Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

HOME LETTER.
J,au.vceston, Thursday,
May I Uth, 1870.
Again the tiuic has arrived when we arc
called upon to review the events of a month
gone by — events which have been of more
than ordinary importance. When we des
patched our last summary, Tasmania was
still waiting—' Waiting for the Gold,' and
every one was on the nni vive to learn the
result of the first crushing of quartz from
the Pioneer mine, tluit of the United Vic
torian and Tasinanian Gold Mining Company,
tho inuchiucry of which hud been christened
but a week before, under very auspicious
qircuiuoiwvon, «.., ii.,,o v-c 'iw'..™,,*...'- (j,.
Tuesday, 2otli ult., tlie news came : — 157o/..,
17dwts., lCgrs. retorted guld from 1(8 tons
of quartz. In the process of smelting, this
gold lost lloz., but Still the yield remained
16idwt-v to the ton, and althuugh this wns
considerably under what mauy hud been,
uerlitym foolishly, lad to anticipate it was
ncvorthcloiis regnrdpd as exceedingly eatis
foutary. This w«is, however, the rehiilt ouly
of a first crushing, aud in a i orUiight later,
viz., on Uth iiist.,tho gold from tho wound
cnifihingwiis received; but the yield this time
was considerably less, and there wore circum
stances in connection with the working tit the
mine u'lu'ch gave rise to much dissatisfaction
among the Tasruunum shareholders. 1G8
tons of stuff had beeu put through the ma
chinery, the yield in smelted gold being S5oz.,
4-iw(s. On iuvocitigatiou it »ug fuuud
that the stuff crushed on tliis occasion
was unt all qunruz, hut that hetweeu SO
and 00 tons of mullock lunl bpeu nm
nipulated, so that the yield could uot be
tnken to represent uwrc than 1 01) tons of
stone, lu reference to this the. Directors
have instructed the manager, and it is ex
pected tliat future orushiugs will prove more
6atis£ictory. There can be no mistake ibout
the genuine richness of this mini1, if -Uo
opinions of practical miners who liavc visited
it »ire worth anything ?, but a grout many
ridiculous estimates uf its probable yield
liave been put lqrward. Ateu haye talked of
ounces to the ton as Victorious might tall;
of pennyweights, and, as a consequence,
ideas have gained ground which, although to
some extent warranted by the rich appear
ance of certain veins running through the
stouc, could scarcely be realised when the
whole body of the reef came to be manipu
lated. Vox instance, the western wall of i.lic
reef in tlie compnny's claim carries a vein of
stone, in which the gold is plainly visible in
every piece taken out, and could a couple of
hundred tons of this stone be crushed sepa
rately, there am be no doubt the return
would be somewhat fabulous ; but the stone
cannot be picked in tliis way— ihe reef mimt
be mined regularly, and, taking the whole
body of it, the shareholders will have no
reason to complain should the aver
ngc yield reach from ISdwis. to an
ounce to the ton. which, we believn. it
will, if the reef be fairly mined. This will
pay handsomely. The average yield from
one of the principal mines in Victoria, the
new Nurth Chines, has been but ltdwts. to
the ton, nnd the company has been enabled
to pay dividends qf £H per month on 2080
Bharcs. The United Company will not do
this, because hi the first place the number of
shareholders is fur larger, and in the next
place the establishment is much smaller.
The New N'orlh Cluncs Company work
twenty head of stampers, the United .has.
only ten, and they must divide the proceeds
amongst 6,200 shares, as against 2.U80 sliariup;
the profits of the Clunes Company. How
ever, dividends may easily be paid at the
rate of £3 per nmium, and this upon sliares
of £5 original value is to be regarded :is ex
ceedingly Biitisfnctory. It is estimated that
the battery can crush, on mi average, 125
tons of qnarUt per week. Taking the yield
at an ounce, and the guld at the low
value of £:i per ounce, this would, give
£375 per week ; the espeusos are about £ 7g,
so that £3D0 per week may be looked upon
us clear profit. Wo refer now ouly to the
ten head battery, but the company nw.v on
large this to any size they choose, and with
ont increasing tlie general e.\penses to .any
appreciable extent, double or treble their
yield. There is.nny quantity of qimrlz j all
tliat is iicodad is the menus to manipulate it,
and the more energy dispLayod in procuring
those, the greater will lie tlie returns. As we
have said ?from the first, tlie company possess
a most valunWeiniiK', fliid we trust (bey will
not trifle with it, but set to work nnd develop
it-in good earnost. Should they do so a. very
different state of things will exist in Tas
mania ten years hence.
