Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS RKPORTER & ADVERTISER SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1873.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 312, 13 December 1873, Page 2

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS RKPORTER & ADVERTISER SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1873.

"MEASURES. NOT MEN."

Manufactures, or the possession of the raw material for manufactures, constitute one of the chief ingredients in the prosperity of any locality. A sufficient fuel and water supply is indispensable for the majority of manufactures. Thore are manufactures which do not require a very large fuel and water supply: We refer to the "lighter class of manufactures ; but capitalists in this class will usually erect their worshops close to the largest centre of population. In reference' to Otago, the lighter class of manufacturers will n,ot be for years able to compete with our importations ; and oven if we could compete, our capital would be' better expended on those articles which supply the fundamental ngeessities of n colonising population. In the British Islands, as a rule, manufacturers are to be found in the' neighborhood of rivers or lakes, and coal fields. Ireland ha* little or no coal, and consequently, Ireland has few manufactures.- England and Wales abound with "er>ar~raiMl~ri-rcra > ~and consequently these countries are seats of manufacture. The wintor rains of a riverless and lakeless country may be stored in capacious reservoirs, and thus, imperfectly, a water 'supply could be secured, and forest plantations might "serve as a substitute for coal. , ljnt the manufacturer always plants his machinery where mother nature has been in advance of him with water 'and fuel ; and if he can get the latttr in the shape of coal, he will not go to .a locaUty where there is no naturallygrown timber. Dunedin, Oamaru, Crreen Island, md Kakauui are at present the chief seats of our infant manufactures, and these places have an Basy command of the prime supports of all manufactures, and a similar remark applies to Mosgiel, where the woollen factory is established. An inland town could supply, owing to its ceutral position, an inducement for the starting of a railway foundry. Castlemane is an inland town, but, owing to railway communication, it can support two tanneries, considerable brick making, two foundries, and a few minor manufactures-. But experience has shown that without an ample supply of coal, manufactures never flourish anywhere. It should be our dnty to encourage the construction of a complete network of railways, because the necessity for their periodical repair constitutes almost the sole cause for the establishment of manufactures in coalless and riverless inland towns. The coalfields of Scotland, Staffordshire, and South Wales supply a large portion of the iron produced in the

minerals, coal and iron, form together one of the chief sources of Britain's greatness. In most coses, the ironstone and the coal necessbry for smelting it are found in the same locality. Capitalists are now seeking channels of investment for their dormant capital. Of course, they will prefer manufactures situated where- Coal and a natural water supply, especially the former, are to be found. It is probable, however, that such situations will be rushed, and capital will perforce seek centres, of population of secondary aftrac-. tion., .The well- wishers of Tuapeka should keep steadfastly in view certain fundamental needs. It is desirable that the timber of Tapanui should be jealously preserved from reckless waste. It is desirable that forest trees, if at all practicable, should be planted in other parts of the district, and that their proximity to therailwayshouldbe,if practicable, secured. It' is highly desirable, that our periodical rains should be conserved in ample reservoirs ; and, fourthly, it is desirable that the inhabitants should, as one man, associate for the purpose of permanently prospecting the district for £old. According to Professor Jevons, the coal- deposits of the British Islands will be exhausted at the end of one hundred years. But we do not want a scientific authority to tell us gold ha 3no seed. The precious metal does not reproduce itself. The Blue Spur will' not, like Tennyson's brook, "go on for ever." The Spur water, however, • which is of immense volume, will survive' the metal; and with that water supply, added to our coal deposits, we have the first stimulus and basis of manufactures. The cry of " extinction " is a cuckoo cry which may apply to one resource, like the potato in Ireland or gold anywhere ; but, where other resources ekiat; the extinction of one industry simply means that human ingenuity is transferred from one field of exercise to another.