THE Marlborough Express. SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1871.

Marlborough Express, Volume VI, Issue 292, 13 May 1871, Page 4

THE Marlborough Express.

SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1871.

" Givr me the liberty to know, to utter, amt to rrgue tieely according to conscience, above all other liberties.' M tI.TON

We have again to harp upon the old theme. The Capitation Account of the Province has come to hand for the month of March, and instead of £783 wherewith to pay the necessary current expences, there is only €327, after deducting the several charges for the maintenance of General Government Services. Our space will not allow us to enlarge upon the nor will it be necessary, as our readers have been kept posted up in the reasons which cause our complaint. Again, the mode of charging the maintenance of the Telegraph line makes itself prominent by the proprtion its cost bears towards the whole, and

we wait with impatience the meeting of the Assembty, when we doubt not our Member Mr. Eyes will call its attention to infamous piece of injustice, whereby the Wmlc Colony is reaping a benefit at the expense of Marlborough. It is true that this month the amount, £lB2, is below that quoted for the previous one, but the injustice does not depend upon that, but in the principle of the thing. There is also an item charged for fees and expenses of a Coroner, £l4 for one month. Where are the commensurate advantages received in return by that public which has to pay the money I We forget the paltry case that caused this expense, but our readers will agree with us in one thing, that the sooner there is a clearer understanding as to the rule which governs the use of this expensive luxury, the better it will be for the taxpayers. * — A statement has lately been circulated in Blenheim with reference to the operations of the Sutherland Gold-mining Company, namely, “ that in driving the tunnel the reef has been missed, so that another tunnel will have to be commenced, and the reef found, before any trial can be made.” We are quite at a loss to conceive who can have been guilty of inventing a story so utterly opposed to facts. The tunnel put in by the Company on the western side of the spur, and about 400 feet from the southern boundary of the iclaim, struck the reef after driving a distance of about 100 feet, and for the past six weeks miners have been working day and night driving at the reef, and about 20 tons of quartz has been taken out of the tunnel anc reserved for crushing. Mr McKay was in town on Thursday, and it appears that the machinery will be completed in a few days, but it is not so yet. The stampers have been put to work, but no quartz from the mine has been put through. As many of the operations depend on the weather, it is difficult to say precisely when crushing will commence, but it is almost certain that by the half-yearly meeting, which must be held during the present month, the directors will be able to inform the shareholders what are the immediate prospects of the Company. For ourselves, we have every reason to take a hopeful view of the future of the mine, and we cannot help feeling regret that such a mischievous statement should have gained circulation. / O /