CORRESPONDENCE. THE GRISIS.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 32, 12 January 1884, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE. THE GRISIS.

(TO THK KDITOR.) Sir, — Admitted it h the duty of directors of guldmiuin^ aud companies, to carry on business as economically as pr)Hsibl "And to earn the best dividends they can ior the -naruhold.-r 1 th i y repiesent, yet cheepepaiing. or lowering wages is not in all c.-^es true ocon > ny, but qutii tlie reverie. T h° true secrdt in every business i* management \ exceedingly low wagds, and reduction . are no evidence of management. If a cone 'rti will not afford to |j,ty top wages for good men and pro rata to other*, according to their actual worth, it had better go into liquidation, unless t be that the lof>es are consequent upon, bad management, or 1 mi management. Had I the management of the battery Uramw.iy, .md the best mine oi the field m all prouiblitiy they Would be carrieu on at a dead loss even were I able to get all my employm *nt at seven shillings per diem, tititi tiie at.w yielded three or four ouueeti to tho ton. And why ? Because 1 whoulil mismanage the business, it requiring <t tliur-iu^hly expert mart witti tSuthbUjai ana knowledge ineuch

branch >>f wur'c ''i'his yni w I say is nothi ii; new. vS«» say Junl to » t iply it to the present cirouinstanc s o f the Hold it must neccesaiily lend to the <•• -Delusion that thu success dfi To Arolu depends upon reduction of wages or on the other han-i, things iii'd mismanaged-. Without being able to say of my own knowledge that mismanagement doi •> exist I cannot shn't nly 'eyes to tTio ftief>, . admitted by all, that the so-called loading ; mines can and do bring their stone to grass , at a very low cost, and that elsewhere stone yielding a far less per centauye of gold pays good dividends and that, making all due -allowances for the extra triu-.it to the battery, our atone ought to pay for crushing ) ergo, there is mism magement somewhere^ either the tramway i« not properly managed and worked {one shilling a day will not make the difference), of the cost of crushing and saving the gold is far too high> If the tramway manager is not sufficiently experienced in that particular line, then pay one who is, a good salary to do the work. This course has often been found necessary on railways all over the v orld. If the tramway cannot be worked at a less cost than at present, then it must be that the battery owners are charging too high a price for saving the gold. I can come to no other conclusion than that the success or nonsuccess of the Te Aroha goldfield " does not depend upon the present rate of wages." The mine managers ought to ha\e sole control of all working and working expenses, engage and dismiss men, arrange rate of wages for aach man or set of mun, and in fact be managers in reality, leaving it to the directors to say what they require to be done and whether by contract, day work, or otherwise. A competent manager would then get better and more work done, and at a cheaper rate. Directors are not elected because of their knowledge of how the work should be done, but generally because thoy are the largest shareholders or are good Hnanciers, therefore if they do not select responsible mine managers and leave all details to them, the natural result must be failure. — Yours, &c, Crisis.