GOLD-SEEKERS.

Auckland Star, Issue 154, 2 July 1934, Page 11

GOLD-SEEKERS.

CITY MEN AND WOMEN UNEMPLOYMENT SUBSIDIES. PROPOSALS FOR EXTENSION.

When the Unemployment Board launched its scheme about two years ago for "grub-staking" unemployed men wishing to strike out on a new line for themselves in searching for gold, there was ' little thought that the few dozens of men then under the scheme would swell their ranks into thousands. Yet, when the Hon. Adam Hamilton, who, as Minister of Employment, is chairman of the Unemployment Board, decided recently to visit the Central Otago goldfields for the purpose of searching out still larger gold-mining ventures for unemployed men, the numTx-r of men working under the scheme st«S»d at nearly four thou: sand. With only isolated exceptions, all of those men have been transferred off ordinary relief works, largely in the cities and towns. They have won more than £50,000 worth of gold. T-f one passes over the stories of personal tragedy that must lie behind the abandonment by so many men of the careers which, up till the arrival of the depression, they had been pursuing in the confident belief that their future paths lay clear and straight before them, there is an element of romance in the Unemployment Board's achievement, noi only of reviving gold digging as an important Now Zealand industry, but also of creating a new generation of gola diggers (says the Commissioner of Unemployment, Mr. S. C. Godfrey). Tlie changes which time has wrought from the lawless days of the early diggings naturally deprive the modern diggings of much of the colourful atmosphere ot the 'sixties, but the difference is only external, so far as the miners are concerned. There is still the same independence of spirit, the same irrepressible optimism that they will be on to "good gold" any minute, the same strict honesty about the other fellow's property and his gold in particular, and the same will to overcome natural obstacles in the way" of properly working their claims. Little Communities in Mountains. It is now no unusual thing to come suddenly upon little mining communities in mountain fastnesses which a year or two ago lacked a single human habitation. In these new settlements are all the proofs of the adage that necessity is the mother of invention. The men have, without any previous experience whatever, felled trees, split logs and constructed comfortable cabins, with roofs made of shingles split 011 the spot. Their womenfolk, most of whom have liecn accustomed to all the conveniences of city homes, have rediscovered the art of cooking and baking in iron pots slung 111 a capacious chimney, how to make brooms from manuka twigs and generally to impart to their primitive new homes an atmosphere of comfort with 110 materials other than those provided by Nature. Only a small percentage of the subsidised miners have had previous experience of the work. The majority received their gold dishes with the inquiring interest of the novice. They have not, however, been under the disability of having to set out over the hills in the vague hope of finding gold, which they would probably not recognise in its virgin state if they saw it. From the outset, the board has employed the best instructors to supervise and guide the novices that it could obtain. Those are all practical miners, and in most cases have been drawn from the ranks of the the unemployed, although where it has boon necessary to go elsewhere for the right men, exceptions have been made. There is now about one supervisor to every 50 miners. Aided fcy Local Executives. The scheme is in operation in the Thames, Coromandel, Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast, Central Otago and Southland districts, and in each area there is an executive body set up from the local county council, except at Thames, where the controlling authority is the School of Mines. The men comprising these executives act in an honorary capacity, but one of the impressions particularly commented upon by Mr. Hamilton after his visit lately to the goldfields o£ the South was the close and keen personal interest which the executives have in the work. The Minister mentioned that lie was present during ordinary meetings held by county mining executives, and was surprised to observe the personal familiarity of members with the history of every man, the particular claim which he was working, the stage to which he had progressed, and the likelihood of his success. "The_ Unemployment Board," added the Minister, "owes much to the mining executives for their obvious concern to make the scheme a success. The local knowledge and perinterest which they have brought to bear have been an invaluable aid.''

"The scheme Ims now passed the experimental stage, and all the factors exist to favour the Unemployment Board's embarking on more ambitious measures for giving- further impetus to the goldmining industry. Gold is twice the price it has ever been before, there is still a surplus of labour, and the goldmining industry is not a competitive one. The board has therefore decided that, in addition, to aiding individual prospecting by unemployed men, it can serve the interests of the country generally by becoming a definite agency of assistance to approved large-scale private mining enterprises which can absorb labour in considerable quantities, and it may pos'-. sibly happen in some cases that the board may find it necessary to undertake special developmental work. Expert Approval First. "Action will be preceded by close consultation with the Mines Department, on whose reports the board places great reliance, and other expert authorities, such as, for instance, the Public Works, when other than purely mining considerations acquire to be taken into account. The board's intention to enter the field on a comprehensive scale was made known through the Press during our stayin Central Otago, and, no doubt, as a result the board will not lack suggestions as to suitable ventures. But I should like to make it clear that certain definite requirements will have to be satisfied before a project can be finally acceptable. There mus£ be assurance that, if successful, a venture would give employment to considerable numbers of men, and that there is more than an even chance of success; and it will have to earn the approval of the Mines Department. "It is the considered opinion of the members of the Unemployment Board that the development of the goldmining industry offers one of the best possible scopes for the utilisation of unemployed labour at the present time, and they will be interested to co-operate with every genuine venture for the employment of labour on such operations."