NEW ZEALAND GOLD MINES IN LONDON. (From Our Own Corresppndent.) London, April 2.

Otago Witness, Issue 2203, 21 May 1896, Page 18

NEW ZEALAND GOLD MINES IN LONDON. (From Our Own Corresppndent.) London, April 2.

Although the boom in New Zealand gold mines and in New Zealand mining companies and their shares still continue*, (here are not wanting symptoms that a reaction" m»y come about at no very distant date. There is a strong feeling in the London mining trucket thac certain companies .which Lava been iffered very recently partake too much of the " wild' cafe " chftrac'er to be worthy of confidence aa legitimate investments. Now thi» might not mattes very much if only those courageous but highly speculative enterprises were affected by fche loss of public confidence, but unfortunately such is not the case. When once a feeling of distrust has been set afoot in regard h> New Zealand mines there is great dnngef th*t tha feeling will spread, as proved to be the case to so disastrous an exMit on the occasion of lait yeir'a South African slump, when for a time nothing that bare the slightest taint of South A'rictn'sm was looked at for some days, while the fesliog of doubt then created has hevev since be«n fully removed.

Mont New Zealand m'mirg entorpri«es now regarded. as safest and s6undt*t do not come before the public at all for subscription, and, as a matter of fact, I may «ay that Sir West by Perceval, who has accepted seats oh several board*, has cxprcscly limited his aotioa in this direction to companies which stand in the position jubt mentioned. For instance, the Consolidated Goldueldß of New ZeaUud Company, whose shares Mroitdy are quoted at a very large premium, has never off-red its stock to the public at all, and the thnres cau ouly be obtained priva'ely as a sort of personal favour from tbeir present holders. It m&y be worth while to explain that this Consolidated Golrifit-ld« of New Zealand Company, of whioh Sir Weitby Petc?vai has just become the managing dipecfor, is in reality a sort of child of the great Exploration Company, which at first dealt mainly with South African minec, but which ba* now begotten two very important and fl>-uri»tiiug cbi'dr*n— the Consolidated Company, jost mentioLed »nd the New Zealand Exploration Company. The original Exploration Company with its twin offspring might Dot inncnura^ly he described aa a miniig branch of the great Rothschild firm. Its shares have never been offered to the public, and it has not yet touched an j thing that has not proved a distinct success. It is, in fnct, a thoroughly Rothschildian aff*ic. The Cons >Hd*ted Company is that which took over the enormrw and valuable mining properties brought Home by Mr Ziman. I hear that this company will employ a very large amouat of capital and skill and energy in developing t&e New Zealand mining properties which have come into hi* hands, acd th»t its operations will probably be extendtd over a much wider scope than that to which they appeared limited at the outset. The New Zealand Exploration Company appears to have jts chief proprietary in Paris, where th^xe is a growing disposition to invest largely in New Zealand mining property. It has a boird in Paris, and it U on that board that Sic Wes by Pc c- val has accepted a seat. It i* the guiding principle of'thrir proceedings to begin with a thorough exploration and te»fcn>g of the ou»itry, and they will not touch any property (hit is riot satisfactorily proved to be profitably auriferous.

Ano'her company of whioh Sir Wcstby Perceval ba» become a director is Melville'« New Ze&Und Con oration. Tbis ei-mpiny will bring out almost immediately a new subsidiary company with the obj"ob of purchasing tho famous old CWedeniau mine at the Thames, New Zealand. There are reasons, I understand, to believe that this once celebrated mine is not yet worked out, and I hear that the* proposed new company will endeavour to exploit tbis property with a cipltal of £175,000. Some of tho London dailies— eg., the Westminster G»z tte— now have a special corner for "New Zealand Blineß " in their city department.

It must be borne in mind thai the investing public strictly speakiog is not " in " the mining boom at all. To a large extent all tho operations have bceu carried on by Stock Exchange m - •, and mnny of thr-He have been virtually of a gambling eh<'acter.

Some disagreeable person, not, content with giving to the •• Directly of Directors" the ill-natured second title " The Natural Hiitoty of the Guinea Pig," has al*o takeu the trouble to wade laboriously through its 748 p»ges with the view of exfricating " shocking examples" of directatorial pluralisms. It tarns oat thtft very nearly 14,500 persons are diiectors in companies of some kind. Of these one gentleman, Mr C. Rube, directs as many as 29 different companies ; another, Mr- Maclure, M P., 23 ; Sir Ctiarles Tennant and Lord T weed dale direct IS companies each, the former beirg chairman of five boards, president of two, aud deput?-chMr.m*n of two others, while the Marquis presides over seven boards, and is vice* chairman of another.

Wheu we arrive at tho names of thote gentle* men who are content with only 16 companies', or fewer, we soon arrive at companies of New Zealand intereat. For instance, among the 16 companies directed by Mr J. A. Travers are tho Kathleen Crown and Komata Reefs Gold Mining Company of New Zealand ; Mr Henry Wilson directs 15 different companies, chiefly New Zealand mining. Among these are New Hnuraki, Scotty's Hauraki,' Victor Waihdu, and Komata Re-fit. Of those who are content with 12 direct- ships or fewer their name seems to be legion.