BIRTH.

Otago Witness, Issue 283, 2 May 1857, Page 4

BIRTH.

At Princes Street, Dunedin, on the 27th nit., the wife of Mr. James Sounness, junr., of a Daughter.

THE OTAGO WITNESS. Dunedin, Saturday, May 2, 1857.

The development of the mineral resources, of New Zealand has ever been a favourite idea vrith those who take an interest in the colony. It is a scheme which presents visions of wealth to almost every intended immigrant; and yet, notwithstanding . the fact that New Zealand has been colonized for; upwards of 17 years, and ..that valuable, I minerals have been known for a gre,at part i

of that time to abound, ,no really effective mining operations have been undertaken,' The copper mines at Auckland have lately been worked with' bettejvfsuccess than formerly, but the produo^makeslno great figure- in the exporjg^tfrorn the Province. The Dun Mountain and other mines at Nelson which have been talked of and reported upon for yeara^ and which were likely to be workeo^fficiently and profitably by means of>a company organized in Great Britain, h^ve, just as the prospect of success was becoming apparent; been crippled in their working, or altogether stopped by the gold discoveries in Nelson. We may therefore say that mining operations with us at this moment are not in a hopeful state. This opinion we know will be somewhat unsatisfactory to our friends at home who are constantly asking, Why do you not work your minerals ? We shall therefore attempt to give some few reasons for what our friends at a distance are apt to consider as an indication of the apathy of the colonists of our adopted land.

Most of our readers are aware of the fact that mining shares are always a speculative property, even in old countries, where every appliance for carrying on the work scientifically and economically is at hand, and where labour and capital are both abundant. It need not therefore be a matter of surprise that in a new country, where all these requisites to success are deficient, the population generally are unwilling to engage in undertakings which are rendered more than doubly hazardous from the circumstances in which we are placed. Many of the coal mines which are worked in Great Britain do not yield more than 10 per cent upon the capital employed ; and any mines which yield for years upon an average from 10 to 20 per cent are considered exceedingly remunerative. It is self-evident, that in New Zealand, where any person who has capital to spare, can obtain an interest of 10 per cent without the least trouble or risk, and where people engaged in business of any sort can obtain with certainty 20 per cent, it would be absurd to engage in undertakings which are extremely speculative, except where the prospects of success are very apparent, and the gains will probably be exceedingly high. And as mining operations require a combination of labour and capital, it appears to us to be an unquestionable proposition that mining will not be extensively carried on until both capital and labour are abundant — a state of thing which can only be brought about by an extensive and liberal system of immigration. There are, however, some exceptions to the general rule we have laid down, such as in the case of gold diggings, where each man without capital can often, by his own labour realize an ample remuneration. But even in gold digging we find, in proportion as the surface gold becomes scarce, and deep sinking is required, the combination of labour and capital Jbecomes necessary. Gold mining has, however, amongst its many disadvantage's (and the evils attendant upon it are' neither few nor slight), this advantage' : — it is so peculiarly attractive thar it* draws together a large populations/who, although they may have little to do with the actual search for gold, yet tend to develope the resources of the country in other ways with a rapidity which no other cause of attraction has ever equalled. It therefore is a question of policy Well worthy of the consideration of the public and the Government, whether it would not be advisable to offer an adequate reward for the discovery of an available gold field. At present it is decidedly the interest of any person who may have discovered gold in quantities worth the working to keep the matter secret, and to avail himself of the advantages of his knowledge as long as he can without calling in competitors. If, then, it be thought advisable to attempt to develope the gold discoveries which have been made, , we certainly think that some reward should be offered to any one who will prove the availability of the gold field. We, however, do not at present desire' to' attract attention to this subject ; no doubt in a short time something more definite than the information we have upon this matter will be obtained, when we shall' return to the subject.

Although we cannot recommend any attempt at mining in its more extended scale, we cannot help thinking that it is to be regretted that no efforts have been made to work the vast coal fields which are known to exist in this Province. The working of coal is j&x less- speculative than other kinds or mining, and in this' Province the dejarfand for coal would be: sufficient to jrfeld- a profit, as any rate under £3 j&r ton could readily be,obtained for an article" of good quality. /

For as far as our experience goes, wood at 20s. per cord is quite as expensive a fuel. as coal would be at £3 per ton, and we are persuaded that in ..the tow ; ns at least coal would be generally preferred. The. waste of time in chopping and ■ splitting wood after it -has been 'obtained is very considerable, and if the' value of the labour thus spent were added to the original price of the wood, it would raise the cost fully fifty per cent. Many interesting calculations have been made of the time, in proportion to the duration of human life, wasted in taking snuff. Were the same calculations applied to the time ' consumed in a new colony in splitting wood, the waste would be found far beyond what is ordinarly supposed. But apart from the domestic advantages which would arise from working the coal fields, if steam communication is to become a reality, the advantages to be derived by this Province, from its being able to supply fuel at a cheap rate, would be very, great. It would render that indifference, and neglect with which all our opinions and remonstrances upon the injustice hitherto done us by the older Provinces impossible. And were the plan of steam communication, suggested by Mr. Gibbs, carried out, it would throw an amount of capital and labour into Otago which wouid have a beneficial effect upon all descriptions of property.

