THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1872.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 151, 19 January 1872, Page 4

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1872.

We have before us ths General Government 'Gazette* of 6th January instant, in which appears the terms upon which, under the Immigration and Public Works Act, 1871, applications can be received by the Government from persons or parties desirous of increasing the Water Supply on Gold- ; fields. We admit that we were never I very faithful believers in the " scheme" ! of the present Government. There was, no .doubt, something in it at . first sight attractive and fascinating ;- but we feel now as we felt at first, that, in reality, the scheme was hollow. The country, by this scheme, was to be and is subjected to a certain amount of debt for a possible prospective advantage. A s we have said, the liability and consequent, taxation are matters of certainty—the results, in our opinion, doubtful, or more than doubtful. Without, upon the present occasion, attempting to analyse the whole question, with its necessary pros and cons, let us confine ourselves to the question which more immediately ..and more importantly concerns ourselves—-Water Supply on the Goldfields.. Let us take the regulations seriatim as published, and briefly comment upoti such of them as appear to be worthy of notice. With regard to regulations 1 and 2 we have no objections to offer—they are simply such as would necessarily emanate from any ordinarily careful mind. With regard, however, to the latter portion of regulation 3, knowing, as we do, how often works exceed the estimate, more particularly-in a district like our own, wherein all the upper ground is shinule, we consider it an utter impossibility that prior to the advance of money for the purpose of increasing the YVater Supply any price whatever can be fairly fixed. To our mind, the fixing of a fair rate should be left to the borrowers and the Government after the construction of the work. Nor do we think, with reference to the same regulation, that even the most practical or sapient of our miners would be prepared to state " the extent of aurife- " rous ground" which an increased water supply would command. Daily experience teaches us that the whole country, is auriferous, and that ground which a few years back was looked upon as "duffer" ground now,, under an improved system, affords fair and even remunerative wages. Under such circumstances, how would it be possible to assert, as a ground for applying for a loan, that so many acres—or so many hundred, or, even, so many thousand acres—would be commanded by an increased supply of water. What this district wants is Water, and plenty of it, and at reduced rates—not conveyed, as it would seem to be proposed, in races constructed of red tape. In matters of this kind there can be no golden rule. Each question or application

should be allowed to stand upon its own merits, untrammelled by officialism or red tape. We fancy,. with our knowledge of Mr. C. E. Haughton, that the greater amount of discretionary pow# iii these matters left in his hands the better for himself, the applicants, * and the. district.

Passing, on the present occasion, over regulations 4, 5, and 6, we come, in regulation 7, to the fact that in no case must the advance to be made by the Government exceed one-third of the capital proposed to be expended in furtherance of increased water supply. Now,, we fail to see in this respect how our position has been in any way improved by the opportunities afforded by the Fox-cuni-Vogel Scheme. Only the year before last Mr. J. L. Gillies, at that time a member of the Government, and specially deputed to visit the Goldfields, offered us a sum for Water Supply or Sludge Channel purposes at the rate of £2 to £l. If we were unable to accept such terms, what can we expect can or will be effected under the regulations subject to the Scheme. Again, the regulations, as we read them, clearly imply a double survey —both at the expense of the applicant for advances of monjey.- It must be evident, before the required information can be given fis to length of race, construction of reservoir, &c., &c., that a competent engineer rpust be employed—of course at the cost of the applicant. with the application tor assistance must be forwarded a receipt* from the Receiver of Land Revenue of a sum equal to two and a half per cent, upon the money proposed to be borrowed, for the purpose, no doubt, of checking the correctness of the calculations. To professional men this would no doubt be a boon, but to the applicants, hardship, if not "ruin. \\ T ifch regard to the paragraph liens we have no fault to find, excepting that in this" as in all the regulations the borrower—the honest speculator—che pioneer—is placed $t somewhat an unfair disadvantage. |:)f tj|e of interest we do not complain, but we 3nter our solemn pro|ost as to the ;erms r (if we understand them correctly) upon wliich the is to be re-Daid.-r ; fThe ; '.words are these, and we desire to draw especial attention to them: —" The capital sum" (meaning, we presume, the sum borrowed) "io be ' repaid, out of the profits of the enter- ' prise in the same proportion as the ' money advanced by the Government ' bears to the paid up- capital of the ( company." In other words, jf a person or company borrow, say £IOO, from :he government in furtherance of a. public object, such person or company must first give a lien on the whole concern, pay into the hands of a Government agent two and a half per cent, for revision of survey, pay also seven per ?enfc. from the date of advance, and. as ?oon as a profit accrues from the " en- ' terprise," pay to the Government in iddition to the two and a half per cent, ind seven per cent, one-third of the profits. For the present we leave the subject, •onvinced in our own mind that unless ;here be a considerable modification in ;he regulations as published, the Goldlelds will derive no advantage either Yoin the Act itself or from the appointment of Mr. C. E. Haughton. We shall returh more minutely and conto this subject.

