TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 1005, 4 March 1871, Page 10

TO THE EDITOR.

Sin — Mr Fuller commences by disabusing the minds of the public and the projectors of the scheme that the sum of L 300.000 ex* pended on the goldfields will not largely add to their population, and gives a of statistics, in support of his argument, of the number of races and dams, their cost, and present value. Granting that that description of property has depreciated in value, though I douot if it has done so to such an extent as described, it would yet compare favourably with the value of freehold property now and at the time when many of these races and dams were constructed. If it is asked, How is there suab. a demand for water? it may also be asked, How is there such a demand for land ? If many of these races are brought on to ground of poor character and the ground they command is being worked out, the necessity arises of providing storage to increase the supply to make the poor ground pay, and to alter tneir course or extend them to other payable ground. The majority of races in the province have or will amply remunerate their constructors, and one great cause of their depreciation in value may be attributed to the fact that many of them were constructed when wagea were at least one-third more than now, and the cost of living almost double. The information advanced by Mr, Fuller as to the enormous quantity of gallons used daily is not of bo much importance unless to' show that he is well up in figures. He should have informed us as well of the number of gallons 'which, from these very same sources, at mapy times of the year go to waste, and which, by large reservoirs, could, be stored, thereby giving a greater and more equal supply, without which the 'miners oould not be said to have the benefit of every drop of water. Besides, as "A Miner " states, many of the large streams, whioh might in many cases be made available, are cot touched. As to the number of minere, though the figures he gives may represent the number of actual mmers, still many of these have families, and these, with tradesmen and others depending on the miners and their families, would swell the mining population to at least thtee times that nnmber. These people are consumers, and not growers, of the pioduce of the country, and thus make a market for those in other pursuits. If we take into consideration the value of the precious metal these miners are putting into circulation year by year, and that the Government derives from gold duty in this province, independent of other goldfields revenue and ordinary taxes for articles of consumption, a sum more than equal to 6 per cent, on the proposed outlay of L 300,000, we may naturally conclude that that sum, or more if it is to be had, would be judiciously expended Cby the Government in fostering that branch of industry.

The illustration of the capacity and cost o.f the Dunedin Waterworks dam cap be no criterion, as every one knows that on the. site depends the cost and capacity oE reservoirs, and doubtless many sites for reservoirs will be found where the coßt will be comparatively far less. If the Taieri farmers ai e to be made believe they are indebted to the up-country races for their annual floods, we would ask them, instead of banking the river, to help us to construct large reservoirs, and we will let the water down gradually. . While agreeing with your correspondent that the miners, and the mining interest generally, have not had the attention paid to ■ them which they deserve, and while rebuking us for returning uufit persons as our representatives, he is reminding us of our error of not returning him at the head of the poll at " the last elections, and' saddling our children with a debt, and leaving them no gold. We believe that our goldfields only want to fee' developed to make them' both remunerative and lasting, and our great greatgrandchild-- ■ ran may yet be found prosecuting the indus-' try with the. same success as their fathers, Jf not, what will be the good, of .their, roada , and bridges and cultivated land without „ manufactories or mining, industry? To place the miner on the high road to prosperity, Mr Fuller says, give him easy acoesa to his 40 or 50 acres of land free of rent, &c— land whioh may at any time be sold by auction for mining purposes, the proceeds of whioh go to form a ■ fund, the working of whioh I am unable to' understand. Now, I wonld say, wh»t . has the miner to do with this 40 or 50 bores of land? If he attends to its cultivation, he , must negleot his claim, or leave 1 one or other ; to the meroy of employes. By ad doing, Ijp would doubtless soon findfcbe troth , of tbjj .

