THE TAILINGS GRIEVANCE.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 96, 16 December 1870, Page 3

THE TAILINGS GRIEVANCE.

.(£0 the Editor of the Mount Ida Chronicle.)

Sir.—Since reading your article in reference to the- survey and contemplated sale of the frontages along the main road, and Mr. Warden re.port anent the wished-for sludge chanand the tailings grievance, I have .carefully .watched the correspondence 'in- your paper, expecting to, see some effusion from the Secretary of the Minors' Committee, or from some of the self-constituted conservors of the mining interest at MountIda, who sprung into vigorous existence in June last to oppose the applications for agricultural leases, and, like a meteor; dazzled ns with their' brilliancy, but, also like it, their disappearance from public as sudden as. their ;advent, whilst; the Miners' Committee seem to have struggled with, the trials of their position until they had collected sufficient-bawbees to.leave a balv arice to jtpe credit o,f their treasurer-, and then quietly gave up the ghust. publishing a statement of their finances as a funereal requiem. May they, rest in .peace, say I,;if they can allow -such a report as the one referred to to pass unchallenged. Do'yon know, sir, .1 had observed so much shrewdness in Mr. Pyke'a investigation of this great question of the Hogburn, that when I read his repprt j was, : to use a slang phrase, " completely slipped up." Passing by all the untruths contained therein as arising from -incomplete data, I read with, no small '.astonishment his proposed panacea. Why, sir,, it is nothing more or less than.an abortion; and did I not feel thoroughly satisfied that he would not degrade himself by compromising the question with those who are chiefly interested in his recommendation, and that it is impossible for the; Extended Company to be parties j to such a disgraceful job, I should name it an iniquitous Bell. Analyse it, and what is if? He (Mr. Pyke) proposes | pay the Dead Level Company £SOO for the privilege (?) of keeping the lower portion of their race in working order for them; which, when put in a state of repair, as he suggests," will be of ■ little or no service to either the , miners or as a relief to the town. The present channel, as everybody knows, is of service except so far as the water for flushing purposes goes: What

is warned is a public race, as deep as the falls'of the gully and the drop at command at the discharge end will allow. Perhaps you could tell me,-Mr. Editor, W it is likely that, with a view .to avoid the'outlay .which a suitable sludge channel would involve, the Government influenced.Mr. Pyke's report so far as to instruct ihiin to recommend such a cure for the evil as.the miners could not accept. This has occurred to me as a possible explanation of the ridiculously absurd proposition- made by one admitted by all to be a man of great ability and experience. . Then, with reference to the sale of frontages along the line of road to the | south of the township, it seems to me j to be but slightly less prejudicial to j the mining interest, and that most of the very conclusive arguments used in, the memorial to the Superintendent touching the agricultural lease question, are equally applicable to this. The sale of these allotments is—first, building a high wall across the only road by which we can leave the town. The effect this would have it is easy to see. G-ood-bye to business. I suppose-1 j may safely place this to the debit of j Pur paternal (?) Government, whose chief attrioutes are to neglect as much and as long as possible the just and" reasonable wishes of the mining community of this district, and to spend as little as possible of the revenue raised in the district on -works of necessity and utility for the benefit and encouragement of the mining interest. But! we can expect nothing more so long as we have old farmers for our Executive and a squatter for our representative, whose ideas cannot travel beyond the corn field or the sheep pen. ;

■ I have already far exceeded the in- j tended limits of my letter, so littl.e do ! we know when or where we shall finish j our journey until we reach our desti-J nation. Please accept this as my logy for trespassing so much on your spq.ce. —I am, &c., Observed. '