The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 1871. '"Measures not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 165, 6 April 1871, Page 4

The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 1871. '" Measures not Men."

The extent to which the Agricultural Lease system has been taken advantage of during the last few years, is the most encouraging feature which the GoMlioMs present. Five years ago a. p-itch of cultivated land on the diggings was a rarity, and the eye rested on :i green field with a pleasure somewhat akin to that of the traveller in the desert at the sight of an oasis. Now go where we may (except where the wisdom of our legisl itors has forbidden the plough to speed) we come across green and fertile fields, well filled farms and stockyards, and the other signs of plenty which surround a farm-house ; and if the trim gardens and orchards and clumps of trees, which gave an air of homo and cosiness to the farm dwellings in the old country, are yet wanting, five yenrs more, with kind Nature's assistance, will work wwJSws in that respect — for, unlike

isie miner, tho farmer has Nature Tor his handmaid ; all her powers, tho genial sunshine and tho 'frost and snow of winter, delight to further his work. Unlike mining, too, his occupation is a lasting one. ITe works for posterity, while the labours of the miner die with him. The plans of Egypt areas rich now as when they brought forth by handful; in tho time of Joseph; but who c >uld now point out toe site of Ophir, or the mines whence the nations of antiquity drew their supply of the precious metals? From its nature, mining of all kinds

is n Relf-exhanstive pursuit, and this is the cas^ with coil and iron inininp; as well as with gold mining. Farming is self- recuperative. If at nil worthy of the name, every year, every century, bhonld add to its productiveness. Tho plains and ridges of Otngo will wave with yellow harvest, peroh;;nce, when it has become a donl>tfal question whether gold was ever extracted from its soil or rocks. But in our time mining and agriculture mnpfc proceed side by .side and hand in hand, the one leaning on and assisting the other. The digger is necessary to the farmer; the farmer helpful to the digger. Every care should bo taken that interests so much akin should not by any means be made to clash together. We regret *o find that the miners in some districts begin to regard the settlers with feelings of suspicion. These feelings will be skilfully fostered and turned into account by the upholders of the pastoral interest — an interest in its present phase antagonistic to both mining and settlement. Assuming the character of the champions of the miners, they will endeavour to set class against class, in order to draw closer bands which already paralyse the prosperity of the province. Complaints reach us from various districts of auriferous land being applied for, ostensibly for agricultural pui poses, but really for their miner.il deposits. Some of these may arise from tho exaggerated value we are apt to attach to the unknown. But that there is cause for alarm is proved by the fact 'of land being leased which now the miner pays in some instances £20 to £30 an acre for the privilege of mining upon. That the instances in which sums are paid are few, does not necessarily prove that in few cases has valuable mineral land been alienated. Its being leased has prevented the ground from being tested, and in the instances in which leaseholds have been found to be auriferous, the ground must have been proved to be so before being leased, or since by unleased adjoining laud being wrought; so that for one instance where leased land has been found to be auriferous, many instances may occur where the ground is equally rich, but where its richness has not been ascertained or suspected. Some of the cases complained of have been caused by the ignorance or carelessness of the official entrusted with the administration of the system, when first established. Against such sources of error no legislation can provide. We think that the

law might be ameneed with advantage. The interval between the granting of the lease and the right of puivhase is too short. Three years is too short a, period to determine whether the ground is auriferous to an extent sufficient to justify the Government to cancel the lease, particularly when the fact of its being leased prevents it from being prospected. Six years we think short enough for the minimum. The demands by the leaseholders for the right to prospect and mine their leaseholds are always exorbitant — in most cases prohibitory. We think that a scale of compensation might with advantage be entered in future leases. The miner would then know what to pay and the settler to expect, and the matter be much simplified. At present the Government is presumed, on proof of the auriferous nature of land held under lease, to cancel the same and pay the compensation ; but we have hoard of no instance where this has been done. An applicant for leave to mine on a leasehold, at present, simply makes himself a shuttlecock to be knocked about for. several months between the Warden and the Government ; at the end of which he must deposit a heavy sum of money to meet damages, assessed by whom or on what principle he knows no more than the man in the moon. In preference he will give in to trie claims of the leaseholder, or, in nine cases out of ten, withdraw his application, and let the matter drop.