THE COAL RESERVE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 116, 28 April 1870, Page 5

THE COAL RESERVE.

(To the Editor of ihe Tuapeica Times.) Sir, — When in the township to-day, I was accused by several parties of writing a letter signed " Equity " which appeared in your last issue, calling in question the right of a certain party getting £120 as a reward for putting a drive into one of the town sections some four years ago, in search of coal. T emphatically deny being the author of such a letter, or having the least knowledge of it. When I write letters I put my name to them. However, I quite agree with " Equity's " remarks, and consider it one of the worst styles of book-making that ever was attempted upon the inhabitants of this township. Had I done the same damage to one of the town sections, I would have expected nothing else than been obliged to pay for it. I will defy any twenty men to inspect the ground and say where the improvements lie, or what connection the one section has with the other nine ; and I think it behoves every ratepayer in Lawrence to request an investigation before selling these sections with a reserve of £120 upon them. — I am, &c, Peter Robertson. Lawrence, April 26, 1870. (To the Editor of the Tuapeka Times). Sir,— There is a great deal of needless talk about the coal reserve which I offered to purchase oi* lease, or make use of in. any way that the Government thought proper. A feeling seems to be abroad that I wish to purchase the land for other purposes than coal mining. I beg most emphatically to say such is not the case. Apart from the coal that I know to be in the reserve, I would not give a £10 note for the land. It is my intention, and has been all along, as soon as I can get a right to the ground, either by lease or purchase, to open the pit and commence mining operations. As soon as I discovered, nearly four years ago, that coal existed on the reserve, and was satisfied from the prospects, which amounted to several tons, one of which I burnt myself, and* as soon as I had found the depth and extent of the seam, I applied to the Government for a lease, or any other right to it they thought well to give. The sections were then withdrawn from sale, and since then I have applied to the Government imtil I was pretty well tired of it for such a right as would enable me to commence the work, and it is only now, after four years waiting, that the Government have determined to sell. Several parties have spoken to me about the valuation put upon it being excessive, but I am prepared to show a detailed account which presents the sum of £120 some odd shillings, every penny of which

"was expended on the work. I may state, for the information of " Equity," that neither Mr. J. C. Brown nor Mr. J. M'Coll had ever any interest v, r hatever in the coal pit in. question. — I am, &c., Gjsuiiuja Mokison. P.S. — I bog to subjoin an .extiacfc from Ihe " Tuapeka Recorder " 4 A July 10th, iSOl), v;]ikli vail give your reactors scino idea ot cLv work time was commenced by me :—": — " Vi t- are informed that Mr. J. C. Biuwn, whtwi in Dur.odin last week, arplied sujcessfully to .the Waste Lands Board to have the lind immediately surrounding the new coal pit, recently Oisuoveixjd near the Hospital, reserved from saic by public auction on !- aruvduy Jast. We consider it but just to the party who have recently, at so much exri-nsc, opened up iho ground and prove- 1 that; the coal exists there, and shouLl h&\a thus been protected against }>ny advar-tnga being taken by others of the now ascertained fact, from which, no doulr, ihe land would have been rnn up to a fi::o price, and the- labour spent by the party woukl have been lost to them. In our opinion the discoverers are entitled to a pre-emptive right of purchase at the upset price. l>ut as the land has at present been withdrawn from sale, no doubt an arrangement will be come to Avdth tl.o Government, either for its sale to tl.e party, or compensation being granted fr r expenditure and labour incurred in tcs - ing the ground and opening up the pit,, in the event of the land being afterwards* exposed for sale by public auction." (To the Editor of ihe Tuapeka Times.) Sir, — In your last issue I noticed a letter signed "Equity," and the writer appears to think there is something strange in reference to Mr. Morrison either getting £120 as valuation or having the land at upset price ; and he goe3 on to say that the shares are not saleable in Lawrence. It is all nonsence, as I am. informed, on good authority, that Sir. iM'C'oil has sold out his share to Mr, Morrison for the sum of £10 ; and I ask " Kquity " how he can make it out tluit the other two shares are not of the sr.r c value as Mr. M'CoTs ? I suppose that thiß company would adopt the usual ph?n in disposing ox or pu; chasing sharer,, namely, make a proposition to the otheis of what they were willing to take for a share or wha fc they wero willing to give for one. 1 have had the chance to buy shares in the same company, and on pretty low terms ; but I refrain to give my opinion as to whether there is coal or not, as that matters but.litle in this case. " Equity " goes on to say that a fictitious valuation has been put on the land in question ; and I think if he makes it his business to enquire at the jjroper place,, he will find that there is no valuation put upon it, but mere'y Mr. Morrison shows his bocks and makes a statement of what moneys have Ifeen expended on the unfortunate affair ; and the Government grants Mr. Morrison's application, and very proper too. The coal miners in tho district have been neglected a long time in tho shape of getting compensation, so this little arrangement gives them ei.couragement to j^ospect. Speaking fcr myself, T have not been compensated ?s yet, but I feel satisfied that the Government will reward me at the same rate, or on the same terms. It is only reasonable to suppose that they will grant a proportional compensation to those who have laid out large amounts of money in opening out what have really proved to be valuable discoveries, such as in my case, where there can be no doubt as to the genuineness of the discovery, and tho great outlay which has occurred in opening it up. I feel assured that the Government will see that it would be dealing rather hard towards other coal miners to pay one lii 3 expenses of opening his pit, or give him the land at upset price, and charge another as they are now charging me, a heavy rental annually, besides taxes, and not award me any compensation or refund the amount of money that I have laid out in improvements. But the matter is very premature, and perhaps this application of Mr. Morrison's may be the first. T feel glad, however, that the Government have responded sohandsomely to it, and I hope that I shall be equally lucky when I make my application. — I am, &c, George Walxeb. (To the Editor of the Tuapeka Times.) Sir, — I find that the Government have decided on paying back to Mr. Morrison the sum of money said to have been expended on his coal reserve ; and they actually take Mr. Morrison's books as theguide to the amount expended in labour, .fee ; but I am prepared to state that Messrs. Morrison and Co. did not make all the improvements on this land ; and as to making any discovery, they cannot claim anything on that score, as I personally mad'i the discovery, if any ; and my mate and I, one day in April or May, 1862, were in conversation with Major Croker. and informed him we had sunk seven shafts on the land in question,- and had found indications of lignite. Some years afterwards, Mr. Morrison was employed by Major Croker to remove hisresidence from Lawrence to the Major's, farm, and I suppose, from Mr. Morrison's own statements, that the Major gate a glowing account of what he knew about the hidden treasures ; so that Mr. Morrison, when finished with the removal of the house, commenced to open out the mine, jusi about fmir years ago. lam at a loss to see where £120 could have been laid out ; and if it had, I fail to find out how the Government can see fit to pay any individual for rooting up the town . property and decreasing ifs value, by sinking shafts in it. lamat a loss to comprehend how this system could be decided <n\j for the case appears like this : that if an individual givea me his sanction to mine upon bis priv.ite property, andTT do so, and find my search fruitless, that T can go to this private party and claim valuation for improvement or money expended. Mr. Morrison's case appears no more just than that would be. I should like to see Mr. Morrison sworn on oath as to the correctness of the assumed outlay, and T feel assured that I could p^int out something more clear than I prefir to write. — I am, &c, - Equity.