THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, MAY 20, 1870.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 68, 20 May 1870, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, MAY 20, 1870.

In a late issue, when expressing our desire to see the Miners' Committee carry out their duties carefully and considerately,- we concluded-"with the remark that we trusted that the Committee " would ask nothing which they " were not justified in asking, or which " the Government would not be justi- " fied. in granting." The action since taken by the Committee 1 has not, we regret to say, been such as we should have desired to have: seen.' In all they have hitherto done th ey appear to have been swayed by private and personal considerations, rather than, by an earnest desire to accomplish a great public good in a fair and legitimate manner. The contest has,, so. far, been with individuals and individual rights, rather than with principles; and. instead of setting heartily and steadily to work, in a proper spirit, to obtain a' rei dress of wrongs, they appear to- be spending their time, wasting their breath, and frittering away their means in useless and vexatious litigation, and in attempts to obtain that which they cannot reasonably expect to acquire. Upwards of a fortnight has elapsed since the appointment, of the Committee ; several meetings have been held; but, so far as we have yet been in- : formed, action has been confined' to a fruitless attempt to cause the removal of a dam-bank raised by-the Extended Company to protect their tail race, and in the getting up of a petition to the calling upon him to exercise a judicial power generally upon matters with which it is only competent for him to deal separately, and upon complaint before his Court, and pray in £ him to direct that all tail water " should " be allowed to flow without hindrance *' down the natural channel of the gully " where tail water may be available, for ■' the better delivery of the tailings " from such gully." * We.' cannot entertain any "other opin-

ion- than that both tliese actions on the

part of the Committee have been illjudged in the extreme, and that the petition to which we have above alluded, will, like the action for the removal of the- dam-bank, result in nonsuccess and disappointment. The Committee should bear in mind that in both cases their efforts have been to deal with and abrogate interests which, beyond a doubt, have become vested interests,, and which can only be successfully assailed by special legislation, and by according just compensation. If, therefore, the removal of the dambank in question be a matter of real necessity for the advancement of the mining interest of the district—if, also, the undisturbed flow of tail water down the several natural channels of the different gullies will conduce to the prosperity of the mining community—then the course that the Committee- should pursue is clear and unmistakeable. They should at once petition the Grovemment, showing, that the rights granted by them to companies and individuals press heavily upon, the mining industry, and have become a public injury, The petition should point out what particular rights are referred to, leaving the Government to take such action as may be necessary to- remove existing grievances. They should, how - ever, be careful to let the Government see that there- is in the matter no other feeling than that of the public good, and that they are in no- wise actuated by feelings of Jealousy, vindictiv ness, or spleen, What we should desire to see would be a memorial showing the* difficulties of the district, and their cause, and requesting the Government to appoint a gentleman, duly qualified * to enquire into the whole matter and suggest a remedy. "We feel sure that, if the Miners' Committee really desire the redress of grievances and the advancement of the mining interest, it will be necessary for them to change their present tactics, and adopt a course similar, or somewhat similar, to that which we have above indicated. If the Government once come to the conclusion that party and personal feelings have been imparted into the present discussion, it will afford them but too good a» excuse for evading the responsibility which doubtlessly Tests upon their shoulders.