Mining.

Gold.—Coming now to gold-mining, one of the four distinctly marked epochs in the colonisation of New page 16 Zealand, we find that the production of the precious metal went up with a hound during 1861 and 1862, reaching £2,432,479 in 1863; it fell to £1,855,830 in 1864, hut recovered immediately, and for the next seven years fluctuated between £2,897,412 and £2,163,910. Between 1872 and 1883 the exports decreased gradually to £892,445, then there was a rise to £988,953 in 1884, and finally a fall to £890,056 in 1885.

The extent to which the gold-mining industry has benefitted New Zealand is a debatable point. Some go so far as to aver that it would have been better had the precious metal never been discovered—that it would pay better to leave the gold where it is in the bowels of the earth and cultivate the golden grain on the surface.

I am not prepared to say that gold-mining has in itself been a profitable investment for the Colony. It is not only quite possible but highly probable that the sovereign has cost far more than twenty shillings, for in the matter of trade the greatest balance against the Colony was in the "golden years," when we imported a little over £200 worth of goods for every £100 worth of Colonial products we exported. But on the other hand the benefits derived from the industry in the impetus it gave every other branch of settlement are incalculable. It is the lever that starts the engine—the train that fires the mine. A small diagram which I have prepared shows clearly the results produced by the gold discoveries, I have ruled on the exports an equalising line which may be called the "gradient of settlement," the rate at which our power of production is increasing. From 1841 to 1860 the gradient is one in 38, an increase at the rate of a million in 38 years. Then comes the gold rush and for three years the gradient is 1 in 1. It slows down to 1 in 5 1/3 between 1863 and 1871 and since then it has been 1 in 7. Taking even the present gradient which is five times steeper than the pre-diggings one, and starting from the level of 1860 instead of 1863, our trade now would only be about page 17 three-fifths of what it is, and our present position would not be reached for at least twenty years. Up till 1860 we simply followed up the river bed, rising very slowly, then gold appears, and we are suddenly lifted on to the terrace, never again to descend. The elevation thus attained is clearly attributable to the goldfields.

In the year ending March, 1886, the yield of gold from alluvial diggings was 121,637 ounces, and from quartz mines 111,432, making a total of 233,068 ounces. Including £343,188 expended by Government on water races the value of the gold mining appliances in the Colony is estimated at £1,438,859.

The exports for 1885 include 45,056 tons used by ocean steamers and 4000 shipped for war purposes during the scare. The export trade proper is still very small; it consists chiefly of Greymouth coal sent to Victoria for gas making.

In addition to the large expenditure by the Government and Harbour Boards in opening up coalfields by railways and harbour works private capital to the amount of £148,773 has been invested in coal mining plant and machinery. Coal mining in New Zealand gives employment to 1483 men.

Other Mineral Products.—Under this head the most important export is silver. Up till 1885 £118,322 worth of silver the produce of the Colony had been entered for exportation, the greater portion of which was extracted from the Thames gold which contains about thirty per cent, of silver as an alloy.

Next comes manganese, £43,103, the trade in which, for the last seven years, has fluctuated between £809 and £10,423. It has fallen off greatly since 1882.

Chrome ore follows with £37,367, but this is a thing of the past. There has been no export since 1866

The total for copper is £17,397, but it also has seen better days; the trade was larger twenty-five years ago than it is now.

Antimony to the value of £7731 has been exported from New Zealand—the amount in 1885 being £5289. This promises to be a successful industry; it is still in its infancy.

Total Mineral Exports.—In his last Statement the Minister for Mines gives a Table showing the value of page 19 all the mineral exports of the colony up till the end of 1885. The following is an abstract thereof.