THE Otago Daily Times.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 246, 3 October 1862, Page 4

THE Otago Daily Times.

" fnveniam viam aut faciam."

DUNEDiN", FRIRDAY, OCTO3E& 3.

Mr. E B. CAttGiLL especially, and Mr. John Cargili in a minor degree, appear to be affected with a horror ofgold,or, weshould rather say, #>ld producing. Whenever and wheresoever Mr K. B. Cargill can get a chance of attacking the gold fields, he avails himself "of it. His ingenuity in finding opportunities is something surprising. Like the mm who inflicted upon everybody his one inveterate, anecdote about hunting, and who, forgetting Gibraltar was a rock, on that place being mentioned in conversation, began—" Ah, ye?, "Sir, I _ remember when I was hunting at " Gibralter," and was going to commence his one story; so Mr. Cargill always reiterates the same tale on every public opportunity. When he was a candidate for the Provincial Council, he told iiis hearers that the oid settlers must raily round one another to preserve themselves against the influx of new comers. When he got into the. Assembly he took the earliest opportunity of characterising the pursuit of gold-mining as uncertain, and not deserving the encouragement that should be given to other industries; and hi 3 latest attack was at the Chamber of Commerce meeting a few days ago. Mr Moss introduced a resolution, recommending the Provincial Council to borrow a sum of money, for the construction of main trunk lines of road. One could hardly see anything in this whereon Mr. Cargili could ride his favorite hobby, but yet he managed to do so. The following is the purport of his remarks:—

He was not sure that the Chamber were not travelling a little out of their way. It was desirable that there should be good roads, bufc not that money should be spent on roads that woul 1 not be permanently beneficial. It was very questionable to what extent money should be devoted to road-making in districts where there might be a gold-rush, which roads would be all but useless as soon as the gold h:id been scraped out. If made, they sir>uld bd mainly by revenues derived from the gold-fielda themselves, not by means of luans.

Mr. John Cargill played an accompaniment in a lower key :— Mr John Cargiil (who had entered the room while Mr. Moss was introducing the sui>j >ct), thought that money might be borrowed for a good system of trunk .roads; but not for roads into districts where they would cease to be useful as soon a* a gold-field was worked out. He thought the field itself should be the means of getting such a road.

They say every man. has one subject on which he is mad ; and perhaps it is useless to attempt to argue with Mr. E. B. Cargill on this matter, about which his ideas seem so entirely at fault. We cannot, however, refrain from telling him that he appears to be entirely ignorant of the nature and character, of the gold mining industry, and of the consequences that follow in its wake. A grain of practice is worth a bushel of theory, and we may tell Mr. Cargill that experience .has demonstrated that it is a wise and economical policy, not only to make roads to the gold fields, biit to make the trunk lines of communication with the interior depend upon the situation of the gold fields. Neither are the gold fields liable to be " scraped out." Not one field during ten years has been worked out in Victoria, but wherever gold fields- have been discovered, there have sprung up towns which lbnnVj;h"a,: nuclei of a settled population. And this result has been brought about by the means of communication that have been opened, not only between the gold fields and Melbourne but between the different gold fields. -

; Mr. Cargill, in his rabid dislike of the gold fields, forgets to deal with his subject from an ordinary, common sense, business-like.point of view. Otherwise he would see that by making roads to the gold fields he enables the miners to procure provisions at a much less cost than they otherwise can; .that the cheaper the miners can live, the larger their profit; or, in other words, the less the returns for whkh they can afford to work. If the miner* are to be subjected to all kinds of difficulties no doubt the gold fields will soon be " scraped out," because they would not pay to work with the ordinary returns that are to be calculated on. The making the roads then assists the development of the gold fields, r and in objecting to the one Mr. Cargill simply interposes a check to the progress of the other. i ■ . . . ■ ■ In.another direction, the fallacy of Mr. Cargill's arguments can also be shown. He insinuates that it will not pay the State to construct roads to the gold fields. Here, however, we can deal -,with facts. For.the 14 years ending 1850 the total number of acres sold in Victoria was 334,000, realising £685,000; but up to the end of the next eight years 3,000.000 acres were alienated for a total sum of £7,625,000, Thus, during the eight years succeeding the gold discoveries, there was. a revenue for land Bales of w^Uttle less tfeaa-i