Scotch adage—" You cannot whistle and chew . meal"— for to make either pursuits remunerative, capital, skill, and perseverance are requisite. By all means give easy access to agricultural land to those who desire to Bettle on it, as. r well as for the miner who, when he lay^ clown bis piok and shovel, can make for himself, a. home ; but do^ not have these lands on or^n' the, immediate vicinity of auriferous ground/ Leave the miner room to/turn- out bis horse or his cows without their running against his neighbouring lease--holders' fences'. .And if the, miner requires to put his pegs on the leaseholders' ground, then comes the claim for compensation, and that to a tune which some of the miners in the Tuapeka and Waitabuna districts could speak feelingly upon. Better for the miner to have the much-reviled squatter around him than be hemmed in by our fondled " cockatoos." Provide ample commonage around th« centres of "population where the mining population can run a few oows for the suppot of their families, or run • horse if in a position to affo'd it, and in outlying districts give them * legal right to do so on adjacent runs. If possible -these commonages should be secured to the towns or municipalities for the district by means of Crown grant, and their management entrusted to the Municipal Councils* or local Committee or Board. Let them grant small areas of from one to ten aores at nominal rents for residences, and instead of reducing the miner's right from LI to 10a just yet, of which some of our members make a hustings cry, give him by it a right to graze say two or three great cattle. Let them fix their own assessment, and Jimit the number every resident could run according to the capability of the common, the moneys so derived to be s#ent ta carrying on a system of improvements by sowing grasses and planting portions in forest trees, which would both enhance the appearance and value of the land. While desirous of seeing settlement enoouraged by unlocking the lands,' I would again say, do not let us have our auriferous lands put under locks requiring golden keys by granting leases or freeholds thereon. And should the money be forthcoming to carry on this scheme, let it be spent in a manner so as to foster and not conflict with private enterprise. I will not here express any opinion on how the money should be spent, but we trust it will be more judiciously managed than some of our large race speculations have been, such as the Great Shag Valley Race, which had to be abandoned because the water would not run up till; or the Ida Valley, with its working scrip holders, when no more money was forthcoming, was turned down a gully ; or even the Golden Gate Race, which I know something about, and which would require a* few of Mr Drummy's machines to raise the water to a height where it would be useful. — I am, &0.,

J. Alexander.

We take the following items of mining intelligence from the Mount Ida Chronicle :—: — " We learn that the Ida Valley Deep Lead Company has bottomed upon a good prospect. The direction of the lead renders an alteration of the boundaries of the claim necessary. They are already marked out on behalf of the company. This important discovery will lead to a great accession to the mining population. The people of Naseby should, we think, again re-open the question of testing the true bottom in the Main Gully. The expense would, not be very great, while, if the bottom ' should be found auriferous, the benefit to the entire 1 district -would be incalculable.— The erection of the crushing machinery at the Otekaike Reef is being proceeded with slowly. It is expected that in another month the whole of the machinery will be in working order, arid crushing commenced. The road from the reef to the works is in good Condition, uad about 240 tons of stone have iready been raised and carted from the r«f ready to be crushed. .Reefers are in | dttnand, aad fair wages are offered. The I Conpany are very sanguine of success." ,

f\o probability of a payable goldfield beinj; dißCovered in the territory formerly knowa as Southland, is referred to by' the SoutHand Times in the following terms: — We hive many drifts bearing evidence of collateral relationship to those of the Shot"over ant Arrow. The Oreti terraces carry a gravel- wash, with a ' striking affinity to that of the' Upper Olutha and Cardrona. The configuration of the- country is similarly characteristic) of the existence of auriferous deposit. ' The Dome Pass forms a succession of fine dry gravel plains, meeting the low ridges which form the watershed between the Oreti and Mataura.. , The existence of a deep lead in the neighbourhood of this distriot. is a subject upon which a, strong opinion,, has been expressed. As far back .as the year 1862, one plain, into, which a v succession., of, deep, gullies empty themselves, ' had a shaft . sunk' for a distance of 40 feet, without finding the bottom. The material excavated was precisely similar tio' the wash-dirt obtained in" the gullies, 'and contained traces of gold 1 '.»ll''the"way down. No one ' Acquainted 1 with "ttie re ; curreiice i b'f gold can' doubt that that is a highly premising prospect. If the dedoubfcfcut .that -the bed-rock,, will be richly auriferous. That is the only solution the theory of 'gold' deposit 'admits of,- and in practice it has proved so often correct that we have no hesitation in directing the attenituraiol the public; to the question, of ■ deep , sinkings- M , ."'-,.'

' Traces oi> copper ore have been discovered by % proapeatoria; the Qbiaauuujl MBgejj*, , . ,