The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1882.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4336, 23 November 1882, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1882.

Considerable dissatisfaction exists as to the maoDt r in which the crushing of the sp cimens of the Prince Imperial mine was conducted. After running them two or three days through the single stamper, Mr John McCabe, one of the directors, who appeared upon the scene, apparently armed with all the powers of a command | der in chief, ordered the balance of the specimens on hand to be put through six head of stampers without any silver in the boxes, and accordingly this was done yesterday, despite the wi>h to the contrary of the mine and battery managers and the local director. One who has been proprietor of a successful mine foryears isasincapable of becoming an^ efficient director of a goldmining company as a person who has been a Governor of colonies all his li^e is of descending to the political arena. Each has an i'ching to command—to take the helm himself. He forgets that he is only one of several, that the m«nagement is in other hands, and that it is their duly to supervise the management, not to interfere therewith. A manager is supp >sed to be a specialist and understand his business; but the same qualification is not necessary for directors, therefore ii is ridiculous for them, or any portion of them, to interfere in matters of detail. If they are not satisfied with the manager, they should dispense with Ins services, and not insult him by attemp ing to teach him his business. Tl>e public are dubious as to whether the usual percentage of gold was savea. but on that head we have no doubt. Many tiiouubt because the amalgam—gold would be the better term —was seen in large streaks on the blankets that some of it must escape, also that some fine gold which might have been caught by the quicksilver in the boxes, floated away We have heard the matter argued out by men well qualified to give an opinion, and the decision is that there is no reason to believe the usual quantity of gold was not saved- JEvery precaution was taken to prevent its escape. The whole of the dirt crushed passed through two pits, which were carefully cleaned. But why the process which had given satisfaction hitherto, and which possessed the confidence of the public, should be departed from on so important an occasion, at so much risk, is inexplicable. We do not cast the blame upon Mr Mc('abe"s shoulders, it being but. fair to assume that he was authorised by the Auckland direc tors to take the steps he did. But they lay themselves open to grave suspicion of ulterior motives in adopting a course so unusual, and, it might with great force be added, uncalled for. The method chosen no doubt is as good as the customary one, still the shareholders will scarcely be^j)leased at £5,000 or £6.000 worth of stone beinsf used to try the experiment upon. It is the duty of the directors not to do anything likely to shake the confidence of the shareholders. We make bold to speak plainly upon the subject because these companies affect the public, and no honest person" of Hverage intelligence can pretend that these are matters which concern the shareholders and directors solely. As a matter of fact business is conducted on such principles that the public are as much interested as the shareholders, as the merchants may find some day wheu calling upon the speculating shopkeepers for payment of the month's goods. Perhaps it is as well that the shares have receded, but why such a panic as was witnessed yesterday aa'd to»day set in jfr-would be difficult to say. Blank despair teems to have seised every quo at once, as

if things had gone irretrievably bad all of a sudden. Yet a crushing of 27cwt of specimens has yielded at the rate of half an ounce to the pound, an excellent average., And the general dirt is yielding apparently little less than 4ozs to the load. If people pitch their hopes too high and have to sacrifice, they have only them* selves to thank. We blame the directors largely for this result too, for the breaking down should have been allowed to take its course last week, and the shares then would, probably not hare gone so high. As soon as Mr Graham's claim was settled the Auckland people ue^an buying, apparently recklessly, and raised the market on themselves. If some of them are severely "nipped" they do not deserve much sympathy. What a mine will turn out is beyond human ken, and while the Prince Imperial may not be so rich as some there have been, it promises to be of a better class—an investment.