THE FUTURE OF GOLD-MINING IN OTAGO

Otago Witness, Issue 1422, 22 February 1879, Page 10

THE FUTURE OF GOLD-MINING IN OTAGO

TO THE EDITOB.

Sir, — I see by the publication of Messrs M'Gurk and Nicol's letters in your last issue that although Mr J. A. Miller, the originator of this correspondence, has been good enough to review the various opinions on it ; that such review did not close all further discussion on the matter. I, therefore, fir, respectfully request that you will allow me a little space to further attempt to ventilate the subject. I see my old friend (though opponent in this exchange of opinions) Mr M'Gurk still maintains his opinions and (what appears to me) prejudices in this matter. I respect the former nnd deplore the latter, and I am very much surprised at a gentleman of his intel'igence having such prejudices against any country, as he appears to have against California and America generally. Perhaps some will say that I have a very strong prejudice in favour of that country. I admit that, after the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and its dependencies, I have a preference for America. The Americans are the same race, and speak the same language ; therefore, as a Briton, I think I may clbim the common privilege of having a friendly feeling towards them, but in my opinion if I were not a British subject I should at all times be ready to give the Americans credit for great inventive genius in the mechanical line, and whatever may be their faults in being too inventive in the almighty dollar making iine, I think I should never regret useful idea 1 ! and inventions that came from them because they had that sin. Not only have the Americans benefited the miners on the goldfields with their useful ideas and inventions, but the agriculturist has received numerous valuable implements from that country; and the last great production in the mechanical line, viz., the reaper and binder, came from that country. Therefore, I think we ought not to let our prejudices control ut so much as to satirise the expressions and opinions of our neighbours because they value the useful productions of a country we do not like.

Mr M'Gurk thinks that if the gold mining areas were extended, and the labour conditions abolished, the operations in that lino would be as far apart as mile- stones. They are that distance apart now in mesfc places in this district, and in pome places far more. If productive mining operations were only a mile apart, or averaged that on this goldfield, it would be in a far more flourishing condition than it is now. lam very glad that Mr J. A. Miller, our

