Slump—Slump—Slump.

Otago Witness, Issue 2426, 12 September 1900, Page 3

Slump— Slump — Slump.

A recent visitor to the goldfielcls leads one to suppose that, like us in Dunedin, • they are very much in the throes of the " slump." At Cromwell the brokers are gradually retreating; two are dredge hands. At Clyde .the business done is practically nil, and at Alexandra, the hub of the boom, and where fortunes were being made so rapidly by all and sundry six months ago, the brokers and everyone else are looking glum; at Eoxburgh things are no better. Everyone on the goldfields seems fairly well loaded with stocks, good, bad, and indifferent — principally the latter. At Alexandra the " Wreckers' Association ' is very much in evidence.

I would give the following idea of what would at the present time be a suitable seal for the different mining boroughs : — A dredge upside down, with a. bar sinister (in gold, in the dim, veiy dim, distance), flanked on either side by a secretary of a company rampant with, call notice in his hand. This observer has seen what he has seen, no doubt ; but he fails to make a necessary discrimination. It is the company boom that has collapsed, not the mining boom. The mining boom is all right. For proof, look at last week's dredging returns. Eight Mclyneux claims — Electric, Hartley, Manuherikia, Perseverance, Earnscleugh, Unity, Cromwell, Junction — report, each of them, a yield that reaches three figures, ranging fiom 102oz to 2040z. Any return in three figures is ease and affluence. Of 26 other claims in Monday's list 21 report from 14oz to 530z. Most of these are small capital companies, and are not on the Molyneux. A return of 14 oz means at least a living and the hope of something better ; anything over 250z must mean satisfactory dividends. According to my arithmetic the Otago dredges are already yielding £100,000 a year profit. As thus: — Take the weekly gold return at 1500oz (last week's was near 1700, with some prosperous dredges unreported); let 1500oz be called £5000— which is too little; £5000 a week is well over ££5,0,000 a year ; write off three-fifths as working expenses and sinking fund for redemption of capital; the remaining twoRithss are £100,000;— q.k.d. The calculations of Alnaschar, the barber's fifth brother, couldn't have been better bailed than this, more precise or more conclusive ; »M& X maintain tlia£ instead of going to

the bad, as croakers would make out, we arc being steadily enriched day by day.

Xo, it is not mining that is going slump-slump-slump, but mine-mongering, the art and mysteiy of the claim-vendor, the com-pany-promoter, the share-trafficker, the market-rigger. Twelve months ago this slump was visible ahead, sticking out for anybody who had eyes to see. I beheld it myself, and prophetically announced it — moi, gui vous parle ! — affirming moreover, for my own part, that in the meantime nothing should tempt me to buy ; I would " wait for the slump."' But human nature, alas, is weak ; folly is contagious. I went with the multitude ; and now, at a moment when shares in the most desirable companies are preposterously low — going a begging at half their value, I am hard up anl helpless. Any money I contrive to get at disposal by staving off the draper and denying myself to the importunities of the butcher and the baker is wanted for calls. And more, too ! These things being thus, I support the movement" initiated by Mr J. MacGregor for a coup d'etat in mining regulations and for obtaining any pecuniary or other assistance that a paternal and Democratic Government can be peisuaded.. to give. I beg to suggest a petition to Parliament yomewhat as follows : — • The bitter cry and humble prayer of your petitioners pathetically sheweth;/ That they are engaged in the honourable and occasionally profitable pastime of gold mining, in that department of it, namely, thai consists in extracting the precious nietal, not from the bowels of the earth or from the beds of ancient rivers, but from the pockets of a confiding ■public, in the manner following, that is to say : By pegging off jclairns that have not been prospected; by floating joint-stock companies for the purchase of the said claims, reserving to the promoters in each case a suitable number of shares, say 2000, fully paid up ; by diligently calling up capital from the subscribing shareholders in order to give value to the shares of the said promoters ; by unloading the said promoters' shares at a satisfactory profit. Further, and generally, by share traffic in the open market, buying for the rise, and promoting such 'rise by the methods commonly in iise on Stock Exchanges. After creating this important industry and pressing it to the dimensions of a " boom," your petitioners now find that the boom has incontinently bust. The purchasing^ power of . tho public is exhausted ; calls are not paid ; promoters cannot unload; mining stocks have become unsalable; in many companies the 'subscribing shareholders are clamouring for liquidation ; and your petitioners find themselves burdened with large parcels of scrip, bought at boom prices, which tire now valueless. They therefore ask for such relief as your Honourable House may deen 1 suitable in the promises. And your petitioners —being devout men — will ever pray. Such would be my petition. I commend it to Mr MacGregor, and invite signatures. Crvis. i

When news came to hand on the 4th that Lord Roberts had formally annexed the Transvaal, the Royal Standard was hoisted on the Town Hall.

Tn reference to the resolution passed at the meeting of the Otago Central Railway League on Monday evening- that a telegram be sent to the .members of Parliament for the city to express thanks for the greater speed with which the Government are pushing on the line and to ask when it would probably be open to Alexandra, our Wellington correspondent telegraphs that Mr Arnold lost no time in seeing .the Minister of Public. Works, who has informed him that there are four tunnels to be made and two bridges to be built, but the rails can be laid through to Alexandra and the line opened up to that goint in two and a-half years. Mr Arnold is telegraphing the Minister's reply tc the secretary of the league.

