The Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL: TUESDAY, MAR. 26, 1872.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 124, 26 March 1872, Page 4

The Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL: TUESDAY, MAR. 26, 1872.

“ Mining Associations arc dying from inanition,” was remarked in our hearing some weeks since, and we felt convinced the terse sentence was truth, as there appears to be no bond of cohesion among the members, and no defined programme for the various societies to carry out. They appear to be of a hybrid character—-politico-educational. Yet, with a political point to gain, they appear to neglect the means to ensure it ; and for educational! purposes they possess neither the machinery, in the shape of dolincd action and intercommunication of ideas, —nor appliances, in the form of building models or books. In one or more eases, the founders of those Associations, finding them heavy to drive or drag, have called on Hercules to help them out of their difficulties and j along their road, by supplicating Govern-1 raent aid, in the form of buildings and j monetary grants. And rightly, too. Meat I cannot be preserved, beetroot grown, paper! made, fish-curing establishments inaugu-j rated, wool made into cloth, the culture j of silk introduced, without a Government! bonus or Government money. Any per-1 son starting a new industry or fresh experiment wants Government aid ; regarding the Government as a willing wet nurse to all the projects of speculators and j visionaries. This ro } c is, however, now j almost played out. With diminished reI venue and increased calls, there is little j chance of monetary aid being obtained I from the Government to found such a | thing as a Mining Institute or Association. I But in this fact, there is no reason why | these Associations should not bo founded j and established. We all prize those things most highly that are the result of hard work and self-denial ; and should these i Associations be formed and supported by | the mining population alone, they will ho I more prosperous, and possess a far greater | amount of political influence than if a part ! and parcel of our Government subsidised experiments. There is no help so potent I as self-reliance. There is plenty of work for these Asso- | ciations to perform, and important duties for them to fulfil. It is a conceded fact

that miners, like people, have griev- ol auces, —such as the gold duty, the exces- 01 sive pro rata tariff imposed on their earn- N\ iugs as compared with those who follow cc other callings, the Mongolian invasion, hj want of commonage, and liberty to run jV' horses or cattle on waste land of the Crown. | ti And it is almost equally certain that the j n endurance of these legitimate causes of 1 1( complaint is simply the result of the in- j S difference shewn by the mining population ! tl as to the exercise of their political rights, [ v

anti the equivocal character many of their j tl representatives possess. The miners are e like Dr Moran : New .Zealand politics are | ii “ too petty a thing ” to engage their atten-1 b tion. Neglect of duty, however, in every j p position of life entails punishment; and S we venture to predict such evils as those a of which our population complain will re- t main and flourish, until concerted action e among those injured thereby compel their { abolition. The heavier the taxes that are r laid on gold producers, the lighter in con- s sequence they [tress on other classes of the t

community. t It is very evident to the most superficial c observer that the days of Provincial Go- £ vernment are nearly at an end. Land \ 1 fund and gold duty will soon be a portion | £ of General Government revenue ; and the j c management of the Gold-fields a part of S 1 its duty. In Wellington the battle of the | 1 miners will have to be fought. Considering | * | the number of mining representatives in 11 j “ the House,” there is no reason to despair | • | why the burdens under which they labour 11 may not be removed. As a rule, the!' General Government does not give stones j 1 when bread is requested ; but, if unable to;' grant the desired boon, occisionally condescends to say wherefore. But the Mi-1 1 nistry of all times require supporters, and I' ! while some twenty representatives of the] j mining population sit in the Legislative 1 I Assembly, voting cn bloc they could obtain ] attention and respectful consideration for j the wants of their constituents, especially | at seasons when log-rolling becomes a seaa-1 torial pastime. Last session, if such an i arrangement had been come to among our representatives, Stafford would have been Premier at the present time, —-or the gold duty repealed, ft is a time-honoured saying,—lf the Irish members of the House of Commons would give a common vote, , and agree among themselves, not bringing | their Donnybrook education across the Channel, they could rule the House, and | obtain an alleviation of the evils of which

they complain; and we believe it is equ illy j true that, were miners to return proper : representatives, obtaining pledges for their I ■ good faith, they could abolish the evils of which they complain, and obtain that jus-

