GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Kumara Times, Issue 3042, 3 August 1886, Page 2

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. WEDNfesDAY, July 6. GOLD DUTY ABOLITION BILL. The Hon. Mr. Bonar; Before the honourable gentleman replies I .should like to say a few words with reference to what has fallen from the Hon. Mr. Wilson. From his remarks one would think there was no other tax upon goldmi ners excepting the gold duty. Now, we find, in the first place, that the miners pay an annual miner's right of £l. This, considering the area occupied for mining purposes, is equal to an annual rental of £2O per acre—during the past twenty or twenty-five years.. They have also to pay a tax for registration and taxation for other things, quite independent of the gold duty. A sum equal to from £20,000 to £25,000 per year is charged to miuers for rights, registration, and other items charged against individual miners, so that there is a revenue already provided for the works to which he has referred. Then, with reference to any further demand being made upon the public funds, we know perfectly well that the remission of the duty will cast no extra burden upon the public funds. The whole of the revenue goes to the local bodies, and it has been shown by the Hon. Mr. Lahmann, and I know it also myself, that at any rate the local bodies on the southern goldfields are well able to cany on and to administer their affairs without the assistance of the gold duty. It has taken them some considerable time to do that, but, as has been truly said, many of the works especially roads and bridges—which had to be constructed out of capital are now made, and a lesser sum is required for their maintenance and their gradual extension, which can be provided out of revenue. Consequently the carrying of ihis measure will involve no additional burden on the consolidated revenue. The Hon. Mr Wilson : How about water-races. The Hon. Mr Bonar: The waterraces that were economically constructed are reproductive works, and are paying now; and, if money has been uselessly expended upon water-races, no one is accountable for that but those who were foolish enough to construct them. And what is the total that has been spent upon water-races ? We are also having this expenditure thrown at us—what was their total c ist ? I was looking through Dr. Hectoi's "handbook " the other day, and I find that thn total amount expended by the General Government upon public works up to 31st March, 1885, was £17,038,092, distributed as' follows: Railways £11,616,754 Roads and Road Boards ... 2,273,129 Coal mines 10,835 Water supply on goldfields... 492,228 Works on Thames Goldfield 50,000 Telegraphs 484,017 Public buildings 1,420,914 Lighthouses and harbours ... 462,619 Departmental 227*596 £17,038,092 And yet the population upon tho goldfield have contributed a full share towards the interest upon this huge expenditure on railways, and at the present time in the large mining district of Westlnnd we have not » singh? mile of railway open or available for traffic—though '.leisrly twelve millions, of money have been spent on railways, and only £492,228 or. water-supplies to the goldfi.-lds. That expenditure is by no means an equivalent, s» n d I think it h tiuio the matter was looked into