The contractors for the Fortification Railway and Coal Company's line, Tokomairiro, have been allowed an extension of time in which to complete the work. The whole of the formation of the line is complete with the exception of about 11 chains. Three bridges on the Tokomairiro River have been built, and two cuttings have been made. About 30 chains of railway have been laid down at the junction with the main line at Milton, and it is expected that the whole line will be complete in about three months.

An Auckland telegram states that during the voyage of the Zealandia from Sydney to Auckland four huge waterspouts were seen. The steamer was in latitude 34.11 S., longitude 155.26 E., when the look-out saw the phenomena. The jgassengers spent over an hour on

deck watching the enormous columns of watef which swept away eastward. The sight is described as something sublime in its grandeur. Mr W. Waddoll, Oatr.aru, informs us thafc the paragraph" re-publi&hed in last week's issue from the Oamarn Mail • referring to Messrs Usaher and Wad■dell, jun., two Oiago ' -University students, was not quite* correct. The facts, as stated by Mr Wadclell, are that his son parsed his first professional examination at the summer sassion examinations at Edinburgh, taking first-class honours in botany, with a percentage of £5, Mr Ussher securing the medal with 87 per cent. Mr Waddell, j\m., also took second-class honours in zoology, not geology— but the percentage is n^c stated. By the death of George Knight at Melbourne recently his relations were enabled to unravel what had previously been a mystery to them.. Knight was lucky enough to make some thousands as a result of some transaction in the boom dayS, but, after the smash he represented to his family that the whole of hia money had been lost. He had, however, deVj^eloped a r queer custom of retiring at stiange hours into a little room at his house and locking and barring the door. His people often heard the chank of money, but the utmost; they expected to find after his death was a few pounds, instead of which they found no less than £8162 hidden under the floor. Knight's debts amounted to only £4- 2s. Locomotion in London, as far as price ia concerned, is (says the St. James Budget) in a state of revolution. Remounts for the 'bus services are ss> scarce that penny fares are in danger of spelling ruin to the richest companies. The cabby, contrariwise, bereft ol military jnen and other " good spenders," hasten, 1 ; to make a secret armistice with reference to an illegal sixpenny fare, which, as ib gives some half a crown a day extra receipts, may shortly be generally adopted. Again, extraordinarily cheap travelling by tram, at the rota of a farthing a mile, has just been decided on by the Board of Trade for the labouring classes ; even a man of comparatively • limited income could indulge in half a "mile or so at this rate occasionally without sinful extravagance. . And the new Central London Railway will carry passengers six and a-half miles for 2d — in the ease of early-rising workmen for a penny—in a week or two. What with a chastened and purified telephone service, possible threepenny telegrams, halfpenny L.C.C. 'buses, fourpenny-halfpenuy restaurants, and other irreducibly minimum conveniences, the life of -the working man is rapidly becoming worth living. , A letter was read at the City Council table ' on the sth from the trustees of the Dunedin, - Public Art Gallery, pointing out the unsuitability of tho present building at the rear of the museum as an art gallery, and outlining a scheme to erect a new building The trustees desired the council to lease to Ikera pail of the reserve at the back of tho Town. Hall, and fronting Moray place, where it waa proposed to.put up anew art gallery by public subscription. Yvhen the building was free of debt ib would be presented, with whatever works of art il might contain, to the City o£ Dunedin. The idea was favourably commented on by several councillors, and after a short discussion referred to the Works Committee for their report. Mr John Gretfon (says the Outlook), who has represented South Derbyshire since the lasii general election, is almost the richest man in England. Beyond appearing encumbered with his wealth, he has few characteristics except honesty and unobtrusiveness. He has , jusfc married the youngest daughter of Lord "Ventry. She is as simple in her tastes as her husband, being very quiet and- homely, and has always delighted in living with her father at Burnham or Dingle Bay, where ho is deeply interested in his_ sheep-breeding ex1 periments. Her three sisters are respectively i Lady Hopetoun (wife of the Lord Chamber1 lain), Lady Acland-Hood, and lastly, Lady Conyngham. The name ,of Violet Patrick was omitted lajst week from the list of successful candiI dates in the examination held under the ausj pices of the Royal Academy of Music in , June. Miss Patrick, who is a pupil of Misa , Yorston, secured 98 marks.

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liOng hours and the increasing frequency | of Sunday funerals have led the undertakers' < employees in Melbourne to begin the formation of a union. Sunday burials aie characterised as contributing to the undertakers' desire for show, thai day being ihe best for such a purpos-e. On the ground that Sunday • labour was excessive, it was decided to form a union, as a preliminary to the abolishment of Sunday work.. I

The Bruce Herald understands thai important alterations will shortly be made at the Milton railway elation for the accommodation of the goods haftic. With this end in view several feidings will be required to be erected, as the lines open to cartel p, etc., arc at present wholly inadequate to cope with the ever increasing traffic. Improvements will also probably be eiteeled on the station buildings, or a now stacion will be erected.