C—2

1900. NEW ZEALAND.

MINES STATEMENT. BY THE HON. JAMES McGOWAN, MINISTER OF MINES.

Me. Speaker,— In submitting my Statement I am pleased to be able to remark upon the continued progress that is being made in all branches of mining, and more especially as regards the gold-dredging industry. Nearly the whole of the river beds and flats in the auriferous districts of the Middle Island have been taken up as dredging claims, and when the numerous dredges at present under construction are in operation a greatly increased output of gold should result. Both in Otago and on the West Coast the extreme activity in the floating of dredging companies so apparent a few months ago has eased off considerably, and this, no doubt, is an advantage rather than otherwise, as the number of flotations was beginning to be in excess of the amount of local capital to be invested in this industry. In the earlier stages of the dredging development the total capital was nearly, if not altogether, subscribed before registration. Many of the companies more recently floated have been registered with a very small amount paid up, the result often being that an inducement is held out to persons of limited means to subscribe for shares which they are unable to hold, simply with the intention of disposing of them when they are at a premium. The expected rise frequently does not come, and the result to the speculative holder is easily foreseen. I find much of the ground that in the early days gave rich returns to the individual miner has now been so thoroughly worked that larger combinations of men and money are necessary in order to obtain the gold at greater depth, and also where the ground was considered too poor to work by the old style of digging. In many instances a large expenditure must be incurred for bringing in supplies of water for working ground upon an improved and extensive scale. Hydraulic sluicing is carried on extensively in certain districts, and this method of working auriferous alluvial ground in the interior, where good supplies of water are obtainable, has hitherto been found to be the most economical and practical for the recovery of the precious metal. . Gold-mining in the North continues steadily to progress, although, no doubt, the district still suffers from the effects of the mining boom of a few years ago. I consider that large companies are manifestly an advantage where they properly work and open up their ground; but if they do not carry on develop-ment-works in some relative proportion to the areas of their holdings, then such companies are inimical to the progress of mining from an industrial point of view. Many of the local claim-holders in the North took advantage of the 1-C. 2.