THE MINISTER FOR MINES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11562, 28 January 1901, Page 3

THE MINISTER FOR MINES.

I COROMANDEL DEPUTATIONS. 1 [BY TELEGRAPH- —OWN CORRESPONDENT. I -:■ -- . ". :. .. ;"■" '■ " '"-. '■ ~ I Coromandel. Saturday. ? The Hon. Jas. McGowan, with his private I secretary (Mr. Matthews), arrived here last evening per s.s. Waitangi. This morning She met the County Council, when a list of i requirements was placed before him by the I chairman. I .Before going into the various items, Mr. I'McGowan said he would like to know what I the Council had done with the various sums ! voted last session for roads and bridges in | the county. It was found that quite a numl ber of grants for works in various parts of \ the county still. remained unexpended. He 5 thought the position somewhat peculiar, and | advised the Council to spend this money at 3 once, otherwise the votes would lapse at the j end of the financial year. ' Mr. McGowan then went through the I Council's schedule of new requirements, and t at the item £500, for wharf road extension, | said the Act put through by him, at their jj own request, last session, abolishing the J Coromandel Harbour Board " put the set on " 3 any Government assistance corning in that 3 direction, and it was not reasonable to ex- ] pect it. What they evidently wanted was that the Government should practically maintain a wharf for them. He would tell j them straight that there was no money avail- | able for such works. Had they no revenue I from wharfages and port dues ? Mr. Mc- ) Gowan also stated that there appeared to be an impression amongst public bodies that ] grants, or portions of grants, or j subsidies, unexpended at the end of j the financial year, were carried forward, j and would be available for expenditure during the coming year. This was not so, for " all such votes then lapsed, and ceased to be ! available until revoted by Parliament dur- ! ing next session. He also made pointed ) allusion to the custom which had grown in J such large proportions, viz., that of local j bodies preparing lengthy lists of requirements, representing large sums and present- • these to Ministers as they passed through j the various districts. He did not think it j wife to meet Ministers and ask for money lin this way. It also placed the county in a j wrong position. In his opinion, requests on | such occasions should only be for specific I urrrent cases, such, for instance, as a broken ' ! bridge. With respect, to general votes by i the House, tin's should be done on a broad j | comprehensive basis in the interests of the ; | whole colony. ■ ] i The question of the Te Kouma Road was j i again brought up, when Mr. McGowan said ', i he would make a point of inspecting the j I two routes, and would then be in a position ] jto judge for himself. He honed to be able j to do something more for the WhitiangaI Gumtown Road, which he would inspect j before he left the district. He was also i anxious that the main road should be comi pleted to Cane Colville. and hoped the money now available would be spent without delav by the Council, and then he would see what more could be done next vear. Mr. I McGowan said he could be candid with his j old friends, and pointed out that if they i i spent the money already authorised before | the end of the financial year they would have their hands full, and he hoped in the interest of the couutrv settlers, who were in such urgent need of better roads, that the Council would not have a lot of money unexpended, otherwise it would lapse at the end of March. They should also hasten the work for the benefit of the unemployed in the district. Mr. ■ McGowan intends to make a tour j throughout the county, in order to personally see what works are required. SCHOOL OF MINES. Mr. McGowan had a conference with the members of the Council of the School of Mines, the following members being preson :Messrs. Kenrtck (chairman), W. Jones, A. Jamieson, W. Moorcraft, J. Refills, W. Thomas, T. W. Rhodes, J. B. Bockliffe, and McLeod (director). Mr. Ken rick acted as spokesman, and after reviewing the work already accomplished, pointed out the necessity for an additional grant of £50. making £150 for the year. The necessity for this arose chiefly from the fact tha'i their stock of chemicals and other necessaries had got very low. Mr. McGowan said he was pleased with the work which was being done by the school, and as Minister for Mines it afforded him the utmost satisfaction to support it as much as possible ; but. although he could not increase the regular grant, he would not see them stuck for want of chemicals, especially for a school that was doing such good work. If they would let him know their requirements in this respect, he would see that their wants were supplied. Mr. Kenrick then referred to the public battery. It appears that the nine horsepower oil engine is not sufficient to drive the whole of the six stampers and the berdans at the same time. The committee, therefore, thought it better to procure another three horse-power engine as an auxiliary, which could also be used for the specimen stamper alone, should it be necessary at any time to work that alone, and thus save fuel, or it could be used as an auxiliary to help the larger engine drive the whole plant. The new engine would, it was estimated, cost £60. This, with other re- i quirements at the battery, made a total sum : of £200. Mr. McGowan said, before doing anything in the matter he would require a report from an officer in the Department, as on the face of it the proposition to purchase another small engine to assist the one in use did not commend itself to his mind. At the close of the conference Mr. McGowan and party visited the battery, when he expressed himself pleased as to its up-to-date appearance, and promised that after he had received a report from the official ho would be sent, he would do his oest to give them increased motive power. He was always pleased to assist so excellent a school, but they must not expect too much, for it was not the intention of the Government to make every School of Mines capable of sending out teachers. Only two centres were so equipped, viz., Otago and the Thames, and they were both doing their work faithfully; but as regards the smaller schools their special functions were to enable men to obtain mine and battery managers' certificates, and impart general education on subjects relating to mining. Mr. McGowan returns to Auckland from Coromandel on Monday. Owing to the Hon. j. G. Ward spraining his ankle, Mr. McGowan's intended visit to Opitonui, Kunotunu, and Whitianga, has been postponed for a few days. He, however, intends to visit these districts before lis returns to Wellington.