"even millions against .£685,000 the fourteen previous years..,, During the first foufteeJV: . years " f . the average price realised Was L 2 Is. Id. per acre ; during the next eight year* if was L 2 12s. per acre; Npr was j the laud bought for mere speculation. :Xt the ,end of 1858 the, census.returns showed that of the total land alienated, tiearly twelve (11.87) percent, was under cultivation, and r Sni y-three per cent: was in occupation. : tiere, as we hav&.said, .are practical results that have followed on ths introduction of the industry. Victoria has outstripped;.™ every point of m# rial prosperity,, the other Australian -colonies; and yet before the, goia^discoyeriesT it was the last on the list. Wesl{aH be told, JerhapX ~' that the auriferous 'capabilities of Otago are not prof ed to be equal to those which Victoria has enjoyed. ,?If this be the caseLthere is the greater reason why they should be more carefully developed. We have before Inow remarked on the exceeding illtaste of ftie psuedo-disparagenient of the gold-producing'-iudustry in which Mr. Cargill and one or two .others indulge. To quarrel with the good fortune that has raised Otago' in a -few months intojhe chief province of New Zealand; that has made it the envy of all the neighbouring colonies; that has proved it to contain that for the discovery of viruich in other,'.countries princely rewards are being .offered ;sis something more than ungrateful, We. do notyundervalue the..early progress of the province, and the industry of its first settlers. But they, as X well as the newcomers, have cause to rejoice ,:at the recent turn events have taken. . Tasmania was in advance of Victoria.iulßso,-r-cumpare them now. No doubt Otago would have progressed without its gold discoveries, but it will now do in months what before it would have taken years to effect, Mr. Cargiirmay cherish his old recollections of the province, but let him go outside it, let him go-to England or Australia, and he will learn that its gold producing capabilities are those for which it is known. But, says Mr. Cargill, you-ifrust not the new industry, you must not take your roads to thegold fields: regulate your trunk lines according to your old ideas. It is really difficult to consider with patience illiberalism of this character. As a man of business, Mr. Cargill cannot but be aware of the commercial advantages that have followed in the wake of the new industry, and is it to be checked or injured for the'mere sake of associations connected with the past, which, reduced to words, can only be translated into old fogeyism?- We have not now space to discuss Mr. Moss's resolution, further than to remark; that it appears a sensible, businesslike proposition, to invest a certain amount of money on roads, in return for which to obtain an increased price for land, to save enormous expenses in the transit of goods, and to facilitate the opening up and settlement of the interior.

"Don Cesar de Bazan," "Winning a Husband," and " Cramond Brig,", were repeated at the Theatre Royal last evening. Buhver's masterly play, "Money," is to be produced this evening.

There was an average house at the Princess Theatre last evening. n Guy Mannering " was given, for the last time, we understand ; but the "Pacha of Pimlico," which was the farce, has not, we fancy, reached that interesting point in connection with the history of this theatre. It is certainly about the most outrageously comical affair over put upon the stage.

The ordinary monthly meeting o" the members, of the Fire Brigade, is appointed to be h^ld on Monday, 6th October, at 8 p.m.

The Provincial Government is advertising for tenders for the construction of 4 miles 30 chaii s of road, from the township of Kaitaugata to the Southern road.

Cobb's coach will re-commence- running to Tuapeka on Saturday— to-morrow.

A series of calamities appears have occurred at the Heathcote Hiver, • Canterbury ; the Ann ft total wreck, the Lucy Jumes ashore, but got oil, the Sea Bird leaky, and the Nymph of the Seas damaged. .

