New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1875.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4346, 23 February 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1875.

That was a sensible letter by “ Lose Ton,” in yesterday’s issue, in reference to the Ohinemuri country. There was a very groat deal of truth in it, moreover. It is not the first time we have heard from men who actually prospected in the Ohinemuri district that they have failed to “find the color but, then, it should be remembered that they did not prospect systematically. They went about with a tomahawk hanging over their heads ; not suspended by a hair, which might or might not break, but in the hand of a Maori scout, who would have made it descend to a dead certainty, had he encountered them. ‘ ‘ Long Tom ” was not, therefore, singular in failing to strike gold in the Ohinemuri district. Nevertheless, .we have it also, on the testimony of credible men, that gold does exist there ; but time and systematic working will be required to test the field. And “ time and systematic work- “ ing ” means money, which the prospector must find for himself in some way, because the halcyon days of “sleep- “ ing partners” in prospectors’ claims are at an end. That vein has been worked out. Our correspondent, “ Long Tom,” is therefore quite right in his advice to the working men of this province not to throw up a certainty for hope. They are earning good wages ; and they are much better at steady work and fair remuneration than leading an unsettled and uncertain life on a new gold-field.

But we fear that his advice will be thrown away on many. The love of change ; the novelty and gambling character of gold-mining at a new rush, possess an overpowering charm to many men. They cannot resist the temptation to which so many of their fellows have succumbed, and they tramp off with their “ swags,” to “try their luck at the*dig- “ gings.” Occasionally lucky finds are announced, and the prosperity of the few is magnified into something splendid for the general average ; but no one ever hears anything of the hundreds of bitterlydisappoiuted hunger-pinched men who are to be .-found on all new diggings. A private letter from Napier informs us that the' men employed on the Government works there only wait for definite news from Ohinemuri to pack up their “swags” and be off.

Meanwhile, the news of the opening of the field is not final. Sir Donald McLean and' Dr. Pollen have returned to Auckland, leaving Mr. Mackay, jun., to complete the agreement with the natives, by obtaining their signatures. ■ This is a work of some little time, inasmuch as every Maori who has a claim to any part of the land to be included within the goldfield, must sign the document. Sir Donald McLean intimated to a deputation who waited upon Ministers at Grahamstown, that the opening .might be delayed yet ton days, but that no time would be lost after the preliminaries had been completed. This we can well believe ; and the Thames community do well to trust implicitly in the Government. •

It was with pleasure we noticed another declaration by Ministers, to the effect that no concession whatever would be made to any one who had violated the law, by endeavoring to acquire rights within the gold-field before its formal proclamation. This is as it should be. There was a great deal of very “sharp “ practice” in connection with the Ohinemuri district, Mr. Mackay being greatly impeded in his negotiations with the natives by pakeha interference. This opposition, fortunately, came to nothing; but the Government would have manifested blameworthy weakness, if any claims put forward by those parties had been recognised at all. When the goldfield has been opened by proclamation every one starts fair. Of course; those who have had an opportunity Of prospecting the country, or at all events of examining it, have a certain advantage ; but we are inclined to think that at best this advantage must be very slight. We trust, however, that Ohinemuri will not disappoint the most credulous believers in its hidden treasures. Auckland would be the first to benefit by the revival of mining industry at the head of the Thames ; but the colony at large would likewise participate in its prosperity, Speaking of a revival of mining industry at the Thames, and throughout the colony generally, we cannot conclude without referring to a series of articles on gold-mining, which appeared in the Argus recently. These articles have a most direct bearing upon the condition of gold-mining in New Zealand. The 'causes that have prostrated gold-min-ing in Victoria have been largely instrumental in bringing about the existing stagnation in gold-mining in this colony. Our readers will, therefore, pardon us if we present, in an extract from the Argus of the 20th ultimo, the whole case, as it appears to us to bo applicable to the mining interests of this colony. The Argus sets out with the declaration “ that the future of raining “ depends to a great extent upon the “minors themselves,” and that it is “ impossible to make their industry pros- “ perous by legislative tinkering, the fact “ being that they had too much law, and “ are now suffering from the effects of “ the numerous and complicated rules “ and regulations which have been “ made in their behalf.” The Argus contemptuously dismisses the proposal to legalise mining on private property as a measure which could not possibly, of itself, improve the condition of the miners, and proceeds :

