THE MINES STATEMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 1874, 21 October 1887, Page 12

THE MINES STATEMENT.

(Fbom Oue Special Cobbespondbnt.) Wellington, October 14. Mr Larnach, the late Minister of Mines, with the leave of the Houses, laid ttpoti the table the annttal Mines Statement* which he would have delivered petsoiialty had" he remained in office. It is an exceedingly interesting document. After some preliminary remarks, he goes on to show that m'iuin'g ventures are safe and leglti- 1 mate means f'ctf tfce investment of capital, and proceeds :— " For sake ot csWparison we first begin with the agriculturist, and folfow to the end the result of his pursuit in the colony. According td our most recent statistics, the area of land under cultivation, inclusive of grass and all other crops, is 1,182,680 acres, find the estimated value of the produce is £2,958,387, from whioh I apprehend it would be reasonable to deduct the coat of seed at not less than 10 per cent, on the total &ki6f which would make the net result of agricultural ptefrwe amount to £2,662,549. From the last census I Jeaxn that there are 51,572 persons following agricultural pursuits; and taking the value of produce which their labours return, it would give an average per head of £51 12s 2d. From the same source I find that there are 13,926 persons following the occupation of mining and digging for minerals, and the result of their work for the I year appears at £1,485,491. A division of this sum equally among thohe engaged ( in mining i will show an averago of £106 13s 5d per I head \ and I think I may fairly place as a set-off, one against the other, the value of plant aild tools for carrying on miniilg operations as agatest plant, implements, atid faoroes necessary for agricultural purposes. It therefore will surely be admitted that the mining industry give* not only a better income to an individual employed io it than does the agricultural industry, but the result to the country generally is more profitable, as the soil is not being worn out and exhausted by the work of the miners. So far as I have been enabled carefully to gather from all reliable statistics compiled since the year 1851 until the end of 1884, 1 make the quantity of gold produced within that period in the world 200,1 64;6570z, equal to 8340 tons, of the value of £802,9^5,251 . In respect fco silver, I have only been able to get reliable data for the latter three years ending 1884. The quantity produced appears to be 66,013,9790z, or equal to 11,084 tons, of the value of £71,644,348. The total value of gold, silver, and other mineral products of the chief countries, including our own, in the world for the year 18S4 amounted to £237,378,452, while the aggregate populations of the several countries numbered 272,826,204. The value of mineral wealth would therefore give equal to 17s 5d per head of the total popuation of the countries referred to. New Zealand bears happy and satisfactory comparison with the 19 other great mineral producing countries. The value of her mineral products will give equal to £S 17s per head of her population according to last dens'lß. With regard to the other 19 countries.in respect to gold producing- alone the United States of America stand first, being for the same period £19,437,499. '^he Australasian colonies rank second, the quantity of gold being 4,486,5860z, representing a value of £17,257,738. Russia takes the third place, and shows a value of £14,490,452. The other countries exhibit a comparatively small amount in quantity and value to the three just mentioned. The value of mineral products ot Great Britain for 1884 was £61,300,819, while for the same period her colonial possessions produced gold, silver, and diamonds to the value o £15,795,847, thus making up a total of £77,986,666. The comparative value of gold am silver produced in the Australian colonies and New Zealand and the several States of America in 1885 was £5,730,813} and £17,375,706 respectively. These values give per head to tne copulations of the Australian colonies and New Zealand £1 18s 4d, and for the States of America £2 19s. To take the colonies of Australasia alone, then New Zealand stands third o the list, Queensland ranking first and showing equal to £3 10s 6d per head; Victoria, £2 19s 3d per head; and New Zealand, £1 13s 7d per head I have been unable to ascertain,' says the ex-Minister of Mines, " the total amount of capital invested in New Zealand mining ventures, for the reason that no returns are to hand showine the outlay by companies not engaged in mining for gold and silver. The returns relating to tbe latter class of work have been furnished by the wardens of the several districts up to the 31st March last, and point to the fact that at that date the aggregate nominal capital of 441 companies engaged in gold and silver mining in the colony amounted to hbfi6\),6io, of which £1,458,825 is paid up. Thirty-five companies are registered under ' The Limited Liability Act and Amended Acts 1865," and their total nominal capital is £612,150, of which £218,717 is paid up. Two companies are registered under the Joint Stock Companies Act with a total nominal capital of £28,480, of which £21,980 is paid up. Four hundred and four companies are registered under the Mining Companies Act, having a total nominal capital