dee which at present, and during the days of the past, has been denied them. Now, this seems a legitimate scope for M ining Associations. Independent action j is powerless, petitions are not worth the paper they are written on, and men cannot expect others to do for them what they consider too much trouble and the cause of too much anxiety to do for themselves. Every miner in the Colony should be induced or inveigled to belong to one of these societies. Every society should have a common object, see that members are qualified to vote, and that their votes are recorded when wanted. Representatives for every mining electoral district could be selected, nominated, and carried by the members of the Associations; while a uniform, prescribed course of action for them to adopt on questions relating to mining interests, would make them a formidable political power, ensure just legislation, and give renewed vitality to our g ;hd production. This we consider the Jii'st and simplest aim Mining Associaeiatious should have recognised in their formation. If the present Colonial Executive are to have their own way much longer, and each member of it is allowed to experimentalise in the matter of immigration, after his own particular fancy, wo may look forward to New Zealand becoming a Colony peopled by consignments from all the nations of the universe. Few of our readers but will learn with surprise the latest phase in the Great Public Works and Immigration Scheme of the Government. Fearing that the railway and other works of magnitude which are in progress and about to be initiated cannot be carried on with sufficient rapidity, the Minister for Public Works, Mr Ousiond, has been soliciting expressions of opinion as to the desirability of introducing Chinese labour. Whether the subject had boon previously discussed at a Cabinet mooting, or whether the Minister for Public Works acted independently in the matter, —in imitation of the j course pursued by Mr Vogel with regard to the supply ot the Australian Associated | Press Company’s telegrams to the New Zealand Press, —wc cannot say ; the way*.

f the present Executive are of so mysteiflß'lu us a nature. We imagine, however, tIH& m Ir You i:n, at any rate, cannot have beJH® u onsulted, or no doubt some mention woulßE- • ave been made of the fact that the clljf i eminent had such a thing in conteinplHr e ion before lie departed on his VictoriiEfipfr lission. In the circular which the MiniHlti er for Public Works forwarded to Superintendent of Nelson, requesting fr® B n( he latter gentleman an exposition of 1 news upon the question, it is mooted tk Br D he Chinese should be only temporal*!! mployed, pending the arrival of Europe HL a minigrants,—this condition in the proposSitrei ising advanced, we presume, as a sort s9p e: lalliatiou of the ill-advised proceedin||f*' r seeing that large numbers of immigrari||Ji r< ire already on their way to the Colony, die first shipment of Scandinavians havblgh ;ven arrived at Wellington,—-the fact latent that before arrangements can nade for the introduction of Chinese, shall liavo have more labour in the ;han we sliall know what to do with. ]J|Bf die face of this fact, we cannot sutficiem express our surprise at the thought havicfwß ?ver been entertained by a member of tl|l|ffi Government ; and wo trust that the verlMfr J . . . ScgaHll. decided opposition of the Superintende ] of Nelson, and the ill-favour with wlii p||r ; the introduction of Chinese as hiboinvs® 1 would certainly be viewed all over fiSE' Colony, will be sufficient to cause hlj|l Ormond to consign his remedy for 9]V scarcity of labour which does not exist, tKVor the oblivion it deserves. Even at prose; to tl we do not think there is any portion Jjjfi. the Colony where, with any truth, the cSI can be raised that there is a scarcity of Ijwbr' liour ; and certainly it cannot bo advanot The that wages are higher than they should L-Uffi The Government will have quite eimm|jß|| upon their hands in the course of a or two, without rushing into a proceed!'.;; tq ' obnoxious in the highest degree to a v, i'Hj <> largo number of the inhabitants of tb||k Colony, and which would cause eiidle : H k trouble and vexation. In providing wofßj., and temporary accommodation for tli’Ws thousands of Scandinavians who are C(inp|t ing out under the auspices of Dr Fnvnmß^ 1 sTon, we should-imagine that they wigt have enough to do in the immigration Bs tiou of the “glorious colonising sclmm*!.; tie Idle public is fast losing faith i® ( the present Executive as it is, and anH { further proceedings ten ling to public conlideive still further, should I carefully avoided. |E !