Jy worthy chief, has takea the trouble to rouse the il- opinions of the different writers on this impor ig tint m itter, although ia doing so he his been ps rather severe on some of us, and I think on is your humble servant in parbiouhr. Itappem t. by the revision, that we have nob mule ranch )f progress in the line that our worthy chief would 3 wish us to go ; in fact, b / his summing up, some l- of us have b ion guilty of using very improper re language, as dis tgreeable inuuuibions to oue lo another, for which he his thought goo'l to give f- us a salutary ohislisiug. By comparing the l, amount of matter on this subject, ray own productions -■ppear the most voluminous, and as I am an offeuder, it is but natural that I should be tho greatest. I believe it is a truism, that as r a rule, if any of the humiu race get into a disagreeable fix, either by omission, or commission, that they do nob remain long pis<uve in that state, they are sure to raata some effort to get out of it ; tho re fore if I make soim effort like n the rest of my spepic3 ; to wholly or partially 0 free myself by pubbing bhe blame, or some of it, c on some o-ie else, I hope I shall not lose ca^te by^ doing so, and I also hope th it our worthy chief will deal leniently with me in the future, c even if I should pub some of the blame on his shoulders, and be so rebellious as t) persist j in still writing my own honest opinions on the ; matters, even if they are opposed to his. , 1 shall now, Sir, with your permission, and ■• all due respect _ to Mr J. A Miller, our worthy i- chief, review his revision of the m itters referred j to, together with somo of the letters or articles 1 on this subject, and see if he has ia ray opinion r dealt fairly with us all round. Mr Miller wrote the first paper O'i this important subject, giving, as he says,^ rough sketch of a system of co-oper-ation in mining, and he promised to writs again, j giving as I understood, a more detailed descrip7 tion of hi 3 scheme ; this, I am sorry to say, did 3 nob appear : bherefore any of the secondary j writers entering the arena oa this subject, had to do the host they could with the first rough J sketch given. Ib is no wouder that some of us should run somewhat cantra to the opinions of | the originator, and in my opinion, the originator . is to blame_ for keeping iv the background ao i long, allowing some of us, as ib were, to run wild on flic matter, and he perhaps ail the time contemplating the pleasure he would have in taming u<? again ; this, I am afraid, he will find not so easily done with some of the uuruly seconds in this conflict or exchange of opinions. Sympathy with the oppressed is a very creditable and strong trait in the human race, and I must say that our worthy chief is in possession of this virtue, to a very great degree, as exemplified in Mr M'Gurk's case. He, M'Gurk, not having found any one to coincide with him in this contest, therefore he is deserving of sympathy as an oppressed man. Our worthy chief goes out towards him with his whole heart, even at the expense of his own great scheme, as it must be very apparent to him that Mr M'Gurk has no sympathy witi gold mining for the future, as set forth in the first paper. He deprecates any thing in the shape of a change, as advanced by that paper, orany thin? advanced by myself, and seems eminently satisfied with things as they are, consequently he believes in the mining law as it is at the present, and that any change of lawor system will be of no benefit. New inventions, or improvements in the system of working, seems to be obnoxious to him, particularly if eminatin? from California, and by the_ tone of one part of our worthy chief's revisional letter, it reads somewhat unfavourable t) anything Cali^ornian ; in fact, his sympathies appear to be all with Mr M'Gurk. He accuses me, and Mr Nicol, of attacking M'Gurk in an unwarrantable manner, and of applying to him indirectly very harsh and unbecoming invectives. And further on in his letter, he accuses us of imputing mean and selfish motives to M'Gurk. I shall leave Mr Nicol to answer for himself; but for myself, ' I beg most respectfully to deny that any part of my letter in answer to Mr M' G irk, deserves such strong condemnation, I have just read over Mr M'Gurlc's letter, and my own in answer to it, and I find only in one part what might_ be taken in a very indirect manner as imputing splfish motives ; it is th-it part which refers to the inability of the miners h-> comply with the labour conditions, and is all embodied in the space of one line and reads such a state of things would suit some admirably. Sir, I respectfully request those that take an interest in this discussion, to look over those two letters. I feel certain that they will give me crpdit for being correct in this matter ; they will also find, I am inc'ined to think, that Mr M'Gurk is as great a Binner as myself, if not greater, in imputing selfish motives. In one part of his letter he says, " M'Shane asserts that our _ goldfi' lds^ laws are not sufficiently liberal to induce the investment of capitJ Here in tho Wakatip, they have been liberal enough to induce the swallowing of some hundreds of thousands of pounds," J have very frequently observed, that this cry of capital is most lustily bellowed, by those who have a desire to grab at somebody else's. The italics are, wherein consists the insinu ition, indirectly I admit, and perhap3 not meant for myself at all, but i i quite as palpable as my own seeming insinuation. However, I shall now leave it with the impartial reader to judge who is the greatest sinner ; neither of us so very vicious, I venture to think. Be that as it may, our worthy chief seems alert enough to detect my seeming wrongdoings, and in my opinion to magnify them considerably, and wink his eye, or entirely overlook Mr M'Gurk's Perhaps he has been wricing from memory on the matter, not having convenience to file the papers if so he mast be excused I suppose. However, I can assure him that I have no hostile feelings towards Mr M'Gurk; he did me, in answering my letter, a great service. When & discussion is all oue sided, it becomes no discussion comparatively speaking. But few ideas are exchanged, and as a rule, under such circumstance^ there is a want of animation on the matter. The word monopoly is made very subservient by certain classes on the gold fields that are termed obstructionist This word has been used profusely ever since the mining claims were no more than eight feet square. I remember an occasion in New South Wales, when a party of three men took advantage of extended privileges for old worked ground, they having found some tipper layers, or top veins of wash that they believed would pay, with plenty of water for washing operations (in rural ground at this time, the area for one man -was twenty feet square, the extended area for old ground was one hundred feet square). They set to work and constructed dams and catch water, or drainage races to sup • ply the dams. During the time they were making these preparations, they were looked upon as so many idiots. "It will never pay tucker." come would say ; others declared that " it would not even run matches," and that "all the gold that came out of that ground would be dearly earned;" however, the party persevered in their undertaking, they erected better appliances for washing than had hitherto been used, and with a fair supply of water, and constant steady work, they would make £l per ' day per man. When this became known they were taped off to the inch, and pegged off all round, and applications made for similar claims, but with the exception of one party, they had all the payable top vein ground in their claim ; the consequence was that they were put down as arrant monopolists, and before they were left to work their claim in peace, they had several court cases over ifc with parties that were the

