The Westport Times. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1869.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 557, 21 September 1869, Page 2

The Westport Times. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1869.

Oxe of the most unsatisfactory aspects of a gold mining community is the readiness with which its members accept the rumors of fabulous fortunes to be made abroad. It is difficult to assign any definite reason for this peculiarity, although numberless instances of the fact present themselves.

How often in the history of Australia, and of New Zealand, have we witnessed the spectacle of small, aye even large communities deeply unsettled by mere report and simple rumor? To recount them would be indeed to record more than " a twice told tale."

Each of us can call to memory how many men of settled habits—men with permanent business, and more than fair prospects—have literally " rushed " away from the most promising locations, and from the most profitable engagements, to grasp some golden chimera which, when seized, has crumpled in their hands like Autumn's yellow leaves. We need scarcely call to recollection the calamities attendant upon the Port Curtis fever, the subsequent exodus to Queensland, or the first rush to the Thames, and its results. But still these in their way more or less " point a moral " and certainly illustrate the truth which we desire now to enforce, namely, that nothing which has reached us justifies the belief that Westport, or the goldfields of Nelson, deserve to be deserted for the goldfields of the North.

"We are induced to take up this subject because of the irrational manner in which the advantages of the Thames have been presented about our town of late. W«d are not insensible of the fact that vast impetus has been given to business, not onlv in Graham's Town and in but also in Auckland. There can be no gainsaying the fact that enormous—we might say unprecedented—results have rewarded the efforts of the miners there. Still we cannot close our eyes to the equally palpable truth that, while we hear of the instances of individual success—while the thousands, perhaps the hundreds of thousands, of pounds made are glibely passed about from lip to lip—we hear nothing of the thousands of men who are utterly disappointed, or at least think themselves fortunate if they can earn a moderate wage. We do not desire to produce the impression that we underrate the importance of the Auckland Goldfields. We know that a vast population has been attracted thitherward. "We know that Victorian capital to a large amount is permeating and vivifying the place. "We know that great yields have over and over again been chronicled. But still we see nothing to justify discontent with our own lot.

Of course, there may be many here who fancy their circumstances might be improved. The depression consequent upon repeated disappointments, both on the Upper Buller and upon the Northern Terraces, cannot have failed to produce their effect. Then the belief—we had almost written the ridiculous belief—in some huge natural catastrophe in October has further conduced to darken a picture which was but just receiving a warmer tint from the promises of a brighter future. We say a brighter future advisedly —becauso we know that never before did the Northern Terraces present more favorable prospects. Claim after claim is coming into work. New ground is opening up, and we believe the records of the "Warden's Office will show that the number of men applying for Miners' Rights is far in excess of the average for the last fewmonths.

We may be charged with selfishness in recording these opinions. It may be said we are imagining that the John Perm's arrival again ' upon the coast will necessarily drive our people out of their senses, and that we must apply a sort of moral straight-jacket to curb their impulses. It may be so, but we cannot help it. If it be selfish to desire Westport to prosper, as we believe she can, and will, if the people only determine resolutely to develop her resources, we are selfish. We do not desire to control the action of any, but we do think it within tho scope of our duty to recommend all to " bide a wee."