THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1875.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 324, 21 May 1875, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1875.

The Provincial Geologist has "made what at first sight will appear a report extremely damaging to the very general idea that runs of gold exist in considerable richness.under the Maori bottom. ;Tha detailed reasons for this adverse opinion are to be freely dealt: with in the detailed geological report, to be published' when the /survey is completed, The interim report states positively ; :j-j- ']•;:;;■;.!/•; .CKLiGF.' I am of opinion that no, deep, leads exist at the bottom of the Mairiototo;' Idaburh, and Manuherikia Plains, as they hare been formed by thS filling up of old laie basins that were originally hollowed out by glaciers. Coiase,quently no river ever- ran along: the bottom of them, but all the lower parts will consist of clay. The auriferous gravels are confined to those parts of the margin "of the old lakes imadjoining the mouths of the Btreams that-run on to them. It must, however,! b<£ remembered that in many_cases these streams did not fall into the lake at right angles to it, but' dften very obliquely, and the gravels would therefore be carried in the direction of the streams, and not straight across the lake.

A little hope is, however, held?-out to Naseby for thareason as stated that there.the,neighboring,area of aurife-. rous schist rocks, from which the gold was originally, derived, is large.. : It is abundantly evident thatthe report is vague'in the'extreme, and -we cannot get. out of our .heads that the report has been the result of a preconceived idea —probably; thas indicated in the Superintendent's- Address of last year; that it may be desirable 'to ; sell the auriferous lands. If this idea has been at all piominent the pith of a short sentence is apparent: " I think, therefore, th at the whole of these Plains, with the exception of a strip of about a mile and a half in [.breadth around the margins, may be safely considered as non-aurifereus." Practically it would be absurd to think of alienating the centres of these Plains without these marginal strips, which, as is well known, contai'n-the best land for agricultural purposes to be found in the up-country Plains. 'The glacial theory •upon which this very- positive opinion is based is by no means proved. It will be interesting to observe, in the detailed report what opinion, if any, is expressed about the deep lead, or series of at Blacks No. 3. Perhaps it may be' shown that these leads at Blacks are not true leads. P cacti eally they showed every appearance when worked of being true leads, formed in the beds of old rivers or creeks, running in the direction or lie of the Ida Valley Plains. St. Bathans has an undoubted deep lead, which has been followed 7 as far as safety permitted without extensive timber casing. Perhaps, instead of venturing to

doubt the validity of the scientific opinion thrown out it will be better to pit science against science. To do this fortunately we have Mr. Ulrich's report,to fall back upon. Now, let it be understood we do not pin our faith to Mr. U Irich any nlore than to Captain Hutton. Yet the difference of opinion is of value to show that if neither are wrong both-cannot be right. - Mr.- T7l<rich, after a concise statement of the conditions under which the older drift was .deposited, adopting the. principle of "lacustrine deposition, goes on to .say:—

.Of course the more inlets or sources of supply" the Take has, the more they vary in strength, the more irregularly they are distributed around the margin of the lake, and the nearer its outlet the more irregularity will be observed in the arrangement of heavy and lighkmaterial towards the latter part and the centre. For these reasons, therefore, the old -deposits of the lake basin mentioned do not, in my opinion, contain deep leads in the true meaning of the term ; but what I think very likely-is, that, a certain width around the circumference of each deposit, is auriferous and payable, or perhaps richly so—(there may be more than one layer -of washdirt) —in front and near the mouths of old or of those present main watercourses, which seem also to have been the sources of supply in the olden time. , And thus these sides would, respecting the Manuherikia basin, for instance, conform with those of the present upper drift workings (linkers, Drybread, St. Bathans, &c.)"

Professor. TTlrich did not visit Naseby in daylight, and it was not thought,by his guides worth while to detain him there or at St. Bathans, yet the conditions are exactly the same in those localities as at the places indicated. In his: report he goes on to suggest that in more circumscribed basins—such as Weatherstones and Waitahuna Plats and- others l —runs or leads exist in their deepest pjirts. It will be sufficiently seen from these extracts that scientific .opinion is not made up, certainly not made up sufficiently to justify the very strong opinion of the Provincial Geologist. At anyrate that report need not throw a wet cloth on the energetic movement initiated at Naseby to put the question .to' a practical test.

