Without
being oversanguine, or, on the other side closing our ears with asinine
stubbornness, let us take an impartial view of the facts determined,
and draw rational conclusions.
It
also appears that from a depth of two and a half feet from the surface
to the greatest depth as yet attained, (eighteen feet), gold exists
throughout.
it
appears that this is not only the case in one particular spot, but all
over this part of the country and that this fact is undeniable; and,
nevertheless, the Government did not believe in the existence of
gold in Ceylon until these diggers discovered it; and when discovered,
they gave the diggers neither reward nor encouragement, but they
actually met the discovery by a prohibition against , the
search; they then latterly withdrew the prohibition and left it to
private enterprise, but neglected the unfortunate diggers. In this
manner is the colony mismanaged, in this manner is all public spirit
damped, all private enterprise checked, and all men who have anything
to venture disgusted.
I
he liberality of a Government must be boundless where the actual
subsistence for a few months is refused to the discoverers of gold in
a country where, hitherto, its presence had been denied.
It
would be speculative to anticipate the vast change that an extended
discovery would effect in such a colony as Ceylon. We have before us
the two pictures of California and Australia, which have been changed
as though by the magician's wand within the last few years. It becomes
us now simply to consider the probability of the gold being in such
quantities in Ceylon as to effect such changes. We have at present
these simple data,—that in a soft swampy soil gold has been found close
to the surface in small specks, gradually increasing in size and
quantity as a greater depth has been attained.
From
the fact that gold will naturally lie deep, from its specific gravity,
it is astonishing that any vestige of such a metal should be discovered
• in such spongy soil so close to the surface. Still more astonishing
that it should be so generally disseminated throughout the locality.
This would naturally be accepted as a proof that the earth is rich in
gold. But the question will then arise—Where is the gold ? The
quantities found are a mere nothing, it is only dust: we want '
nuggets.'
The latter is positively the expression that I myself frequently heard in Ceylon,—' We want nuggets.'
Who
does not want nuggets ? But people speak of ' nuggets' as they would of
pebbles, forgetting that the very principle which keeps the light dust
at the surface,, has forced the heavier gold to a greater depth, and
that, far from complaining of the lack of nuggets when digging has
hardly commenced, they should gaze with wonder at the bare existence of
the gold in its present form and situation.
The
diggings at Ballarat are from ioo to 160 feet deep in hard ground, and
yet people in Ceylon expect to find heavy gold in mere mud, close to
the surface. The idea is preposterous, and I conceive it only
reasonable to infer from the present appearances, that gold does exist
in large quantities in Ceylon. But as it is reasonable to suppose such
to be the case, so it is unreasonable to suppose that private
individuals will invest capital in so uncertain a speculation as
mining, without facilities from the Government, and in the very face of
the clause in their own title-deeds 'that all precious metals belong to
the crown.'
This is the anomalous position of the gold in Ceylon under the governorship of Sir G. Anderson.
Nevertheless
it becomes a question whether we should blame the man or the system;
but the question arises in this case, as with everything else in which
Government is concerned, ' Where is the fault ?' echo answers, " Where
? " But the public are not satisfied with echoes, and in this matter of
fact aged people look to those who fill ostensible posts and draw bona fide salaries;
and if these men hold the appointments, no matter under what system,
they become the deserved objects of either praise or censure.
