The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. In the cause of Truth and Justice we strive. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1871.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 868, 30 September 1871, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. In the cause of Truth and Justice we strive. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1871.

It will be seen from our Wellington telegrams that the Assembly has adopted the recommendation of the Goldfields Committee that the waterworks scheme should be modified. The modification consists in adopting the principle of subsidising mining enterprise having for its object the introduction of water supply, in preference to the construction of large works on its own responsibility. The Committee recommended that the £300,000 already voted for that purpose last session should be increased to £500,000, and that this sum should be used for the purpose of subsidising private capital to the extent of onethird of the cost of construction. The details of the terms upon which the colony is to furnish the money are not yet to hand. Provision will probably be made limiting the area of operations to which a subsidy will be granted ; a minimum number of heads will neces «arily be fixed, and it must be shewn that the proposed work will be calculated to benefit a fair proportion of the mining population. Some limitations may also be introduced in respect to the rental to be charged per head of water, varying according te the length of the race and the amount of capital required to bring in the race; and probably a fixed proportion -of th e rentals will have to be set aside for the purpose of providing interest on advances and sinking fund. In substituting this proposal for that originally contemplated under the Public Works Act, we think that the

Assembly has decided wisely. The assistance is sufficiently, great to prove of great benefit to the mining industry j while in leaving to miners themselves the power of deciding what works shall be constructed, a necessary and judicious check is placed upon injudicious expenditure. The inevitable scramble which must have ensued had the original proposal been acted upon will gave place to the construction of such works only as are necessary to the beneficial pursuit of this industry. ■ The practicability and necessity of various schemes will now be submitted to the judgment of the miners and others resident in various districts, who, if circumstances warrant their construction, will gladly avail themselves of the assistance provided.