DissatisHud as mauy Tasiiianiiins have
been with the first crushing from this
wine, tlie nows.iwheii.telegraphod tothe-great
centre of Victorian mining enterprise, HaJ
larat.hnd quite a different effect. The men pf
tlie ?' corner' did not wait to make inquiries,
but at once made a start, and tlie very next
steamer brought us quite a pome of mining
talent, men ready to go anywhere in search
of wealth, and to aid with willing hearts and
strong arms m revealing to the world the
riches of the earth. There are some Tus
manians who may write Victorians down as
' greedy speculators' aud ' erasoiiie canila
hsts ?,' well, we do not for one moment
flssume t bat they are impelled hitlicr by mere
motives of unselfish patriotism, or the simple
desire io assist in advancing Tasmania ; but
?we should be paying a very poor compli
ment to Tnsmaiiians did we insinuate that
lhoy arc unable to take care of themselves.
TJie luirra ivliich Victorian speculators may
do to individual Tasuv.uiiuns will be very
?slight ; tlie good they will do to the colony
and Tiwraanians in the aggregate will be 311
Qalculablc. Already their influence is every
where ^icrceptablc : it is sacn in the busy
wpect of our strecta, the crowded condition
of our hotels, -tlic increasing trade of our
shops, the improvement in various branches
of our irovenuc, the .passenger lists of .our
steajuerfl,Lthc:bu5iness of the telegraph and
lOEtal departments, and in many vroys-trbioh
we ueed not enumerate. Let us take advan
tage of our opportunities, aud encourage the
i/ifiuK of Viuturiaus. They |iOHses« £u:ulties
in which TasniiUiiuiis nre dclieicnt, tha cntcr
priso aud genius to turn availiiblo w*ources
to oecuunt i and, by their aid, we may ac
complish utidertiikings which, without such
direction, we should never have imagined.
We take it an a happy amen that Tasmania
is worth the business attonlion of Victorians,
tluit our colonial cousins arc now attracted
hither by something more than the mure
desire for health or pleasure, .and we
trust nothing will occur to check tbo tide of
enterprise u'Jn'nli lias begun to How in upon us.
Klsowhcre wo have givun an account of the
iuovomout8 of the Balliirat men, whose visit
is above referred to, and who seem to have
turned their attention most towards I'ingal.
They have traversed the district from end to
end, have seen everything that is to he seen,
convinced themselves of the buna file pros
peuts of the place as a great gold field, ob
luiuud lcasos of a large area of land, and
telegraphed to Victoria for one of the oldest
and most experiencud mining surveyors and
geologists in that colony, whose opinion they
desire to obtain prior to commencing active
mining operations. Of the quartz rerfa on
and around Tower Hill, they sppak in the
very highest terms ; but it is the extensive
alluvial fluts in the neighbourhood of the
Dlitck Bny which have most taken their
fancy. They have succeeded in leasing from
Mr Alexander M'Kcnzie, for mining pur
poses, the whole of the splendid estate of
Kvercroeeh, nearly fiuuo aeros, iuid the
'Mcltcnne's Freehold Gold Mining Com
v2mi,'re^o^unae?ra^n1^^^.J!)i'i11i
particulars respecting this and other gold
lielils, we must refer to our gcuoral news
columns.
Turning from mining to political matters,
we have first to refer to the Main Line Rail
way sclieme,respecting which there i« ut pre
sent a good deal of excitement, especially in
the south. The news nf the formation in
London of a Tasmanian Main Line Knilway
Company hns led to a very general belief
that the Government scheme may be re
garded as mi fait accompli. The ' Great
Hrilnin' 1ms arrived at jfolbourne, brinirinir
Captain Audley Conte, the emissary of the
Executive, and his return to Tasmania is
now very anxiously looked for. It is under
stood that Captain Coote is the bearer of
certain propositions which, if accepted by the
Government here, will lead to the immediate
construction of the railway. Should this be
(he result, the contracting capitalists will
luive no reason to regret the undertaking,
ft has long been our opinion that the Main
Line Uailwiiy is tho chief work needed to
ensure the progress of the colony, anil we
have lost no opportunity of urging Govern
ment to proceed -with its construction. Un
fortunately we have never yet had nn Kxe
cutive possessed of sufficient energy and
courage to undertake such a work, and the
proposal of lust session was a mere expedient
-o avoid that responsibility. The expedient
will have hern so far successful if it gives us
the railway, but we cannot help thinking that
the bonus proposal i'r a mere throwing away
of £300,000. Alre;idy the southern press are
coining round to tliis view; and after having
supported the Government scheme, the Mer
cury only a few days ago urged that 'so
great is the change of circumstance* now,
that, if the Government are not committed
by anything Captain Audley Coote has done
with their function, they ought to hesitate
ere they finally close auv bargain on the
condition sanctioned by l'tirli.ament , who
were that body now afforded an opportunity
of deliberating on the matter, might deem it
better to save the i'.i:)ri,(W(i, by the colony
itself undertaking the work.' Kxnetlv so!
