THE GOLD-MINING BILL.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1602, 23 September 1873, Page 2

THE GOLD-MINING BILL.

The Gold-fields Bill is finally disposed of for the session. Reference has already -been m^de to the manner, in wiiebjad- : vantage was taken oE MrT?.;L.;Shepherd ( 'B absence to move the Chairman but of tne Chair when in Committee 6h this Bill. With.Mr Vogel's' assistance/^however, 'Mr .Shepherd was successful in getting. it restored to the Order" Paper, and ; a long debate took place on it. -Mr Shepherd fought gallantly and hit hard, but ;: the fates were against him, and when Mr Yogel said he thought the Bill had better I be dropped, the matter was decided. ■ jpii«| following' snatches of ; the 'discussion, reported by the I»ufepe?ideiii :— ~ ■ * . . The question being put th,a"t the above be further considered in Committee,' ' Major Atkinson moved that it be discharged from the Order Paper. .-.-; Mr Pyke seconded the motion. The measure was a crude one, and time should be given to consider it. Mr Shepherd (who was .received, with immense applause) said he would endejvvo^ to show reasons why the B^l should be proceeded with, ; Mr, Byke called it a cruds measure. It was wellknown that new brooms 3wept clean. It had, however, , , the approval of Mr Curtis, the.S.uperintendent of a gold-fields Province, of longest standing in the House. Yet the new, broom thought it was a bad' Bill. (Laqgh^efr.); That honorable gentleman was-^rivajisiins with the view of heing* appointed ;JMfinis.tep of Mines. The Bill was objected to by Mr White, beoause he wished to consult his constituents before supporting it. He

placed himself in the undignified position of a delegate. The Opposition, it had been said, had no head. It had also no tail and no conscience. The Speaker interposed that this observation was irrelevant. Mr Shepherd would endeavor to keep within i the limits prescribed. The Bill had been carefully considered in Committee, and very few amendments carried. It was not a monster, of iniquity as the new broom said. Mr Pyke said that the Otago miners were afraid of the Bill. The main reason was that Mr Shepherd had drafted it. Mr Yogel thought it would have been better perhaps if Mr Pybe's services had been enlisted in framing the measure. They might then have had his valuable support. Mr White wished to say a few words on the Bill. He had been alluded to by Mr Shepherd as a mere delegate. That hon. member regarded himself as the heavy father of the raining community. He had heard him referred to as the "Claimant." (Laughter.) Mr Yogel would submit that this was out of order. Mr White thought Mr Shepherd might be properlyreferred to as the " Claimant," because he claimed to have a larger knowledge of gold-field matters than any other member. He saw that the Bill made provision for the appointment of a mining registrar. He thought that was a suspicious feature of it. He knew that Mr Shepherd had devoted a large amount of time to the drafting of the measure during the recess. He wanted to know had he been paid for this. The Bill met with no favor from any member of the House except from Mr Bathgate; and the fact that it met with favor from him showed, he thought, that there was a vacancy in the upper regions of that hon. gentleman. (Laughter.) Mr Macandrew (on behalf of the Provincial Government of Otago) said that Mr Shepherd received no pay from that body for his services in connection with the Bill. Mr Yogel said the same on behalf of the General Government. The order was discharged.