Mb. Reid gave the member for Kawarau a. character last week. Mr. Fish, meaning' mischief, had 'put a- 'question on the. Paper desiring to know, in v the interests of the poor incapable Goldfields members—How often the Goldfields Secretary had attended Executive meetings ?•■ Mr.,Beid got-so. emphatic in sounding the praises of his colleague that the effort was notably conspicuous as being blows levelled at Mr. Pish rather, than, oinrestrainable admiration„for- Mr. JMacKella*. ~, .The matter would hardly be "worth notice but for the strong statement made that the experiment instituted, last year of stationing the" Goldfields Office at Cromwell had been most satisfactory," and has been found to work well. The fact of matters connected -with Goldfields, said Mr. Beid, having first to go to Cromwell to. there receive the shrewd practical comments ' of' Mr. Mackellar —and then returning to the Executive, was of incalculable benefit. "We have," continued Mr. Eeid, " much valued the shrewd and sensible " advice tendered by the Honorable " Gentleman in the interests of his " constituents." Arid then, as if in onebreath, demolishing the objections to the Cromwell reign, he went on to say —-" Did he not, on taking his seat last; " session, expresslyjlet it be understood' " that he would reside at Cromwell." All this is very'well and : loyal, but .the fact remains that the Goldfields Secretary is more isolated from the people of the Goldfields—at a small interior township like Cromwell —than if in Dunedin., Besides which, the fatal blot occurs;;ftat good advice. Mr. MacKellar might be able to give there is ;nor opinions influencing the ignorance "of his colleagues on all that concerns'the Goldfields. The idea that the Goldfields require some special knowledge—an idea that has been so fatal to ; the mining interest—is thus perpetuated. If it is a matter of £s d let the salary be increased, so that such valuable services may be secured to., the Province. Mrr-Reid doe 3 not need to be reminded that he did not-allow Mr. MacKellar to take-his seat, last session.; until all the business was tran»; saeted, so that the grand reason why the system should remain uachallenged —-that it was understood it was to be immediately.. before the Council "prorogued—is utter moonshine. Nc doubt the interests of the constituents-of the Member for Kawarau have been. wellrepresented during the recess, but the interests of the Goldihslds 'as, ,a, whole have been entirely neglected-—if not banded about between the two" distant Government offices until -hopelessly buriedindepartmentabc6rrespondeh.ee. The Goldfields Secretary should be given a share in the work of the country, and reside in Dunedin, or else be dispensed with altogether' l as an Executive officer. ..""""

The reason given by the Government why ;a Mining Board was refused last year is vague and ■. shadowy^enough. It is founded on a good deal that is not fact. "We are told that the functions of such a Board would be confined to dealing "with mining carried oh under miners' rights only, and that therefore the Board would be nseless. ,lf it could deal with mining regulaced by special Acts such a, Board would be unbearably mischievous. That was never intended or asked for. . All that is sought is that a practical body should exist to make the minor regulations—the present looseness and insufficiency of which ara the. causes of the litigation on our Goldfields. Any one at all acquainted; with mining in Victoria that litigation there is not caused by the Mining but is almost exclusively confined to disputes arising out of mining leases. , Yet, even.so, the Act "of 1866 has been

fonnd so satisfactory as to have required no aniLndrnentj while the defect of elasticity in our regulations has caused a constant tinkering with our Croldfields Act as if it were to blame. Certainly it is not by. any means so. valuable a measure as the "Victorian Act, yet its defects have been very greatly exaggerated. In our opinion a- Central Mining. Board,. with the Groldfields Secretary as Chairman, would wonderfully simplify litigation. That is all that the Mining Association Has ever asked for. To say that if one were granted others would have to be granted, is absurd. It would have been as sensible to say because Otago is constituted a Province, with certain legislative "powers, therefore Mount Ida and Queenstown, Tuapeka and Cromwell, must be appointed Provinces with similar powers. No good reason has yet been shown why a,~ Mining Bw-ardfor tbe Province sliould not be appointed.

It-will be well if the dispute about the leasing of the Crown Terrace can be settled. Several years ago tbe residents at Arrow and.Cardrona were willing this land should be opened for agricultural .leasing. Their wishes | were likely to.be carried ■put when a hue and cry was ; what truth we do not know—that one or two individuals intended : to monopolise, the whole available land by faking out leases in the names of all their retainers, servants, and even domestics. - The cry was then turned into practical protest that the ground was highly auriferous ;, but, owing to natural difficulties, not immediately capable of being worked! This counter agitation was suecessfuHn putting a stop to the proposed leasing. Since then the disputed ground has remained virtually a commonage for butchers and graziers, who, of course,'object to its being leased. This session: petitions •came fronrArrow and Cardrona asking that the-Ggown Terraces shall Deceased —provided that conditions are imposed to enable miners to work the \ creek sides, and other; auriferous portions, without compensation for entry. ,'J.i such conditions can be framed, and are necessary, it would be to ,the,les- ' sees obtaining freeholds,, or else" the" conditions themselves would be robsolete. If, as is said, the land is peculijarly suitable for the growth of crops jthat cannot generally be growu-in the • Wakatipu, the available area might be tall taken up, even if hampered with conditions. The question is of. gene- • j.ral interest as bringing into cohspicuj ous play three diverse interests that are I always at variance on the G-oldfields—-the bona fide cultivator,; the poaching I grazier and butcher, and the easily-:ex- ■ cited ; goldminer, who is generally I played off and made use of by his wellwishing neighbors. '■-•".•?'