MEETING AT ARTHUR'S POINT.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 24, 22 July 1863, Page 4

MEETING AT ARTHUR'S POINT.

A meeting was held at the Rose, Thistle, and Shamrock hotel, Arthur's Point, on the 16th July, 1863. Mr. Hyde was voted to the Chair, and having explained the object of the meeting, introduced Mr. Bergen, at whose request he read a memorial of the miners of tne Shotover and a letter from his Honor the Superintendent (The memorial and reply have appeared in a copy of the Wakatip Mail.) Mr. Bergen stated the result of his mission to Dunedin, and then advocated the establishment of a Court of Mines; concluding with moving the following resolutions: - " That for the more satisfactory carrying out the Goldfields Rules, a Court of Mines, to which miners might appeal from the Warden's decision, should be established, and that such Court should be held periodically at Queenstown, in the Wakatip district." Mr. Lempriere said he had great pleasure in seconding the resolution. He considered that Courts of Mines were very much required in the Colony. He objected to a Warden sitting as an absolute judge, which in fact he was, as the expense of attending and supporting an appeal to the Supreme Court, Dunedin, was so very heavy, few were able to bear it combined with the loss of time, so that the Warden's decision amounted to a conclusive one. Courts of Mines should be established, and from the importance of this district one should be held periodically at Queenstown, the judge of which should also sit in criminal cases. Having no crimiual court nearer than Dunedin held out, in his opinion, a premium for crime, as owing to the small expenses allowed for going to Dunedin, persons were most reluctant to prosecute criminals where the cases were beyond the final adjudication of the Resident Magistrate. Courts of Mines were, he believed, a wholesome check upon Wardens; the small salaries they receive do not place them above suspicion— not that he for a moment thought that they were to be influenced in their decisions in consequence, but ill-natured and disappointed suitors might make such remarks, and create great dissatisfaction. A Court of Mineß,or any court of appeal from Warden's decisions, held at Queenstown, so far as the district is concerned, would, he thought, be a

matter of great satisfaction to the miners, and is actually necessary. Proposed by Mr. Gillespie, and seconded by Mr. Lempriere— m That it is most requisite a Mining Board should be established for the Wakatip District, and that the meetings of such Boards should be held at Quoenstown. Proposed by Mr. Lempriere, and seconded by Mr Gillespie— That a permanent Committee, to be called the Arthur's Point Improvement Committee, consisting of Messrs. Arthur, Gillespie, M'Vicar, Lempriere, Martin, Chamberlain, and Luscombe, with power to add to their number, be appointed to carry out the wishes of this meeting, and generally to watch over the interests of the miners and others at Arthur's Point. Proposed by Mr. Lempriere, and seconded by Mr. Gillespie— That this meeting desires to express its thanks to Mr. Bergen for the great assistance he has rendered to the interests of the miners and others upon the Shotover. A vote of thanks to the Chairman was passed, and the meeting adjourned.