The Evening Star FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1869.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2035, 12 November 1869, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1869.

Tub telegram from Mr Fox explanatory of the reasons for issuing the circular respecting “ gold on private “ lands,” opens up the question which was so hotly debated in Victoria some years ago, and which resulted in passing a Bill regulating “ Mining on

“ Private Property.” We believe it is the first time the question has been mooted in New Zealand. It will be observed that Mr Fox’s circular professes to .have been issued for the purpose of protecting the public against the unfair use, by Government officers, of the advantages that their official position gives them of priority and accuracy of information. The disclosure is certainly a startling one, and it is to be hoped will not be allowed to rest without further investigation and punishment. There can be no reason why an officer of the Government should be deprived of the opportunities that others enjoy for investing money profitably; but there is every reason for prompt and severe measures for punishing those who tamper with public interests for their own private advantage, and use the powers invested in them for the public weal, corruptly. But we cannot see how the “ stop ” can bo put to “such transactions,” unless it be established that in this, as in all other gold-producing colonies, the precious metals are “not sold with the “ land.” In this respect w'o must beg to correct our contemporary the Daily Times, who, in his leader of yesterday, , affirmed that such was the case in Australia. The writer of the article evidently knows nothing at all of the subject in which he commits himself to such unauthorised assertions. Mining on private property was found to be a a question of extreme diinculty. It involved the right of the owner to the soil, and the right of the miner to take the gold contained within it. When first gold was discovered in Australia, the right to the precious metals was maintained on the part of the Ci-own. This was formally ceded to the Colony, or Australian Colonies. We are not aware whether this cession of ancient rights was extended to all Colonics or not; in all probability it was. Two conflicting industries were, however, brought into collision ; and the difficulty was to reconcile them. Knowingly or not, large tracts of country containing gold had been alienated from the Crown, and the miners claimed the right to mine for the precious metals upon them. This was resisted by the owners of the laud, who struggled hard to establish a light to all beneath the surface, as well as to the surface of the ground itself. Many committees of the Legislature investigated the subject, and the highest legal advice was sought. The question is of more than ordinary importance, because it really involves the right of any man who happens accidentally or knowingly to buy a piece of ground containing gold, to close the mine and sa}', “ I will neither take the gold my- “ self nor allow another man to take “ it.” On the other hand, if a miner’s right conferred the privilege of searching for and taking gold without restriction, much valuable property might be destroyed without the person injured having any means of redress. It is plain that in either case the interests of a country suffer. Several memorable instances of conflict took place in Victoria through the difficulty of settling the matter. The law was plain enough that any man who had ( bought a piece of ground, could proseI cute another for trespass, if he dared to j enter upon it for the purpose of mining. { But the miner pointed to the power 1 conferred upon him by his miner’s right 1 and claimed protection under its pro | visions. The rights of both were un- i j deniable. It was their limits that I required defining. The Mining on Private Property Act acknowledges both, and meets the difficulty equitably. It acknowledges the right of the purchaser to the surface of the soil by empowering him to make terms with those who desire to mine for gold on his property. It is at all times competent for a landowner to work it himself on taking out the miner’s right, but should others insist upon working there he can protect himself hy asking such a price, and attaching such conditions, as will give him a full return for outlay and damage. There have been instances of the gold being attacked from without the limits of the pur- j chased ground, and so long as the surface remains uninjured and not endangered, wo are not aware that the purchaser of a picco of ground has power to interfere to prevent it. Tho Act has worked well, and as soon as passed was taken advantage of to a large extent. Perhaps on account of the peculiar character of the alluvial or lacustrine deposits of Otago, equitable arrangement might prove more difficult here, for gold is not found in leads as lu Victoria, but mixed with the soil, which W often washed entirely away in order to obtain it Hitherto the question lias not been raised in New Zealand, but it will now have to he settled. We quite agree with Mr Foa that auriferous land acquired by an artful dodge like that practised in Nelson should be subject to the rights of the Crown ; but jf all other land is ex- ' empted from them, the definition of the term “ fairly ” will have L; f he settled. . It is fair fox’ every man in a private ; position to take advantage,of priority '

of information, and go and possess himself of land open for sale without telling the Government that it is auriferous, yet it is manifestly not expedient for the interests of society that lie should have the power to say, “ I hold “ possession of a mine of wealth, but I “ will keep its month closed, so that no “ man shall have it.” If he be willing to work it, well and good—he will reap the reward due to his foresight and intelligence ; but if not, wo unhesitatingly say that the Crown ought to assort its right, and while according every privilege to which he is fairly entitled, to say, “ If others are willing “to develop the wealth you, like a “ miser withhold from use, they shall “ be allowed to do so.' 1