THE Thames Advertiser. MONDAY, MAY 17, 1875.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VIII, Issue 2046, 17 May 1875, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. MONDAY, MAY 17, 1875.

The Superintendent is about io ask the Council whether, on behalf of the province, they will sanction his continuing the payment to the PurapiDg Association of the money paid into the bank by the General Government for that purpose, and if they decline to ausww in the allimiatiw, no.more money will be paid, and so far as we can see, operations there, will be brought to a close. "We do not know what position tho Councillors are in-

clined to take up, but we should think that every consideration which could weigh with them would lead them to the conclusion that the payments should be continued. Tho arrangement was made between- Mr Yo'gel, the Superintendent, apd the directors of the Pumping Association some time before the last meeting of Council, and in his opening address, the Superintendent explaiued the subject, sending down also copies of the papersconnected with it. The Provincial Council were made fully aware of the whole matter, and not a single fact has taken place between that time aud this to cause it to chango its line of action. At one time, in last session, Mr Davgaville gave notice of his intention to ask a question on the subject, but apparently he did not carry .-out his design, and the Council assumed the full responsibility. The securities now are precisely what they were then, and the responsibility sought to be placed upon the province is exactly the same. Why the Council, which assumed tho responsibility then, should be inclined to decline now, wo cannot see, and indeed there are reasons now fonvoting the money which did not exist then. The payments have now been continued for more than a year, and a stoppage now meaus simply that the money expended will be thrown away. Then it might have been thought last year that to assume tho responsibility of such a*debt would be too much for the province, but now it is made abun-dantly-clear that in' any case the province must go, and that the General Government must take over all the liabilities which it has incurred, The members of Council must keep in mind that Ministers stated the advance was being made to the province, and that they profess themselves now willing to continue the payments upon condition of the Council voting the moDey. [tjis, therefore, entirely in the hands of the Council. 'If the Council could take the money and devote it to the making tff roads, or aDy public works throughout the province, a good deal might be said as to how the money could be best expended, But the Act under which it was appropriated restricts its expenditure to the Thames Goldfield, and we feel sure that the judgment of everybody here would be that, under the circumstances, it could not be better expended than in continuing the sinking of the. Association's shaft.

The position of the General Government is not by any means a good one, Up to this time they have made the payments direct to the Association, but. now, apparently only because Sir George Grey assumes a somewhat; hostile position, thny adopt a plan, which makes it necessary for the Council to vote the money. The security they have now is no worse than the' security under • which; Mr--Vogel entered into the arrangement, and the votiug of the money,by-;-;the Councilgiyes no additional.guarantee that....it : will bo repaid. .■ There Js_ no change in the position at.al].' : :Mr Vogel thought it expedient deep levels of this field should be 'tested,, aud that it was a fitting work for;'the Government to assist. The Provincial Government and tho Provincial Council, and the General Assembly,-agreed to the destination of the money, and now, in tho very middle of the work,'we are threatened with an abrupt stoppage. It is true that the money is .paid towards the promotion of an enterprise which has been undertaken by private persons, but we feel sure that it is of greater general interest than many of the public works which, have lately been undertaken in New Zealand, and for which the Government have no hope of receiving direct payment. If the assistance is now withdrawn, the money already expended will be lost, and the';problem which was to have been solved will be left undetermined, Not only will there be great loss and confusion.through the stoppage of the present arrangements, whereby so many of tho mines are drained, but it is very questionable whether any other attempt will be made to test the deep levels of the field. Mere surface workiug cannot maintain a goldfield permanently, and 'if on this field we are confined to shallow levels, instead of forming a permanent goldfield, like, those places in Victoria where auriferous reef's _ are worked, our existence will be but little more stable than the townships of an alluvial goldfield, This means, we are afraid, something like extinction for the Thames Goldfield for, perhaps, a generation, till some more enterprising people take the matter up, and reach those deeper runs of gold, which all experience leads us to expect we shall find below that barron place which the Association's shaft has been sinking through. What the extinguishing or great depression of the Thames means for the city of Auckland, and all this Northern part of New Zealand, the members of the Provincial Council should consider before they vote on this subject.

A meetiko of those interested in the Thames Miners' Accident JicliefFund is to be held Ibis evening at the Warden's Court, which has been lent for the occa* sion by Mr Warden Fraser with a.view to suiting the convenience of all who. may wish to attend, and to obviate any prejudices which might bo felt against holding the meeting in a hotel. Tho object of the meeting is of vital importance to tho maintenance of tho fund, or otherwise, and will bo best understood by the following extract from tho report submitted at the half-yearly meoting, which, was held on Monday night last:— "Under tho preseut circumstances the committee do not feel justified in ..recommending that after tho present week any furthcrsubscriptions bo received, unless, that at a special moeting, they would recommend to be called for this day week, the miners, by their attendance, make such arrangements as would justify the committee in continuing the affairs of the Belief Fund. Failing the doing so, the

Committee propose to payjupallliabili ties, and to close up the Fund, any balance in hand to be paid to the Thames Hospital, or if deficient, they subscribe such deficiency and resign their trust." Whatever may be the. fiat of the-meeting to-night, there is no question but that tho Miners' Accident Belief Fund has been of great benefit to many families,-who, without its aid, would have been left, in penury while fathers, brothers, or husbands, were unable to work, being incapacitated by mining accidents. Tho Ladies' Benevolent Society have for a long time fully recognised and amount of good which ( tho establishment of this fund has done, and we own that we shall regret much if the apathy miners or mine managers will-now it to drop through. The subscriptions for some time past' have been falling off, and the recent balance-sheet was such that tho committee could not feel justified in carrying on tho business of the fund any longer without an expression of opinion from thoso who are chiefly interested— the minors themselves. There is no. question but that the committee havo, been disheartened by the want of attendanco at the half-yearly meetings, and naturally felt that if. the miners took any interest in keeping up and maintaining such a fund, they would display this interest by attending the general meetings. It may be that hitherto they havo felt so thoroughly satisfied with the manner in-which the fund was'managed and distributed that they have been, quite content to let things go on as they were, but now when they fiud that without t thcir presence and active assistance the Thames Miners' Accident, Belief Fund will jhaveto lapse, they .will, if actuated by such feeling, attend the meeting to-night to. signify their inten* tions and express their opinions.