THE OKARITA GOLDFIELDS.

West Coast Times, Issue 321, 3 October 1866, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE OKARITA GOLDFIELDS.

(rilOM THE "WESTI,A.ND OBSERVE I!.) By the quotation of a few lines of well-authenticated figures, we were last week able to show that during the quar,tcr of the year prior to the month of July last, there was no district, out of the three distinct gold-digging districts ou the West Coast, which had afforded such a high, average of wages to its mining, population* as the district of Okarita. While ,Hokitika exported 52,000 ounces, and Greymouth, 50,000 ounces, Okarita, with .a population comparatively insignificant, exported, • through the medium of the Banks alone, upwards of 30,000 ounces ; and, . as it was not necessary that duty should i bo paid at this port, it may be fairly assumed that, in the hands of private purchasers, or of the original possessors, there was. no inconsiderable quantity which left the port without' being recorded in the Custom House books. With those who, from deficient acquaintance with the different districts, are only able to make a bare comparison between the names and. the figures as they thus stand, the deduction may naturally be that, of the three, Okarita has produced the ( smallest amount. It must, however, be patent to many, as sojourners in the different districts, that at no time , during the period in question, was there nx this neighborhood anything like the number of people {who were congre-' gated about the diggings in "the more northerly districts. Even when the population here was mostnuuierous — at the date of the memorable Bruce Bay rush — the numbers were comparatively small, but from the time of the stampede which then ocourred, and for the succeeding three months, tliere was such a rapid and regular reduction thati •as ii central community, it became one of the smallest on the. Coast. The official estimate at the end of June, was that the population, including that of the township, and extending along the whole coast from the Wanganui to Bruce Bay, did not exceed 3000 ; -during the greater part of the quarter it was seldom in excess of this : and yet it was by this number, or by ■ the proportion practically engaged in mining-, that, the considerable aggregate of 00,000 ounces was produced. Continuing the comparison into the current quarter, the results, as we anticipated last week, ate found to Le equally favorable to the character of the district as a gold-field. It is well known that, during this period, as before, digging has here been almost exclusively confined to the beaches, and, N Ate may add, to only one o"r two beaches, none of them of exceeding great area. It is also a fact, which it can serve no good purpose to conceal, that during the current quarter there has been a steady decrease in our population. Many have gone away preceded by harbingers of the,ir good fortune, iiv the shape of bank drafts for hundreds or foiv thousaiids of pounds ; a considerable number have been unsettled by the various recent rushes northward ; and a few may have gone away with their means temporarily exhausted, and perhaps with the impression, from certainly false premises, that'the' resources of the district were in a somewhat crippled condition.^ By the exqdus from one or other, or all, of these causes, the population cannot now much exceed 2000 business people and all others included. , Notwithstanding tfyese facts-, of the diggings being oon--flned to the few beaches, and of the population decreasing, we .-discover thai the produce* of the district has rather increased than diminished. In spite of this reduction v of numbers, the quantity exported has closely maintained, the average of the exports of the Spring quarter. Up to the 22nd of this mouth 25,580 ounces had been forwarded to Holritika"* by the binks, and had there been this week facilities fpr the amount for the quarter "would probably be as near to that for the previous quarter as figures could make it. Applying the sanie test to other districts, we doubt verymuch if there is any in which the comparison "could be instituted -with the ! same favorable .conclusions as to the prosperity of its miuing community. That with . such results,' gold has in this 'district been abundantly and easily got, no one will be able to gainsay. With many the belief is that it has been too easily obtained, and therefore it is that, beyond the .beaches, so little of the country has been tested, and that so many, having found that test allsufficient for their purpose, have been careless of penetrating the mysteries of the' bush. The' fact of the beaches being the auriferous ground which was first discovered may certainly have had the effect of making the returns higher foi 1 the time, but it has, as certainly, had the effect of militating against the development of the interior and more permanent resources of the country. It is .undeniable tftat at the present moment, with even these favoiable results which ■we have quoted, the district is languishing because of lack of popula--tion, and of the absence of that amount of enterprise in prospecting which is doing so much for districts much less deserving. The interior, it may confidently be said; is comparatively unknown, no prospecting on anything like a perfect scale having been undertaken. With such an index as the beaches afford, there is therefore no calculating' how rich the country, or how great its produce may prove, to be, were it only more numerously and more effii ciently prospected. Without any desire to invite, much less to delude, population into the district, we cannot help thinking* that there are few fairer fields for'fresh enterprise than ihis, and that,

with its presumed jjrospects supplemented by proper promise of reward, either by the Government or-those who are, by their investments, interested in its development, there would bfc such a trial given to the ground. during the six months, and such result? obtained, as would plaoe the statistics for the past half-year entirely mi the shade.

