THE MINER'S FRANCHISE.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1542, 15 July 1873, Page 2

THE MINER'S FRANCHISE.

In an article on the subject 6f electoral reform, the Nelsoii (Jolpnist_ has thejf6Upwirig remarks pii the subject of the nlmer's franchise :— : . , V' / ; '.'. „...,..,":';''■; ■ ! The readiness with iwhich all reasonable claims of the miner' are recognised led, soon after the Otago diggings. began, to the franchise being extended to , tlie holder of a miner's right ; and it should.not hay« been difficult to iorsee that by this; act of justice .complications) would-. (be created leading in no long time to the demand for %^ further changes. Qn ; alluvial diggings voting on a 3 miner's right 'is all buteguivalent to manhood suffrage for the digger, while, at the same time, those engageni in all other occupations on the, gold fieldi were denied a similar privilege, so that doing justice : to- one class was really

'For continuation oosf s oiews see 4&h page.)

putting its members in a higher position ? than the rest of the community." Mining In this Colony, as in all other countries, was not long confined merely to alluvial claims, quartz reefs were discovered which could only be profitably worked when considerable capital was embarked, and then followed the employment of many men on "wages, and so came another phase of injustice. Men who obtained in many cases only a scanty and precarious living as diggers, found, as soon as they settled down to regular work as iriiners, probably with as large earnings as before, and being no longer of the migratory class, about which so much has been said, they were deprived of the right to vote. The abuse of the miner's right at many elections is well known. In this Province it has been found that far away from the place where the right was issued it has been used for voting without any show of 'fair dealing, because the law peimits it so to be done in any electoral district, where partis in the gold fields ; and thus persons holding several rights have been able to vote, and actually have voted in as many districts. Registration of the right for electoral purposes has been suggested •as one remedy, but we believe something more and wholly different is required. No. one would be so rash as to propose'depriving the miner of the franchise, but while it is possessed by him, no good reason can be advanced for denying it to men who are employed as artizans, in agriculture, or at, yroges on quartz-mining,; and this ought to be fully put before Parliament when the revisioa of the electoral laws is under discussion. It is some time since Victoria dealt with the question, and having the same difficulties to encounter,; the solution was f( und in manhood suffrage with registration. The system has worked well there, and it cannot with any degree of truth be said there is any greater danger in placing similar powers in the hands of our own population.