GOLD DREDGING. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2399, 22 February 1900, Page 19

GOLD DREDGING. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — I have not the remotest idea who "A, Recent Country Visitor" is; but I hope hifl excellent letter, which appeared in your columns a few days ago, will have the desired effect of warning the juveatinp; nublic of -tkt, xiaka thsa

run in rushing the share list of every dredging company that is floated. This very excellent mining industry is going to be the cause of untold misery, because of the high speed at which it is being forced. Someone will have to carry the shares of the '" wild cats that are being forced on the public. The " up-io-date" dredge cannot pay if there is no gold in the claim; and all the claims haven't gold in them. But it suits the brokers and ven dors to flo'4 companies ad lib, and run .up .premiums. It is the premiums that are. making the business hum. The majority of shareholders apply for shares, not as an investment, but with the sure hope of selling out at a big profit; but this huge gamble will have an end. How many of the claims lately floated will turn out titter failures, as so many of them have already done ? It would be interesting to have a list of the " latter prepared — not forgetting the Sandhills, Ophir and Ind, Ophir, Kyeburn, etc. What becomes of the shareholders' money and premiums in these cases? But what astonishes me most of all is the way old abandoned claims of the last boom are resurrected, with a new name and an' " uw-to-dale " dredge " ; and the greedy public rush to subscribe £10^000 for it. The old Shotover claim, now the Prince Arthur, is one of these. It is very amusing to me to read in your issuo of the Sth inst. the criticisms of various writers upon " A Recent Country Visitor's" letter. My only reason ior writing you thus is to call attention to i the speed at which we are running, and to th.c dangers ahead, and to thank "A Recent. Co.untiy Visitor" for endeavouiing to put pn th,e brake.— I am, etc., February 9. Pro 8.0^ To.ptJßLico.T o.ptJßLico. TO THE EDITOR.. . Sic, — Your paper has recently been full of letters regarding the dredging- -industry, and some of them with very sound arguments. Might I be permitted, as one who has watched and been interested in the indxiatry from its fancy, to write my views on the subject. In the first place, regarding the slight slump in the price of shares that has taken place during the last iew days, this is attributed to a letter u-ritten by " A Country Visitor." This is nonsense. As a matter of fact the slump is entirely ~ due to the brokers— they are to blame through their puttiug'-so niany new ventures on the market. For the last few (Jays your paper has been full of prospectuses, so full, in fact, of new ventures, that one feels forced ,to ask, "When is this going to end?" We had the same slump twice last year, and from the very same cause. Directly the brokers refused to float companies the market showed signs of a recovery. I would suggest that* the brokers on the two Exchanges combine and refuse to float or quote any new company for six months. They have the remedy entirely in the own hands, and should exercise their power. As for the industry itself, I am satisfied it is going to give Dunedin, in fact, Otago, a bigger lift than any other town or province in the colony has ever had. Three years ago we had a big unemployed outcry, and the citizens had to put their hands in their pockets_ and assist to find work for these people. Twelve months afterwards there was not an idle man in the country in the face of the fact that the farmers were now getting good prices for their wheat, oats, wool, etc. The cpuse of the impiovecl state of affairs was undoubtedly the advance and success of gold dredging, which was then a very small matter compared with the industry to-day. It gives employment in a hundred different channels. New, regarding the different claims and the prices of the shares. What would have been -thought of a man giving £5 premium for Hartley and Rileys a month before the dredge started ? He would have been considered at the time fit for a lunatic asylum ; Imt what would have been the opinion to-day? " Long-headed chap." So and So knows what lie's up to, etc. And so it will be with a lot of the claims — such as Alpine Consols, Halfway House, Kelly and Casey, Cairnmuir, Monte Christo, etc. Take the Central Electric claim. I remember when this was first floated. It was put down as an awiul " wild cat," and I bought shares at 3d discount. To-day's price is £4 premium, and I am satisfied that the speculator who biiys at that price will not regret it. In their lower claim (3£ acres) I venture to say that to £50,000 worth of gold will be obtained. And. •what of their top claim? The Electric got 200qz of gold in one week near this boundary. It is quits on the cards that the top Central Electric claim is exceedingly rich. The Hartley and jßiley have paid something like £30,000 in dividends during the last six months, and where did the gold come from ? Every penny that was paid was obtained within a few chains of the Central Electric boundary, and the Hartley and Riley Company probably worked not more than one acre to obtain t)ie £30,000 worth of dividends. I don't suppose any man in New 'Zealand was ever taken more by surprise than Captain M'Lay the day he stmck GOOoz ground with the Hartley and Riley dredge. This goes to show that nobody knows what's at the bottom of the river, and that there is a chance for any of the gorge claims between Roxburgh and the Shotover. I am certain that there are more Hartley and Rileye undiscovered. The most likely to follow the Hartley is the JManuherikia claim. It is almost a certainty that this claim will^ yield heavy returns, in fact, will rival the Hartley. Are the shares not cheap at premium now? Then the next claim below, the Sailor's Bend 'and First Chance. I' venture to say, after seeinV these claims, that when powerful dredges arlKat work there the leturns will astonish oiir pessimistic friends. Where is the money coming iiom? We aie building our own dredges from our own returns. We are producing at least £5000 worth of gold per week now, which means £250,000 in solid cash per annum. This will certainly be doubled in the next 18 months, so that we can expect the industry to. be producing, in this piovince alone, half a million's worth of gold per annum for many years to come. Pessimists may say what they like. Sir, but the dredging industry is the finest thing that ever happened for Otago, and must »lace her far ahead of any other province. One might write on for hours at a time in this .subject, but I shall now conclude, and would advise speculators to beware of the man who can tell them what's at the bottom of the river. — I am, *tc, Dunedin. Dkedger.