A number of the political friends and admirers of thc>ate Richard Cobckn, desirous of perpetuating his memory and doing honor to the great political principles of which he wls the able and consistent advocate, considered that the host form of carrying out their intentions would be by the formation of a club, which, as in the case of the great Oharles^ James Fox, should bear the name of the earnest advocate of peace and free trade. In the month of March last the idea was broached to some of the members of vParliament who were the habitual supporters of the/great Liberal party, and a response was made to the appeal which fully justified Mr Potter, M.P., the successor of Mr Cobden, in the representation of Rochdale, in persevering with the idea of the establishment of the club. Within a few weeks of the time when the question was first mooted a preliminary meeting was held at the Reform Club, when the amount of annual subscriptions and other matters of detail connected with the management of the chib were agreed upon, and it was also resolved that a dinner of the club should take place\ at which the future arrangements of the club should be considered. This, Nthefirst dinner of the club, took place on July 21 at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond. About 150 gentlemen, the majority of .whom were members of Parliament, were present, and the chair was taken" by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, who was supported by Earl Russell, Lord Houghton, Mr Goschen, Mr Chichester Fortescue, Mr Bruce, Mr Childers, Mr Stansfeld,N Mr E. Forster, Mr Collier, Sir R. Palmer, and Mr Locke King. Mr Gladstone, in proposing the memory of Richard Cobden, pronounced a panegyric upon that great man, and concluded as follows :-jr- v It is hot upon brouze and marble that the renown of such a man As this depends. You need not by visible signs recall him to the eyes of men ; his nanle is written in their hearts. The progress, the movement of mankind is .towards a state of things in which the fruits of his labors,' so far from being cancelled and effaced by the lap^e of time, will be felt more — will be appreciated with more lively gratitude from year to year; and those who, ageneratioahence, may meet in this room or elsewhere, and those probably who after centuries have passed may look back upon the history of the critical time jn which we live, will, depend upon it, be not less alive, but even more alive than we are to the genius and the acts of Mr Cob- • den. (Cheers.) in that confident anticipation, which I may- possibly have expressed in sanguine language, but winch rests upon thought and deep convict'on, I the remarks I have ventured to make." Earl Russell made known that Mr Cobden had told him he would havp joined the Ministry when asked had he (Earl Russell) been at its head. Subsequently his lordship spoke in vindication of his own foreign policy, in the course ofi which he expressed his regret that " the English Secretary of 'State -for Foreign Affairs should have gone shares in^ proposing to 'Italy an armistice, and thus done that which must be offensive to the Italian people.'^ The action against thd "Edinburgh Daily Review" for slander, at the instance of Mr and Mrs Kent, father and step-mother of Miss Constance Kent, has just been settled. The action, it may be remembered, arose out of an article having appeared in the above paper containing statements reghrding Mrs Kent's position in life prfor to t her marriage, and charging her with- cruel' treatment to her step-daughter. It also contained reflections on the part which Mr Kent had taken throughout the investigations preceding Miss Kent's confession and trial. The'" Review" now states that it hp.s made inquiries which prove that the^e statements were not true, that they had been misled by false information, nnd that the 7 proprietors' of tho paper have consented to pay the sum of L 350 to Mr and Mrs Kent in name of damage*.. ■ We take the following with' reference to the condemned criminals from (he "Nelson Examiner," of the 22nd :—": — " Since the removal of the prisoners to gaol after their condemnation, a marked change has taken place in Kelly. The weakest in body of the four, ho likewise appears, although possessed of a certain amount of cleverness, to Jdo the wealcfst in ' mind. lie refused his food at first, and. became completely prostrated. The surgeon ol the gaol has visited prescribed for him, but it is said that he is in a wretched state. M&nsieur G-avin, the priest, has, wo understand, visited him, but Kelly told him he was as much a Protestant as a Catholic. IIe v lias requested another clergyman of the Roman Catholic* faiflij who was at the Dunstan diggings in Otago whilst he (Kelly) was there, and who is now in Nelson, to visit hiiu. The i Rev. Mr Johnson has also seen him Tt io said that Kelly has not given up all hopca of pardon. His time is occupied in writing various letters to tho authorities, protesting his innocence. The prisoner Burgess behaves as it was expected he would, with the same coolness that has characterised his conduct since he made his brazen* confession in Court. He- has fully made up Ins mind that his death is inevitable, and seems to look forward to it with the utmost firmness. A priest of the Catholic persuasion was with him in his cell for a considerable period yesterday nfli.inoon, but Burgess is said tobe a Profcest.m t. Some time back this prisoner was busily employed writhvjr his life — a 'minute history of his whole career This has boon seized by the officials, and in Court, on' Thursday, his Honor theJudge mentioned that the manuscript, now that Rhrgeas was condemned, had become tlie pro per jy of the Crown, and t^iafc the greatest >o\ ils miglic be inflicted upon society by its publication. The manuscript, which Burgess intended giving to Mr Pitt, \ri\l be sent to .the Colonial Secretary. As his Honor remarked, it is clear that this is only another instance of" that-extraordfnury vnirity and desire of fame, eveu'tlioujh tho hit.hr be gained" by a murderous career, which the man has' shown since his arrest. . The prisoner Levy maintains his innocence of the crjnie of which he lias been convictiiil, with tho utmost stubborn ness. A Rabbi, or .1 minUler of his religion,, has visited him, but he has confessed nothing. ,We are given to understand that the remnants of the proceeds of the robbery found on the murderers will reverb to the relatives of the deceased. Wo hear that Kelly has a brother undergoing sentence of pcnttL servitude in' Auckland Gaol, for robber}'. Another brother was hung for murder, in the Ovens district, in the early days of the Australian goldfidds,"