MINERS ASSOCIATION.

Kumara Times, Issue 2346, 5 March 1884, Page 2

MINERS ASSOCIATION.

HALF-YEARLY GENERAL MEETING. The half-yearly general meeting of the Kumara Miners Association was held in the Empire Hotel, Hillman’s Town, on Monday evening last. Forty to fifty miners were present; also Mr R. J. Seddon, M.H.R; P. Dungan, Esq., President of the Association, occupied the chair, and briefly stated that the object of the meeting was to receive the Half-yearly Report and Balance-sheet, and to appoint officers and Committee for the ensuing six months. This meeting, he remarked, should have been held, according to the Rules of the Association, on the last Friday in February; but, on account of the annual distribution of prizes that evening to the State School children, at the Theatre Royal, Kumara, which a large number of the parents would probably desire to attend, the Executive Committee resolved to postpone the meeting till this evening. The business of the old committee would cease to-night. It behoved all present to elect an Executive Committee such as they had had during the last six months, who had worked well and harmoniously to protect the interests of the miners of the district. Many abuses had been dealt with by the Committee, and grievances had either been abolished or mitigated through their instrumentality. He would now call upon the Secretary to read the Report and balance-sheet. Mr F. Marshall then read the Report, as follows: Report of the Executive Committee to the Members op the Kumara Miners Association for the Half-year ending February 29, 1884. Gentlemen—Your committee have the honour to submit for your approval the following Report of their proceedings during their term of office and the balancesheet of the Association for the past halfyear. The balance-sheet to be submitted we are happy to state shows a credit balance on the half-year’s transactions, which we hope will be satisfactory to you. Your committee during its term of office dealt with many important and troublesome matters affecting the interests of the district. In the first place we have taken every precaution to place the affairs of the Association on a sound footing ; we have procured a suitable place in which to hold committee meetings ; and, by canvassing, have largely extended the membership ; so that now, we are pleased to say, there are upwards of 200 names on the rollsheet. Secondly, we thought it desirable to test the legality of the race manager’s action in cutting down the dimensions of the gauges for supplying water to the claims. With this object in view we procured the opinion of Mr A. R. Guinness, solicitor, of Greymouth, and as that gentleman’s views concurred with our own, we took the necessary action to have the matter brought forward in the Warden’s Couat; but, being unable to find a party who were willing to have their individual case tested at the time, it was resolved to let the matter stand over till such time as an application be made to the committee by some party who wished to have the matter tested on their own behalf. 3. Your committee used every endeavour to establish the system of working the sludge-channel in three-hour shifts instead of four-hour during the summer months, the object being, as all know, to provide better accommodation for those who were not getting regular use of the channel. On this subject a deputation was appointed to wait on Mr Gow on two different occasions, to see what he was willing to do. We got signatures to an agreement from 27 parties who were willing to accept the system, but as there were still three parties who objected to any alteration, the matter fell through. m 4. We next made strenuous efforts to obtain increased sludge-channel accommodation, by communicatng with R. J. Seddon, Esq., who was then in Wellington, asking him to interview the Minister of Mines, and try to get the Government to subsidise private tail-races constructed for the purpose of relieving the pressure for use of sludge-channel; and we are still sanguine that something will yet be done in this direction, 5. The committee have made careful inquiries with regard to the practicability of establishieg a gold-buying agency at Kumara, and found it to be a somewhat difficult business to deal with ; and could only be accomplished by the claimholders unitedly supporting such an agency. We think it would be best to discuss the subject at a general meeting of members. 6. When the new “Regulations for Use of the Sludge-channel” were introduced, we took most energetic measures to suppress their being put in force ; and, to etiect this purpose, we convened a public meeting, aud by its sanction one man from each claim, accompanied by your committee, interviewed Warden Giles and explained to him how entirely unworkable the new Regulations were ; the result being that the Regulations were held in abeyance. A statement fully explaining the nature of the proposed new Regulations was also forwarded to the Minister of Mines, who replied by telegraph that he would be glad to consult the wishes of the miners when in full possession of details from the officers of the department. ,

