THAMES MINING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13352, 5 December 1906, Page 8

THAMES MINING.

THE HON. J. McGOWAN REMARKS CRITICISED.UNFOUNDED AND UN WAR . RANTED. GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FUR DEEP LEVELS ADVOCATED.* Tjik statement- of the Minister for Mines (the Hon. Jas. McGowan) that the properties of the Thames goldfield have been worked for ten years for the market, and not for the sake of development, has naturally been freely discussed in mining circles, hut few of those interested in the field appear to see eye to eye with Mr. McGowan. Seen yesterday by a Hkrali) reporter, Mr. 6. A. Buttle, chairman of the Auckland Stock Exchange, who is intimately acquainted with the mining industry in lie Auckland district, and the Thames mines' more particularly, said he could not recall instances during the period 'mentioned' ■by the Minister .in which Thames properties had been worked for market purposes, but admitted that if the statement were made to apply to the Haunt ki gold fields generally one or two instances ; might be cited where Mr. Mc- " Cowan's remarks could be applied. ."No," continued Mr. Buttle, "I .cannot agree with Mr. McGowan as far as the Thames is concerned. My experience of the field for some years past has been that tinder very adverse circumstances the • best use has been made of -the limited capital at the command of those controlling the mines in legitimately developing the properties without any thought of the market. What money has been available for he purpose has been mainly from calls, and the money has been entirely devoted to mine development work. The only divi-dend-paying proposition on the Thames during the past 10 years has been the Waiotahi mine, and there can be no question but that- the efforts of the management and mine manager have been directed* entirely towards working the mine in 'the'best interests of the shareholders; the market has certainly not been taken into consideration."

" Possibly the Minister intends his remarks to apply to speculators, rather than those controlling the properties, Mr. Buttle?"

"Perhaps so, but- the paragraph in the Hkralu certainly does not read that way. If, however, such is the case, I can to some extent agree with Mr. McGowan. That clever speculators work the market from time to time is unquestionable. This, of course, is done all the world over, and is known as ' bulling' and ' bearing,' as the case may lie, but the Minister should be more guarded in the use of his language and not let it go forth that those controlling the mines are -working for the market rather than for the sake of development, for such is certainly not the case."

"Mr. McGowan also says lie is convinced that there would be plenty of gold found in the deep levels, but through the inordinate greed of the present owners of adjoining areas there is no chance for the district yet. Do you follow him in this?" ' " I must confess that I do not. At the same time I quite believe that gold will be found in payable quantities in the Thames deep levels if the struggling companies there are offered facilities, and encouraged to test the field at a greater depth. lam of opinion that the Government. of the colony lias jiot realised its duty to this portion of our goldfields, and hold that the Government should liberally assist the working of the deep levels by providing the necessary money to enable the Hauraki and Big Pump shifts to be carried down to a greater depth. This work should rank side by side with , the building of railways and opening up of roads, for the, settlement of the back country, for after all the main shafts are main roads down into the bowels of the earth, to facilitate the development of the mines and the winning of the precious metal, from which the people of the country as a whole and the Government would in due course reap benefits." .

AN OLD INVESTOR'S VIEWS. A large investor in mining, and one who proceeds along legitimate lines,' informed the reporter that, in his opinion, the Minister's statement was ill-advised and incorrect. " Had," •he continued, " Mr. McGowan, instead of crying down the genuine mining now being carried on at the Thames, devoted his attention to amending the Act, he might have rendered the country and the industry signal service. I have been interested in mining in Auckland Thames included—for between 30 and 40 years, and may say that at 110 time in the history of the Thames field has the development work carried on been of a more genuine character than during the past 10 years. It seems to me, however, that the Minister might well take into consideration the question of so amending the Act as to compel sharebrokers to. devote themselves solely to the buying and selling of shares for clients. Some of them, 1 believe, do so at present, but there are others who certainly do not, and they are the people who are mainly responsible for the working of the market to-day they may be. found ' bulling' the market, and selling shares; a week hence they may be found ' bearing,' with the object -of buying in again at a low figure. his, to my mind, is one of the greatest drawbacks to the progress of mining, as it causes legitimate investors to button up their pockets. If provision were made in the Act for the imposition of a heavy penalty where brokers were found departing from legitimate business much good might be done."

MR. McGOWAN'S STATEMENTS

WORDING FOR THE MARKET.

ASHAMED OF THAMES MINING

PEOPLE,

[BY TELEGRAPH.OWN" CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington, Tuesday.