, We recently pointed out that by the substitution of" fi replaces for stoves in the C nirc House, two windows hal been blocked up, thus rend-riii;? the court inconveniently dark. We are glal t> see that steps are buing taken to remedy the defect. The two windows that were lett at the back of the bench, and which were very low, arc, being blocked up,and one long one i 3 being mule at a level altogether above that of the bench.: This window will be over 14ft. long, and 3ft. 9in. deep, only five sheets of.,.frosted glass, eac!? 2 ft. 9in, by 3ft. 9in., being'uiea. It promises to be a great improvement.

The following remarks upon the recent visit of Sir George Grey to the Otaki natives are from the Wellington Independent :~-Sir George Grey has been meeting the King Natives at Otaki, during his semi-diplomatic tour up the West Coast Districts, but judging from the accounts we have received, and which appeared in ou»- last issue, he does not appear to have met as yet with much success. Nothing could be more decisive than the speeches of Wi Tako aud his coadjutor Heremiah» at the interview which took place at the half-way bridge between the King flagstaff and the village. Two days previous to this taking piace, Mr. Bul-

ler made a series of demands, viz.,.'that the King flag should be given up, that the King Movement should cease, and that the Runanga should meet the Governor at the town of O;riki, to all of which refusals of the most unmistakeable character were returned by Heremiahrj-i while Tako, though evidently unwilling to give any reply at all, was at length prevailed to say generally,-that he now concluded the Governor chilQidh, arid* that he would only consent to.coraehajf of the distance to meet him. At the'raeeting itself on the 17th, in the presence of upwards of a thousand natives, nothing in the way of concession could be gained from the wily chief, and the Governor's three offers would appear to have been rejected with a force and emphasis almost contemptuous. There is something ludicrous, were it not painful, in the spectacle of a savage like this compelling the Governor to come half way to meet him, and, .alter all, treating the representative of royalty in such a cavalier fashion. 'If you. want to destroy the King Movement/ says Wi Tako, you must dig up the seed potatoe (i.e., the King himself), and' then all springing from that source will be destroyed also.' It will, we think, be admitted, .that whatever object this visit may •have been intended to serve, has certainly not <-7et i>een atpuWft" ~

A public meeting, attended by the leading men of the Province, was held at Christchurch, on Thursday evening, the 25th September, on the subect of the distress in Lancashire. At the close of the meeting, subscriptions to the amount of £488 were procured.

The escort from the older gold-fields, which arrived yesterday afternoon brought 5364 ozs.. 15 dwts., of which .3932 oz3. 15 dwts. were from Tuapeka ; 1012 ozs. from Waitahuna ; and 420 ozs. from Tokomairiro (the Woolshed).

Our Wellington correspondent informs us that we were in error in stating that Mr Sewell had estimated the expense of a two-monthly line of steamers from Panama to New Zealand at £100,000. Mr Sewell, it appears, referred to »" two-monthly line from Southampton to New Zealand via Panama.

The wreck of the steamer Lord Worsley has been purchased where she lies, for the General Government ; the object, apparently, being to obviate the difficulties that might ensue from private purchasers demanding their property, and being refused access to it by the natives, iv which case the Government would be obliged to inter, fere, and war be precipitated.

It appears that Otago's hope of a visit from the Governor is again to bo deferred. We learn from the letter of our Wellington correspondent that His Excellency was at once : to proceed to Auckland, with a view to the adjustment of the Kaipara native quarrel.

The action of the Chamber of Commerce ia respect to the erection of a patens slip in Otago Harbour was none too early, for, as will be seen by our Wellington correspondence, preliminary steps are already being taken towards the erection of a patent slip at that port, and that it is in contemplation to order the plant from England. &

According to the published statement, the revenue of the Province of Auckland, for the quarter ended June 30th, amounted to Ll4 253 including the three-eighths gross receipts of the Customs' dues. The expenditure for the same period amounted to L 12,349.

