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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2605, 15 May 1877, Page 2

The County Chairman and two members of the County Council proceeded to Auckland on Saturday night, their object, as far as known, being to complete arrangements for carrying out; the; recommendation of a Committee of the County Council for borrowing a sum of £10,000 to prospect the deep levels of the mines to be approached from the United Pumping Association shaft, as embodied irt the report received and adopted at a meeting of the Council held on Eriday last. This object is commented upon in,the New Zealand Herald in the following terms :—-

The Thames County Council are now taking. steps to have ; the deep levels of the Thames goldfield tested in a satisfactory manner. . As our readers are aware, a large sum of money has been spe,nt in sinking the big shaft .at the Thames, and the maintenance of pumping to keep the low levels free from water. Besides what was expended by -the companies^ £50,000, granted by way of loan by the Government, has been all spent, and the pumps are now kept going by the,, goldfields revenue. Since the County Council.has had the mortgages handed over to it, the expenses of keeping the pump going have been largely reduced, but they still amount to the sum of £700 per month, absorbing, indeed, the greater part of the goldfields revenue. The object ofi all this*"expenditure is, that the loweClevels may.be reached, and that drivesl may be put in to prospect them. . BuC, although access is now given to a de^th of about 650 feet, very little is being done, and the practical absurdity is being perpetrated of-going to an immense expense to keep a shaft and a very large amount of ground free of water for no object or purpose at all. The County Council are anxious that something should be done, saeing that a large portion of their revenue, which might be usefully>|ex- i pended in making roads, has to be devoted to keep the punips going. The companies concerned are unfortunately not in a positionto proceed with theworkenergetically, and therefore if anything is to be done,

and done quick!)', some, other arrangement must be made. Tue Council propose to borrow £10,000 from the Bank of New Zenland on tho plant of the Pumping Association, and to expend the whole of the money in putting in drives and cross-cuts at the low level. As security for this money, the Council are to give a mortgage over the pumping, plant, the money to be an additional charge against i the companies which will reap the bene- | fit of any discovery made. The Council's proposal is to take in repayment of j the money expended 20 per cent. lof the winnings of any gold taken | from the low levels —that is, 20 per [ cent, of the fund which would go to the ; payment of dividends. It is quite cerj tain that some such arrangement as this must be made, for the present position of affairs is most unsatisfactory. A large expenditure is being incurred for the purpose of affording facilities for testing the low levels, but these facilities are not Lalten advantage of, and so the money is almost wasted. The expenditure of £10,000 in drives-at the 650 feet level will go far to settle the question of the depth to which gold reaches at the Thames. If nothing is obtained, then we shall know, the worst, and the enormous expense of pumping may be stopped.

As we remember the matter, it was understood, when the Borough and County became jointly responsible for carrying on pumping operations for two yep.rs, that the associated companies should pay themselves, and . levy .from ; .pthers, the drainage contributions for which they wei'e liable, and further, that the companies immediately interested in the big pump should at their own cost undertake prospecting operations. Thelatter, it would appear, they no w decline to do, and in addition to keeping the big pump going they wish to involve the County in a liability of £10,000 to the Bank of New Zealand for the purpose of benefiting the shareholders of these goldmining companies, and at the same time to give as security the £50,000 mortgage handed to the County by the Government as an endowment. This we gather from the Herald's version : it may or may no.'; be correct. It would be well, to consider (1) —what will be the position of the County should the £10,003 be expended without making any find, and (2) what the position of the Borough after giving up its gold. duty for two years to keep the pumping arrangements going as at present. Kegarding the first consideration, we should say that t?ie County will be unable to redeem the first mortgage without contracting a fresh loan, and if they fail in this the £50,000 securities will be forfeited —probably to revert to the original shareholders in the mines. While the Borough would be again importuned with a threatened stoppage of the pump, and so induced to forego its gold revenue for a further period. The benefit to the community generally does not appear, for it is simply ridiculous to say that the future of this district is entirely dependent upon the finding of gold at the low levels in the Pumping Association shaft. Much as we would like to see the big pump kept going, and systematic prospecting entered upon, we deprecate any further concessions being made to the directors and shareholders of the associated companies. The present gold product of the Thames is but little dependent upon the big pump, and if half the money—r-public money, that is—spent on thi3 work had been spent in other directions in encouraging prospectors, there would not now have been much cause for dread at the stoppage 6f the pump altogether. If the County Council wish to borrow :noney on the security of the mortgage handed over by the Government, they. had better act independently of the directors of the associated companies. They have valuable securities which could be dealt with on good terms, and it will be only playing into the hands of the parties most interested to contract a loan on the conditions indicated by the Herald.