ALEXANDRA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 351, 29 April 1874, Page 3

ALEXANDRA.

{From our own Correspondent) Mining affairs are very dull at present, a number of the miners in this locality having been engaged for some time working on the | ne*r line of road between the Jerry and Butcher's Gully. The portion of the road referred to will be completed in a few days ■so that the miners will be likely to resume their old occupation. The. Alexandra Town Council, probably alarmed at the- prevalence of typhoid fever at Cromwell have been setting their house in •order, and the Inspector of Nuisances has been warning the inhabitants to keep their premises clean, and in consequence a large quantity of the fossil remains of an ancient •tate of civilization, in the shape of old bottles, sardine tins, and mouldy boots, have found their way to the rubbish depot, to the decided sanitary improvement of the township, i This step was not taken before it was necessary, as it is evident that the dry climate of the Molyneux valley is no protection against the prevalence of an epidemic when ordinary precautions are ignored. If it be true that Mr. Glassford has warned the miners at Tinkers not to pollute the watet in the' creek, the question of the pollution of streams by the miners will have assumed proportions that will compel the Government to take action in the matter. Judging from tbe mvaaXL amount of interest displayed, the public fail to realise the importance of the Maereirhenua pollution case. Sheuld Messrs. Borton and M'Masters succeed in gaining their case-r-and there can be no doubt that they are acting under able legal advice — other landholders will doubtless follow their «xample and there would be nothing to prevent two individuals, holding land on the lower Molyneux and Taieri rivers, putting a sudden stop to all gold mining in the Province of Otago. Were it not for the distress and misery such action would occasion, it is almost a pity that it should not be done, if only for the purpose of shewing the people tow much the prosperity of the Province depends upon the successful working of the Ooldfields. It has been the custom of a certain, class . of well meaning, but weak minded people to speak apologetically of -gold mining as .an industry, as if gold mining was a necessary evil, and diggers an unavoidable nuisance, a sort of simple savages who were to be converted from .the error of their ways by any means, and forced into Borne other line of business for which they were fitted neither by .training nor inclination. But^lwuld gold mining cease for only one single month, the disastrous results that would follow', which would be felt as much in •commercial circles .in Dunedin as on the Goldfields- would' open peoples eyes to the fact that, settlement in the interior of the. Province •&, 'and'\rill be for -many years to come, dependant on tne existence o£ a. mining population. Doubtless iv time" gold mining "will be superseded by other industries, but it should be. the aim of the legislature to encourage gold mining until • those other industries are established. At the present time with the exception of squatting, is there one industry on the upcountry Goldfields that is not entirely dependent on the mining population for its existence ? The stoppage of gold mining would simply depopulate the interior and again throw the land into the hands of the squatters who warned by experience would not release their grasp so easy on the second occasion. The question of the pollution of streams by the miners is one of the first which ought to be dealt with by the Legislature. Sluicing is the .principal mode of mining in Otago, and to mine in this manner it is necessary that the tailings shall find their way into the streams of the Province. It is true that if a miner should spend the best part of his life in the colony he cannot reasonably expect the name or privileges of a settler, yet some consideration is due to men who have invested their all in mining vontures ■<m the faith of grants from the Government ; «nd who now find themselves threatenedTwith utter ruin, their works rendered useless, their homes broken up, and the labor of years ■Sacrificed throtign placing their trust in 'Ooldfields Acts and Regulations, which while granting the privilege to construct mining works, omitted to give a legal right to use them. —