TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1866.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 233, 4 December 1866, Page 2

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1866.

The West Coast papers, which have been • somewhat reticent b~ti the' subject, now admit that the diggings at the Pakihi and immediate vicinity are progressing in a satisfactory mauuer. By this we understand .that the mining population is steadily increasing, the yield of gold is such as to. please the diggers generally, storekeepers and ' merchants are rapidly following.in.the wake of the producing' class, and 'the means of forming a settled community are everywhere apparent. Scarcely a vessel leaves this port that does not take persons" who have resolved to try their fortuue in the. Buller district, and we should not be surprised to witness an extensive rush there this summer. It is said that at Fox's -River every claim that has been bottomed on the lead has struck payable gold, and that at the Pakihi it is no. unusual thing for the claims to pay from £7 to £12 per week per man. The high price of provisions will ever 'operate as a great drawback to the prosperity of diggings situated as these are, yet people do not grumble and many so far believe in the permanancy of the place as to be anxious to purchase sites for building purposes, the best possible proof that they think gold is in the neighborhood. It is not^ necessary to the prosperity of the mojoiity" of people on a gold-field that there should be extraordinarily large finds. Heavy nuggets are not the characteristics, of the gold found in the country,' 'arid it is' much better for the majority that gold is found in payable quantities in almost every place where it is sought with skill and assiduity, than that immense prizes should fall to : the lot of a few favored individuals, whilst the mass who labor with equal diligence are sent empty away. v^ We only reflect the opinion of those most conversant .with mining matters in saying that the Buller district is in all probability destined to become one of our most promising gold-fields, and such being the case, no means should be left unemployed to settle the population when they have once congregated there* There is a large quantity of excellent land which is apparent from the most cursory examination, and the trees ou it alone proclaim its great fertility. The neglect toj induce the mining population to settle on the' gold-fields has been the great fault of all the governments where gold has been discovered. Iv Australia, where the squatters reigned supreme and wanted to convert the country into a vast sheep-run, the miners were always met with obstructiveuess when they wanted to purchase freeholds and settle down with their wives and families. The opportunity has not been half made use of in Otago- to hold out inducements to the fortunate miners to settle- in the country, and give it the benefit of the wealth they have acquired, instead of seeking for other countries in which to invest their capital. We know that are generally looked upon as birds of passage, mere migratory animals, lucky vagabonds, who come to drain the country of its wealth and then go for fresh woods and pastures new. If they are so, it is because no inducements are held out to them to remain on the gold-fields which their industry has opened. The old identity of New Zealand are not more partial to the digger genus than the ■ squatting lords of the Australias; and it is not wonderful that the feeliugis reciprocated, and.that the lucky miner who makes a rich haul is anxious- to leave, the country where he is valued only :for his money. . y-~ : Next to beiiig glad to hear that the Buller had. become the centre of a thriving. mining ' community, we should be glad to learn that inducements were held but to fix the people on" the laud. Diggers with money in their hand will give any reasonable price for land, and now is the .time to retain them there, and if the opportunity be .lost it will never come again. With thriving communities on the West Coast extending from :: Hokitika to Nelson, with overland . communication with the people so settled, a ' new era of pros- . perity would- arise, andr the .country would resound with the busy hum of industry

instead of relapsing into its pristine desolation, which will follow the departure of the population engaged in the scramble for auriferous treasure. We are not so wise as some who venture to foretell who the new Superintendent will be, but we sincerely, trust that whatever his other qualifications, he will be a man who will take an earnest and practical view of this important subject. In the failure of railway projects, if a large and thriving population were established in the Buller district, it might not be impossible to establish overland communication between it and Nelson by means of a more humble kind. It is a question that every elector should put to the candidate for the Superintendent, whether he is fully alive to the importance of establishing a population at the' Buller and, all the places between it and Nelson, where gold may be discovered ; and Avhether he will bend all his energies and employ all the means placed at his disposal to open up communication by roads of some' kind or another, with the newly established communities.