THE STANDARD. SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 1873.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 63, 21 June 1873, Page 2

THE STANDARD.

SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 1873.

“ We shall sell to no man justice or right: We shall deny to no man justice or right: We sliall defer to no man justice or right.”

If anything were wanting to determine the universality of the interest the settlers the Bay should take in the oil spring question aww before them; and to give an. additional increment of zest

to the formation of the Poverty Bay Petroleum Company, it would not be searched for in vain by those who are really desirous to promote the welfare of th® district, if they contemplated the collateral advantages which would be gained by the discovery, and contemporaneous working, of a coal-mine, as one of the natural results -of oil exploring We purposely adduce this line of argument with a view to draw the attention of the faithless or the

wavering to the most practical method of solving the problem now before them ; viz., shall we be the producers of our own oil and coal ? It is possible to work a coal-mine without coming across an oil spring, inasmuch as the oil which

previously existed may have been worked out; but where oil exists, coal is sure to be found. Numbers of specimens have lately been brought in from the coast, which abundantly testify to the lignitic nature of the country on the sea board between this and the East Cape. Amongst the more recent, the Ven. Archdeacon Williams has obligingly deposited at our office a

specimen, (somewhat imperfect it is tro%, -but still a specimen) of lignite, or brown coal, found by some natives ih the neigWbourhood of the Makarika Stream, about eight miles inland from Tokomaru. The base of the Hikurangi has already furnished undeniable proof of the existence there of coal in its incipient state ; and the iknown surface indications of <oil in other places add their own weight nf testimony to the treasures that lie beneath. Waikohu, and the surrounding country in the neighbourhood of our own Company’s future operations, have also given proof of the existence of coal, -by the croppings which are perceptible even to casual observation. We cannot be blind to the nature and difficulty of the work, to which we invite the attention *of the settlers of this district, as their right to perform. Their own money and their own enterprise must be so directed, that they wall draw the money and enterprise' of others who crave for some portion of that which we possess in abundance. Still, although it may not be ours to see a speedy fulfilment of our prophecy, we must not wilfully close our eye:., and repose in the dormancy of our energies, while the rest of the world is watching a favorable opportunity to do the good we might have done. We are’not rashly advocating the immediate pursuit of this new industry —the working of a coal field. We do not urge a hasty combination of capital,

guided by an ill-judged enthusiasm, to enter into speculations of which we, as yet, only know the superfices; but we hold it to be the duty of all true settlers to keep the matter in sight; and that while they may congratulate themselves upon having done one thing well they may not be censured for leaving the other undone. All great achievements; all works that are likely to last as monuments of a people’s energy and greatness are slow of growth. Nature and Science alike teach us this lesson, and have established certain principles of action »that are opposed to a pretentious or ambitious haste. Still, we think we may review, with some considerable amou’ift'of profit, the circumstances which have led to the retardation of that unqualified success every one whb had ever "heard of the Poverty Bay oil springs would have attended the formation of a Company to work them. our -.explanation of the “qualified” success-of the Petroleum Company.is that people ;at a distance, who are apt to receive (local reports “ cunt grano satis” look with doubt on our judgment, if not with suspicion on our motives, when we are so >ready to back up the energies of other people, and ask the co-operation of foreign capital to work a Company unnecessarily clogged with a condition which materially reduces its profits. It is only in the sense that by apathy we super-impose mountains of obstructive difficulty in the working of our own affairs, that we predict a like hesitation on the part of others to assist in any future project—let it be coal, iron, or copper —if we do not show more to the front ourselves.

Under the circumstances our position with reference to the Petroleum Company is as good as it can be ; but we must make the humiliating confession that it is not so good, as it might have been, nor, indeed, so good as it should be.

The most we can say is that we are making the best of a bad bargain, a confession not calculated to increase our credit for sagacity. It is the repetition of these shortcomings that we should prefer to be avoided in the future; and we cannot do better than constantly remember the homely truth, that the surest way to obtain assistance from others, is to shew them that we merit it