TAIERI FERRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1875, 28 October 1887, Page 17

TAIERI FERRY.

October 22.— The Henley-Berwick road was under water for two days in the early part of this week. How Mr Crosjan, who comes "here three times a week with bread, manages co regularly to get through the four mile 3of mud and water which separates Berwick from Henley, is a mystery I am incapable of elucidating. Business necessitated my visiting Berwick last. Monday. Knowing the Henley road to be unsafe for a light buggy, I drove round by Creytown, distance 24 miles, against "even miles by the Henley-Berwick road. I was delayed longer than I anticipated in Berwick, and foolishly attempted to save 17 miles of my return journey by taking tlie Henley road for it. After an hour's drive,' with mud up to the axle and holes up to the mare's belly, I was forced to return owing to the road from the point reached being covered with water, and the chasms — they cannot be called holes —on the road being invisible. I should probably have lost the mare, and the buggy as well, had I attempted to proceed further. This road is a standing disgrace to a wealthy county like the Taieri. It is little woudcr that the Bettlers at Henley and Berwick have been signing a petition to have the

I boundaries of the riding altered in order to get a I Berwick or Henley raau in the council to look after th'elr Interests, but especially to get something done to the road's. ... „,,.. Bluk Eibbon Abmy.— & ctfneerfc was held in the Waihola Schoolhouse under the' auspieea of the above society a few days ago. The room! t?s9 well filled, and the songs and recitations were fair to good. Mr and Mrs King, of Milton, contributed songs, &c, Mrs King acting as accompanist on the harmonium. Mr Lmncans recitations produced roars of laughter. Magic-lantern.— The Eev. Mr Hill gave the Waihola Sunday sclrool children a treat on Wednesday evening last by exhibiting 52 views of various place* and scenes in the Highlands of Scotland. The rev. gentleman's exposition of each view was remarkably lucid and interesting. Miscellaneous.— A concert and dance takeß place in the Taieri Ferry Schoolroom on the 28th mat., with the object of raising funds for school prices.— The good folks of Waihola are endeavouring to establish an atherlteum at the township.— The Rev. Mr FynesCHnton holds Divine Service in the Waihola Schoolroom every tour weeks.— The Weather is somewhat better to-day than it was during the previous few days. The glass is, however, still vtiry low, and the outlook is not by any means settled. Agricultural Notes —Waihola : The excessively wet weather of late has retarded farming operations. A considerable area is still unsown, the farmers waiting for the land to dry before sowing. The crops j brairded look sickly. Grass is fairly plentiful, j Henley : In this district farming operations are I fairly at a standstill, owing to the unseasonable weather. The dairjr is not yet opened, in consequence of the impassable state of the roads in the district. Grasß is backward. Otakia ; Nearly all the grain is bown, and on some farms it is sin or 6in above ground. Its general appearance is, however, nothing to boast of. Fine warm weather is much needed. Kuri Bush; The crops are looking better in this district than in the others. Some of the crop 6on the ridges are indeed looking remarkably sttong and healthy. Bunny is again coming to the fore— especially about Waihola.

Mr W. H. Pearson's Paper on Retrenchment and the Goldiields of New Zealand.

EDITOR WtTXESS. Sir,— The mauner in which Mr W. H. Peafscra, ex Commissioner of Crown Lauds in Southland, deals with the goldiields in his recently read paper ia something astounding. The conclusion he appears to have arrived at is that gold is of no value to any country. I think 1 know more about the history ot Victoria than Mr Pearson does, and there is no doubt but that gold was the means whereby it sprang into importance, and by which it has been enabled to occupy the position of first, colony of the Australian group so long. I have perused, from time to time, many expressions and opinions as to depression and goldiields, but for theoretic rubbish and " Tom Pepper" ideas, I give the palm to Mr Pearson's paper. Some time since an old farmer scribe gravely intormed the readers of the Witnesß that the discovery of gold in Otago had retarded settlement on the land. Now any intelligent man must know that the very opposite was the result of the opening of goldfields in Otago. Mr Pearson's ideas and those of the old farmer alluded to are six of one and half-a-dozen of the other. Mr Pearson, in his paper, alludes to the mortgaged farmers in the country, and the number of empty houses in Dunedin. I would ask him if there would nob be more depression and more empty houses in Dunediu if the £25,000 or £30,000 worth of gold that reaches Dunedin every month from fche goldiields were to cease ? I would remind Mr Pearaonthat goldminers are producers of wealth and also revenue contributors, and consumers of every commodity that employs labour and capital. They are the busy bees which sustain the drones that, infest the human hive in New Zealand. Much has been written about the depression, but it certainly cannot be attributed to goidmining or the mining j industry. Mr Pearson states that £500,000 had i been spent on water races on fche goldtielda, or according to his idas thrown away. I know that a large sum has been spent on water races, but Mr Pearson is drawing the long bow when he fixes the amount at £500,000. If he will go to the trouble of looking over the Goldflelds Keporfc, published in 1886, he will get what he badly requires— viz., practical information about goldfields expenditure, and also the number of millions of hard cash that the goidmining industry has circulated in New Zealand during the last 2tf years; and if he will at the same time look through the Public Works Statement published in the same year, he will seethe large number of millions that have been spent in the country — but not on the goldfieldß. Instead of Mr Pearson troubling his mind i over £500,000 spent on the goldfields, he should think a little about the millions that have been spent to give Dunedin railway com- ! muuication south to Invercargill and north to ] Christchurch. The whole country is taxed for tiiat. j It is a remarkable fact that the few short railways on the West Coast pay better than railways in other parts of the country. In regard to Mr Pearson's assertion that the West Coast had ruined the country, paroicularly Dunedin, that idea of his is built on sand. No doubt some speculators in Dunedin, anxious to get rich in a hurry, may have lost money in Eeefton mines. There is no compulsory law as to anyone investing in quartz mines. If they do so, and lose their money in a majority of cases, they only illustrate the old saying, "Foolb and their money are soon parted." I cannot see in what manner the West Coast lias ruined Dunedin, as all over the Coast there is a large consumption of Dun-edin-made clothes, boots, and shoes, and also Dunedin beer, and in the agricultural districts the agricultural implements in use are mostly cf Dunedin make. I think trade in Dunedin would be in a sorry plight if there were no West Coast and other goldfields to fall back upon. In conclusion, I may remark that Mr Pearson will have to write some more papers before he can prove that the goldfields are indebted to the country, for the truth of the matter is that the position is reversed—fche country is indebted to the goldfields. — lam, &c,

Andkkw G. Nicol, Alluvial Gold Miuer. Grey Valley, Greymouth, October 14.