That the attempt to work the coal in this Province is by no means as difficult an affair as has been generally believed, we have no hesitation in affirming. From personal observations made at Coal Point not many months since, we are led to believe that a sum of £300 would, if judiciously expended, be sufficient fully to test the quality of tHe coal, and being such a quantity to Dunedin as would give a satisfactory test of its market value.

Almost all of our readers have heard of Coal Point, but we believe few have seen it, or paid much attention to the description of it. It is a cliff of about 60' feet high, on the coast, about three or three and a half miles from the Molyneux river. The coal, with every returning tide, is washed by the sea, which beats against the cliff, and at low water the coal seam, the depth of which -is unknown, may be seen cropping out like rocks until lost sight of in the sea. The same seam is found on the banks of the Molyneux or Clutha river, and undoubtedly extends under the ground the whole distance, in a straight direction about seven or eight miles. The great difficulty which has always presented itself to the minds of those who have contemplated the project of working the coal has been the impossibility of shipping it from off an exposed coast, but it would not be necessary to do so, as it is perfectly practicable to construct a road over the level ground from Coal Point to the Molyneux or Clutha river, where vessels of considerable size could receive cargoes in perfect safety.

As a speculation we have no doubt that it would ultimately answer. The passage of the cutter Hope up the river some 15 or 20 miles above the point at which the coal would be shipped, having set at rest the question of the practicability of vessels navigating the river, and as there are constantly small craft plying backwards and forwards to the South with supplies for the settlers, it would be an easy thing for them to drop in to the river and obtain a return cargo, instead of coming back, as they mostly do, in ballast. Of the quality of the coal we may say that although it is of the nature of lignite, it is the best coal that we have seen from any part of New Zealand — a fact of which any persons may judge for themselves, as specimens may be seen either in the Provincial Treasurer's office or at the office of this paper. The specimens, although good, cannot be considered as fair samples, as we had no tools to break into the cliff, and the pieces brought away have been subject for years to the action of the salt water. The coal, geologically speaking, appears to be of recent formation, but we have no doubt that coal of 'earlier periods may be discovered upon working, and we have every reason to" believe that bitumenous coal would be found, for amongst the quartz conglomerate with which the coal is overlaid, are to be 'seen thin , strata of coal sand, and imbedded in the coal itself there lare considerable quantities of kauri gum, in a perfectly pure state. We think it will be. much to be regretted if some effort be not made to turn this inexhaustible source of wealth to account, and we would suggest that the public should subscribe £150 or £200 for ; the purpo.se of trying^ the, experiment, and "' we '.believe,' we may calculate upon." the* Government yro-

'^posing a vote of an equal sum ou.t .of the "public funds for so desirable an object.

The " Ellen," which is now a regular trader between this port and Auckland, arrived in port yesterday, and is now lying off Dunedin. She brings a cargo consisting of 23,000 feet of timber, flour, tea, &c. By this opportunity we have news from Auckland to the 11th ult. At that time the European news received was not of so late a date as that which has lately reached us by the " Gil Bias." From the General Government Gazette we learn, that Sidney Stephen, Esq., has been appointed as Judge of the Southern Provinces until the 10th of May, in the place of Daniel Wakefield, Esq., who is incapable from illness. It would therefore appear that for the present there is but one judge for the whole of New Zealand. The Court of Sessions of the Peace Ordinance is to be brought into operation in the Province of Canterbury, and Henry Barnes Gresson, Esq., has been appointed to be Chairman of the Court. John Johnston, Esq., of Wellington, has been called to the Legislative Council of New Zealand. Peter Proudfoot, Esq., has been appointed to be an Assistant Land Claims Commissioner under the "Land Claims Settlement Act, 1856." Very extensive alterations have been made in the postal department, which we have not time or space to notice in detail; the chief point, however, is, that all letters must be prepaid here in full, so that the postage upon a letter to Great Britain of half an ounce weight will cost 6d., and so on in proportion. There will be no postage payable on such letters in Great Britain, and all letters from thence will be delivered free. This regulation comes into force immediately. Within the Province of Auckland five blocks of land, amounting to about 33,000 acres, have been purchased from the Natives. We observe with regret that the " William Denny," on Thursday oth March, during a fog, ran upon the western point qf the North Cape. No lives were lost, but the vessel is disabled, has several holes in her bottom, and is half .full of water. We understand that she will probably be got off.