SCHOOL OF MINES.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1528, 30 March 1885, Page 2

SCHOOL OF MINES.

{Otago Daily Times) ' In another column we publish a tetter ! from Mr Macandrew. addressed to the Goldfields Commitee of the House of Represejrtativesduri-glastsession.Tbe ; letter w_| read and highly approved of j by many members, but mysterioasly j disappeared, and could net be be found ; when wanted. Although we consider, that the School of Mines should be perfected aud completed, and that it would be a mistake to withdraw Professor U I rich from there unless a competent successor could be found, we have no doubt of the value of Mr Macandrew's suggestion that there should be an Inspector-general of Minea To have an adviser and director of mining enterprise always at band to suggest the be»t method of gold saving would be of enormous advantage to mining interests. Capital has been re peatedly driven away and production hindered by the wasteful rule-of -thumb methods hitherto toe often adopted for mineral extraction. We are afraid to think of th* money lying hid in the tons af tailiings, almost, if not quite, repaying a careful re washing. Mining enterprise bas been dwarfed and the returnxf geld steadily dimin ished by the nse of obsolete and unscientific methods of extraction. What is wanted on the goldfields a«>ove everything is knowledge. A Minister of Mines cannot of necessity be expected to be acquainted with the technical, and in many instances highly scientific machinery — with tbe very difficult chemistry of successful geld saving. To be of real use he requires a trust worthy expert always al hand, who can l»e relied on to give eouud advice on mining projects unmoved by interest. It is rather the duty of a Minister of Mines to find the means for such projects, and the advice with regard to carrying them ent, than to determine their likeheood of success in the tirst instance. We speak, of course, of such enterprises as may fairly take rank as public works in the true sense of the words. Although Mr Macandrew doei not mention the matter in his memorandum, there is another point to which the attention of Government might well be directed al the present time, whan mining mat ten are at last receiving the attention thej deserve. If the Legislature would past au Act requiring all managers of mm iug companies to hold a certificate oi competency from some reliable authority it would do more good io m inert generally than any other means. Government requires much in the Mines Act from registered public companies, bnt the one thing needful — viz., competent management — is not at present demanded. Lawyers are obliged t< subject themselves to a test Iwfore thej practise, and doctors are required tc produce certificates before they ar< licensed to kill or cure. Why should not some test of competency be required of milling managers ? W«» suggest the idea to Government, only remarking that in the first instance, at any rate, the test should not l*e too severe, oi demanded until, say 1888, so as to give those who desire it the opportunity of qualifying themselves. The following is the memo, for the Goldfields Committee by Mr Macandrew referred to in cur leading columns : — I trust I may l« pardoned for taking the lilierty of submitting a suggestion which, in the interest of mining in dustry , is worthy of consideration. Years ago, as Superintendent oi Otago, deeply impressed with th« necessity of having a School of Mines in New Zealand, I was chiefly instrumental in bringing a>>out an arrangement between the Colonial Government and the Otago University Council whereby Mr Ulrich (then of the School of Mines, at Ballarat) wax brought to New Zealand. 1 regret tc say, however, that the object aimed at by me has not been attained, and that practically we have no School of Mines worthy of the name. Although we have in New Zealand probably the best man theoretically and practically in as far as mining matters are concerned, be is fretting away his time in Dunedin teaching a few students with a totally insufficient staff, when he might be far better employed for the good of the Colony. I venture to think that if Professor Ulrich were, appointed as inspectorgeneral of mines he would not only be of the greatest use to tlie Minister of Mines (who could always thoroughly depend upon bearing the truth), but mining managers throughout the Colony would have a man whom they could consult in every case. Moreover, a stop would be put to that curse of unscientific mining (robber mining) by which more valuable material is destroyed tban is actually obtained for ase. At the same time Mr Ulrich would j have more influence with the mining community than any other man in New Zealand. I would only point out further that the question of salary would be very umitnportant Mr Ulrich .gets £500 a j year from tbe Colonial Government now, and if the services of one of the mining inspectors — none of whom can do the same work that Mr Ulrich would do— were dispensed with, the Office of inspector general of mines would not involve any additional burden on the revenue. J. Macandrbw. September 20, 1884. I may add that Mr Ulrich has no knowledge of the foregoing suggestion, si I have had no communication with him for a long time past. J. M.