THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1879.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3090, 13 January 1879, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1879.

Considerable discussion took place at a meeting of the Auokland Chamber of Commerce on Friday last, on the subject of the Big Pump and its probable stoppage at the end of the month. The Herald, referring to the matter, says " the most practical suggestion was made by Mr Lennox, to the effect that the Government might apply the gold duf y to the continuation of the work which has the greatest share in preserving a large mining area for the purpose of prospecting." The Herald deems this practical, and approves the suggestion. Our contemporary, and even Mr Lennox, ought to know that the gold duty is not at the disposal of the Government, who could just as legally retain the gold duty accruing to Southern or West Coast counties and boroughs to repair damages caused by floods as withhold the Thames gold duty for the purpose of keeping the pumps of a private corporation going. Indeed there would be a show of reason in the former case, but neither reason nor law in the latter. The Borough and County hare for two years past voluntarily diverted their gold revenue to the maintenance of the pump. The County went further: they borrowed money on security of the property to carry on a system of prospecting in conjunction with the mining companies interested; and it is a notorious fact that the want of good faith on the part of the latter in not adhering to their part of the agreement was the immediate cause of the stoppage of the southern cross-cut, which might by this time have opened communication with the Waio-Karaka drainage system, and thereby have saved the expense of keeping two costly pumping works going. Mr Lennox's "practical" proposal is in the direction of making the local bodies keep the pump going for the benefit of him and his co-shareholders. What we would regard as much more practical would b» an offer to contribute one half the current cost of working the pump, if the local bodies will subscribe the other half from their gold revenue; such offer to be accompanied by an undertaking on the part of the companies to resume work on the southern cross-cut and do other work towards prospecting the ground. It appears to us that so long as the Government or the local bodies at the Thames will relieve the directors of the Pumping Association of the responsibility of providing the money to carry on operations, the directors will make no effort to do anything for themselves; and they are ever trying to keep before people's eyes the fact that the Thames would suffer a collapse if the Pump were stopped; that the gold duty would be reduced to a merely nominal amount, and the revenue acquired therefrom would correspondingly be reduced. We believe this does not represent the facts of the case. The gold raised from below the four hundred feet level is trifling; the expense of keeping the water below that level would be less than one half the present expenditure; therefore it would pay the County to assume control of the pump, work it economically, and confine the water to those lower workings which the companies will not prospect. If this is deemed impracticable, let the associated companies invoke the aid of foreign capital, begin tfeuoso, and relieve the local bodies of all responsibility, pecuniary or otherwise. If a settlement is to be arrived at, it must emanate from some more practical gentleman than Mr Lennox, who seems to know so little of the law that he imagines the Government can divert five or six thousand annually of the County's revenue to keep going a private industry from which some of those most interested reaped a profit of thousands of pounds in its initial , stages.