c loudest in condemning the enbe 'prise. Aaothe ca^e of what soma term monopoly came uude n my nobice, in this di3Sr ict : three different pirtie a tried sluicing on & certain piece of ground, with i out making anything m >ra than a living coa 1 sequsntly thsy eventually left, leivins? all theh 1 tools and boxas to a. pirby who said he would 5 give it a trial. The water supply was got from f a small lake, and tho like hid a very poir wa^er- } shed. The o ablet of tin lak? ran through a 5 swamp, aud thn races had b ?9n dn* a few iachas 9 deeper every week, to get aufficienb waser, until - they were twelve feet deep. Ab this depth a [ smioch hard rock raadi its appjarmce, making it very expensive catting any deeper. The 3 parties that were leaving assured the individual • who intended giviug it a trill that the lake , would riso in winter. How aver, the lake did . not rise anything perceptible. After waiting six monbhs, it therefore becimq a matter of: i serious considoratian with tin new comer. He would either have to make the lake into a reservoir and febch water into it by a l-ace from tho adjacent gullias, or ab mdon the phce alhogebher. T lere wa3 nobhing iv the gold fields rules and regulations to prevent hiaa, holding the like as a. reservoir, therefore it wis granted as such, together with the water out of the above-mentioned gullies, and after repeated but unsuccessful trials to get a mate, he started by himself to make a reservoir of the lake by putting a dam bank across the outlet, and then, cut a race from one of the gullies into the lake. After he had (lone this he nunaged to procure a mate by giving him a share in everything. Then the other gulley wa3 cub into the first, and the necsssary w^rks for sluicing completed, but during the time this preliminary or dead work was going oa, ever/ discouragement was given by the people living in the locality to the party going into the undertaking. Some said the ground had been tried by as good men as the new comer, and it did not pay more than tucker. Some put down the originator as being deficient of a few shingles, and all agread that the gold got oat of it would be dearly earned ; however, with all this discouragement, sluicing operations commenced, and that too in a far more expeditious style than had ever been tried before in that ground, and the consequence was that it paid £9 and 610 per week per man. Through the disfavour that the spec was looked upon, the credit of this small company (if they had required it) was in anything but a healthy condition, and one of the butchers in the adjacent township refused to allow them to pat a joint of meat into their meat bag, before they put down toe ctsh for it; they had been dealing with this gentleman for some time, purely on cash transactions, and oa this occasion it would have been the same, but seeing something like alarm depicted in the butcher's face, they tantalised him a liUle, by making preparations to bag the beef before taking the cash out of their bag ; very wrong of them no doubt; however, a compromise was made ia the matter, by the butcher keeping his beef and the party their money until they gob to the next butcher's shop; there of course they being strangers in the dealing line, they cashed out afc once. Half an hour previous to this they had sold eighteen ounces of gold to a neighbouring storekeeper, and when the first-mentioned butcher became aw vre of it, the complexion of his opinioa respecting the stability of the party became very much changed, and like a wise man he made a praiseworthy apology foi his seeming timidity, and there the matter ended — ended with thq butcher, but not with the people in the neighbourhood. Circumstances became very much changed when it became known that they were making £10 per man per week. They were invited to dinner on Sundays, and tha business people generally became greatly interested in their welfare. But the most noticeable thing was that those who knew the ground would not pay, and put down the prospector and executors of the wat°r scheme as wanting a shingle or two, were the first to cry out monopoly. Ife was the greatestf monopoly imaginable in their eyes, for one p »rby to hold such a large sheet of water as that lake, and they did all that they possibly could to get water ont of it, but never thought of fetching in any supply. They annoyed the warden for two yea r s before they would let the party work in peace, and their