Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 421, 30 December 1874, Page 2

Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Befoee our next issue will be in tfee'j hands of our readers, the year 1874 will be numbered with the past \ but before taking leave of it, we wilJ take a retrospect of ita_ events. So far as our neighbourhood ia concerned there is not much to record. The ? allu vial iiggings, to which the Tuapeka district elves its rise, have continued to decline. ' Our quartz reef which at one time"" promised 'so much, has given, o.ufc altogether, and though believed still , to, j exist, prospecting has failed to discover its whereabouts, The Clarks"Hill Proipecting Company hap collapsed, and tiieje ia a talk of winding up the. concern. A.t the commencement of the year the sement at the Blue Spur in some uf the daims had failed to yield ihe rich returns of former years, and the claimholders ' had the choice' of abandoning there "claim, working at, a disadvantage, or trying 'the bed of the cement. The latter they fortunately attempted and with such promise of success that years of productive' work is believed s;till to be before them, To work thia efficiently the Nelson and Qtagp Com- J parries have .' each procured a turbine wheel aud stampers from Dunedin to crush 1 their cement. The North of Ire-j land Company has secured the machinery of the. Gabriel's Gully Quartz Crushing Company, and er© long the three companies will be actively employed, and it is to be hoped repaid for their enterprise. The result of this change will bp the employment of more men, and the setting at liberty 'of considerable 'streams of water which ought to be.utilised for industriaL purposes. • There is much talk of establishing paper manufactories in^he province. Why not use some of the surplus water of. the Blue Spur in this way, and give the Tuapeka district a character as a manufacturing as well as a mining- centre. Such an enterprise would contribute to "the success of pur railway and find employment for o.ur yonths. But we are digressing. In addition to the foregoing signs of progress in mining matters among U3, we must not overlook the attempts to turn to account $ie cement at Wetherstones, and what has been done towards the Gabriels Gully Sludge Channel. By the time the House of Repre-' sentatives next .meets, we hope to see this scheme , fully inaugurated, and by the close of 1875, we jiiope-to ( be able to chronicle- ■ its accomplishment. At the same time, we ought not to rely entirely ouGovernment to inaugurate such schemes. The Waipori Drainage Channel has been all'' but completed. The Golden Point Water Race has been pushed on to propel the machinery of the W'.Q.MI Co., and work the spurs in the neighborhood 1 . The reef has been further prospected, and it is believed there is yet a future for Waipori. At Waitahuna, progress has also been made in working the cement ; and, so far as our mining district as a whole is concerned, we would Say with the lad who had been buried in the fall of a house, to the men whom he heard at work digging him out : ' "Heave away men; I'm no dead yet." In the direction of agricultural settlement; this district has never had such opportunities as it has had during the past year, and the land-hunger has obtained something to satisfy it. The throwing open of land on deferred payments, on agricultural lease, and in Hundreds • has occasioned a rush for settlement, and those must stand condemned who, for selfish purposes, urged that the land was not wanted. To these settlements we- look as the proper . sugpprt of our township, which, in its Town Hall and new Courthouse, when completed, will have secured important additions to its buildings. ..During -the year, also, facilities for up-country tranait,have been pushed, and the Beaumont" bridge will be an immense boon to travellers and draymen. Some complaints have been heard during .the year of dull trade,, and. that the people have been leaving the .district ; but wedojiot regard that as anything but a temporary arrest of our. 'progress. Those diggings (the so-called "tucker" ground) which have been abandoned for more lucrative employment elsewhere, will, in due time, be resumed ; and when Dunediu gets, over-crowded, which we believe it is rapidly coming to, then.' upcburitry towns .will have ,theif share of the population. VtTujnuugfrom our neighborhood to the' j Province of>Ota&o, we nna that m everything it takes the : lead' among- the Provinces. According- to our con^poraw^the '^* Otago Guardian,,'; December 19, qnefshird of the entire increase ox the population of theiDolony for the year belong* .to Otago ; and we now- number 88 r 667, the increase fpr.the.year being 5,503 ; of this, number, 3,193 is due to immigration, and 2,310 is .! set downto births. ' Public works have been pushed, forwrard jwith vigor. The |, Harbor Trust and the* Ocean Beach Railway are among the projects, of "the yearJ With regard to the Colony generally,* we' have lost an excellent governor in the person of Sir James Fergusson, and have receivedin his place the Marquis of 1 Normanby, who- comes well accredited.' Throughout the Colony generally, "we see , traces of progress. It is true qtJriridebted- ' ness has increased, but so have ourmeans of meeting that indebtedness. Those railway works that have been" opened have done more than meet working .expenses. There lias been something from them to meet interest on loans. Immigrants have poured irito^ur shores.^ 14,000 have arrived during the past two years, and upwards of 2000 were on their way in September last ; and what is better, these J immigrants are being easily absorbed into the population. If they come to share in the advantages of the public «fks, they will alao take their share of

the public burdens, and help us to devejope into a prosperous community the Britain of the South. Among the the most important of our publip measures, we would refer to theresolutioqs of the House of Representatives to; change our provincial institutions. These |or the present only embrace the North Island, but we have no doubt that the change will not rest there. We have giveij our voice for the change, and believe it will prove a benefit to the North Island, .and -. we should welcome it even for ourselves ; but it would bo'well'for our public men to consider, the Counties Ordinance^ and adopt 'thos^ arrangements under it which, would be the best preparative for the change. .Industries thjit have been started have flourished during the year. The clothing and bookmaking industries which have been started in Dunedin have proved a success. The Mosgiel Woollen Factory Co., has declared a dividend of 10 per cent. Some of the mining companies upcountry have obtained highly rertiuner4 ative results, while others have proved grievous failures. Among the moral institutions that have had their influence during the year we record with pleasure ! the success of Good Tetnplarism, which is now in great force all over the colony.