The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MAY 12, 1884.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4786, 12 May 1884, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MAY 12, 1884.

Complaints are rife that matters on the Thames, from a business point of view, are in a state of stagnation, and discouraging reports are being scattered to an extent that nothing short of detrimental consequences to the district must result, if any sort of reliance be placed in them. This is very sad, and some effort must be made to remove, as far as possible, any erroneous impressions formed, and all false ideas regarding our condition ; and if the district's situation hag been in any way set down undeservedly as a critical one, we feel it a duty to go " to (he rescue," deem it a cheerful one, and consider it by no means difficult to fulfil. Without any elaboration, or desiring to work out firstly, secondly and thirdly, it is better to plunge immediately into hard facts, and evolve a conclusion from them. The Thames goldfields has been a great milch cow in times gone by for Auckland speculators, agents, brokers, et id genus omne. Wealth, stupendous has been extracted from it, not only in the gold won, but by its means in commission, charges and such items. Men who were fortunate enough to "strike patches" doubtless have been much benefitted, as well as the tradesmen who were in business here in the " good old times.' While dividends rained thick and fast> new ground continued to be pegged out, plenty of outside capital was expended in all sorts of claims, and " duffers " were floated regularly. A few mines only were yielding sufficiently well to return their shareholders anything, yet the fact of dividends, being paid by! neighboring claims seems to have induced reckless mr dulgence iv fruitless speculation, and irrational, if not disingenuous, company promoting. All this time genuine prospeojlHJg was almost totally neglected, and u&iiuch attention was paid to the floating of companies to operate on old workings. There may be hidden treasures about old claims, and it is doubtless economical to use every means at hand to discover them, but it certainly does appear reasonable that —as a rule—where claims are abandoned, and the ground is afterwards taken up and floated as a company by specula* tors, some caution .should be exercised by investors before indulging in the luxury of- possessing shares in such ventures. Like many other older.and more extensive fields, this must have iis day, suffer its reverses, and doubtless will, as others ' have done, rise Pliqeaix-like from ite ashes,

bat it would be idle to counsel the advisableness of quietly awaiting such an epoch. There is. no doubt that although considerable wealth has been won from the field, there still remains large treasure undiscovered. What is most required for its development is—as daily expressed by " old residents, practical miners," and others-^thorough prospecting on some recognised principle, systematically carried out. To secure this, co-operation is necessary, and there be little , difficulty in producing beneficial results by a well regulated organisation taking the matter up. There is not the least doubt that, considering the width of the field, prospecting has been very meagrely attended to, and all interest, has been concentrated in rich blocks which have been discovered on it from time to lime. It would appear that it has never struck i the people of the place that while those patches of treasure vrere being worked, it was desirable and prudent that, other ground—which would be required so' soon as profitable operations ceased in that being worked—should be looked for, and, if discovered, opened up. Tho system,of relying on the sharemarke't^for our mining encouragement is by no means a healthy one. It cannot, of course, be denied that tbe market is a fair pulse to feel when one wants information as to shares placed on it, and in companies which depend entirely on the disposition the wire pullers may be in, but when the development of our field is in question, there is little assistance to be obtained in such a direction. It usually takes ,a " good show " to induce brokers to handle anything. One idea alone seems to gleam through the obscurity surrounding mining prosperity here, and that is prospecting. A cooperative prospecting party or association under efficient direction, [and properly managed would do much good to the district from every point of view. Little expense would attend an expedition composed of single men, or those without families, who would, under an experienced leader, enter upon such a voyage of dis covery. The auriferous nature of the country has been fully demonstrated, and no doubt rich finds would reward some of the party, and improve matters in our midst very considerably.