious drawback to the success of mining in this locality. The same officer further remarks : —"A very great want at Naseby is that of a main channel to carry off the tailings; in fact, this may be the great want of the place. Various propositions have been made, but most of them have been looked upon as hopeless, because of the absolute necessity of a free and constant supply of flushing water to keep clear any channel which might be made." Mr. Carew, upon the same subject says ; —" A race from the Little Kyeburn in all probability could be constructed for £4OOO, but it is a question to be solved by professional examination whether water from either stream could be brought in sufficiently high for sluicing any but the lower levels. It is inevitably necessary that at no distant period a channel must be constructed from the principal workings around Naseby to impel the deposits at low levels of the rapidly increasing accumulation of tailings, especially from the Main and lloach's Grullies, and as flushing water will be absolutely necessary to work and clear the channel, it is the popular impression that the Little Kyeburn will.be the most available source of supply. Taking into consideration the general circumstances of the district, and the proportion of the subsidy to be available, 1 should recommend the Government to confine any action they may immediately propose, to the affording assistance in bringing in, if found possible on survey, a supply of water, say 10 heads at least, from the Little Kyeburn to the workings above Naseby, to be used as flushing water only for a main sludge channel.