The Invercargill Times. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20,1863.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 30, 20 February 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1863.

Fon several years after goldmining became a "well established branch of industry in Victoria, it was the custom invariably and in every shape and form to snub the digger. He was looked upon with an eye of suspicion on sheep runs ; a heavy duty was put on his canvas tent whenever it appeared within a town boundary; even in the gullies, which his sole energy had opened up, he was hunted very much as if he had been a wild beast or a criminal, whose presence was to be much deplored, and whose exit from the colon y was a consummation devoutly looked for. A very long time elapsed before his worth was appreciated, or before he obtained even half his rights. We well recollect the nig-ht when an honorable member of the Victorian Legislature, in a speech, both witty and logical, alluded to the class to which the digger belongs, as 4{ the red sashed gentry in the gallery." Contemptuous words they were — words which the speaker has lived to regret and see the utter fallacy of. The Beudigo Advertiser, the best, without exception, of the Victorian up country journals has always, from the first hour of its existence, strongly advocated the cause of the goldseeker, and now that the New Zealand mines hold out such superior inducements, and have already attracted so many to our shores, the Editor speaks out plainly, and shows how great a loss has been sustained by the colony, from which, for the most part, our miners come. He says as follows : — " The exodus to New Zealand is now beginning to attract the attention of the bankers* merchants, and others. The rapid and continued decline in the value of property pinches John Bull in the sensitive place —the pocket. The dullness of the times, the falling off in business, the scarcity of money, the general want of confidence, the application of the ' screw' by the banks are telling upon the merchants in Melbourne. They now ask one another what is to be done. The digger, so much despised hitherto, an object of aversion, because he asked what he considered he w\s entitled to — is now regarded in a different light. His leaving for ' fresh fields and pastures new,' is absolutely a subject of conversation, and, may we say, regret. The falling off in the yield of gold, at last, is a subject of importance enough to claim their attention. Not all the warnings which the gold fields journals so frequently gave, so needlessly and contemptuously disregarded by those whose duty, as well as ours, it was to encourage the mining interest would do good, until their pockets were pinched by the departure from our shores of the stalwart and enterprising miners, who have to so large a degree contributed to our national wealth." Enterprise is checked. The people are disheartened, and thej' are glad to go elsewhere. Anywhere but remain here. The squatter doe 3 not care. His market for his wool is London, and not affected by the population of the colony. The merchant's interest is the reverse of this. Hii market is here, and now he begins to feel it. The film is falling from his eyes, and he begins to see the necessity of keeping the consumers within the colony. The landed proprietor feels it. Housqs to let too plainly tell the tale. In fact, the colony is to let. The goose that layed the golden eggs is nearly strangled." Now those are the words of a man who has seen the Victorian and New South Wales goldfields since their commencement and fully understands what he is speaking of. Those words should afford a lesson to both Otago and Southland ; they should teach us that the digger is not to be despised, and that in a country as rich or richer in mineral wealth than Victoria has ever been, the class who devclope that wealth should from the first be treated with a fair degree of consideration. To Southland in particular we would say, it rests in your own hands whether these men who have been the mam-stay and support of Victoria, shall make their heme within your borders or, driven away by a narrow minded policy, shall go elsewhere. Many of this class are finding their way j here, and already the municipal j acumen of Invercargill has been directed i against them. A digger, on landing here, may not be, at the first, in a position to proceed to the goldfields or to devote his time to prospecting for new ground. He may require, for some little time, to find employment in or near the town, and not being able to build a house, lodgings, as a general rule, not beiacr easily obtainable, it is surely not wise to prevent him pitching his tent somewhere within a very short distance of his work. We admit the great danger arising from a town composed of tents, but could not the Governmentor or Town Board take the subject into consideration and appoint some place where tents might be erected ? Could not certain regulations be framed, which, whilst giving security against accidents by fire, might obviate the necessity of driving from our midst a population which, however poor at present, is certain, before long» to contribute largely to the permanent prosperity of the Province.