THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1874

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1801, 14 May 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1874

It has reached our ears that the Provincial Government of Nelson, — which has been remarkable for its studious neglect of the Grey Valley district — has Borne intention of performing what in its wisdom it may call economy, ; but what other people would designate as short-sighted and unprofitable parsimoniousness, by reducing the number of Gold-fields Wardens, and amalgamating the Grey Valley district withlthattof Inangahua, one Warden to do the work. If any such, intention Tan* been conceived, we take this opportunity of protesting against it. The Grey Valley Gold-fields are not only sufficiently im portant .to require the undivided services of a^Warden^'butanyone-who knows anything of the district must know that the business transacted .absolutely requires a special officer. ' The public inconvenience and the loss of revenue whidi would certainly follow if the officer in charge a£ Reefton had to also preside over the Grey Valley would be incalculable.' There is probablyno other mining district in the Colony where more business is disposed of by one Warden, , as the following return which we have taken the trouble to collect wUlßhdw.Therevenuereceived in the Grey division of the Nelson' South-west Goldfield b illustrates that notwithstanding the numerous disadvantages under which the Grey Valley Gold-fields have and are now laboring, the importance of the district as a locality- for the profitable employment of enterprise and industry, is still manifest. : It will also be seen that the mining districts of Grey, in spite of the great arid serious drawback of not having an efficient water-supply, still maintain their wealth-producing reputation. If the ability of the inhabitants to bear a large amount of local and direct taxation be an indication. For in this instance the disproportion between the number of the adult population, and the amount of revenue raised directly in the district is so enormous that under less favorable circumstances the burden of taxation would be altogether ruinous. The district of which Mr Warden Whitefoord has charge •extends from the Razorback on the north to the Grey river on the south, thence eastward along the northern bank of the Grey to the confluence of the Grey arid Arnold : rivers, thence along the eastern bank of the Arnold to its source at Lake Brunner, and thence eastward to the Canterbury boundary. The limits of the Inangahua and Charleston Warden's districts bound the Grey district on the east and north, the whole enclosing an area nearly 348 square-miles, every mile of which contains ground more or less auriferous. , The total population of the district is approximately given at 3400, the gross direct revenue at L 5932 10s 9d, giving an average of about LI 15s per head per annum, a nice addition to the already high colonial average of taxation. The returns are made out to the 31st March, and the heaviest item is that coming from ipublicans' licenses, which amounts to L 2129 153, besides L 35 10s for special permits, such as permission to hold balls or entertainments' in licensed' houses, to sell liquors on racecourses, &c, and L 6 10s for transfers.

The item from the issue of miners' rights is next, and is given at L 1444, showing that nearly one-half the population are adult producers and direct taxpayers. The moiety is fully made up by the number of miners working in goldmining leaseholds who not holding miners' rights as a necessary basis of title to the ground, they occupy, have no necessity to take out rights. Following the items of direct revenue from the miners, registration fees of mining properties, such as water-races, claims, &c, come to L 306 17s 6d; Warden's Court fees, L3B 9s 6d; fees paid for copies of the Gold-fields Rules and Regulations and for searching records, L 7 7/8 ; surveys df gold-mining leases L9O 7s od : ! ; BurVeyßof extended mining

claims, LlO9 10s;; N and rents, uf-.gold-mining leases, L 6 0,105, making a total of L 2057 3s 6d, or about one-third of the revenue, and tliis proportion; ; is ! raised directly from th^jmining.indiistryJ. At: though, this calculation' has reference to only one portion of the gold-fields, the inference is applicable to the gold-producing districts throughout the Colony, and it deirioristrates-that'an industry' which can" be made to bear such a strain and still exist, is worthy of encouragement and support if only from fiscal considerations. The quantity of gold exported from the port of Greymouth, the product of the Nelson Gold-fields, for the year amounted to 45,5970z 7dwt, while the quantity exponed as coming from the Gold-fields of Westlaud was 25,8650z 16dwt. No doubt the " several good crushings from the quartz-mines of the Inangahua and the large yields of gold therefrom has helped to swell the returns from the Nelson side, but allowing for this, there is still a respectable balance in favor of the alluvial gold-fields of the Grey Valley.

The proceeds of the issuing of business licenses for the twelvemonths come to

L 835 ; for auctioneers' licenses, LBO, and these two with the item From publicans licenses make up the direct contribution. The agriculturists are still in the background, but they are slowly but surely, forging ahead of their former relative position in the annual revenue returns. 'The area of land held in agricultural leaseholds is 3711 acres 1 rood 4 perches, which yielded a rental of L 379 17s 9d for the year.

The money received from land sale 3 came to L 175 ss, and from land surveys LlO7 7s 6d. The item from sales of land refers chiefly to purchases of freehold sections in the towns of Cobden and Ahaura, for under the new land regulations iof .Nelson whereby Ahe annual rent counts as part of the freehold purchase money, the revenue from direct sales will riot bo a very considerable line in the returns for some time. ; The number, of new applications for agricultural' leaseholds is 48, with an .average of 78 acres in each. The quantity of land held under "occupation^ certificates" . amounts to 1500 acres, making a total of nearly 5300 acres taken up not freehold.

The items of L 37 15s 6d received for the maintainance of prisoners (debtors), and LB7 18s 6d from miscellaneous sources, make up the total of the details in the financial statement.

We may now refer to the amount of business done in the Courts in the district. At Cobden there were 29 civil and 31 criminal cases disposed of in the Resident Magistrate's Court, and 7 cases in the Warden's Court. At No Town there were 79 civil and J62 criminal cases heard by the Resident Magistrate, and 40 cases were brought in the Warden's Courr. There were 220 civil actions and 109 criminal cases disposed of at Ahaura, with 26 cases in the Wardeu's Court ; and at Granville (Half-Ounce) 10 civil cases and four mining cases were heard. The Court at Granville has only been recently established, which will account for the small amount of business transacted at that place, which is the centre of a populous and important district. The district of No Town maintains its superiority in the matter ot mining litigation as in other respects, the number of cases brought into the Warden's Court there exceeding the number heard in all the other districts. The number of criminals dealt with at No Town is also larger than that of the rest of the Grey Valley taken collectively, which may be an evidence of the greater prosperity or otherwise of the district of No Town as the argument may suit. The total number of applications made in thej Warden's Court throughout the district is 1757. These applications do not necessarily signify merely formal requests to the Court, which are granted as a matter of course. Numbers of them are objected to and keenly opposed! by parties whose interests are involved, and some of the most important trials in the Warden's Courts arise out of these objections, although the litigants did riot originally come into Court on a formal complaint. On the whole these figures show that there is a good deal of active energy still existing on our gold-fields, and we trust the progress of future legislation will tend to foster and develop the mining interest in a greater degree than has been the case hitherto, and not to impede it by the course said to be proposed. • . ; . , -