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1876. NEW ZEALAND.

THE GOLD FIELDS OF NEW ZEALAND, (REPORT ON).

(Return to an Order of the House of Representatives, dated 3rd August, 1869.) " That it 13 desirable that the Government should cause to be laid upon the Table of this House, during each Session, a Report embodying a general account of the present condition of the Q-old Fields of the colony, their advancement or otherwise during the preceding year, and their probable prospects; together with particulars showing the average price of provisions during the year on each Gold Field, the rate of wages, estimated population, and such other information as would afford a comprehensive idea of the general condition of the mining interest in the colony; and that His Excellency be requested to forward a copy of such Report to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies."—( Mr. W. H. Harrison.)

Mr. C. E. Haughton to the Hon. the Minister for Public Works. Sir,— Wellington, Ist July, 1876. I have the honor, in accordance with your instructions, to forward a General Report upon the state and prospects of the Gold Fields; with Appendix containing Reports by the Wardens upon the districts under their charge, and Statistical Tables. I have, &c., The Hon. the Minister for Public Works, Wellington. C. E. Haughton.

REPORT. In presenting this Report drawn up in accordance with the order of the House of Representatives and containing with the Appendix a variety of information furnished by the Gold Fields Wardens and other officers, I may state that I had early in the year the opportunity of visiting the gold fields, although in a very hurried manner, and can therefore confirm by personal experience the very favourable accounts given in the Reports as to the settlement of the people upon the land under the agricultural lease provisions of the Gold Fields Acts, and the deferredpayments system in force on the Otago Gold Fields. The Wakatip District, which not many years ago I recollect as a mere sheep-run and badly stocked for that, is now a flourishing agricultural county, only wanting the ready means of reaching a market, soon to be afforded by the Winton and Kingston Railway, to render the population independent of the accidents of gold mining. In Tuapeka where, before the discovery of the Gold Fields, beyond the immediate neighbourhood of Tokomairiro, there was hardly a settler between that place and the Clutha River, for a distance of over forty miles there is now continuous settlement, and farms may be counted by hundreds. The Wardens all speak of the progress of settlement and the increasing demand for laud, and in many cases testify to the value at which that already brought under cultivation is estimated in the market. Most of the settlers are persons who have made money in gold mining or who combine the two pursuits, which, being in most cases men with families, they can do with facility and advantage. With regard to the gold mining interest itself the results of the year, as shown by the statistical tables, are very reassuring, and seem to indicate that the worst times are past, and that now reactionary improvement may be looked for. The yield of gold is slightly less, the revenue greater, than last year, whilst the population has not materially altered. Upon this point it may be remarked that the demand for good labour in other pursuits, which, notwithstanding the number of immigrants introduced, undoubtedly still continues with the contingent of high wages, necessarily absorbs a number of men who would probably otherwise take to mining aud do well at it. The character of mining also-is very different to what it was in the early times of the gold fields : now a man without capital can hardly do else than work for wages; he can do this in the centres of population, and naturally under these circumstances many prefer the town to the country. There has also beeu a considerable exodus of real miners to the Queensland Gold Fields, especially from the West Coast and Auckland. As in former years, I