The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1936 THE TRAGIC SIDE OF GOLD-MINING.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20512, 2 September 1936, Page 6

The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1936 THE TRAGIC SIDE OF GOLD-MINING.

“Only thirty-four of the 203 gold-mining companies of which statistical information is listed in the Hines Statement placed before the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, have ever paid a dividend, and no fewer than ninety-live have, up to December 31 last, never produced one ounce of gold.” In giving that information, the Minister of Mines the Hon. I’. C. Webb) stated: “Since I have held my present portfolio I have been appalled by the information that has reached me concerning the tragic history of many gold-mining companies, and I feel that I would be gravely lacking in a sense of public duty if I did not make some reference to the question.” Dor many years, authoritative spokesmen have warned the country that the gold-mining industry was drifting into a parlous state. Not only has the official voice been raised, but the spokesmen of the goldmining companies themselves have from time to time, without avail, appealed to Governments of the past to assist gold mining and at least ease their enormous burdens by lifting the gold tax from their otherwise over-taxed activities. But the official voice and the voice of the gold-mining people themselves have been as voices crying in the wilderness. The inevitable results have been reaped, and to-day not only are many of the companies in deep water, but New Zealand investors who have from time to time “tried their luck” in gold-mining ventures of a more or less risky nature, have cooled off because they have paid heavily for their mistakes. The Minister of Mines in his annual statement points out that the figures he mentioned do not tell the whole story, for there are about thirty other companies in liquidation from which statements of affairs cannot be obtained.” The Minister of Mines, on his part, is not insensible to the stir - his pronouncement will make. But he is not deterred on that account: “As a result of drawing attention to these figures,” added the Minister of Mines, “I will probably be accused of driving capital away from gold-mining. On the contrary, I desire to express my sincere conviction that gold-mining, and particularly golddredging, is likely to prove a very profitable Held for investors in the next few years, providing the propositions supported are among those which have been genuinely and adequately prospected.” But unremunerative and uneconomic gold-mining operations have done more than check the flow of legitimate investment in gold-mining. In some cases, the loss has been aggravated, particularly from the national standpoint, because of the destruction, in many places, of land that might otherwise have been preserved for tolerably safe rural activities. The Minister of Mines can render an invaluable service to the Dominion by developing gold mining on sound lines, because as everyone knows, gold is “found money.”