THE WEEK.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2021, 26 June 1875, Page 2

THE WEEK.

The past week—a very busy one in a general way—has beon remarkable ■ for_ settlements. Other Tainia cases have been settled; the Waio-Karaka drainage has been settled ; the Provincial Government have settled some additional burdens on the. luckless Borough, which, by the ■ way, somewhat unsettled the equanimity of the learned body who govern it; arrangements in connection with the United Pumping Association have been satisfac-, torily settled, and the sinking of the shaft is proceeding briskly under the direction of Mr Box, the contractor ; and it has become a generally settled.idea,that, " a new era of prosperity is dawning upon us ;" which to say the least us a happy state of things. Shares . in. claims. -at Tairua have daily become firmer, and in' , many Icasesiwork is beitig pushed >ahf ad with a determined energy 'which will soon produce results,- of; whatever kind they "may bo: all hope, however, and, it may be added, have good reason to believe,; that those results will be of such" a nature as to " make " this district.

While there is so much to rejoice over in connection with, tho' new extension,of the Hauraki Groldfiold, it must not be lost sight of that the old and more tried portion is daily giving promise of renewed life. There has • been a noticeablo irn-, provement in the Cure mine; the Albion, •.still continues to attract attention;: the; Golden Calf Has assumed a more prbmi-^ nent position, the newly discovered lode;' increasing in value as it is followed up ; and the Manukau Company are entering upon progressive work in the opening up of a new level. In ,the Waio-Karaka district, the" Queen of the May and City of London are maintaining their position as prosperous companies, and tho Queen of Beauty and Bright - Smile , have been brought prominently before the public. _.A discussion has arisen during-..the week regarding the tribute system as .existing -on this field, with.,immediate reference to a tributer in the Black Angel mine; Mr Eobert • Wicgate. The subject was brought into notice by a letter which appeared in the Evening Star of Wednesday last, the writer of which •adopted the norn deplume of " A Deluded Shareholder." Had the author of that letter confined himself to the general principle, his conclusions would have been erroneous, although it'is more than propable that the system is open to abuse; But I am in a position to state'thatlxe had no grounds whatever for directing an attack against the tributer of tho Black Angel in particular.... In order that this may be made more" clear to the gentleman who, I believe, honestly feels himself aggrieved, I may state the facts of. the case as - known to me* personally.-"Tenders were advertised for by the company for a fortnight, and none were sent in until .Mr Wingate offered to take up the tribute, having at the time no employment". The tender was, of course,- accepted,.and"thc tributer started to work, with-a male, who afterwards forsook. the ground, because he could.'" see , nothing in' the block to recompense.him for his labor. Mr Wingato then put_ on a wages man, paying him eight shillings per day; this party also declined to work..for a share in the profit?, if any were to be had, and would agree to work only on condition that he received the standard wages paid to miners. I have not heard that Mr Wingate—who is a.i experienced miner, and as boss «t>a- shift had been earning 50s per week—has since reaped any extraordinary benefit from his tribute, and it must be assumed that the parties. who left him had not a very enthusiastic idea of the country in which they were working. It is true „ Mr, Wingate "was at one time boss of a shift in the Black Angel, and upon this " A deluded Shareholder " would appear to place great stress, but that he is logically incorrect .in the insinuation- that 4he employment of some one who had worked in the mine was the aim of the directors will appear from the fact that the tribute was open to the public for a fortnight, or nearly so, before the tender of Mr Wingate was sent in; " A Deluded Shareholder's" argument would appear very absurd, for instance, if put in this way. Tenders "for a tribute in the Black Angel are- open to the public; but Mr Wingate .cannot be included under-the head "public" because he has worked in the the mine before, therefore; his tender should not^ be accepted. "A Deluded. Shareholder" first assumes,the right'to'consider that it is bad in principle to admit as tributers those who are.acquainted with' the mine, But without ( producing gome "good reason for taking such a'stand in the first instance his premises cannot be taken 1 a* good.' My only reason for writing the abovo is that I have good reason to believe Mr Wingate has been unjustly spoken of, and the reflection also reaches. the manager and directors. The writer of the letter evidently believes -himself " deluded," which he undoubtedly is, butonly in so far as he imagines there has been any underhand work in connection with t!Te letting of the Black Angel tribute. :As to the tribute "system in general, it" may be liable ■ to abuse, as stated before 5 but there is good in it nevertheless. • Those who read in the daily press that such and such a tribute has given a good return should remember, if they are conversant with goldmininjf, that tribute working is carried on' on a different and fkr less expensive principle than that which a company must inevitably adopt, and in many cases fossicking about on small veins will pay a party of men working for themselves handsomely, while it would bo utterly impossible for a company to pay expenses.