THE Thames Advertiser. TUESDAY, NOVEMBERS 2, 1875.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VIII, Issue 2188, 2 November 1875, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. TUESDAY, NOVEMBERS 2, 1875.

"We may say that we shall be very glad when Sir George Grey has done banqueting in Otago, so that he may once more return to his Northern homeland again visit the Thames, as be has promised to do, immediately after his arrival in Auckland. There are a few important matters which really require the presence of Sir .George Grey before they can be satisfactorily dealt with. When Sir George'left for "Wellington to attend the" late session of the r Assembly it will be remembered that he did not/ appoint any deputy Superintendent to act during his absence, and the ordinary business of the province had therefore to be conducted from Wellington by means of the electric telegraph. The province was left almost entirely in the hands of the clerks and other. Provincial Government officers, without any official head, and the consequence is that many matters of importance have been postponed until the return of the Superintendent..

.One cause of anxiety at the Thames for. the return of his Honor the Superintendent is. the want of roads to enable miners to convey machinery to the newly-opened portions of the goldfield. This is our most pressing and urgent want, and as the goldfields revenue is still being handed over to the Provincial Government, we are all anxious to know how.much is.likely to be available for public works in this' district, and what works are to be undertaken.

The miners; at. Waitekauri have held a public meeting upon the question of forming a sledge road from Paeroa to the mines—a distance of Bomo seven miles—so that machinery can be taken up, and they have determined to placo themselves in communication with his Honor upon: the subject with a view of showing, cot only that the proposed track is the best for the purpose, but that it is most, urgently required. The first statement we can Bay nothing about, as it is one which must be settled by engineering authority, but regarding the necessity of the road we do strongly press it upon the. attention of the Government. ' There are no public works, in the province which can possibly compare in point of importance with the Tairua and Waitekauri roads, and yet nothing is. being done in the matter beyoud the expenditure of a small sum of money in clearing the tracks..' . ■'

One of the resolutions passed at. the public meeting of miners afWaitekauri draws attention to the fact that a recent discovery of a fine gold-bearing reef has been made, nearer the Paeroa than those formerly found, and that a road via Mackaytown would not bo available for any of the new finds. But if the Government are inclined or disposed to open the now field atWaitekturi aud encourage' the.development of the reefs there, they will make the place accessible by way of both Mackaytown and Paeroa. Had such discoveries been made in Otago as those recently brought to light at Waitekauri and Tairua, the local Government would have spent their last shilling in assisting the miners to develop the latent wealth. It certainly is not creditable to this province—if there be money in tho chest, as Mr Reader Wood assured us there was some time ago—that the mining community should be left in that helpless condition they now find themselves placed.in for want of roads. There are tons of machinery now awaiting transmission to the new fields, and if the people of the gold field—the miners and shareholders in the claims —are fully convinced that the reefs are payable, and if they are prepared to expend large sums in the purchase of suitable crushing mills, surely it ia tho business of the Government to see that such tracks and roads' are made as may be actually necessary to facilitate the conveyance of the plant to the auriferous country. It must be remembered that this is not a mere local question. The whole province is interested in the speedy development of the new discoveries, for upon its goldfields much: of the future of Auckland depends,