CORRESPONDENCE

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 52, 31 May 1884, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE

Under no circumstances is the E litor responsible for the mutter contained in correspondence.

(to this editor.) When avarice starves (and never hides his face) Two or three millions of the Immm race, And not a tongue inquires how, where, or . when, I Though conscience will have twinges now and then, 9 O « O Speak to the present tizues, and times to come; They ciy uliud in every careless eir, "Stop, while ye may, suspend your mad career." — Cowpeb. Sir, — I read with great interest " A Miner's " letter in your last issue, that, find tho niticle it refei*s to, discloses an airliitciry power assumed by Mr Firth which it is difficult t<» believe can exist in what should he a free conntiy, ?md the mi -management wnu'd give, one to suppose tli-it Mr Firtn contemplated another Mttaimta fiasco N"ver did a goldlield open with fairer promise ti»>n that of Te Aiului, and nothing but niihtnamii?ement and arbitaiy battery and tiam \ >)' charges, togitlur with Mr Firth's geiijral interf.T nee, hav*» brought it to its pmsent neglect d condition. Visitor alter visitor comes to look at our Held with a determination of investing money in it, hut one and all, after hearing of th« principle of monopoly adopt d, content themselves by s.i) ing *' You have cipit.i) shows, hut I am a1r;iid of the ling." Mine m :nagers are atr.id t<» open thoiv mouths and propound id as that w uid he beneficial to the shareholders, ;;ud, in fact, a reign of terror exists where all should be harmony. At the bsttery, until thi-» week, th n gratings had not bten changed for three weeks, and to give an instance of how they were worn, on the 23rd inst 20 1 rucks of the Colonist's quartz were put through 20 -tampers in nine hour-:, wher;as with new gratings 24 hours would bo req n'red to put the sain^ quantity through. Tho agreement tho | Battery Conuuuy made with the different ' mines stipulated tor gratings with not lo«s than 175 holes to tho square inch — do tli ; gratings wlun fir^t pat on satisfy this \ cifiuse? It was not til! the comp. tries | refused to go on crushing this week that the Battery Comp-my consented to change the. gratings, but wanted the mini 1 managors to continue a. isuinj; and wait for a change of gratings until such would be obtained from M^lhourn". What matrigementl a battery to run out of grating* and then have to send to Melbourne for such as they desired to use. It is only rect'ntly an intimation has been given by the Piako County Council that t'\e rharge of 4s 6d per truck to convey quartz over the tramway will have to be increased, as the tramway is not paying its way. The Piako County balanco-cheet of 11th of April is a study, and the credit of £19,954 19s 8d, taken aa an asset of the County, is an item not only outrageous to a person who has ever seen the tramway, but it is open to question as to whether it can be taken as a bonafide asset. If I am rightly informed, the County has no title to the tramway. It was subsidised by Government (public money), with the express puipose of giving to the goldiield cheap transit of quartz to where batteries are likely to be situated, and the Warden has power to fix a maximum charge, and ho will ccrtain[y do so before he deeds awuj anything that belongs to the goldfitnd generally, as well as put hit> pen through the resolution of tho County Omnou to make the sum > chaige over a short portion of the tramway as ovi-»r the entire disfnee. — a ver\ clever trick of Air Firth's to handidap batteries that may b» eucted clo.se to the ( .'.inns with his own buttery at a long ds&tauce >i¥. The County Council viteti >li Ail ail , the tJafrery C Mnpanie-^ sdi'vanl, £100 donation for the abiu way iib li.id conduct -d his work, an<l left uuD'.id storeKcjp'jrs and c.irteis who hid i>' j en furnishing goods nnd lahoui'. The B.iltery and tiamwa^ 7 ' sh'iu'd ho nnchr Loidliy dill' rent management ; nnd whilst t.ieu 1 uro men to be lound who will conLfact wo w jia tlie trdiuwi.y, ch'irgi'ig only 3^ p^r fuck to deliver qtmuz over tho ntJi ; distance of the line, as uell ,is k-jcp thc3 uti>j in repair, why should th u oxtm chaige be extorted irom the different mining companies to ke fi p alive mismanagement i Our isolated position todaj by the causeh referred to ims for its iruitd — rum tn hundreds of men who have pnt tiieir bttle all into this field, runny of whom have had to piwn their goods and chattels to go away fioui it to seek work, whitot others renum without work on tho hill and without means to leave. As to the ru cure prospect-! of the ir;ld there is but one opinion, and thatfiom any and all experts who have aeen it. The New Find is one of the grandest claims in New Zetland, and the mot^t encouraging feature in its vv oi kings is the lower tne winste iabunk on the reef the richer the «tcnie get^. The trial crivhuigs from dnlVrent claims, apiciid over a large urea, have given, in neatly every instance, .splendid results, and point to very rich linds ot gold in the clo^e future. — 1 am, etc., A Shareholder.