.and this is |irec;sc-ly what we (o!-! tlie Go
vernment nun1 l'nrliuinent when the scheme
was before them .and there was time for re
pentance. Now we fear it is too lute. As
suming the proposal of the Knglioh company
to be at all consonant with the provisions of
the Main Line Railway Act, we hold that
the Government are in honor bound to keep
faith and sacrifice the bonus. 11 is but an
other instance of the folly of permittim; men
to govern a country by the rule of i-x]ie-
dicnts, instead of demanding from them a
well-defined, broad, ami lilienl public policy.
Tasinnriinns have to pay rather dearly for
their political experience.
Our Main Line Railway nnd Progress As
sociation is alive again, aud has ' interviewed'
the Colonial Secretary, urging him to induce
the Government U\ adopt the Fairlie system
of construction in bnildin.-r Hie Main' Line
Railway. It is sufficient to say that if the
line is to be constructed under a bonus by a
company. Government will have little to do
with thp matter beyond seeing tluit it is a
good and substantial line. The Act gives
Government power to ngrce as to gmge,
weight, of rail, fares by nne train daily, &c,
but none to dictnte a system of ronstructiun.
Kan-lie's plan principally refers to the de
srripiion of rolling stock to be employed, and
with that Government will havo little to do,
beynnd seeing that it is gnod and safe rolling
stock. Pel-hup* the Uailwity and Progress
Association had better 'interview' Captain
Audley Coo(c.
Next to the railway, (he question of Par
liamentary Kt'form Ims been ninstproimuent.
When His Excellency the Governor opened
the last session of Parlmmenf, he said : —
'The alteration which hns taken place in
the value of properly, and in the distribution
of population, since Ihe passing of the ' Con
slituliou Act,' renders it desirable to con
sider the propriety of rcadjiisliug tho repre
sentation of the people in l'.avli-.tiucm. With
this object in view it is necessary lhat a
census of the population should be taken,
and a bill for that purpose will bo brought
under your uoticc.' That bill duly became
an Act of the Legislature, and a census has
been takeii,ndigestiifthofirst general abstract
of which appears in another column. The
question of reform luis, however, been dis
cussed rather prematurely without the
census retunip, and some very absurd ideas
have been propounded : but.'aflcr all, good
has been done, i\s the discussion has shown
up. tlie priucijNtl opposition a liberal scheme
of reform may have to ince(— :in opposition
the forces of which arc represented by
dollars, sheep, and gum trcc~. Now we hold
that as sonn as the K-:crutive diverge from
the straight highway of \mb\W. duty, and
bike tlie crooked path, piwenUrg a class
interest at avcry corner, they will foil of
suocpss in regard to this question. If we
are to have parliamentary reform at ail, it
niuft be broad and liberal.a reform recognis
ing only the future interests of the colony at
large, without reference to the immediate
concerns oC a few man who happen to possess
brood acres, mighty flocks, and extensive
hanking accaunjs. We cannot do an injus
tice to these men ,by carrying out reform
upon this principle ; but wo may inflict
iVjrC^raWe Jfrjury «g?°n the country bjr
yielding too much -o that hitherto irresisti
ble power which the accumulation of wealth
has conferred upon Uu.'u..