7. The next matter dealt with is one still fresh in the memories of you all, and that is the inquiry into the working of the sludge-channel and water-race. To procure this, numerously-signed petitions were forwarded to the Minister of Mines, asking him to grant the above-named objects. The prayers of the petitioners were subsequently granted, and the inquiry held. The objects the committee had in view in asking for the inquiry were for the manifold purpose of obtaining a better system of blocking the sludgechannel and obtaining a reduction of the price of water ; and we feel assured that our efforts will be crowned to some extent with success. 8. In conclusion, we regret that during our term of office a great want of unanimity has prevailed amongst the claims using the sludge-channel, and that our efforts for the general good have to some extent, been neutralised by such disunion. Hoping this will cease to exist in the future, We have the honor to be, Gentlemen, Your most obedient servants, Peter Dungan, President. Ambrose Oreber, Yice-Pre-sident. Wm. Morris, Treasurer. Fred. Marshall, Secretary. G. Votsey, M. Barrowman, G. Watson, W. Wells, John White, David Barnett, G. Brown, C. Harris, H. Hope. Members of Committee. Applause followed the reading of the Report, and also the Balance-sheet, which was subsequently read. The Chairman stated that the Executive Committee had held many ordinary and emergency meetings till, he thought they would amount to an average of one a week. Mr M. Barrowman moved the adop. tion of the report and balance-sheet. This was seconded by MrR. Morgan, and carried. The next business, the Chairman said, would be to elect officers for the ensuing half-year. Mr F. Barrowman suid that before proceeding to the election of officers he wished to move a cordial vote of thanks to the outgoing committee, who had evinced great discretion in the management of the afiairs of the association.— [Applause.] Mr Nicholas seconded the motion, which was carried with applause. On the motion of Mr A. Crebar, seconded by Mr G. Watson, Mr P. Dungan was unanimously re-elected •f&is-president. The Chairman thanked those present for the honour conferred upon him, and assured them that he would do his utmost, as in the past, to promote the interests of the miners.—[Applause.] Mr J, White nominated Mr M. Barrowman as Yice-President, which nomination Mr Crebar seconded. Mr M. Barrowman declined, as he would not be able to spare the time. Mr Crebar then moved the appointment of Mr G. Yoysey as Yice-Pre-sident. Mr Hope seconded the nomination, and Mr Yoysey was unanimously elected Yice-President. Mr White nominated Mr F. Marshall as Secretary, which nomination Mr Tait seconded. The Chairman remarked that the late Secretary who it was now proposed should be re-elected, had manifested great intelligence in the conduct and mangement of the business of the association, as well as a large amount of perseverance and usefulness. Nomination carried unanimously. On the motion of Mr Nicholas, seconded by Mr G. Watson, Mr W. Morris was unanimously re-elected Treasurer. The following nine members of the Association were elected as the Executive Committee for the ensuing half, year:—Messrs E. Morgan, A. Crebar, Jas. Tait, John Nicholas, W. Fraser, Wells, G. Watson, Harris, John Hay. Messrs Denis Hannan and Thos. Dennett were re-elected as Auditors. Mr F. Barrowman moved—“ That the meetings of the Executive Committee be open to the public.” Mr W. Morris seconded the motion, on the understanding that non-members of the Committee be not allowed to speak or interfere with the business of the meeting.—The motion was carried. Special votes of thanks were proposed, and accorded by the meeting— To Mr Denis Hannan, for refund of .£3 3s, in acting as agent for the Miners .Association on important occasions; to Mr R. J. Seddon, for his invaluable assistance to the association in his capacity as member for the district ; to the Press (in the person of Mr Janion) who had done his utmost to advocate the cause of the miners of the district and to expose and seek redress for their grievances. A vote ut thanks to the Chairman terminated the pimccdlags.