The following is the full text of the statements of the Hon. J. McGowan on the Thames goldfields, and a short summary of which I telegraphed last night: — "I am absolutely ashamed of Thames mining people," said Mr. McGowan, the Minister for Mines, to a Times reporter, who asked for his views as to the probability of the deep levels question receiving the attention it deserves, now that the Government is paving the way. " I am absolutely ashamed of them, because the mines have been worked for 10 years for the market, and not for the sake of development. The industry has been very greatly injured by this phase of mining. During the period when my predecessor was ill office," the Minister continued, "the Government gave them a subsidy of £25.000, with a view to the development of the deeper levels. That opportunity was not taken. The Thames goldfield was opened in 1867, and- during the last 10 years the workiugs have been put down no deeper than they were before. When the Whittakei Wright smash came the Thames mining people had another opportunity, which they did not take. The. whole property and plant of the Thames Hauraki Company (one of the Whittaker Wright group companies) could have been sold for removal at a profit to the Government, but the Minister for Mines maintained the position that he would not allow the plant to be removed from the district, and afterwards paid off the judgments of the different creditors, who had proved their cases in Court, at a total cost of about £6000. Then when the Thames Drainage Board's Big Pump was in danger of collapsing, and the Board had no money to carry out- the repairs (estimated to cost £8000), he allowed the use of the Thames Hauraki pump, on the Board agreeing to pay the interest on the £6000. the cost of paying I the judgments obtained by local creditors.' i Questioned upon the provision in the Act i of last session which gives the purchaser

of the rights, etc.. of the Queen of Beauty mine a prior right -to a license for the special claim, and as to the Government "object in so providing. Mr McGowan said; "I know the local condition of the Tnames. There would have been nothing but interminable law, and. possible hardswearing for ownership >>; I tie ground, it the sale Had been carried out in the ordinary way: consequently the Government decided upon the method provided for in the Act. as the nest for all parties. The proceeds of the sale will be deposited in the Public Account, and become part of the Consolidated Fund. As Minister for Mines. I last session took a vote with a view to encouraging the sinking of the Queen of Beauty shaft and the further prospecting of the district, and vet those people who are crying out have made no move in the direction of taking advantage of that subsidy. No they are not waiting for the auction sale of the mine, because whoever gets it will have to pay the ordinary- shale of drainage contribution. There are a number of people interested in mining at the Thames .who make more money out of fluctuations in the prices of shares than out of mining, ml the people at the Thames have got to suffer until these persons have got enough out of it to satisfy* them. 1 am as satisfied as I can he of anything that there will be plenty of gold found in the deep levels of the Thames, but through the immediate greed of the present owners of adjoining areas there is in my opinion no chance for the district. It is not a question of £10,000 or £20.000 to develop the deep levels. It means £200.000 or £500.000. and 1 doubt that amount being forthcoming. The vote is there, so that I can subsidise if something is done in the direction of deep levels development, but if they don't look sharp I may spend it elsewhere. '1 his year's vote is' £1000. on account of £10.000. I still have faith in the Thames deep levels, and have no doubt that some of these days very larsie returns will be got from there, "but," concluded Mr. McGowan. "I have given up expecting it dining my lifetime, owing to the temptation offered to people of being able to make money on the sharemarket." INDIGNATION AT THE THAMES. [BY TELEGRAPH.— CORJRESJPONDEXT. Thames, Tuesday. Great indignation is expressed here by representative mining men regarding the statement of the Minister for Mines, which is generally regarded as unjust and uncalled for, more especially at the present time, as there is now more legitimate minin" work in operation on the Thames than there has been at any one time during the last 20 years. Nearly the whole of the available ground on the Thames is held by different mining companies, who are in most cases working the claims in a legitimate way, and expending their capital in such a manner as to thoroughly prospect and develop the mines. Exception is taken to the statement that Mr. McGowan's predecessor gave the Thames people a subsidy towards prospecting to the amount of £25,000, which statement is certainly misleading, as although the mining representatives of the district had repeatedly asked the Government for a substantial subsidy towards prospecting the deep levels, it had always been refused, and the aid that was refused to local ventures was reserved for an English company, and the money spent 'in such a maimer as to be of very little benefit to the district. Then, again,' "Mr. McGowan blames the local people for their apathy with regard to testing the. deep levels, and states that if tliev do not move quickly he will use the £1000 that is available for this year lor otner purposes. This statement appears rather amazing to the people here, who are ali aware that the .deep level works in contemplation have been retarded during the whole of this year by the action of the Government in delaying to deal with the Queen of Beauty Extended mine, it being well known that the Drainage Board had in contemplation a scheme for a, deep level crosscut to open up the deep levels of all the mines on the flat at the beginning of the year, that a sub-committee was. appointed to .perfect the scheme, and that this committee is'only waiting until the question of the ownership of this claim is settled before laving the scheme before the Board for adoption. The generally expressed opinion here' is that it is a pity that Mr. McGowan's duties will not allow him sufficient time to visit the district for mtneelf in an official manner, and inspect the workings of the various mines throughout the district, and that if he did so he would be ■ compelled to acknowledge that there was nothing for either him or those more personally interested to be ashamed of, but, on the other hand, that the efforts now being made by the majority of the Auckland and Thames people to prospect and develop the mining resources of the district deserved the hearty support of the Government.