THE GOLD MINING BILL.

Evening Star, Issue 3211, 5 June 1873, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE GOLD MINING BILL.

Reference having been already made to a few of the more striking outlines of the proposed Gold Mining Bill, it is now intended to refer to the subject of mining tenure. As to this and the (administration of justice greater changes have been proposed than in the other portions of the Bill. That any change of principle has been made it is somewhat difficult to say, as the nature of the tenure under the present Act has been the subject of conflicting opinions and decisions. But there can be little doubt that an attempt has been made in the present Bill to solve the difficulty, and it is tolerably clear that if it passes into law the holder of tv claim under a miner’s

right, will be for all mining -purposes possessed of it for a permanent estate, determinable only by abandonment or breach of the conditions under which it is held, and then only to be determined by process of law. Provision is made by the 121 th soction’for cases in which, under the existing law, the want of a miner’s right would hare been fatal to a mining title. The hardship of making the right to mining property depend upon a document issued merely for revenue purposes has long been felt. When the Wakatip Gold Field was discovered, the officer in charge was unprovided with the requisite forms; and, while the miuers were willing to pay and the officer to receive the money, all that could be done was to issue a sort of promissory note to give a miner’s right when the forms should arrive. The miners, in their innocence of technical law', their consciences being clear as regarded the Revenue, relied upon those documents as equivalent to the genuine miner’s rights, and in more than one case Avere ousted of their claims for want of the proper key to the door of justice. It is understood that the jmovisions of the Bill in this respect meet the approval of his honor Mr Justice Chapman and his honor Mr Wilson Grey, both of whom have had considerable experience in the administration of mining IaAV. Provision is made by the 113 th and three following sections for the surrender of mining tenements for the purposes of obtaining a title under the Act. They are somewhat meagre in their provisions, andare scarcely calculatedto carry out the object in view.Tt docs not appear that the title intended to be given will relate back to the time’of originally taking possession, and unless it did so it is difficult to perceive the benefit to be derived. The 115 th section refers to Regulations to be made, but it does not appear by Avhom, As this is an important subject, possibly it might be well if the gentlemen entrusted with the Bill looked a little more carefully into it, and endeavoured to make the provisions somewhat clearer even should thay add a little to the length of the Bill. The 109 th section supplies a great defect in the law as it stands at present, , The present svstem of registration does not appear to serve any useful purpose because it limits no time and* gives no priority, and it is consequently impossible to ascertain from the registry the state of the title to the property atthc time of a transfer. There may be outstanding unregistered instruments transferring or encumbering the property and a fraudulent vendor or encumbrance might thus be able to sell the property twice over or mortgage it beyond its value without early detection. Provision is also made in tlie Bill for makiug reserves for mining purposes exclusively, a power which did not previously exist, and also for setting apart CroAvn lands for the deposit of tailings, a right which will be very valuable [to those engaged in sluicing and quartz crushing, and the rights of persons engaged in gold-mining are more clear and explicit than in the existing Act, and it is to be hoped will result in a decrease of the costly and unsatisfactory litigation which has resulted in many cases from the vagueness of the present law. The poAver to make regulations and byc-laAvs has also been greatly amplified, and comprises, it may be hoped, most subjects on which local legislation may be found necessary. That portion of the Bill Avhich deals Avitli the important subject of Water Eights has been re-written with apparent care, and although it does not seem to alter the existing state of things os regards matters of policy places the tenures of the kind [of property on a new* basis. The licenses are to be* issued for terms of years not exceeding fifteen with an annual fee of £l. This no doubt will add a considerable sum to the revenue without being burdensome to the holders, aa'lio "are certainly in all reason as much entitled to pay a fee for the water which they sell as the miner Avho makes use of it to obtain gold. These licenses are to be renewable at the end of the term—-the renewed license to confer the like privileges, including the right of rencAA al. The right to AA ater for domestic use is expressly reserved and in this case as in that, of claims the right is to be leased on priority of possession and bona fide use Avhether Avith or without a license. The issue of licenses Avhcrc there is no interference Avith the rig' ts of others is to take place after a certain limited time, as a matter of course, but any one Avho has cause to complain may, by lodging an objection, absolutely prevent its issue and compel the applicant to obtain it by judicial process and upon payment of compensation. (To be continued.)