Ministers have visaed the Sjrlh during
the mouth, but iheir siiiy \v:i« of short dura
tion, and Ihe visit of u private- character. The
hou. the Minister en' Lunds and Works has
visited the goldlici.U at liut, and Iiuk junl re
turuud from Wu. 01 house. JiVoui certain
circumstances which iiuve come lu our know
ledge, we undursuinil tliu iuliabiUiuU in that
locality hiive little Uj .uiiio from ilr Sutler's
very hasty inspwti,i,i of ihe reefs, and it is
unlikely that ai.y imnurtiuit public works
will be undertaken, ilr llutlor is, however,
most reticent, und declines to inform anyone
excepting his colleagues as tu liis views; we
shall therefore heur nothing respecting his
visit until he has reported ulttVially.
Since our last a vucaney U-ui bucn occa
sioned in the legislative Cmticil by the
resignation oT Lieut.-Culoael liutohuiB, one
of tha representatives* or' liie Jistrict of
TiMimi-. Colonel iliiu-hins in not very ex
plicit ns to his reason for his r-ii-irement, but
expresses his bclii-r ilnii his views on some
questions of moment are not exactly in
ubcnrt wiih the ojiiniiin' he'd uy a number
of bis constituents. We uiiite no remark
upon the resignation, but d';sire to urge on
the electors the iici-wnity for 'luiosiug a maa
of sound views mil li--. ml ]n .;ijiioi. to suc
Mtcd'liim. The e(iiniii- liessiuu v.iil be one
of unusual inipori;unv. an.l up'in the actiqn
of representHtives »iil depend .1 a great de
gree, the future of ii:u coluiiy. It is liiga
time some select iuii wer' made, although the
writ hns not yel been iasuu-d.
Among various pivij^cts disciiased during
4.I.. ~..n,i, i-n«.|H-j-n one for the esuiblish
ment of a whaling coiflpu.i.r. — . . ._ ,.u
idea, revived bf Victorians, but it in one
which, if carried out with vnui-gy and spirit,
would certainly prove 'reniuiiui-uiJve. We
venture to say tlml, cin-a;J Viuvuriun capi
talists float a whaiing company upon .1 liberal
basis, liny shares offered .11 Tiuiiiij. 'in. would
be immediately tnfci'ii up. Vie b«tr . alsuch
a company is cont-.-mp'..iiM, and a-iot-pL tlio
opportunity to renu ?/ discussion upjii on old
proposition, namely, the employment of steam
in the ivlialjiig tra.i'e. We believe firmly
that, to ensure the pr'tii«h--: pursuit af
whaling, the power of sieuni must be in
voked, and we therefore commend the pro
posal, without clfiimin-r for it anything like
originality, to ihe attention of individuals
who nmy contemplate joint enterprise in this
direction.
After much discussion, nuny attempts at
practical action, and repeated failures, we
hear it is probable that a woollen manufac
tory will shortly be ustal)li=h'-l in Launees
tmi. The project is so far advance. I that it
will shortly be submitted to the pnWw.
Another of our old Tasmat' 1.. i-^. Hans
has passed away, a'-1. V-y the .^Ciof Hti-.xrt
Quayle Kermodc. ^he lios; ta'iie Squire nf
Mona Vale, the i-.-loi' |Ws h»t »tne friend.
Mr Ivcrmode lent va;iiab'onid mi the councils
of the State, at a -hue when I'asnvinia stood
most in need of w. !e coun--il!ors, and like the
late Sir Richard Dry, held a high place in
public estimation. ' Ivnfeebled in body, b«
Fome time ago rj'ired from public life, but
he still took an arrive interest in every
measure cjilcnlnt* '1 to arivanm; the pro»pcrity
nf the country. He was foremost in every
good cause, ana his great wealth was fully
distributed m ? ipiinri of every worthy ob
ject. He wan r-.v ,,f those respecting whom
an American poet says : —
There arc whoso Mtttt are large and frank and
lnyul,
WUr,-e humnn nnhno, like their wealth, is royal ;
In uliuse free luu.ls 1I10 glittering, dangerous
dust
Is not mere m'i\-'y, hut n sncroil trnrt.
]jonj may w-- Iwp their irw» unfnintrtl line,
Sued men arc Princes If a riglu divine.
It wore good for the eolony if we had
ninny such. The lat- .Nfr Kerniode'sBplendi-l
mansion at Mona V: 'e was visited bv His
Hoynl Highness tht T- ike »f Kdiuburg'i,
when in Tasmania, and [he evening wOiieh
H.IMi. spent in the nohle ennservatovv w^is
perhaps oueof the most enjoyable of his ; rip.
$