The Westport Times. SATURDAY, JULY 9, 1870.

Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 682, 9 July 1870, Page 2

The Westport Times. SATURDAY, JULY 9, 1870.

It would be matter for regret if the discoveries, which have recently been made of what appear to be payable and extensive quartz reefs, and which, if profitably developed, are calculated to give this district so great an impetus, should be permitted to remain indefinitely unproductive, for want of the necessary capital to ensure their being worked on a scale of sufficient magnitude to render operations remunerative. As a rule, private claimholders, wherever their prospects have been such as to offer legitimate inducements to capitalists, have entertained a strong prejudice against throwing open their mines to public companies, under an exaggerated impression, no doubt, that the working expenses would thereby be so greatly increased and the affairs of the company generally so mismanaged that a claim, the prospects of which showed a fair margin for profitable working, would fail to prove remunerative in the hands of a public company. In quartz reefing, as in any other speculation, defective management would be found to affect very injuriously the success of any enterprise ; at the same time, the remedy always lies with the shareholders, and an objection, which applies equally to every-day transactions, cannot reasonably be advanced with greater force as against mining speculations. On the other hand the public have to guard against imposition. It is no new thing to issue a most favorable prospectus inviting co-operation in undertakings promising fabulous returns, without

any substantial basis upon which the calculations can be founded. The mining annals of Victoria offer sufficient illustration of this mode of procedure, and also, looking nearer home, the Auckland goldfields. Numberless cases may be instanced from among the mining companies floated at the Thames, and, so far as the promoters have been concerned, successfully so, which have resulted most disastrously to others who have invested in the various undertakings. It certainly is matter for surprise that numbers should have been found willing to pay several thousand pounds premium to participate in schemes which, at the outset, offered but trifling encouragement. There is, however, a proneness among men to rush into extremes —from a caution, bordering closely upon pusillanimity, to a recklessness and indifference of consequences, very closoly allied to -insanity. There would appear no reason to apprehend that the public of this district will be led into the latter excess ; their fault, in a less degree, would seem to lie rather in the contrary direction. While we should strongly deprecate the partial abandonment of steady industry for wild speculation and scriphawking, we certainly think that the public should lend their assistance in furthering any scheme which would materially enhance the prospects of the community and at the same time offers a very legitimate opening for investment. The proposed company to work the ground at the fjyell, known as No. 1 and 2, South, appears to offer very reasonable inducement to intending shareholders. The productiveness of the reef disclosed has been satisfactorily demonstrated, and there is every reason to believe that there exists a large body of stone capable of yielding payable prospects. The water supply, a secondary but very essential feature in the successful working of the ground, is a permanent one, so far as we can learn, and it was also stated, at the meeting on Wednesday evening, that the extent of race required, to convey this water, would not exceed a mile and a-half. The very reasonable terms also, upon which th,' original shareholders consent to assign their interest to a public company, form au exceptional and pleasing contrast to the stringent demands customarily advanced by men in their position. Looking at all the circumstances and the conclusions that may be reasonably deduced, the promoters appear justified in inviting the co-ope-ration of the public, and it rests with the latter, by lending assistance, to greatly facilitate the reef being speedily and effectually developed.