OHINEMURI. (FROM OUR OWN CORREPONDBNT.) Paeroa, Friday.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 142, 20 February 1886, Page 2

OHINEMURI. (FROM OUR OWN CORREPONDBNT.) Paeroa, Friday.

One often henrs the expression "'rnininf does not pay," and a few of tire many reasons why mining often does not pay, weie explained to in,- by an expert from Australia, who whs here on a visit to the mines nut long sinue. In rtoply to my query as to what opinion he had formed regarding the country generally, he replied, "There is no doubt you have";i grand mineral country in this neighbourhood, and nature has been very kind to you in the matter of providing 1 an abundance of timber ior mining purpose ■> as well as a praet'cally unlimited supply of water for motive power. Your reef system is of the true fiSbiire vein npecies, being traceable for miles, with every indication of going 1 down to unknown depth", anc any surface irregularities that may nuw be appaient will doubtless disappear as your woikings are continued downwards. Your System of mining, howeve I*,1 *, is but a mere piece of jockyism. upon what it should bo — and would be if we had \our reefs on the "other side." There "the work 6f developing mines, which do not afford anything like the surface indications of wealth to be met with here, is gone about in a systematic manner with a capital varying from £25,000 to £100,000, and I could note innumerable instances where every cent of the money hid been expended before a colour of gold was obtainable. Here your so-called mining investoi« contribute just about enough money to <Jo the preliminary work, ,such as purchasing mining requitites, tiuildihg smithy, etc-, and because fickle Dame Nature has not deposited the metals close to the surface, so as to enable them to get immediate returns, they throw upthe sponge and declare the^mine a duffer. Since my anival here I have seen more Valueless work done in mines than I have ever seen in any other part of the world. For instance, I have seen four tunnels driven several hundred feet each to intersect the same reef, and all or noarly all of them were stai tad fro m the same level by as many different coirpanies, where oneir;iifi level would have met the requirements of the whole lot. If you want a practical illustration of what I mean go to the Thames, and take stock of the number of shafts that have been punk close together on the Grahamstown flat, where 'one good main shaft would of suited the purpose equally as well. Then again you appear to be airaid to put your heads under ground ; you scratch a little here and a little there, hoping to pick up a stray color or two at a very small outlay. Now there is nothing that I know of which has a more injurious effect on mining than this scratching process. If a mine is worth taking up, it is surely worth a thorough prospecting, and raining here will never be up to much till your mining men and investors generally look upon it as a legitimate undertaking, and work their properties accordingly. The foregoing is simply an outline of what this Australian said, and unfortunately I could not deny, but was obliged to admi*. the tiuth of his renuif'n. When one cmiv-, to Mini it nil tip ver> little money n.is been expended there in the actual develop^ment of the _ mine'?, and that little has been frittered away in the woik thnt is Of no practical benefit either to the district or to the different companies under whose supervision it was carried out. Gambling and speculating in shares is undoubtedly the great deterring element to the success Of legitimate minins;. I myself am acquainted with quite a number of men who would rather loose thousands of pounds in share transactions, than put one shilling into the legitimate development of a mine. These are the very mens however, who rail most against mining, and yet they were never known to pay a 'call, and they studiously avoid holding stock in any company in which calls are likely to be made. Sharebroking stands in the same relation to mining that betting does to horse racing, and has just about the same effect on its progress. Both are in bad odour at the time, and this, I contend, has been been brought about by sharebroking in the One case and bookmaking in the other, but moralise and philosophi c as we may I suppose it will be so right up to the end of tlie chapter.