The Tuapeka Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1870. "'Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 106, 19 February 1870, Page 4

The Tuapeka Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1870. "'Measures, not Men."

The Mount Ida miners still hold out in their strike against the price of water charged by the monopolising water companies. It is to be regretted that no other means could be devised to prevent the adoption of a course involving such disastrous consequences on all parties concerned. It is a very unusual, and at all times a very dangerous means of obtaining redress for a grievance. We say unusual, as such combinations are almost unknown in the colonies, although everybody knows the principle involved is carried out by individual workmen to an extent undreamt of in the Home country. When we consider the price the Mount Ida miners haye been paying for water, and the apparent reasonableness of their present demand, we are not so much surprised at the course they have pursued. If we place the price they offer, — namely, 80s. per week for a 16in. x lin. head of water, — against the price charged in Tuapeka, their offer bears a very favourable comparison. In a recent issue, while commenting on the comparative charges in Tuapeka and the sum proposed by the miners now on strike at Mount Ida, we had no conception whatever that such a thing as a 16in. x lin. head was the standard on the latter-mentioned goldiield, But with that fact brought before us, by a correspondent in another column, we imagine the ground must have been more than ordinarily rich to yield a bare subsistance to the Hogburn miners. At £2 10s. for a lGin. x lin. head of water, Mount Ida has been paying fully a hundred per cent, more than is charged by the Wetherstones and Blue Spur water companies, — and those companies have been the objects of many harsh and ofttimes uncalled-for censure. Were the miners who have struck work even to obtain their wishes, and get water at 30s. for the 16in. x lin. head, they would still be paying four-fifths more than is charged on the Tuapeka Goldfield. The fact, however, of these miners being able to pay £2 10s. for such a small quantity of wa,ter clearly demonstrates another fact, namely, that the ground is far more auriferous than is generally found on the alluvial diggings of Tuapeka, and thus proves the truth of our correspondent's remarks, that it is unfair and illogical to compare one goldfield with an-

other. Still,- from the calculations deduced aud the facts elicited, we are of opinion that the Mount Ida miners have a good case. It is a great pity that those who have the privilege of a water-shed, the right for which they pay a merely nominal sum, do not in justice consider that there are other people who require some remuneration for their labour. We can only conclude by expressing a hope that the dispute will be speedily and amicably settled.