properly. The miners as a class, it is known, contribute more largely, in proportion, to the Customs revenue than any other class in the colony. That has been proved before, and most emphatically it was proved at the time when the alteration was made by which the Customs revenue instead of being local revenue was made colonial revenue. By that one operation the Province of Weatland lost between £12,000 and £20,000 per annum. The Hon. Mr Lalrmann : Fifty thousand pounds. The Hon. Mr Bonar : Well, I know I am well within the mark. Very well, we got nothing in place of that; and therefore, of course, certain demands were made on the Government from time to time to endeavour to replace that. We have now reached the point at which the local bodies can afford to lose it, and the moderate provisions of this Bill simply ask that the tax should be reduced 6d per ounce for a period of four years. The reduction only amounts to between £4,000 and £5,000 per year, and I think the demand is very moderate, and shows that great prudence has been exercised in the consideration of this matter, so that too large a withdrawal of the funds of the local bodies shall not be made at any one time. I venture to say that more than four thousand pounds' worth of the Assembly's time has been taken up in talking about this matter, and I say let us remove this out of the arena of politics, for so long as it remains on the Statute Book so long will agitation follow upon agitation regarding it until it is removed. It has been felt and admitted that this is a class tax. It is the only export which is taxed, and there is really no justification whatever for it. It is said to be a royalty. Then, I ask, what is the miners' right for % What have we the other taxation for] Why do miners pay £2O per acre per annum for the right to mine? Surely that is a sufficient royalty—a greater royalty than prevails with regard to any other industry, About the importance of the industry I feel it is unnecessary for me to say anything. It is the one thing to which the Ministers, the members, and the people throughout the colony look in times of depression. They say that what is wanted is a good rush—that that would be the means of lifting the colony out of its troubles. And, in connection with that, it is interesting to glance for one moment at what has been the result of these goldfields. We find in Dr. Hector's book, agaiu, that, during the ten years succeeding 1845, the imports to the colony were only £407,875, and exports £171,875. For the period 1856-65 the imports rose to £3,270,000, and exports £1,578,000; and for the further period 1866-75 the imports were £5,767,500, and exports £4,805,500. That, Sir, was the sole result of the discovery of gold; it advanced this colony by years and years, and led to its being the great and successful colony which it now is. I do not intend to refer much further to it, but I must say it is a saddening thing to see this industry, which has produced such very great results, steadily dwindling down from one year to another. We find the export of gold getting lower and lower. For the ten years from 1861 to 1871 the average yearly export of gold was £2,421,000, while the export of gold for last year was something like £890,000. Our mining population in 1876 was over 22,000, now it is rrdnced to 10,000. I say there must be some reasou for that, and surely one strong reason for it is that the taxation on the mining population is such that it makes the industry to a certain extent unprofitable, though I do not go the length that the Hon. Dr. Pollen goes in saying that the industry is entirely unproductive, and that it takes more than an ounce of gold is worth to get it. I think that is not the case, but I am certain there are handicaps thrown on the industry which bear heavily upon it. I wish to make a comparison in the three principal goldfield districts of the West Coast, the Buller, Grey, and Westland. to show what proportion the miners contribute to the County Councils compared with what is contributed by the rest of the population. I find, taking the Buller, that there are 1,146 miners there, contributing towards the county revenue£3,lo6, equal to£2 lis 2d por head; whereas, the re-ot of the population, who are not miners, numbering 1,399, contribute £655 ; so that, while the miners contribute £2 14s 2d, the rest of the population only contribute 83 4|d. If you take the Grey, there are 1,772 miners, who contribute £6,819, equal to £3 17s per head ; and the rest of the population, 3,107, only contribute £404; so that, whilfi the diggers contribute £3 17s per head the rest only contribute 2s G;hl rer her.d. In Westland thr- minora who

equal to £2 6s 3§d ; while the remaining population, 5,362, pay 4s 6£d per head. So that the miners contribute out of all proportion as compared with the test of the community.

[prom our own correspondent.]

Wellington, August 3. There is a conflict between the two Houses in reference to the Legislative Conncil laying aside the Government Loan to Local Bodies Bill. In the House a Committee was appointed to search the journals of the Council to ascertain what had become of the bill. The House appointed a committee consisting of the Hon. Colonial Treasurer, Native Minister, and tho Hon. Mr Conolly to search for the lost bill. Mr Seddon asked the Government when they were going to appoint a prospecting party to search the Journals of the Council for the Gold Duties Reduction Bill, which had also been set aside. The Minister of Mines replied that Government intended to take action this day. In the Council further amendments in the Civil Service Reform Bill were matle, and the bill as amended reported. In the House of Representatives the afternoon sitting was occupied in' considering the Native Lands Conrts Bill and the Deeds Registration Bill. At the evening sitting, The Colonial Treasurer moved the third reading of ihe Kew Zealand Loan Bill, without remark. The Hon. Major Atkinson made a violent attack on the bill aud on the policy of the Government generally. Mr Wakefield moved that the bill be read that day six months. Mr Bryce followed, in a speech made up of invective declamation and political sour giapea. The order on the Government side was that there was to be no debate, and the Opposition had all the talking to themselves. Sir Julius Vogel said he would defer his remarks for a future occasion. On a division, a third reading of the bill was carried by 55 votes to 6. Major Atkinson and a number of the Opposition refrained from voting. The member for Selwyn is finding his level fast; five votes was all this ex-Minister Demosthenes could command, and three of the five were given in charity,-seeing the result was a foregone conclusion. The House adjourned at 1 a.m. today. The Government are toannour.ee the slaaghter of the innocents. Sir Robert Stout is laid up with the gout, and only with difficulty can he get about. The Native Reserves Bill comes on for its second reading on Thursday night.