D.—No. G,

EXAMINEES' EEPOET. S IE) Wellington, 3rd May, 1869. The Examiners appointed to decide upon the merits of the Gold Fields Essays, after fully considering those laid before them, to the number of forty-two, decide as follows : — They consider that No. 41 in the schedule, bearing the motto " Striving to better, oft we mar what's well," is entitled to the first prize ; that No. 26, with the motto " Carpe diem," is entitled to the second prize ; and that No. 23, with the motto " Übi inel ibi apes," is entitled to the third prize. The above conclusions were fully arrived at by a majority of the Examiners. I have, &c, Alfeed Domett, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Chairman of Board of Examiners.

No. 1. " Striving to better, oft we mar what's well."— King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4. The subject with which it is proposed to deal in the following Essay has been divided, by the terms of of the Eesolution of the Assembly in which it is set forth, into two parts, namely : —(1) The permanent settlement of the mining population of New Zealand ; (2) The means for fixing within the Colony the capital which is being drained away from the gold fields. It is probable that in the discussion of these two divisions it will be found that the one includes the other, and that the same course of action which, will secure the permanent settlement of a mining population will secure also the permanent investment of capital. The second division, however, being of a more comprehensive nature than the first, relating, as it does, to investments of any kind in any part of the Colony, will require further discussion than is needful for the first part of the subject. With the exception of the Auckland gold fields, which are still in their infancy, no mining industry of any extent, and claiming to be of a permanent character, has yet been established in NewZealand. The alluvial diggings which have been discovered and worked in Otago and on the West Coast can hardly with any propriety be termed mines, or those who work them miners. The absence, however, of any other large class of persons who gain their livelihood by extracting minerals from the earth leads to the conclusion that the mining population referred to in. the formal statement of the subject in hand must be the alluvial diggers, who have in the last few years obtained such an immense amount of gold from different parts of the Southern Island. 3?or the sake of convenience, I shall, in the following essay, observe a distinction between the alluvial digger, by whom I understand one who gathers gold from the surface and from later deposits only, and the alluvial miner, that is, one who works the deeper deposits, or deep placer mines as they are called. Habits of Life amongst Alluvial Diggers. The question which it seems necessary to consider first is, whether the character and tastes of the alluvial digger are such as to afford a reasonable hope of securing him as a permanent settler, and whether, supposing this possible, it would be desirable. In order justly to appreciate the character of diggers generally, a glance at the peculiarities and prejudices commoidy attributed to them will be needful; and we must duly weigh the truth of the rumours which assign to this class an unconquerable love of change and excitement, together with a reckless hardihood, and, in nine cases out of ten, isolation from all social ties. True as steel to his mates, the digger's sympathies are reported to go no further; all the world beside is to him fair game. As for any feeling of patriotism towards the country from which he draws his wealth, that is thought to be a rare thing indeed. Sensational public meetings, disturbances with the Government or anybody else, Eenianism, fighting, are supposed to constitute his delights. Let a new gold field be discovered in some other part of the world, and he will forthwith transfer his dauntless energies, his rough good-nature, and his craving for adventure, to the new spot. He is supposed to regard all other classes as outer barbarians ; tradesmen as necessary evils, permitted to dwell among the tents of the diggers on sufferance only; capitalists, who seek to invest upon the field, as a prey sent by a kind Providence for his (the digger's) especial advantage; all Government officials as a kind of bugbear, whom he is bound to obstruct as far as possible in the execution of their duty, and to grumble at invariably. Such is the type of character commonly attributed to the alluvial diggers. Now, although the above picture, together with the tales so frequently spread of the digger's failings for bucketfuls of champagne, and generally his capacity for " spreeing away " indefinitely large sums in infinitesimally small times, must be accepted with very considerable modifications, and by no means as literally true, we may nevertheless argue, from their common reception, that they contain at all events a considerable element of truth. In the early days of California and Australia, the sketch was probably a very much nearer approach to actual fact than it is to-day, when past experience has enabled Governments to bring the gold fields effectually under the rule of law. When, however, the sudden, fluctuations which take place in the population of existing fields are considered, and we recall the rush from Otago to the

ESSAYS ON THE SETTLEMENT OE THE GOLD FIELDS.