The Evening Star SATURDAY', JANUARY 27, 1934. MR FORBES'S TOUR;

Evening Star, Issue 21630, 27 January 1934, Page 12

The Evening Star SATURDAY', JANUARY 27, 1934. MR FORBES'S TOUR;

It can hardly he said that during his visit to Otago and Southland the Prime Minister had anything sensational to say or any revelations as to policy to make. But he has covered a great deal of ground and has mot many people, and the impression he has made has been distinctly favohrable. It is very many years since Mr Forbes has toured Southland, that occasion being as a member of a Royal Commission on land tenures. But Mr Forbes is gifted with a remarkable memory for people and places, and a working knowledge of land and an appreciation of its capabilities are a decided asset to a Minister when meeting the' men on the land. Of Southland, which is looking remarkably well at present visitors from further north almost invariably form a favourable impression, coupled with the belief that in many cases the areas held are too large for full exploitation of the possibilities by the men with limited capital at command who mostly occupy the holdings. Southland, in fact, could carry a far denser population with subdivision of holdings without any excessive “loading.” Southland’s main rural line of production is, however, dairying, and while markets for dairy produce remain in their present disorganised and non-paying condition not much enthusiasm can be worked up over any scheme to multiply herds. Meantime, however, reduction in costs is being effected by rotational grazing, enabling a greater carrying capacity per acre. There seems to be a relative absence of despondency as to the future, and one of the features of the, tour was the fact of the producers not seeming to want anything 'from the Government. This self-reliance has been recommended by Mr Forbes to the town-dwellers. In reminding Dunedin audiences yesterday of the four millions a year raised in direct taxation by the Government for the relief of unemployment, Mr Forbes stressed the view that in the struggle back to prosperity, or at least to more normal conditions as to employment and business activity, ( the individual can do far more than any Government, provided each individual puts his back into the business and docs his share. Of two matters which occupied a, good deal of Ministerial attention,, particularly in Central Otago, more faith appears to be placed in a revival of mining than in the extension of the irrigation .area. Of the irrigation schemes at present in the air the most ambitious one with which the Government’s name has been connected is the proposal to water the Maniototo Plain, with the upper waters of the Taieri River, the head works being located somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Styx. The matter being only in the preliminary stages of investigation, with settlers desirous of Itnowing the probable loading of the annual charges for water so that they can decide whether the extra production would be too dearly bought or not, this project does not seem to have been regarded as advanced enough for present discussion. In an adjacent district, however, the possibility of developing a big-scale mining field is unquestionably regarded as the matter of most importance discussed during the tour. Past recent experience of mining in Otago has probably caused a number of people to accept with caution and reservations the claims of possibilities and probabilities put forward by mining entrepreneurs. There does, however, seem to be some real justification for the hopes which are being built on the quartz conglomerate deposit in the Matakanui, St. Bathans, and Cambrians region, possibly even more widespread than that. It will be time enough to make comparisons between it and the Witwatersrand in South Africa, whose banket deposits, both geologically and economically, provide so important a chapter in the history of gold mining, when a good deal more exploratory work has been done. The scientists at present engaged on such work are understood to be - the very reverse of pessimistic as to the extent of the deposit and the amount of its gold content. The theory" held is that a muchfolded layer of conglomerate underlies this part of Central Otago at considerable depth, and that the old workings, such as Tinkers, Drybread, etc., merely touched the fringes of the layer > where it out-cropped or approached the surface. Doubtless developments at Wetherstones on the auriferous “cement” will have an important bearing on the future .of the conglomerate field.

Another mining field visited was Waikaia, scene of considerable destruction of good land by dredging, and somewhat in the public eye lately because of the success of the King Solomon mine, working a moderately deep lead of alluvial wash furnishing fine returns. There is reason to believe that this lead continues for some considerable' distance beyond the King Solomon boundary, and the Government has taken an unusual step in anticipation. It has withdrawn a very extensive area indeed in the neighbourhood from availability for being pegged out. The Mines Department will itself test this ground thoroughly, and if indications are satisfactory it will furnish available data and invite tenders for the acquisition of the various blocks by private enterprise. The depth of the ground quite precludes this being regarded or treated as a “ poor man’s field,” ami the expectation is that companies will be formed to acquire and work these claims. The procedure adopted by the Government has been prompted by the desire to minimise the highly speculative element and place before tho investor a proposition of which something definite is known. With gold still at a high price and talk of stabilising currencies on gold, it is not surprising to gold-min-ing propositions command ready attention when their genuineness has authenticity. In Australia shares in the' larger gold producing companies are very popular with dealers, and quite latterly there have bkm spectacular rises iu price, notably in the resurrected

Mount Morgan (Queensland) and Bulolo (New Guinea). The mainspring of the New Zealand Government’s mining policy appears to be promotion of the industry with all possible safeguards against sheer gambling. This involves the Government itself doing some of the preliminary work, and in the present state of its finances it wants remuneration for its activities. It was partly for this reason that the request of the newly formed Dunedin Chamber of Mines for abolition of the gold tax of 12s 6d per ounce was declined by Mr Forbes, who pointed out that a part of the present premium on gold enjoyed by the gold-winner is due to the Government’s action in raising the rate of exchange.