Many thieves of much notoriety in Victoria have recently arrived here from Melbourne. Merchants, shopkeepers, and householders, would therefore do well to look with more than usual care to the safety of their premises and property. The pickpockets who have come amongst us are known to- be especially clever, and ladies, with their « outside pockets," arc likely to be amongst their chief victims.

The cutting away of Bell Hill is about to be commenced. Yesterday, Mr Swyer, provincial engineer, was engaged with members of his stiff in taking levels from the hill side across the beach towards Rattray-strect, ami other preparations were being made. Mr Swyer is instructed to eraploy as many as possible of the "destitute" or " distressed," mainly composed, we presume, of men who threw v ? work to goto the Dunstan diggings, and failed to get there, or of new arrivals who, from want of funds, have been unable u> start out of Dunedin, About 30 were mus- . tered yesterday, and supDlied with picks, shovels :> and barrows, and a goodly proportion of them pitched tents on the hill during the evening and passed their first night there.

Speiking of the removal of the restrictions oa the importation of cattle to Otago, the New Zta. land Ad ertiser, (Wellington) says :—" The experiment of importing fresh meat into Dunedin from Wellington has been tried and has failed—, not because meat could not be imported into Dunedin by*.the exporter at a profit, but owing to a combination amongst the Ofcigo butchers not to take it at any price. While cattle can be bought here by the ship-load at £5 a head, the Provincial Government at Olago will not be justified in removing the restrictions on the importation of cattle from those places where pleuro-pneumouia is known to exist."

The following appointments are notified in the Piuv wsial Government Gazette of Ist October: Benjamin Fox Duncan, Esq., to be Mining Registrar, Receiver ot. Fees, and Gold Receiver for the Nokomai gold-field ; Charles Worthington Esq., R.M , to be Commissioner for the Nokoms>{ gold-field ; Jackson Keddell, Esq., to be Commissiontir for the Dunstan gold-fields.

It is stated in the P/ouincial Government Gazette that Mr Alexander Fleming, of Tokomairiro has duly submitted for examination, a registration certificate from the General Council of .Medical Education and Registration in Edinburgh, to the effect that he the said Alexander Allan Fleming is a licentiate of the faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

A clever and very successful ruse was played off yesterday by the police. They hnd recognised about the streets a ma'u named Joseph Howes who is exceedingly weil known to the Melbourne' police, and who came over in the Mistress of the ■Saas. Tliere was no reason to doubt that Howes knew a fellow named Jones abas Wilson, who it is believed voyaged from Melbourne in the AccrinKton. The question was—how to catch Doth rogues with one cast of the net ? Of course they, would attempt to " work" the Provincial' Sale Yards, where, men with notes in their .pockets " much do congregate ;" and the authorities determined to do their work on the same ground. Detective Lambert, it was thought, would not be known to either of the men, Detec* tive Tuckwell would be to one or both. During the afternoon, the officers went separately to tho Yard ; and Lambert, beiug well placed among the: crowd, in the most innocent way took out* j small pocket-book,, and pretended to examine* number of notes, as if to be sure how far he could go, supposing a neat horse attracted his attenj I tion. Tne book, which, of course, contained some I money—a couple of notes were enough was [thrust into an outer pocket of Lambert's coat. Within a minute, Jones sidled up, leaned against Lambert, possessed himself of the pocket-book, i and ". passed" it to Howes, upon whom Tuckwell lat once pounced, wnile Lambert collared Jones There was instantly a great commotion, and it appeared as, if the. officers might be hustled and worsted. Mr M'Lean, who w*s selling, called upon the crowd to aid the police, and was about 10 jump out of his pulpit to give his assistance ; but Mr St. John Braunigan, the Commissioner of Police, who was at hund, made his way through the crowd tatjie officers, and something like order was restored. The prisoners were taken to the Police Station, being followed by a-crowd of 200 or 300 persons/who were with difficulty kept off from the officers ; but the captives were safely locked up, aud they wDI tuis morning make their appearance in the Hesident Magistrate's Court. £The "King" Natives have started a newspaper. The New Zealand Adcrtiser (Wellington) says :—" It is. perhaps not generally known that the first number of a purely Maori newspaper, printed and published by natives under the authority of the Maori King, has been issued price 3d. It is printed on a riieet of foolscap, and we are told that it is .really a, creditable produotk>n. M ■■*;, :. ..v '.-, \ •