nation scents, as it were, the approach of a convulsion or revolutionary crisis, she draws back, contented "rather to bear the ill she

has than fly to others that we know not of." . True and, in our opinion, correct philosophy. - - Revolutionised Britain is, to our mind, something too dreadful even for a very, demon to contemplate. With reference to a report in our last issue of a case of an application by Michael O'Britn and Michael M'Grath for a water license at the Burster (Clarks), objected to by Messrs. •Gogarty and Greer—we have been requested to state that the assertion of Mr. Smytliies (who appeared for the applicants) and who, according to our report, stated that " this race was little, if at all, used during last season," is simply untrue, snd this race referred to from first to last has neve v been in disuse whenever water has been available. The members of the Carew Testimonial Committee and a few other gent'emen met Mr. . Carew at George's Victoria Hotel on the even-* ingof Friday last. The gold watch and chain and illuminated testimonial were presented by Mr. H. C. Hertslet in a short and appropriate j address and feelingly responded to by Mr. Carew. After the presentation a pleasant ■ evening was passed by all present. We understand that during the absence of Mr. Warden Simpson, who has been lately appointed to the Clyde district, and who has at present six months' leave of absence, th -t that district will be temporarily divided between Messrs. Carew and Borton —Mr. Borton taking Clyde in addition to his present duties, and Mr. Carew officiating at Cromwell and Alexandra, in addition to Blacks. It is supposed that during the above arrangement Mr. Warden Robinson will take his old duty at Sit. Bathans. One of the great drawbacks to the sale of the booths, &c., of the Mount Ida Jockey Club ha? undoubtedly been the erection of the Grand stand. Year after year has this necessary but expensive adjunct to the- spirts been erected and taken down to be again year after year erected. We are glad to find that on the occasion of the last sale Mr. E. T. George, hon. sec., purchased, on behalf of the club, the present grand stand for the sum of £75. A wiaer or more discreet action on the part of the club .it has st-ldom been our province to record. In years to come (though funds of the club suffer apparent loss) the future sale of the grand stand, booth, &c., will no doubt amply recoup the present outlay. We understand that the contract for the erection of the Hospital building has been signed by the President, Treasurer, and Secretary on behalf and under the authority of the general commitee. The term of the agreement are, we think, sufficiently stringent. The

building is to be erected and completed within Sixty days from the date of signature (the 17th) under a penalty of £2 per day for every day in excess of that period ; no exrras to be allowed unless sanctioned by the committee or the signators on their behalf.. Mr. Morrison, as aleady stated, is the successful tenderer, and he has our best wishes for a profitable Speculation. Mr. Morrison's tender was very far below any of the others which were sent in to, the Committee for selection. It must be gratifying to the residents of the Goldfields to know that the cost ofi-liring has been materially reduced by the "use of Flour • from the Mill, of Robertson and Hallenstein. ... Lake Wakatip, which is by far the best produced in the Province, and fully equal to the best Adelaide ; whilst same is delivered to all parts of the Goldfields at a much cheaper rate than any other Provincial brands. Orders sent to I. Hallenstein and Co., Cromwell, will be promptly attended to. —Adv. As is usual in most race gatherings, the or* dinary advertised days of the Mount Ida Jockey Club Annual Meeting were exceeded, and as is also not unfrequently the case, some of the last races were the best. Friday's and Saturday's sports consisted of hurry-scurries and numerous private matches. To enume- • rate each event —to describe the preference that each man entertained for his'own particular hobby-horse —how he backed that opinion —would occupy a much larger space than that at our command. We will, therefore, content ourselves with mentioning one or two of the eTents. of interest which took place subsequently to the advertised races of the Mount Ida. Jockey Club. Among the principal of these we may mention first a Hack Race of £5, irith a sweepstake of 10s. added; open to all horses. For this event there were seven entries, and after a well contested and exciting *ace the prize was carried off by Greer's Bill. The next event of interest was a private match between Inder's horse Bobby and Greer's Bill. Thi»race was well and spiritedly contested, the prize eventually failing to the lot of Bill. The last was an Hospital Race, after which event numerous private matches took place, exciting a considerable amount of interest to the parties concerned, but of which we confess our utter, inability to give anything like a definite or specific report. Thb first meeting of the new School Com* mittee was held in the schoolroom on the evening of Monday last. Present: Messrs. Robinson (chair)., Grumitt, Rowlatt, Stewart, Dixon, Teague, Hay, and Wilson.—Mr. Robinson was elected permanent Chairman.—The acting Clerk (Mr. Grumitt) read the minutes of the public meeting at which the new Committee were elected, as also the annual report of the late Committee, both of which were adopted.—A letter from Mr. Stratford, resigning his appointment as a member of the School Committee, was read and hj« resignation accepted. —Letters from Messrs. Hislop, Petchell, and Mrs. Clark were read. The Schoolmaster reported that the attendance of boys was thirty-five, and seventeen girls, but thftt that number would be largely increased the month. Mrs. Clark asked that the