(TO THK El'ITOU.) gm — It bus boon tlio regular custom of theVress since th« advent of Mr J. (J. Jj'irih on this gohllieltf, to givo a lull and paiticHiiir ummnt of all hw siiyiii^s and doingH therewith, 'iliero has been one oiutehiun, that of tlie mooting witli tlic mine manager, who huve liud or are expected to have crushing 1 !* at his mill (n>;t Hour). As far us can be ascertain ed the man.igers liavo not reported tlie rtsault of that mev-Uiig 1 to Llie direiti/rt) oi t))un respective oompiiuies, but if w>, it seciu.* rather btinuge tue^ do not pulilixh wlmt tou<c piuuo loi Uie iiuoinmUuii oi Uiu s!(i..r«j..v/ dura, jw they Jiave every ri&'lit 10 kmnv. — 1 am, &o., ; r , t fc>ilAKi£lloLDi.it.

(to the fiWroß.) '• ' -J . Sift.— As your lender ;m /the i^ue; of " the 17th inst. has already Begun to produce, goOd fruit, a few Hues finm imiar wi.o&f little all is being jeopardise^! by the present mismanagement may be of interest. There is no doubt that the sad state of affairs here is wholly due 4 to apathy of tin* directors of the various uompunios. Mr fTirth informed the meetliig oil mine mttuagow, vviiom he called together, that he had boen authorised to arrange for the i'utiue workings of the mines. Mr Firth may have understood so, but certainly I should not like to make such a serious accusation against the directors of the various companies. Imagine a body of business men seriously appointing .the owner of the battery to direct tne mines, his chief qualifications being tlmt be liad spent £2500 in the Hold (bow ?; I That we owe to him the present tramway management and the tr.any peculiarities in us construction ; that he was iitatnuueubil ia the construction of the JMew Find e>hoot, against the.advioe of the company's engineer and almost everyone elso— because 4t Mr Adams said so ;" mid wo must not omit the lime burnors. I hope tor the future that the ninnngemeM of the niinos will be left entirely in tin hmds of the inino managojs, and when it is lound that they are nimble to do their duty, there are plenty of good miners in the colony to replace them. The legal managers of tho mints are also very much ty blnme. 1 sun credibly informed that ALr (Javun, the manager of the (Joloniat, bus stited that in answer to his telegram saying, tlmt Colonist's tailing would not pay at the present prices of tailing plant (what taiimga wouid ?), h'^received^ « reply from hia lej>»l mannj.^^feque&ting him to employ sill the berdan* obtainable, yui'ely the directors never sanctioned this ab-iml.iy V A word to the Piako County Coiiucj:, who have bjlmvid, " according to their lights" in a princely manner to this, tield. hmploy as soon as possible a man who ha* been accustomed to building miv. tig trmiways ; scud him here and get his report on this oue ; you will thoa know as much an we do. Uvt rid of tho engine which Mr Firth took such pains to m.ike you purchase, now lying at the battery lit a cost to you of about £800 ; it c;m uever be of use hew, and let the convo)ancc rf qu.irtss by contriet. Plenty of men will taice it at 3s per truck ana keep the tramway in repair. Do you remember th it the tresveiling from the end of tramway to Firth and UUik's battery (wuroly u private umlcruking) was paid for by you, to to the tune of some JCSOO ? That even tiio gratings iii the battery hoppers are made of Government rurl.s. When in the face of all this you pass ,i resolution that the charges for 500 yards on tho tramway saall bethesamoas those 0 t'iree mi'es io Firth's battery, to prevail the erection of other batteries close to the mines. Well, hhonld you do this again, or anything of the same n iture, remember your reputations for .-anity and honesty, and do not publish it. — I am, etc., Justice.

TO TUB KD1TOR. Sir,— On Monday next the Licensing Commissioners will meet. 1 observe that a new license ii applied for at Waiorongoni?ti. Donbtle-s the Commissioners will give due consideiation to the case, and will enquire carefully as to the necessity of a new public-house bsiore buidening a community of such circuuisu'ibed limits with an additional drinking house, tmrely no sane man will hay that another publichouse is necessary, or will undertake to show that it would be beneficial to the interests of the people. The multiplication of these houses simply means the multiplic'ttion oi! the inducements to d'-iuk. Thought' --s young men have already ample opportunities ot demoralisation, .uiu of blighti.ift' their wl.olc future career. Husbands and fathers have ample opportunities of drowning all those nobler instincts which make homes hippy and bright, .md which when destroyed give place I'. ;l ie worst .md jijostbrnt.il passions of which wives and children are made the victims. I trust that the Comnrissinnrrs will not allow themselves to be influenced j by alleged prt mi.-en .inferior to tneir eiec- : ti'on. The proprietor o£ the new house 1 mu&t have known l'r>>m the lir&t that the Commissioners are not bound, legally or morally, by such promises. In fact, all ideas of fairness are opposed to the grant ing ot a new license. If tndie is anything of* the nature of light in the traffic, certainly the existing houses hive the first claims upon our consideration. They have been (jatahlishod by law, l ho keepers having met the requirements of the Act at considerable expense. Sureiy, Sir, if thebe houses mu>t exist the present holders should have some consideration, .is well as the proprietor or the new hou.-e.— Yours, etc., T. J. Wills.