Our counsel to the miners was, anti is, to recognise the facts. Wo counsel them further to look back anti consider what they did some nlno or ten years ago. Most of them will remember how Sandhurst was rescued from the Serbian hog of depression in which tiro place seemed to bo stuck, when tire (marts lodes were supposed to have failed, and when enterprise was sick nigh unto death. The recovery was not brought about by prospectuses, or by the floating of companies in the Melbourne market. The lodes were not re-discovered, or re-tested, at greater depths, by the meetings of miners' associations or tho passing of resolutions. In those days wo used to hear a groat deal about a fair day’s wages for a fair day s work, not as now, when tho cry is rather for as much wages as possible for as little work as possible. Sandhurst was rescued out of the slough of despond; and put upon its legs, by sheer hard work and patient sacrifices, with intelligently directed endeavor, and by nothing else. Its future, in all probability, depends upon these things, too,, for It is abundantly evident that the place has resources which cannot bo developed under the existing system. Then, If-wo turn tolial larat, we find oven more striking evidence of the truth of tho counsel which wo gave. The rich deep leads were, to a grout extent, developed'hy the personal sacrifices of working men, before scrip had been heard of. They clung to their claims for years, through good and evil, worked hard and patiently, and wore rewarded in tho end. Contrast this with tho results of the epoch of gambling. “What remains to show for the enormous amount of money which changed hands at tho Corner in speculative ventures? Can it be truly said that tho work corresponded in even a remote degree to tho money laid out 1 Can we venture to argue that anything like a reasonable profit was got out of tho largo sums that went from Melbourne to Gipps Land for a few vears, to erect machinery on claims that were never worked, and for companies

which stopped when they were just ready to go to work ? The money, to a great extent, was not laid-out in testing mines, but in paying expenses which had nothing to do with mining. The ground was not tried, only the depth of the shareholders’ pockets, and the inquiring traveller in Cripps Land can see, even at this day, the remains of these follies; he can discover abundant signs, of expenditure where there are few or no signs of work. Our advice to the miners was, therefore, hosed upon our experience of the'past. We said, and wo say, in effect, if there is to be a renewal of activity and profitable work, there must first be a renewal of earnest and well-directed labor. There must bd the same patience and energy as were displayed of old, and if the same brilliant results do not follow, which can scarcely be expected, still very excellent results are certain to be obtained. IVe might illustrate what we mean by reference to the Queen Company, Alma, which is just now causing a slight sensation. The tribulers, working for themselves, could do what a large company altogether failed to accomplish. They could live where the company starved, and, what is more, they discovered ground so rich, if all accounts be true, as to pay them very handsomely indeed. We might cite a number of other examples, but it is not necessary to insist upon tacts that none who has experience will deny—that cheap work is essential to, the development of raining wealth, and that cheap work is not to be obtained by that system which has been called prospeotusing. Cheap work does not, necessarily, mean ill-paid work, because effective work at a high rate is often cheaper than ineffective work at the lowest rate, but it does mean conscientious and honest work. The gold deposits of this colony are not being properly utilised, mainly because the necessary kind of labor cannot be got, and also because enterprise is shut out by monopolies, and it remains to be seen whether the miners will remedy these evils, or whether they will prefer gradually to drift away to more inviting places. As we have already said, we believe that ,a wise system of cooperation would be one method of meeting the difficulty, but there can bo no useful co-operative work without faith and self-sacrifice. Our view of the ease is, we suppose, not a pleasant one, but it has the advantage of being undoubtedly true.

We trust these sensible remarks, by our Melbourne contemporary, will be borne in mind, and acted upon by the goldminers of New Zealand. They are undoubtedly true; and it would be very easy to make the few verbal alterations requisite to make "them apply, with scrupulous fidelity, to the state of things existing in several parts of this colony. New Zealand depends very much upon the permanence of her gold export; but it is steadily on the decline, and anything whigh would turn the scale the other way should be hailed with satisfaction. The opening of Ohinemuri, and the adoption of “a wise system of co-operation,” in lieu of “prospectus mining” would, in our opinion, go a long way to attain that result. We shall anxiously watch the further development of the Ohinemuri gold-field, and' should it draw the crowd of scrip-brokers and touters from their dens and hiding-places, like a swarm of flies on a carcase, we shall augur little for the success of the field. If, on the other hand, gold is produced without tilting shares, and duping the unwary, it will be a fortunate thing for Auckland.