Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 356, 16 May 1874, Page 2

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

His Honor the Superintendent has deserved well of the Province, for whatever his defects of character may be, whether ! as an individual or a politician, it is evident his mind is ever intent upon whatever may advance the progress of the Colony and the Province. He is not content to follow beaten tracks, but revolves in his mind every matter with which he has to deal- in order to find new and better ones ; and though often undoubtedly wrong in his opinions and impractical in his ideas, if lie does no more, he seta other people thinking, and from ideas and proposals originally put forward by himself, the thoughts and researches of others may often evolve something practically useful. In his recent address to the Council, he has suggested an idea not original in itself, and, as will be hereafter shown, based upon superficial knowledge and rash conclnsions, but still deserving of careful study, not only on account of i*s coming from one having authority, but also ou account of the small amount of attention the subject has received from the general public. His Honor deplores the effect of gold mining in converting some fruitful land into barren wastes, and suggests as a remedy the alienation of auriferous lands in fee simple, with the view of giving to the gold miner an adequate inducement to preserve the soil and restore the land in a useful state after the gold has been extracted. That the idea of selling auriferous lands is not a new one can be clearly proved by reference to some of those among the mining community who have devoted thought and attention to the difficult subject of mining tenure, from which it will be found that it was considered and rejected now many years ago. It has also been proposed and discussed in the Congress of the UnLed States of America ; but as there the primary idea appears to have been how to raise a revenue from the public lands of the State of California, and not its bearing upon the tenure of auriferous lands, no, light ( is thrown .upon the subject by any discussion there, In fact, all the proposals brought forward in Washington with reference* to .California have been btonghtfiirward, 'with the view of imposing those revenne laws upon the gold miners, which, in the older States of the Union, have effechully extinguished gold mining as an industry, although there is little doubt entertained that productive goldfields therein exist, possibly equal to those of California. Fortunately fur California all such attempts by the Qeneral Legislature' have fallen to the ground, and the miner there is still free to explore .md win the gold from the public lands, without being subject to special taxation. His Honor, struck by the desolate appearance of such places as Wetherstones Flat, seems jfco be of opinion that the 'lands mined upon have been destroyed for" productive purposes. Is this opinion well founded ? It is true that at present the land in question wears an appearance of sterility : it is uneven, covered with gravel, and unproductive ; but will not nature, in the course of a few years, probably in a shorter time than a generation, level all, the inequalities, co,ver all the gravelly waste with r herbage, and obliterate all the matks which the gold miner has made 't And then, no doubt, the land will be of much greater value than it would ever have been but for tha miners who gave, it such a thorough

trenching as to stir up and expose to the atmosphere the unproductive subsoil to a depth greater than is usually adopted for gardening purposes, to mingle the subjacent gravel and sand with the stiff clay, and thus prepare the element of greater fertility when the lapse of time and atmospheric influences shall have fully operated upon the mixture. Nor is it clear that even at the present time, these old workings would not be found eminently suited for arboriculture. Take the case of the Wetherstones Flat, the greater part of which has been effectively trenched to a depth of from ten to fourteen feet. Would not this, at present, be the best and most suitable land that could be found for planting forest trees— especially some of the pine tribe ? And for this purpose the irregularities left by the miners' heaps would be rather an advantage than the contrary. This opinion has been freely expressed by some of the older residents on the goldfields, and it appears worthy of some consideration by those who understand forestry. If these lands oan be so utilised, his Honor will no longer have to regret the waste created by gold mining, but see in it a means of fostering what will no doubt prove hereafter an industry of some importance. As regards the general question of selling auriferous lands with the view of inducing the owners to restore the soil and leave them productive, it is apprehended that the cost of the restoration would far exceed the value of the land. To turn over an acre of land in the way usually pursued in such localities as Wetherstones Flat is a work requiring much and protracted labor. In most cases the returns are not more than sufficient to afford a livelihood to the miners when the work is carried on in the most expeditious and economical way. To lay apart and afterwards restore the surface soil would add greatly to the cost of working the laud ; how much, it is somewhat difficult to estimate, but probably not leas than £40 or £50 per acre. As long therefore as persons requiring arable land can obtain it at any smaller price per acre, it is not at all likely that they will be dnduced to spend such au amount of extra labor in conserving auriferous lands for future use in cultivation. Turning to another aspect of the proposal, it may be fairly asked how the miner will be benefited by obtaining the fee simple of his claim. In no case have gold mining deposits of an inexhaustible character been discovered. Neither in quartz lodes nor in alluvial workings does the miner require the land in perpetuity. Generally speaking, afew years is sufficient to work out a claim of any description, and in no case is tho land required for more than a term of years, be it a long or a short one. An absolute right of possession during the requisite term is all that can in any ca3e be required, and no benefit could generally be derived from holding the land otherwise than on lease. On the other hand, it is to be feared that many difficulties might arise from absolutely alienating the land. With the Reicl-Turnbull Government as at present constituted, without any Competent official representative of the goldfields, it is not unlikely that some ingenious mode of selling auriferous lands in large blocks may be found. At all events, the security given by the tenure would invite purchases of a merely speculative character, and result in a -monopolisation entirely, contrary to the policy which has hitherto prevailed of compelling miners to work their claims or give them up to others who would. No doubt many other insuperable objections will present themselves on consideration of the matter by experienced miners ; in the meantime sufficient has been said to direct attention to the subject.