THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1871.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 136, 6 October 1871, Page 4

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1871.

Our attention has been called to the subject of special claims which the Governor is empowered to grant under clause xii. of the Goldfields' Act, 186 G. For the information of our readers we quote the entire clause by which this power is conferred:—" It shall be law- " ful for the Governor, upon applica- " tion being made, to grant special " claims of greater area than may be " determined upon by the Regulations " to be made as aforesaid, for the pur- " poseof carrying on mining operations " under circumstances of extraordinary " difficulty, or involving the expendi- " ture of considerable sums of money, " or for the encouragement of enter- " prise in prospecting new ground, or " as a reward for the discovery of new " gold workings ; and also to prescribe " the terms and conditions upon which " any such special claim may be held " occupied, worked, and forfeited." The power which the clause we have quoted confers is a just and wise one, but, as is the case in all matters human, undue advantage has been and is still being taken of it, and applications for special claims have been made and granted to persons w ho cannot, by any possible expansion or stretching of the wording or meaning of the clause be brought within its legitimate interpretation. Not only have such special claims been granted to persons wholly unentitled to apply for and hold »thern under the clause which we have quoted, but they have been granted without restriction as to the " terms and condi- " tions upon which any such special " claim may be held, occupied, worked, I" and forfeited." i We have ever held that in a diggings as extensive in area, but as poor in auriferous deposit as is Mount Ida, the ordinary claim of 100 x 100 fert per man is far too small to be worked profitably, and that therefore a system of large claims, whether by way of special claim or under the acre system, should be obtainable, provided it be shown that there existed a real intention to put the ground to profitable account, and employ a minimum number of men per acre, as in the case of mining leases ; failing which, the holder should be subject to a declaration of forfei. ture, as in other eases. The special claims hitherto granted have been wholly unconditional, in fact, virtual freeholds, which the holders could either work or not as best Suited their fancy or their interest. Such a system must necessarily result in the shutting up of a large extent of aur.le.ous i.md, without the slightest advantage to the country or the revenue, to the manifest injury of, legitimate mining. Experience has taught that poor ground in large claims can, by judicious management, be made to pay, and pay well, while any attempt to work the same ground in small or ordinary claims would result in ruin to any one bold and foolish enough to attempt the experiment. This must be perfectly intelligible to all persons who possess even the smallest degree of knowledge of mining affairs. Take, for instance, a claim containing ten men's ground (100 x 100 feet each— eqail to b)J,.» K) feet). Now, to work this ground there would require the inevitable tail race, to be brought up at an expense winch would perhaps barely be rovered or recouped before the ground was enti.-.lv worked out—the outside area being taken up on all sides by those harpies and pests who dog the footsteps of enterprising men on Goldfiolds, and too frequently reap the advantage of their brain, their spirit, and their pluck In our opinion, the acre claim system would be the ole best suited to the wants of this district, provided that at least one man per acre were constantly employed upon it; and we think, also, that m all cases of special claims being granted a similar condition should be

insisted upon. Such a condition would be, at the same time, a protection to the enterprising man, the honest miner, and the public.

The object of colonisation, whether the immigrant be employe I in agriculture, squatting, commerce, or gold mining, is to settle the country to the best public advantage, and for this purpose it must be obvious that much depends upon the manner m which the public estate is administered. Satiny aside, for the present, all other pursuits save and except that of mining, we cannot look upon the present system, under which unconditional special claims are granted frequently to persons utterly unentitled to hold or even apply for them under the section of the Goldfields Act which we have quoted, in any other light then a grave abuse and shameful maladministration of the Goldfields of the Province.