The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1872.

Dunstan Times, Issue 535, 19 July 1872, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1872.

Beneath the Rule of Men entirely just the pen is mightier than the sword

The office of Gold-fields Warden appears to have seen the best of its days, and, instead of an useful institution, it is rapidly becoming an obstruction. In the early times of the Gold-fields the appointment of Wardens was, no doubt, a judicious measure, it being, perhaps, the only ready way of dealing with the large body of men who Bought the Gold-fields and who were new to the employment of mining. Inis, coupled with the confusion the Colonies were, thrown into by the gold discoveries, proved a ready means of meeting the difficulty : and, when wo take Into consideration that the difficulty was satisfactorily met, v. e ought not to grumble at the mode of procedure. _ However, the time has now cohiOj.or is fast Approaching, when the office of Gold-fields Warden must become obsolete. The necessity for its no longer existing is simply that goldmiuing is now so thoroughly understood us a branch of industry that there exists no longer any necessity for special legislation on the matter. H lie gold-miner can be made us amenable to the general laws under which we are all governed as any other representative of the British community. In New South Wales the miners are tliorougnly determined upon a change, and they claim the establishment of Courts of Mines, with the total abolition of the office of Warden, with its concomitant delays and heavy law costs. Since the legal fraternity have made their appearance in such numbers upon the Gold-fields, the least difficulty respecting a mining claim has become a grave matter of dispute; in fact, we may almost say that, when a minor once gets into Court, he never knows when he will get out of it, any .more than one does out of a Chancery suit, while he is mulcted in the most serious costs. Take the majority of mining claims in Otago, the yield amounts to no more than decent laborers’ wages, while the return, in numerous instances, would be scoffed at by an intelligent mechanic. Now, when we come to take into consideration that so much legal lore is necessary—or supposed to be so—for the proper adjustment of disputes between claimholders, the whole thing becomes preposterous, and who can be surprised at the demand of the miners for some more ready and cheaper means of settling their differences. The petition drawn up in Dunedin (copies of which have been forwarded to the various gold-fields for signature) to procure reform in the matters herein alluded to, is certainly a step in the right direction ; but, before signing it we should like co have an expression of the opinions of the miners on the subject, which opinions could be best obtained through the agency of public meetings.