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Southland Times, Issue 10202, 8 July 1889, Page 2

The Stewart Island tinfield furnished occasion for a very lively ecena in the House of Representatives last Thursday. Mr Ward opened the basinesa by asking the Minister of Mines what amount had been received by Government for land taken up by the prospectors, and what had been the total cost of surveying allotments. He accused the Government ©f indifference to the enterprise, and asked that the surplus of fees should be devoted to opening up tracks, and generally to giving assistance to the pioneers o£ the field. The Minister replied that L 2700 had been received t for land taken up, and that the cost of survey would be L 7 10s to Lls per section, and that the proceeds beyond cost of survey would go into the Treasury. Pressed by Mr Ward to say what he intended to do for the benefit of the prospectors, Mr Richardson replied that the time had not arrived for giving Government assistance, and that he waited till it should become known whether the field was to be a paying one before giving the qnestion his consideration.* Then the excitement began. Mr Ward, in wratb, moved the adjournment of the Souse, and sot about scarifying the Minister. He accused him of indifference to the efforts that were being made to test the value of the tin discoveries, and of conduct differing widely from that of; other colonial rulers, who had given every encouragement to the development of the mineral wealth of their several countries. The Minister of Mines, he said, had paid a superficial visit to the fields and had thrown cold water on the enterprise. Mr Richardson is not the man to take a rebuke meekly, and retorted, with characteristic humour, that his visit could hardly be said to have been superficial, seeing be had been all the time up to the knees in mud. He repudiated the charge of want of sympathy, and declared that he was ready to give the whole matter his consideration. We need not pursue the narrative of the fight further than by saying that Mr Ward rejoined, with the wit and readiness of his country, aud that Mr Seddon distinguished himself by a fine confusion of metaphor, making the throw, ing of cold water a consequence of a round man being placed in a square hole. The matter ended in the Minister's giving an assurance that he would consider the question of offering a bonus oq the basis of the output of tin. The point to be determined is whether Mr has been hard and unsympathetic, or whether he bas been mere'j in this instance, as in so many others, commendably prudent and cautious. While being interviewed by the prospectors, and when visiting the fhld at Pegasus, he certainly was severe on that feature of the undertaking that revealed a tendency to mere speculation and a disposition to sit with folded bands instead of testing fairly and at once the real value of the discovery. But, if we do not mistake, he held out a distinct prospect of Government assistance, if the miners Bhould be found ready to help themselves. Now, sinGe the Ministerial visit it is understood that a good deal of real work has been done in the way of opening up claims, and that the tests have been of such a character as to give grounds for believing that a valuable tinfield exists. Therefore we are of opinion that the oondition insisted on by Mr Richardson has been to a fair extent fulfilled, and that the Government could not be charged any precipitancy or with misapplying the funds of the colony if they were now to afford the assistance that the community.at Pegasus so earnestly desires. It would be a pity if the numbers now on the field, enduring: all the rigour of winter, should be left any longer than in absolutely unavoidable in the mud to which the Minister has made suoh feeling reference. Surely the undertaking is at this stage entitled to share to some extent in the revenue it has been the means of creating.