MINING MORALITY AN OPPORTUNE EXPOSURE. Auckland, May 17.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 265, 19 May 1888, Page 4

MINING MORALITY AN OPPORTUNE EXPOSURE. Auckland, May 17.

Is connection with the floating of Che Maioioto Btolan Jlill mine it. i-> cwdent that a \ery ugly woid may now bo u-:od without inilicting the slightest injustice on anyone. Mr Piocious, of Sydney, who 'iKh lately intei cited in i-lio concern, an hod hue .some wecLs a»o tor the puipose of in\ obligating theeireumfctanees antecedent to the Moating of the company, and took his departuie ye^teii\d) cntcilaiuing a low opinion of oui mining" inorahtv. Indeed, he did not he- date to say that he would u.^e his inlluenee against the floating of fvnther Auckland mining companies, in Au-tralia. The hiitoiy ot the BioLcn Hill Maiototo may be biietly told. About a month ago it m;^ announced that the Company had been ilnaleil in Sydney with a capital of 1)35,000, and the new-, attracted but little attention beyond the _ tact that a liltlo pacing fun was occasioned thiough the iact that amount the directors appe.ncd the names of Messrs Precious bluup and Xobb*, which, if nomenclature goes tor n-iything «ib thought to indicate that the dueetoiate at any Kite could well look after their own inteic-sts. Then *!■ came out when the piospcctu* aimed that the piineipal inducement oiieied toiuvestois to take uj)bhares wa& the fact that " .simpler taken indiscriminately v irom a leef in the property ''have been assau'd and pioduccd3,lolo/->. of silver and 1660/s. oi ])cr ton." About that time i( became common talk at the Thames that the stult assayed had not come out of the claim at all, but was from the Maiototo fiospeetors' ground, and on Aloy 10th Mr Wai den Northcroit, in dealing with an application for a license to woik the ground, stated from the Uoneh " that it was a well-known fact thab the .^tutt upon which the claim was floated ne\ei came out of the ground." This, coming horn a gentleman in Mr Noithcrolt's position, .spoke volumes, and I there lnih been no denial of the imi>lication 'of disiioncsty. Subsequently, at the ic4 (picst of Mr -Precious, who was determined I to frHb the matter to the bottom on behalf fof his co directors in Sydney, Mr iNorthcioft instructed Mr Wilson, the I, mininj;' iuspaci )r of the district, bo obtain I' t>amj)lch ot the reef in tho Broken H Hill Marototo mine. These were sent, under h,eal to Mr .1. A. Pond, Colonial Analyst here, with the result that only a trace of precious metal wab discoAercd. li> is gratifying to learn that Mr Precious intends that this X'sooo or 16000 paid for applications for shares will bo returned to the Sydney investors, and that the attempted {swindle has completely failed. Tho matter bhould not end here. If it is possible to bving the guilty ones within the pale of tho law, it is to be hoped tho authorities will bo moved to take- action at once. It ib a public necessity in the interests of our mining community that tho district bhould be purged of the odium that attaches to it through the Broken Hill Marototo and the Waifcoa sand swindles. Mr (!. y. Jakins, who purchased the mine on behalf of tho Sydney Syndicate, was .seen today by a Stak representative. He stated that Mr Precious and him&olf are fully satisfied^ that tho stnll' on tho strength of which the mine was floated in Sydney had been salted, but he doubted if it would bo possible to bhect home tho offence to tho perpetrator. Tho Champion copper mine, Nelson, has been successfully floated in London.