ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 217, 19 August 1862, Page 5

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE

THE EIGHTY-SEVEN- POUND WEIGHT. _ {To the Editor of the Daily Timks.) Sib,—Having an opportunity of hearing the many and varied doubts and rumors that are in circulation, relative to the 87 lbs. of. gold that is said to liave been deposited m tlie Treasury, by the two men Hartley and Simmons, and knowing tliafc if these rumors are allowed to vain ground, they must of necessity prove injurious, I would, therefore, suggest that the Government at once olfer these men a reward, for their giving publicity to the locality where tiiey obtained the gold. And I would further add, that the Government should, in this "instance, behave in a liberal and not in a parsimonious spirit. At the same time it will be necessary for them to exercise a certain degree of caution, and I think the simple mole of guaranteeing them a certain sum upon the arrival of a specified number of ounces in Dunedin; or, in fact, of a certain number of ounces beiii" raised in the neighborhood indicated by them, I apprehend will be sutheient protection to the Government, and ample guarantee to the discoverers—that is, always presuming it to be a bona fide discovery, of which I can assure you there are plenty who entertain and give expression to their doubt*. However, the Government by adopting this measure, will be taking a step in the right direction towards keeping the miners here, who have made up their minds to be oil to Coromandel. Trusting no time will be lost in bringing about this much-desired result. I am, Sir, _. ~„„-,' Vox Popuu. Dunedin, 10th Aug., 1862.