STATE OWNERSHIP.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVI, Issue 14503, 15 October 1907, Page 3

STATE OWNERSHIP.

A LEAF FROM NEW ZEALAND.

PROPOSED STATE MINE IN THE TRANSVAAL. |From Oub, Correspondent.] JOiIANNESLURti, September 12-, In the annals.of Transvaal mining too tin boom, wJiicli monopolised our attention some two years ago, takes pride of place as being the most colossal swindle ever iok ted 'on an unwary public. The Busk veldt area was proclaimed a veritable , Eldorado by those ©ngineenug the movement, and lesser sharks speedily realising wkat it was to be in tke soim placed syndicate alter syndicate on tke market, each, of course, being adjacent to tko puffed-up property of tke boubk African Lands Company, known ■ as ■“ Sallies.” This latter the others in tke race for notoriety. From a tew skillings tke shares leaped in the case of “Sallies” to between nine and ton pounds. Fortunes were made and lost im a day (lost in tke greater number or instances, needless to say). In those ddys for a brief period business in Johannesburg was allowed to take care or itself. What was tke use of troubling about trade; a few shares would bring in more than a year of toiL Tin was tko one’ topic. Little wonder, for the reI ports dealing with the finds were grandiloquent in the extreme. ’ One engineer, s after inspecting the chstnct, gravely advised the company he represented to act judiciously in exploiting its claims, as the metal was to be found in such hugs quantities that if energy spas-displayed in placing it on t market the price of tin would _ diminish. The collapse of Buskveldt tins is a nightmare to most people on the Rand. -A small number of promoters made money, the majority of them vanishing with their ill-gotten gains. These tin •boxes are not now worth the paper used for the scrip. The effect was that faith in mining reports sank to zero, and tin mining has been to the local speculator anathema. But we on the Rand are again wuldiy excited about tin. There is no hoax this time. Potgietersrust TVaterberjs. district, in the Northern Transvaal, is -the scene of the latest discovery of tin. A brief history of the new field, may prove of interest. It was just twelve months ago that a discoverer’s right was granted to two prospectors who had proved the existence of tin in tayable quantities in the Waterberg istrict. .The right gave them ninetysix claims without fee or license. The two prospectors have been working very steadily, and apparently with much secrecy, for the value of the deposit did not reach the public ©firs till quite recently. At length, even from the meagre details supplied, it was perfectly clear that the area being worked by the discoverers was fabulously rich. The tin is found in a pipe or chimney, and its purity may be gauged froim the fact that the raw article shipped to England is bringing from £7O to £BO per ton. It is understood that the lucky miners are netting oyer £2OOO ‘a month. The tin from Potgietersrust is trucked through - Portuguese territory to Delagoa Bay, and no doubt to this may be attributed the lack of earlier information as to the character of the find. But were the big houses ignorant of the value of this tin find ? From the desperate efforts they have put forth, not merely to acquire a solid footing in this new field, but to get hold of the whole of the known yielding area, it is perfectly evident Potgietersrust tin has been docketed in their information bureaus as extra specially good. The Government being perfectly satisfied as to the stability of the field recently decided to throw the area open to be taken up. To safeguard the interests of the “ small ” man, instructions wore issued prohibiting camping on the field till the day set apart for pegging. This was circumvented by the mining houses, wdio placed their .myrmidons in a state of preparedness

portion of tie ground held bj ■ she discoverers, with whom a satisfac- • tory arrangement had been made. Seeing _ this manoeuvre, the Government modified the proclamation by announcing that all ij'ould-be peggers could camp on the ground, and from the very large number who had signified the intention of striving for a claim, it looked any odds on a hot time heralding th® opening of the field. What followed seems more fitting foi comic opera than, a sober account of the ' exploitation of a country for latent minerals. One large corporation chari tered two special traii.s to convey sis .hundred men to the envied spot. Drafts of experienced miners were brought in from along the reef to be drilled with the picked-up riff-raff of Johannesburg. A commander-in-cbief of the force had been appointed, the experienced minors being commissioned as sectional leaders. - Then within coo-ee of the field ! another company had fifty men at attention, accompanied by three times \ that number of native bearers with the paraphernalia necessary,to ensure a . successful 'rush. But 'the best-laid achemes of mice and men gang aft «gjee. They did so on this momentous occasion. The special trains were not put into requisition, and the PietensDurg mixed contingent had to be disbanded without striking a blow or driving a peg. The Government withdrew the proclamation altogether, the action pausing something like consternation in mining circles generally, but particularly jn the dovecotes of the big houses. Reflection on the part of the outside general public forced the opinion that : the Government took the' right line of action, for it was perfectly patent that In any scramble for claims the strong financial houses, with their organised forces, would have been able to grab the eyes of the'field. But what were the intentions of the Government in respect to these tinfields? This was' the question' eagerly Canvassed. And it cable as a sort of bombshell to the industrial leaders .-when the announcement was mad© that It was contemplated working the proved areas as a State mine for the benefit of the unemployed miners. _ This announcement was received with enthusi•osra by the bona fide workers on the Jtand. It is sincerely to bo hoped that :the plan, suggested will be put into .operation, and at the earliest possible moment, as the distress among the •“out-of-works” is very genuine. On what basis the system is to be worked has not yet been made known, but with.'the satisfactory results of the Biate coal mines in New Zealand as an .object-lesson, the Transvaal Government may safely be left to evolve a icheme advantageous to the people and ’the country. The cry for repatriation Is less lusty since the intention of worthing these tin areas as 1 a State concern ’became known. It is now acknowledged that Ministerial promises to endeavour to cope with tho unemployed difficulty were not idle words, for in con-, serving the interests of the poor man in ♦he manner indicated, the Government has thrown down the gauntlet to the capitalistic host. With the successful working of State-owned tin mines, it ie

reasonable to expect that the vast goldbearing areas at present under look and key will be thrown open to the legitimate miner. Then will democracy triumph and the Transvaal prosper. Much depends on the Potgietersrust experiment. It will be eagerly watched outside the confines of South Africa. Success spells an end to the thraldom of the cosmopolitan financiers.