MINING CONFERENCE.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 162, 17 December 1872, Page 7

MINING CONFERENCE.

(Condensed from the Tuapekn Times.) Wednesday, December 4. The discussion on the Goldfields Act was postponed ; and the consideration of forming a Provincial Miners’ Association was proceeded with. Mr Alexander moved a resolution to the effect that an Otago Association be formed, to comprise the whole of the miners of the Province. Speaking in reference to the Mining Commission which sat some time ago in Dunedin, he said valuable suggestions made by a body almost similarly constituted to that now sitting, bad been ignored by the General Government ; and it was not beyond the bounds of probability that, unless united action were taken, the recommendations of the present Conference would be similarly treated. Some body such as he suggested could in a great measure succeed in having attention paid to those recommendations by bringing frequent pressure to bear upon the Government. After a lung discussion, the motion was amended to read to the following effect : That the Otago Mining Association shall consist of the miners of Otago, that the central committee shall be the delegates now assembled, and that an executive council of three be appointed. This was carried, and further considera-! tion of the matter was postponed. Mr Edgar, of the Shotover, here took his seat. The next subject outlie order papir was the gold export duty. Mr Grey moved that, in the opinion if this meeting, the time has come when the jxport duty on gold should be entirely abolshed ; that every effort to secure that such should be done be used by the Conference. The motion was carried unanimously, Mr Shaw described to the Confennce a; case in which two men had been fined by Mv ; Warden Wood, of Switzers, for prospecting! mi a run situated outside gold-fiehs. It,i seemed by this, he said, that prospecting was a crime ; and ho quoted an opinion gimu byMr Bradshaw, then Secretary for the Goldfields, that the Warden’s judgment in the! matter was wrong. He requested the Con- 1 fcreuee to express a strong opinion m the matter. Mr Morrison moved, that in the ipinhm this Conference, the miners fined by the Switzers Resident Magistrate for trespassing mi Mr M'Nab’s run, ought to be vetonned by the Government for the loss they hid sustained. If the judgment of the Warden was, right, the law was wrong, and required immediate remedy, and it was their duty to get the Government to alter the law. Mr Morrison’s motion was carried.

Friday, Dkckmblii «>. A letter was read from Mr A. Willis, I'mler-Secretary, Dunedin, acquainthg the (.'(inference “ that 11 is Honor the SiperinMident will ho glad to place at the disposal w the Conference any official in for matin in the hands of the Government which hoy be deemed useful by that hodv.” The following motion by Mr A lex under M as tarried “ That, in the opinion of this Conference, it is desirable that the Governor should grant the appointment of a mining hoard, to lie called the Otago Alining llcud ; such body to come into operation inmedifltely after the passing of tlie Gold-tieldsUill imposed to be submitted to Park ament u-xt session. That they ho empowered to uake luleS and regulations under the said Ac, — to be submitted to the approval and sane ion d the Governor in Council before coning into ia\v. That this body be compose of wie elected member from each district, sicb districts to be hereafter defined. That he said body be empowered to meet aunualhat some central place, to add to, revise, or aler any rules and regulations. That, in he event of the establishment of a mining brad, ‘he hoard reserve the right of appointing tie chairman from the members elected by tie miners: and that one-half of the board retro annually. That the first body be elected hr two years, one-half of tlie same to retie annually after the first two years.” The discussion on the Gold-lields Act ws then resumed. The question of discretionary power givci to Wardens came on for discussion. The Chairman said, if the miners were hj take the Wardens’ decisions as precedents they would have as many different acts an regulations as there were Wardens. Mr Allan proposed, and Mr Candwell st Muled, that, in drawing up the report fo { heconsideration of the General Government they should recommend that the Wardens discretion ary power should be more defined 'i>d instanced Air Beetham’s decision in tin Scandinavian case, Mr Price’s in the Shoptj"'(ls Creek case, and Air Wood's in the ■i'Aab case, at Switzers. The motion was carried unanimously. Mr Crombie moved the following resoldh(,hj standing in his name : That this Conferee recommend the establishment of r watch of the Boyal Mint in New Zealand. This was carried unanimously. The question of a Central Committee ir ruction with the Otago Miners’ Associai° n then came up, and the following motior f Mr Candwell was seconded by Air Grey, M carried :—“That a central committee Ik hy this Conference, to consist of three '’■embers of the committee of a local associaS said members to hold the respective J®ces of president, secretary, and treasurer 16 first named to be elected by the Conferee, and the two latter officers to be an- ■ mfed by the President.” Miller, of the Arrow, was elected Pro

sident of tins Central Executive ; and he named Mr Samuel Symonds, of the ArrowAssociation, as Secretary, and Mr Robert Clark, as Treasurer. It was agreed that the Secretary should receive a salary of £2O a year. Mr Oromhie moved, that this Conference consider the advisability of the General Government handing over to the provinces their full share of the £300,000, for gold-fields water supply purposes. He thought that if the money were vested in the Superintendent, it could be got without so much circumlocution as was at present required. In speaking of his own district, he could see that a large amount of money would be wanted in the course of time for sludge channels and other purposes. Mr Allan seconded the motion, and it was carried. Mr Alexander moved, and Mr Morrison seconded, that this Conference requests the Government to place at the disposal of the Miners’ Associations the survey staff, free of charge, for the purpose of ascertaining the practicability of such water supply schemes as said associations may deem practicable ; and further, this Conference considers that the present rules under which subsidies can now be obtained are too stringent, and should be made more elastic, so as to embrace private parties, and that the subsidy, instead of being £1 to £2, should be £1 to £1. —Carried. A sub-committee of the following gentlemen was elected to draw up a report for the ! General Government on a new Gold-fields ; Bdl, viz. : —Messrs Miller, Alexander, Mor ! risen, and Shaw.

