THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, SEPT. 21, 1877.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 71, 21 September 1877, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, SEPT. 21, 1877.

In our last issue we gave a brief report of the proceedings of Tuesday's sitting of. the Warden's Court. The business of the day consisted almost exclusively of applications for new gold mining leases, the number of them dealt with being unusually large—probably the largest batch called on at , any one time for years past. In a general way all this would go to show greakaptkity towards the development of this fi#» but unfortunately this sudden spurt, for such it may be termed, is capable of quite another construction. The Warden in treating the applications as a whole took occassion to remark that while every possible facility and encouragement would be afforded to lona fide- applications of the kind, the same scope would not be accorded to those which were merely intended to be used for' speculative purposes. : It was required that an applicant should 1 eorae fco the Court with some proof of dona fides other than a bare application, and he remarked upon the great insecurity of tmfficing in shares to leases not yet granted. Tbere can bs no doubt the Wabdeist is right, and it would be a very good thing if some check could be interposed to arrest this lease shark* ing. Including those already registered and in process of registration, there are now something like forty mining ventures afloat in this field, and to think that the capital necessary to develop this number can be forthcoming, few, here at least, will be hardy enough to believe. And what must be the re* suit? Simply, that -for a time th© attention and money which otherwise arould be profitably employed in securing the position of manv of the older established ventures will be diverted and frittered in a short lived juggling over these newly born schemes, and a'fter the lapse of a few months many of the bubbles will burst, and in the maledictions thus brought upon tlto district by the sufferers, people will affect to wonder how it is the field does not go ahead as it ou»ht to do. The evil of this leasing system does not however end here, fop while the whole face of the eountry is locked up in grants to companies which' can never, at least for ypara to come, attain to' anything beyond an ideal existence, a decided bar is pTaeed upon private prospecting, and so the holders of the ground drift on from day to day and month by month resting their faith upon the slender hope of something turning up to give the lease a marketable value. Of course- it would be absurd to say that the same remarks apply equally to all the applications, for we believe that many, if not a majority of them, are lonafid'e in every sense of the word, and providingthat the requisite capital can be obtained, will be put in operation; but it is '"■beyond hope that many of them are doomed to die the- death of inanition, and thus people may he drawn into them, and after dragging through the preliminary stages will eventually tire of the enterprises and abandon them in disgust. Of course all this can be iiMified upon the pl'ea that unless leases 'are granted and companies formed, tbe wealth of the district can , never be reached,. and it will not bequestioned that so long as the occupation of the erou-nd is entered upon with a lona fide intention to prospect it, not only should no obstruction^ thrown in the way of the granting of the> leases, by the Government, but, as the Wauden remarked, every facility and eneouragement should- be offered'. But this is precisely where the difficulty arises in judging of the intentions of the applicant, for there seems to be no way of arriving at that intention. The difficulty might possibly be- met by requiring each applicant to enter into a bond, with substantial surieties for the due performance- of all the covenants of the Ifnae, or by refusing a lease to any Company not in active operation, or in other words until operations had been fairly commenced, the application for the lease and recommendation of the WATtiHOT giving as an interim title to- occupy. It seems quite evident that unless some such regulations are devised 1 and enforced, nothing can bo done to put I down bogus undertakings, floated in 1 brisk times, with the one object of taking advantage of a health v afcafce of enterprise. This class of undertaking* has done, more to keep back the Sold, and frighten away capital than any other cuuae. and we are therefore glad to notice that the Warden is alive to the fact that the line ought La be drawn somewhere, ]

The startling intelligence which wo e'sewhere publish relative to the spread of scarlet fever in Holiitika is well calculated to send a shudder through the minds of all persons resident on the West Coast. The deadly epidemic made its appearance in Hokitika some time last summer, and having proved fatal in one or two instances, at the approach of winter appeared to have died oat, and public anxiety became appeased ; with the approaeh of summer however, the deadly foe has re-appeared with frijhtfW maliginity, and already a large number of fatal cases have occurred, and amongst them, two .in the family of Judge Weston. This intelligence should certainly bring tbe members of our own Council to a strong sense of their duty in the matter of town drainage and water supply— too sadly dificient adjuncts to public health in this community. That the scourse has planted itself firmly in Hokitika cannot be denied, and Greymouth will be miraculously fortunate if, within the next month or so, the malady does not extend thither, and in almost equal manner to Reefton and the whole of the West Coast. We in this alfci'tude may not be in imminent danger of the visitation before the heat of the summer is fairly upon us-, but the duty of the County Council in the matter of drainage is none the less imperative. ' It is idle to say that t\e work of town drainage is a loeal one. Here the mass of the inhabitants are gathered, and here the greatest precautions for the safety of the public- health are requisite. If scarlet ferer, or any other dangerous epidemic* appeared in Eeefton it is not at all likely that its ravages would be limited to the four corners of the town j the rrsiclent 9 of all parts of the country would be exposed alike, and therefore it is to- the common interest of the entire County that everything should be done to ward off such a catastrophe. Last year we urged this matter upon the notice of the Council! and all that was then said applies now with much increased force. Population has increased, filth has- accumulated, impure water hns been rendered 1 still more impure, and it would be positively criminal on the part of the Council to delay action in the matter any longer. It is an unfortunate circumstance that we are so situated as to require an expensive Bystem of drainage and water supply, but that fact being recognized on all sides, sooner or later the difficulty must be faced, and we will reiterate that the Council will fail lamentably in- its duty if it does not at once deal with tbe question 1 .