MEETING OF MINERS AT THE NEVIS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 258, 5 April 1867, Page 3

MEETING OF MINERS AT THE NEVIS.

I TO THE EDITOR OF THE DUSSTAX TIMES. . Ihe following reached us by ihc mail 1 man on Wednesday evening. An aceom. J pauying letter contains the signatures of s live well-known residents at the IS'evis. s Ska, —In consequence of the treatment * the mi era of the Nevis are receiving * at the hands of the Warden of the district, * an indignation meeting was held at the * Nevis Hotel, on JMonday the 25th March, * at 8 o'clock p.m. Mr F. Woolley in the * chair, it , beinj the da}* of the election, l ali the miners of the district were present, J when the following resolutio: s were passed c and earned unanimously. Resolved c " 'J hat this meeting views with indigsia- * tion the conduct of the Warden in no- ] glecting to visit or otherwise atte dto the ' business of the Nevis." Resolved " That ' as the mi ers of this district are often put f to serious inconvenience and great expense, ' owi gto the long absence of the Warden, ' l i ia desirable in the opinion of this meet- ( ing, that a Warden be appointed to visit '' the Nevis at least once a fortnight." J ' Now, Sir, the. language used in the ; J above resolutions may appear rather ' strong to.any one unacquainted with the state of affairs hero; but if you allow me i 1 wil state a few facts which 1 think will • ju-tify it in the eyes of the public. Since the month of December last, when ! Mr Warden Wood made his last visit io i ; the Nevis, we had not. a Warden amongst | ' us until the 7th March, when Mr Warden ' y traiford made his first visit- as a Warden : here, he was then ;o prerscd for time that he could only attend to the most simple of the cases awaiting his decision, postponing : the more important cases until tho 20th, : when lie promised to attend and hold a Warden's Court, rc'yiag or; this promise, tho miners from all paits of the district i assembled on the day appointed. Many ! of-them having'to walk seven or eight] miles—judge of their disappointment then, ; when instead of the aider, whom they | expected to meet, a letter arrives at the Police Camp late on the night of the 20tlu btating that the Warden would held a | Resident-Magistrate's and Warden's Court i at Nevis on the ICth April, if necessary. although he well knew that he had left most important cases undecided. V he., j the above notico became publicly known, some of the parties whose interests were most directly affected by the delay, went to i romwc'l to endeavour to have their business settled, but, no, Mr Warden Stratford transacts i« Nevis business at Crom-well-he told seme of the parties that it was possible he might not be at the Nevis even on the 10th April, and thus cases involving the interests of some twenty men arc left to wait Mr Stratford's convenience, and the men may eithe; walk about idle, or if they prefer it, go to work and take the chance of loosing all claim to, or. perhaps bei> g called upon to pay damages for the work so done, if the case should go against them. This state of affair- would he bad enough on any goldfield, no matter how favorably situated, but on the Nevis, where the winter is so seve.c that all out-door work is liable to be stopped for a month or more, it is suilieient to justify met who are pre- j vc.-tcd from making provision against the I winter, in using pretty strong language. \ It is a notorious fact that the Nevi I never received much encouragement from the late ofiicer-in-charge of it, but he cer. talnly never attempted to add insult to injury,—l am, S-'ir, youra £c. OcEKVsKR.