Saturday, December 7. The question of the appointment of a Minister of Mines by the General Government, was now brought forward. Mr Alexander moved : That the advantage likely to accrue to the gold-fields by the appointment of a Minister of Mines for the colony, and the taking of the management of the whole of the gold-fields into the hands of the General Government, bo considered by the various local mining associations throughout the province, and reported to the Secretary of the Otago Minors’ Association, for transmission to the General Government, within three months from date. Mr borris seconded the motion, which was carried.

Air Allan moved, that as a new bank is :i1 iont to bo established in the colony it would In- advisable if the miners idler it their support, provided it gave a fair price for gold. Several gentlemen six ike ( ,ii the subject, and it was finally agreed that the Conference should use ils influence with the minors to induce them to support, for a stated period, any bank that would oiler a fair price for mild.

Mr Edgar moved, in the ojunion of tins Conference it is necessary that greater publicity he given to applications for mining purposes. He remarked it was a hah t with those who applied for water races, &c., to ipost their notices in plans where they could not he seen. He thought notices should he posted on the polling-booth or court-house of the district, as well as on the “round. It was resolved that the snli-eoniiii ttee appointed to draw up the report should make j allusion to Mr Edgar's motion. I !ue question of the erection of maehincry was similarly dealt with. The Secretary for the Cold-fields, and J. C. Brown, Esq., M. H.K., were introduced. Tiie Chairman stated to Mr Hastings that it was the opinion of some that the Govern - j intuit should defray the working expenses of the Otago Mining Association, as it would prove a useful source of information to the Government. Mr Hastings said, he could not give a pledge ; on helialf of the Executive that they would do so. Mr Alexander disapproved of the Associa- ; tion receiving any aid from the Government, i It was called into existence to watch over and protect the interests of the minors, and in ; <h>ing so might quarrel with the authorities, j Ihd it receive a subsidy ii would scarcely do 1 so. ! Mr Crumble agreed with the last speaker. Mr Allan moved, that it was desirable that tbe Government should subsidise the construction of local works, and that such subsidies should he handed over to the exclusive | control of local bodies, such as progress com- | mittees, without the intervention of engineers : J or Government officials. 1 The Secretary for the Gold-fields said it was tlie intention of the Government to subsidise the efforts of local committees to con- i struct useful works, if the community taxed themselves. Ho agreed with Mr Allan that subsidies from the Government should be ! placed unreservedly in the hands of the local ■ committee that undertook the construction of the works.—The motion was postponed. Afterwards, a motion by Mr Alexander to the effect that the subsidy on local works be at the rate of £2 to every £1 raised locally, -was carried. i Mr Crouilue moved, that it was absolutely essential to the prosperity of the gold-field's ' that snflicieiitconnnonage be declared. Where ilie lived, the moment he put Ids foot outside -the door lie was trespassing, and it was ini- i i aossiblc to run a, horse or a cow. An endca-! , mnr should be made to prevent the renewal : iff the squatters’ leases. He believed that I 5 jhere should be written on the back of a.! - joiner’s right, that the holder was entitled to i 5 j. residence area, to run one horse or two • ; j.ead of large cattle. ■ i Mr Alexander seconded the motion. He - iought that the impounding by Messrs ( ! bngbnan had done good, as lie now heard v tat Cromwell had a commonage,

j Mr Bastings, in withdrawing, hoped the | labours of the Conference would be crowned | with success. The meeting of the Conference I was a creditable sign, for it showed that people j were becoming alive to the necessity of acting on their own behalf. If they placed their demands fairly and reasonably before the Government, he had no doubt but that they j would be acceded to. He concluded by hoping that their deliberations would be productive of individual good to themselves and benefit to the community at large. He also intimated that early next month himself and the Superintendent would visit the various gold-fields of the province with the view of ascertaining, by personal observation, the grievances of the country. He might also state that it was his intention of taking periodical tours through the gold-fields. The Conference proceeded to fix the place of meeting of the next Conference of Delegates. A lengthy discussion ensued, much difference of opinion existing, but all agreeing that the place selected should be the locale of a newspaper, and bo in easy telegraphic and postal communication with Dunedin. Finally, it was resolved to take a ballot, which resulted in 4 votes being recorded for Clyde, 4 for Tnapeka, and 1 for the Teviot. 1 member was absent, The Chairman gave his casting vote in favour of Clyde, whicli has therefore been selected as the place of meeting for the next Conference. The Conference then adjourned till Mon-’ day.