trump card was monopoly. This water-righfc has been constantly at work for twelve years', and the amount of ground got over is something surprising ; of course, not paying £10 per man per week all the time, but good wages. Th« average amount of w^ter is thi'ty inches (Govern ment measurement) running night and day into the d'ms, near the works, for six days in the week (it is always turned off on Sunday), therefore I cannot see anything in the shape of monopoly about it. However, there always has been a wide difference of ouinion amongst the miners on this matter, and in my humble opinioa always will b<*: " Find out how a miner is circumstanced, and as a rule you can guess pretty well wh^t his opinion will be on the monopoly question." Another case came to my knowledge, of what was termed by some a notorious piece o£ would-be monopoly and breach of trust It was in the or at of the WaLa io com monages. The Government were moving in the matter, to have them surveyed and sold in. runs for depasturing purposes. Most of the people in the Wakatip opposed it by petition, and other means, making it out that if the commonages were sold, they would be monopolised by a few ; this opposition had the effect o£ there ibeing a. "commission appointed to fully inquire into the matter. Mr John A. Miller, sur worthy chi°f , sat as one of the commission,, md by the action be took, he evidently sat in the interest of the objectors to the commonages being sold ; however, after the Government had luly considered the report of the commission, it. in its superior wisdom, decided it was best for the interests of the people of Otago that the commonages should be sold in convenient runs. Directly the intentions of the Government became known, (if I am conectly informed) Mr Tohn A. Miller, in uartnership with another ?r ntleman, made application for a large piece of: :hp commonage country. There was a consideribte noise about it, and particularly again9t Jfr Miller, makinsr him out not a monopoliser in " embryo " but a fully developed one, and that; le had broken his trust. I nrast say that X iev*»r could view it in this light. Mr Miller only :ook advantage of a lawful privilege that was >pen to any in the country to do the same ; he lappened to make the first application for a> shoice piece of country, that several othera vanted (if I am rightly informed), hence th« iry against him. This is not a mining case I idroit but it shows how the spirit moves some. In this monopoly. ■ Some hitch did occur, 1 believe, in the survey rot being made, but that loes not alter the ease. Another case of what some term monopoly was related to me, the monopoly consisted ia bhe large area held by the Sons of Fortune jorapany, Arrow Falls, Arrow Biver. In khia, Mr John A. Miller was one of tho prncipal promoters, I believe, and afterwards manager. The person speaking to me on tha matter, said that he considered it a great piece of monopoly for one party or company to hold bo mnoh ground. I told him that in my opinion if there were ten times the amount of ground above the Arrow falls, with seventy or eighty feet of river bed drift on the top of it, and the river on the top of "that, and with no other method of working it than by a tunnel through tho fells, as Miller or the company had dotw,

that they were duly entitled, to it. However, he oould not or would not see it in that light, and \q went as far as to claim a drainage through vhe co-npany's tunnel. This party held that the majority of the miners were of his opinion as regards monopoly. It was very easy for him or any other person to say that, and a great deal more in that line, but not so easy to prove it. I coald mention numerous instances of what some term monopoly : it has been going on ever since raining claims were extended from the original eight feet square, and will continue to do co according to some people's ideas, as long as there is any gold mining ; however, if it i 3 monopoly to hold as much of theold worked, or inferior new ground, that is principally left in this distiict, as will give a lifetime's work, instead of— say ten different claims, in ten different places, with as many places of residence to erect, and homes to build up, I am a monopoliser. Of course I allow that the areas to some extent should be regulated by the magnitude and permanency of the undertaking entered into, and that labour should always represent capital. M'Shane. {To be continued.)