THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1873.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 235, 5 September 1873, Page 4

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1873.

j Liie Premier, speaking on the motion 'of Mr. O'Neili, to reduce the gold | duty another sixpence, said—" He did

" not begrudge the Goldfields metn- J t " bers roting for this motion, as no! j " doubt they would consider it a duty t " they owed to their constituents ; but t " still, he doubted not but when they i " got outside the House they would " feel grateful to othe" honorable " members who, opposed it." How- ] they did vote we do not at present know: - no doubt they accepted the ] permission given them to please their ] constituents. Be that as it may, we ' know what they did say, or, rather, did ; not say. Mr. O'Neill, Mr. O'Connor, and Mr. White seem to have been the only Gold fields members who advo-i cated the reduction in earnest. Mr. Fox, too, broke what we may call a free lance in its favor. The action taken by the Government in the matter is peculiar, and the Premier's arguments in attempting to show the desirability of the tax were singularly unworthy of his genius. They probably arose from very exuberauce of intellect. . He argues that it would be unjust to the Provinces, and yet it was stated repeatedly that Otago, the principal gold exporting Province, had, year after year, recommended through the Provincial Council the reduction of the duty. He attempts to prove that wool is more heavily taxed, and lays, down the strange principal that " the Goldfield which paid the most " was the most prosperous." He adds, '" This could not be said of ordinary " taxation." The truth is, the Goldfields residents have been too sanguine .that the injustice of the tax would be recognised. Their apathy, or misplajped confidence has been taken advantage of. Money is too scarce to be lost, if possible, and the Premier says thst " lie was sure the proposal >•' had no interest with the large oody " of miners,generaliy, who were quite ■ " foment to p:iy a fur rate of duty on " the gold which they obtained.. The , " trx was not one which j rossed " heavily upon them, and it was in the " iuterest of progress that the Govern- " ment objected to the. proposed re- " duetion." Mr., Vogel's arguments . were singularly defective in force, being, indeed, merely the utterances' oi" . a clever man tnakiug the best of the other, side for the convenience of the moment—entirely sacrificing the Goldfields interest. His somewhat ui;statesmanlike excuse, that to reduce the .duty would be to interfere with the Provinces, while, at "the. same time, admitting Provincial Councils had no power to, legislate in the matter at all —this excuse, quite outside the question at issue —the" principle of the tax—was uothing but a metaphysical shuffle, uistory tells us that Kiu# George HI. had serious antipathies to the lioman Catholics. "■ I only hope," he said once- to his Minister, Mr. Dundas, " Government is not pledged to any- " thing in favor of the Roman Catho- " lies." "Xo, v the. Minrter an-

swered ; "it will be a 'mallei- for fu- " Ui!'e consideration;" and on the KiuiT yoiug on lo explain his scruples, Dundas endeavored, to show that the Coronation oath applied, only to his Majesty in his Executive capacity, and not as member of the Legislature. But the Third angrily replied, '* None of your-Scotch metaphysics, "Mr. Dundas; none of your -Scotch '* metaphysics." jr" we substitute the insolvent Northern Provinces lor his Majesty, and Mr. for Mr. Dun-

das—the reduction of duty .taking the place of the Catholic question— the present position'of .this reduction of gold duty is pretty fairly shown, t.nd might be rendered thus :■

Major Atkinson, Mr. Buckland, and cho" rus of insolvent Provinces: We only hope? Mr. Vogel, that Government is not pledged to anything in favor of a reduced gold duty. Put it on! put it on! j Mr. Vogei: No; it is simply a matter for ifuture consideration. . Provinces must be 1 protected against their own wishes." Tax ; really enjoyed by-mining communities. It j would be cruel to sacrifice cause of such deI light. Nevertheless, as a tax, &c. ! Major and Co., joined by outraged West j <;oast Goldfielcl members "(Vogel's Goldfields ' satellites'keeping out of the way): None of I your -. — metaphysics, Mr. Vogel; none ■ of your —-- metaphysics! •.The Premier, for the sake of revenue, ■ ;m.'l in deference to the superior energy of the Northern Provinces, to , whom revenue is a necessity to -preserve Provincial life —no.great thing to lose, one would think—threw over

the quieter though, we hope it will be proved, the stronger interest. Let it be no longer a matter of doubt whether or no Goldfields are in earnest on this question.