of £0,ia0,715, of which £1,217,118 is paid up. These companies «?e severally engaged m quarto or alluvial mining ; arid the number, I feel no doiibt/will be greatly increased together with the capital at, an early period, as the great mineral resource* ot the colony become more fully developed and" finning is carried on under more systematic and scientific plans. «• Ai the end of March last the number of men engaged in tlifumg pursuits was comparatirely small, being 11,782, btft the amount of gold daty and other goldfields regime paid for the year was £40,651, equal to £3 9s pe* bead. To include the families belonging to the miners would fully make up 51,000 people. By the customs revenue it is estimated that a consumption of dutiable goods equal lo 16s 66 per head obtains, which would produce £47,025, ana this sum added to goUfields revenue makes atotal of £87,676 that this colony is receiving by way of taxation from the labours and enterprise of 11,782' miners, a trifle under £7- 9s per head. StireJy I might almost claim as * miners rights,"' aays Mr Larnacb, "that such an industrious aud patient class of taxpayers will id. the future be dealt with more liberally than in 1 the past." . Referring to the coal industry, he say» :— It is gratifying to me to be able to point to a | steady increase in the annual output, but the supply from our mines is not equal even to tho consumption within the colony. Since returns from s»ftl mines have been furnished th& approximate iotal output from all coal mines m New Zealand appears as 4,052,614 tons ; while the output for last year was 534,353 tons, as against 511,063 tons for the year presedmg, thus showing an increase in the output for last year of 23,290 ions. The quantity of coal imported last year was 120,873 tons, against the previous year's 130,202 tons, showing 1 a decrease in the imports of 10,329 ton*. Adding together the output of coal from the mine* id the colony and the quantity imported during the .year ending 31st December 1886, gives ff total of 654,226 tons, tigainst a similar aggregate far the previous yea* of 641,265 tons, which show* the increase of our coal trade for last year to exceed by 12,961 tofis tie trade of the year previous. According to the feturns furnißhed by the Cus--toms department, tho export of coal for last year amounts to 46,549 tons, and of this quantity 43,678 tons were used in coaling the direct steamers trading with England, 2862 tODB were sent away for foreign use. The actual consumption, therefore, within the colony, including that used by direct steamers, last yearwas 091,364 tons— or 117,011 tons more than the; total output of our mines. The consumption oZ New Zealand coal in the year 1885 was 638,894 tons, which gives evidence that the use of our own product within the colony is steadily increasing. The number of coal mines in operation in the colony *ast y ear was 110 « M .. a gg a * Dsfc 9^ for the prsceding year, showing an increase of . 15 new mines opened during the year. The number of men employed in connection with coal mining last year was 1605, as against 1483 eugaged in suck work during the preceding year, thus finding employment for an additional 122 men The average output of coal per man was 333 tons, or 12 tons per man less than for the preceding year. The number of msn engaged in connection with the working of bittnninous raines waß 926, and their output of this dass of coal was 285,357 tons, which gives an average per man of 30& tons'. In connection with the winning of pitch coal there were 240 men employed, and ttieir output was 83,179 tone, equal to 347 tonslper man There were 495 men engaged in winning brown coal, aud their output was 154,305 tons, equal to 381 tons per man ; while 34 men were employed in digging lignite, and their output was 11,512 tons, equal to 339 tons per man.