The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 1870.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 99, 28 April 1870, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 1870.

An interesting report from Mr. Broad, tlie Warden for the Charleston aud Brighton districts, was laid on the table of the Council last night, and from which we! make a few extracts, in order to give our readers a correct idea of what is doiug in that portiou of the province. The revenue derived from the district is first alluded to, and this, it appears, amounts to £7342, collected under the various heads of miners' rights, busiuess and publicans' licenses, aud fees and fines in the Resident Magistrate's Court. A further sum of £1230 has been deposited for gold-mining and agricultural leases. The population of the district is estimated at 1150, being composed of, miners 800, and others 350. Under the heading of " Works in Progress," some of the more important undertakiugs in the district are alluded to, and among these we find mentioned the Kohinui Company, who have' cut a race some three miles in length, involving a great deal of blasting and excavation, and have also constructed a lengthy tramway, and erected a large, waterwheel and battery. Another party is stated to have constructed a large reservoir, and erected a race of some four miles in length, while a third, we are told, is putting in a dam at the head of Deep Creek, and constructing a reservoir extending over 300 acres. The reported discovery of alluvial gold up the left hand branch of Fox's river, a report which is endorsed by all who have been prospecting there, is looked upon by Mr. Broad as of much importance, tending as it does to open up the interior of the country, and adding one more corroboration to the fact, that the Nelson goldfields are yet in their infancy. The large number of gold-mining leases applied for is said to be an entirely new feature in the history of the past year, and the Warden strongly recommends the Government to adhere to a policy " which serves to convert the erratic miner into a permanent settler, and which enables him to work ground which would otherwise be beyond his reach." Referring to the rale of wages Mr. Broad says : — " It appears strange that notwithstanding the decrease in the price of provisions, the rate of wages still remains so high. Men can readily get 15s. to 2Os. by the day, or from £5 to £6 by the week. I think it speaks well for the district, that labor is difficult to be obtained, even at this rate, as evidencing that men can almost anywhere go and obtain as much as this by working on their own account." Crime is rare, and but very few cases of a serious nature have been brought before the Resident Magistrate's Court, while there have been fewer cases of drunkenness than in any previous year, although the price of spirits has been reduced by one-half. The following interesting account is given of the towns of Charleston and Brighton : — " We have now a Catholic | ••hurch, Church of England, and Wesleyan chapel at Charleston, aud a Catholic church and Protestant church at Brighton. There are two schools at Charleston, and one at Brighton, subsidised by the Central Board of Education. The people , of Charleston have just raised a sum of £80 for a public library, to which the Government have added a similar amount. There is a Freemasons' and Oddfellows' Lodge, and the people generally are most liberal in their support of all charitable institutions. The three backs have branches at Charleston, and Brighton is visited weekly for the purchase of gold.

Excellent hospitals are erected at both places and are well furnished and well ! attended to by competent men." Although many men had left for the Thames, Mr. Broad considers that the district is in a much more healthy state than when it was overdone with business people who were obliged to give indiscriminate credit in order to do any busiuess at all. . . The" remarks made by Mr. Broad upon the establishment of Mining Boards appear to us to be so sensible, that we shall take another opportunity of giving them in full. On the subject of a water supply for the Goldfields, we find it stated as follows : — " The time appears now to have arrived when, with a view to the more permanent settlement of the miners, and to the better development of the resources of the Goldfield, the Government should offer assisiauce to Companies bringing in water, either by guaranteeing a per centage on the amount of capital invested, or iv the shape of a bonus varying accordin"; to the amount of labor and capital expended and the amouut of public utility to be derived from it." These reports from the more distant portions of the province, furnished, as they are, by officers, who, from the positions they hold, are well able to ascertain the various wants of the districts under their charge, are full of interest and will prove of immense service to the Provincial Councillors in legislating for 'parts of the country with which they are personally unacquainted.