Mr. Justice G reason, and Mr. Crosbie- Ward* Postmaster-General, were amongst the passengers who arrived yes&erday by the Airedale.

The Provincial Cooernment Gazette, October Ist, contains particulars of the lease of the Clutha Cdaffield to Mr. James Gwrge Lewis. The coaifield includes sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 in block 1, Cjast District, but the actual mining operations are restricted as follows:—"It is hereby provided and declared that the operations of mining, searching for, digging, and taking coal and clay, and of manufacturing bricks, tiles, and potteryware ahad be confined within that half next to the ocean of the said several sections of land." But tue lessee cm make use of the surface of the other half of the sections for other purposes. The lease is for twenty-one years, on the flowing terms :—Firstly, an annual rental of £200 10s.; secondly, a certain yearly royalty of £30 -'if the amount of royalties on the sale of the^oal roach over that amuuut, this payment will be merged in them; thirdly, a royalty oa all coals sold of fourpence per ton for the first tv o years, and eightpence per tou afterwards ; for all pottery ware, bricks, and tiles sold, eighepence per thousand. It in alao p ovided that the lessee shall " during the said term provide and supply to the public good pit or large coalj at a price including the cost of delivery on ih-: bank of the Clutha river, at the jetty to be erected for the use of the said coal works, not exceeding the rate of twenty shillings per ton during the first two yqars of this lease ; and during the remaining years of the lease, not exceeding the rate of twelve shillings per ton ; and shall at all times keep a supply <f such coal under sheds on the bank of the river Clutha for the use of steam vessels frequenting that river; and for the use also of the inhabitants of the Clutha District desiring to purchase the *ame."

The Daily Southern Cross, of the 24th, gives the following account of the establishment of a vitriol manufactory, near'f Auckland. " It is with no small degree of pleasure we notice the fact that a manufactory for the making of sulphuric acid—the first, we believe, ever erected in the colony—is now in working condition, on Messrs. Willis, Moms and Co.'s premises, Richmond Bill. These gentlemen are already well known in Auckland as the inventors of the manufactured Btone pavement and the' CicalathanatOß. or crop preserver,' doubtless familiar to our agricultural friends, and they now enter the field as the first producers of vitriol in the colony, with the view of app.ying it to the preparation of phoapate of lime, an artificial manure of immense value to our setters in overcoming the natural sourness of the land. The production of the phosphate, will not, however, he the only application to which the sulphuric acid will be turned, as under the judicious arrangement of the machinery, various strengths of vitriol can be produced to meet the necessities which may arise for its use. Those who have ever had any occasion here either for business purposes or experimental curiosity to procure the acid, need not be told how difficult on occasions it was to obtain, nor how high its price ranged, consequent on the very high rate of insurance exacted on its shipment from England. The erection of these works cannot, therefore, be considered otherwise than as supplying a want lons felt in this colony, and all who have an interest in the advancement of the productions of this province will wish the experi ment every success. Wo are not at present in a position to detail the guaranteed rate of production, nor the estimated cost at which the article can be supplied ; this, however, will no doubt be made public in due course by the makers. Messrs Willis, Morris and Co. have gone to great expense in fitting up machinery and other necessary appliances for tin purpose of manufacture; but we haveno-dcubt the article will be obtainable at a price more favorable to buyers than the imported article can be got for. The machinery has been fitted up by Messrs VicKery vnd Masefield, and appears complete in erery respect.