Committee should procure the necessary pe mission for her to occupy the Union Church" uatil such time as the school would be enlarged.—Mr. James Stewart was unanimously elected Clerk and Treasurer for the current year.—The Clerk was instructed to apply to the trustees of the Union Church for the key, and hand it over to Mrs. Clark. —A long discussion; ensued regarding the proposed enlargement and removal of the school, when it was resolved that tenders be called for that purpose, notice of which will be found in our advertising columns —The meeting afterwards took into consideration the existing arrangement with the schoolmaster. After some slight discussion, it was resolved to adjourn the investigation of the matter until Monday, i the 29th instant.

The property of the deceased Mr. Malacln Ryan will be sold by auction to-morrow (Safci urday), in the Victoria Hall, by Messrs. Inder and George. 1 The annual meeting of the subscribers to the plount Ida District Hospital will be held in the Schoolhouse on Thursday evening next, the 25t.h inst., to elect a new committee." Only subscribers under the Hospitals Ordinance will be entitled to vote.

An old and very highly esteemed miner and citizen, Mr. E. Carling, left us by the coach on Friday last en route to California. Tt is not too much to say that in losing Mr. Carling the district has lost one of its most popular members. For the last'seven years there have been few mining enterprises on the Hogbum with which Mr. Carling has not been in one way or the other connected. A good man, a steadfast friend, and enterprising and practical miner was Mr. Carling. Take him all in all he was a man, and it may be a long time before we see his like again. Out of respect to Mr. Carling a number of friends, including the Brass Band, of which he he was leader, met at Horswell's Hotel, to wish him a parting God speed. An advertisement in another column announces the letting by tender of the Kmpire Hotel. This hotel has had and still possesses not only in Naseby, but throughout this goldfield, a first rate reputation. The accommodation in the Empire Hotel is unsurpassed, and the position is most central. The billiard and chess room is large aud commodious, and the table is one of Alcock's best The general business of the establishment in all its branches is unequalled. To a person desirous of entering into a legitimate line of business a better opj>o. tunity than is now offered seldom presents itself. - '

An error into our report last week of the Consolation Handicap. Instead of Malabar running with 7st 121bs read 6st liibs, h The weather. What shall we say about the weather, further than that" the hopes of the most 'sanguine have been doomed* to disapf pointment. Since *bur last issue, the same high and hot winds hare, as a rule, prevailed, with the occasional alternation of a few, a very fewdrops of rain. The heavens have, indeed, frequently given indications of a change, but thai change has so far resulted in a few drops of rain only. Should the present drought con tinue, not only will the small vegetables we have be reduced to parchment or something like it, but the industry of the place—miniiig —will be brought to a perfect standstill. What we want, and what the district requires, is Rain. We might, we think, with truth say that since St. Patrick's Day no rainfall of arty account has occurred. The complaint on the want of water score is general, and we trust that a change for the better may soon ocqur. In allusion to the Hospital Race mentioned elsewhere, we may state as a reason for the smallness. of the sum collected (£4 7s. 6d ), that this race took place upon the third day, when the attendance was comparatively small, and the racing furore on the decline. There were five entries. The prize to the first horse a whip, the second a pair of spurs.