MINING MAN-TRAPS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2128, 23 October 1896, Page 6

MINING MAN-TRAPS.

There is no disguising the fact that the circle of mining investors is rapidly widening. Twelve months ago Wellington was looking askance at the flint cloud rising in the horizon of the North. It recalled the shock of the Terawhiti disaster, and resolved to put no future faith in mining. But what do we set.' I Nearly every second person in this City has an interest in some Northern or Southern venture, and knows the excitement which comes with a rising market, and the depression which follows a falling one. Each pei son believes that he is in a " good thing," and sleeps dreaming of the morrow when In- may awaken to a modest fortune. And many are not disappointed. If a man has the money to lose, there can he no great harm in speculating in mining. It is a form of gambling, no doubt, but we must weigh against this the fact that were it not for willingness on the part of our small and large capitalists to nsk money for the chance of multiplied gain, the vast resources of the Colony, buried in the towels of the earth, would never be brought to light. We should not be what we now are, or what it is our certain destiny to be, in the eyes of the world. Those who raise thei- voices against mining speculation because it is a form of gambling, will perhaps nrgue that it is. for this reason, as much to be deprecated as betting on horse-racing. Hut we would reply that, whilst it is admitted that horse-racing, with its ever-accompanying betting, is an incentive to improve the breed of tins noble animal, the benefit to the Colony is not in the same degree. Moreover, horse-racing can be enjoyed by true sportsmen without betting, and op: j n bettiny may be put an end to whenever it is the will of the people. Put an end to mining speculation, however, arid the future of this promising Colony is, comparatively speaking, blighted. The two main centres of the Colonial mining market mav be said to be Auckland and Dunedin. \N ellingtun is destined to !■•• its " hub, we think, but it has been slow to realise this probability, if not e -rtainty. and has only now awakened to the fnct that it must do something in order to keep itself posted up as to tin- d-'ings at the gold fields North and South. Our readers will gather from the preceding remarks that we are distinctly in favour of a man being allowed to do ashe p!"aseswith his own : and. if it he his pleasure to invest his spare cash in goldmining ventures, that he should do so by all meaiH. always being careful, of course, to take every precaution that the venture into which he puts his ca-h is bona ti>l>. Many of our readers will say —'• How are we to find out whether what we are invited to invest in is placed before us in r;ood or bad faith r And rightly enough, for they may have no time or opportunity to do so. We recognise the difficulty, and it will be our duty, as it will be our pleasure, to do our best to point out the pits into which it mav occur to us, investors are likely to fall.—'The Guardian ' Wellington.