THE WEEK.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2159, 4 December 1875, Page 2

THE WEEK.

There is very little to report or to comment upon this week which can be regarded as of a hopeful character. On last Saturday, after a lengthy consultation, the representative of the Loan and. Mercantile Agency Company and delegates from the Waio-Karaka mines parted without having come to any arrangement for again starting the pumps. A great deal was expected from this conference, but like many other things from which results are expected, it turned out to be barren of good. The negotiations have not been altogether broken off; as yesterday it was understood some fresh poposition had been made. It is to be presumed that the parties interested know their own business best, but really sometimes during the recent conference it almost looked as if the agent of the Loan Company and the delegates were both indifferent regarding a settlement; the one whether a reasonable offer were made;. the other w ether any offer they made were accepted. And yet, the stern fact stares thorn in the face that the water is slowly but surely rising and the task of reducing it becoming more difficult. It is asserted on the one hand'that the price asked for the pumping gear and shaft is reasonable and that such another, plant, irrespective of the shaft sunk, could not be put up for more than double the money. On the other hand there appears to be a disposition to stick out for a purchase at a lesser sum, not. because the pumping plant did nofc-^cflst__msre than_-thfl__sniiL: asked—not that it is contended a plant can be erected for the same money, but because it is said to be not worth the money demanded. , -However, , ; ;thes& considerations may not be entertained by those (at least by all of them) who have the settlement'in their hands,;andlit is much to be. hoped that a difference of a few hundred pounds will not be allowed to come between the'parties so as to put off a settlement. Whatever the property in question is worth, it will not improve with age under present circumstances; ah&4=be deterioratiori-:pf,'btne^ paining properties: consequent ■* upon flooding * will be con-; siderable. The suggestion to form a company outside the ; mines immediately interested might be acted upon with advantage if the shareholders much longer •decline. to accept, the .-responsibility of! ;formingra;p^mping^ass6ciaiibh v \ ,'j't.; Anyone looking over "the month's returns published this week (on the Ist) could not but be struck by the respectable figures .from the Coromahdel district; One;mifie contributed pver iyp thousand ounces,and 'lhe!geneMl r aVerage of that claim's crushing which made up that amount was something like what was common a few years ago, when the Long Drive and -!Qold^e.nJJrowh and "Caledonian were iii .'their prosperity. ■'' : The Union Beach may now almost claim the position of the premier mine on the peninsula, and its recent history is a sufficient proof that had the original Green Harpers pursued an honest course they might have com© out better than they did with the gigantic swindle pepetrated, and honesty would have been the best policy.

Coromandel is furnishing fresh proofs of its richness almost daily, and redeeming its good name in many ways. If all '')te|^iti9^;.i^e|J9 >^'iis ; jn:ell situated there wgjtud be;Slittle occasion for the outcry wfifch i 3 Bea>d at the present time. A^^}^^}^: "io be in a transition dißabled^p||th^|fß^^^ba|elysprjgr©ssive, almost retroo||g^pe.i The most pl,ausible case that has bj^i made r6u|^fortlie Tairua is that one 'hiipdredito^s of jtone have yielded some"thing over three hundred ounces of gold. This, presumably, includes every crushing, j even the two tons of unpicked stuff which [ton. If they could pick r up that rich

grade stone again there would be room for hope ; as it is, people look with some degree of suspicion t * upon *.all-;Tai*uji' stocks.

The operation: of the ■ Goiafields Act at Ohinemuri is prolific of litigation. Jumping is and the insecurit^-of titlei'afjFdcts the district to'a great/extent. The bringing into force of the Mining Districts Act twill 'remote: one source of complaint, and perhaps do something to-

wards raising the district in public estimation. ' / [Since the above article was in type a deputation has received an assurance from Sir George Grey that the Mining Districts Act will be substituted for the Gotf fields; Act at once, that the necessary and urgent'roads and bridges will be made at once. With regard to the Waio-Karaka difficulty it is stated that there are prospects of a speedy settlement, a resolution having been come to at a meeting* of creditors yesterday4-which it is hoped will remove,,the,fina£cial difficulty which stood betweeto^J«biek^>ih^isuit.3l