GROUND – SLUICING AND TALL-WASHING.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 486, 3 April 1869, Page 3

GROUND - SLUICING AND TALL-WASHING.

(To the Editor of the Westport Tunes.)

Sie, —-Without one responsible in this district—'with no one to appeal to in an emergency-—this goldfield must perforce suffer, unless some improvement be made in its administration. In Victoria bonuses are given to encourage new industry,, and the gold miner is encouraged to prospect for and extract the gold, paying but a nominal taxation compared with ours, and receiving much greater benefits in return. Such a policy creates and sustains a market for the products of all other classes, which stimulates industry and enterprise, and brings about general prosperity to that colony at large. How differently are things managed in New Zealand, and how different are the results. Our Government seems to look at diggings as something fleeting and not worth being made permanently beneficial to the colony. So long as they bring in money to the coffers of the State, the Government appear content to either let them prosper or fail, notwithstanding that the whole colony must prosper or fail with them. The Governor delegates his powers to the Superintendent, who understands nothing about digging, and leaves things to manage themselves. Such treatment will kill the hen that lays the golden egg by driving, the miners out of the island. An instance of how this may be done I will endeavour to make clear. It may, perhaps, not be known to you that in creeks surrounding the Caledonian and other terraces] the mining industry of tailing-washing has risen into a considerable interest in connection with the prosperity of the district. This interest, according to the reading of Mr Kynnersley and Dr Giles, would appear to have no protection in law, no especial provision having been made for it in the by-laws. But, whether the correct ruling ■would be to class them as creek claims remains a question for a higher court. It would appear to a practical man that a creek claim is simply a claim in a creek, and whether the golden drift was laid down yesterday or thousands of years ago it would not in the least affect the question, Again if these men are refused protection why do the authorities not also refuse to take the pound for their miner's right and the two-and-sixpence on their ounce of gold? For the benefits they derive from Government are nil. Should their rights as miners be taken away ? The way in which they are. threatened to be taken away is by parties taking up the abandoned ground in the vicinity of the creeks, for the purpose of ground-sluicing—with largo heads of water to bring down tons of surfacing, and bury their claims with rocks and roots, and fill the interstices with sand and sludge, and effectually prevent the •working of the creeks for the next thousand years. Perhaps the wisest course to pursue would be to prevent all ground-sluic-ing until such time as the creeks would be worked, which will bo as soon as the tunnel claims are worked out. Until then ground-sluicing cannot bo entered into on an extensive scale; and in the meantime protect any enterprising party who take up groundsluicing claims until they can work them without doing damage to others. Ground-sluicing in some instances might be proceeded with at once, but this only proves that we require a Garden's personal inspection, and shows bad stewardship in the Superintendent to have defective by-laws, over-worked Wardens, and no Commissioner, and it shows bad generalship on the part of the Governor to have such a steward.

CITTKEN. Caledonian Terrace, March 31.