THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1906.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7942, 17 January 1906, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1906.

Dealing with the question of supplying the Home market with ooal, Mr Seddon, in bis recent speech at Greymouth, said'that a demand had been niade on the Government to impose a duty on imported timbers for the protection of the looal milling industry. A similar demand was made for the protection of native coals. The true remedy in botn cases was to reduce the freights for the conveyance of native products. The starting of the Stooktown mine, near Westport and Blackball, and the early opening of the Paparoa mine, where, it Was asserted, there was an inexhaustible supply of the best steaming coal, seemed to indicate that our capitalists wore not afraid of imported coal, especially Newcastle coal. When Newcastle ooal could be landed as cheaply at Greymouth as coal at their very doors, it showed that there was something radically wronsr. The Government meant to institute inquiries. Parliament had empowered them to

give cheaper railway freightage, but more had to be done, and he did not hesitate to aay.thatthey were not going to have large importations of Newcastle it, bv meaii3 of reasonable rates for land and sea carriage for our own coals, these, could be'brought to t he doors of the people. Last year over 150,000 tons of Newcastle coal had Deon imported, representing a sum Huffiaieut to employ o or 400 uoul-miners exploring a new mine. While approving of much of the labour legislation of the present Administration, f ho Taranaki Herald siiys too often, however, regulations are made which .-joi vy no useful purpose commensurate with the trouble, annoyance .'Mid expense those work in« under them ;i>o put to. Iu many large business it requires the services of an extra nlark to comoile and furnish the leturns. many of which are of abjolu'ely no use when thejfare compiled. Occupiers of factories, who oo no under the Acts, are now being uotifled that under un amendment, pushed last session, it is provided that every occupier shall keep a book iu the prescribed form showing the period of employment of sucn employee, for production to the Inspector when required by him; and at the request of any one leaving his employment, the occupier ia to issue a certificate in the prescribed form stating correctly the period of employment. In dealing with this new regulation our contemporary remarks: "Of. what use the register or the certificate is to be we quite, fail to see, but we do see that the new regulations are going to add to the amount of unprofitable work faotory owners have already to do, and incidentally it will find some little occupation for the army of inspectors now occupying the centres of industry. Seriously it is quite time this kind of annoyanoe to employers was put a stop to, for It is becoming past enduranoe." For the first time since the early days of the lhames the Auckland provincial output of gold for the year hats exceeded one million pounds sterling in value. Ohinemuri produced gold to the value of £931, 000, including £712,000 from thp Waihi mine. The total from the Thames' has risen to nearly £90,000, and that from Coromandel to close upon £IO,COO. Altogether the Auckland mines yielded the sum of £1,030,382 during 1905, an increase of £155,821 on the previous year. As far as can be ascertained it is anticipated that there will be a considerable increase this year in the gold yield in the northern province. These anticipations are based upon the suacess which is already attending some of the new undertakings initiated as a result of encouraging orushings, and also upon the steadi ness of most of the contributions. The mining returns for many years past have clearly demonstrated that gold exists in the provinoe in large quantities, and it is confidently expected that with modern methods and appliances a new era of prosperity will be experienced in this great industry. When compared to its total winnings its importance to the trade and oommerce of New Zealand is remarkable. Probably three-quarters of a million of the money from the mines last year was spent in wages, eto. The prosperity of the gold-mining industry was shared by all classes of mechanics, miners, clerks, farmers, merchants, shopkeepers and salesmen of every description.