THE ESCORT.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 248, 5 December 1873, Page 3

THE ESCORT.

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r '! t'r: MRMBEIW ON | y j'Hj,; uuu.> di'TY. - ; ! Mi:. 0 Xeill, in moving that a reduction t' 61 pur dunce be made in the gold duty, l-'-L'gci'l tn remind honorable members that hi itions tor the reduction ot this duty had t'ocn 'brotight before the House in nearly t'v.'ry session since he first hud a seat in I'nrllament, in 1866. The matter had fUo4'ame. over and over again, before the K'ovineial Council of Otago, who on each "fcasion" agreed that, a reduction should tnkc pitied Last year, on the motion of 'lie honorable member for Cotlingwood, it resolved that the duty should be re i'a. Ed by'fid., which; left it at 2s. per ■ _ 'Tire taxHvas special and unjust, i: l.ehlg fact,. a tax upon the industry X;"' large-body of the people. The injusclearly proved in Victoria, v.'here, the duty was 2s. 6d. per i auott, and it remained at that rate until when it ,\y»w to Is 6d.; ,in ! 867 it was brought clow?,- to 6J. per ounce; and at the, end of 1867 it was ;.bnlish«i altogether. At the same time i'ie too W miners' rights, which had always bi'eV £ |, was reduced to 'ss. But lwMiorablfl; members were 'aware that the • harge fmr.a miner's.right in this Colony*'as still :S !L 1, find that was another tax the miriersMiad to pay,' ll,e could not see why minefs should be specially taxed, and it seemed him qutte unnecessary that they- should'jbe He was always opposed fo such special taxation, for the miners paid their Customs duties as other settlers did, and it shoul-l be remembered there was a great uncertainty in mining, especially in quartz mining. A miner's income was far more precarious than that of a farmer or a manufacturer, for the farmer could tell within a certain nearness what profits he might lmve from his fields, and tiie manufacturer knew to a certain nearness what profits he would have out of hi 3 goods. With the miner it was entirely different: he might get gold in or in veins or pockets, or might nt all, for the law of the disthe predoi'is metal was still great deal 1 been spd about ;»utAg an ex but ,b j woAi object to t:i a jHwy objecon wool Mold. They runftolders had a' upon the state .in London, and any. which ight take place from actual profits, very large ; yet a tax be a most unreasonable wanted for the miners ey had always desired should be abolished, House would lock at r ope r ''ght, and acto a certa ' n £ rantp d ' ast year—w,. unjust one. Last - appointed to con--PiSML a the Koyal' Mint in this Colony, and omrn ' tfee proved' that 11 l ' t}ie mint wou1<:I adc> a n g s ie m'nersif there were a mint would receive - < at the Royal ounce, mi n er the he Hoyal would agreeing - "States a - t>ur CaKfor,fln" ah I i? f >erl 'i n afterwards and wherq.uantities a If? ll'y should 'M|^^H:n a l Govern'>t vjim CODit;t C'ororrlit—t.liC. (/overhimportance di( ' not Reem inifiortance of the give them and the as to what had enterprise on the y, i. ken 11' om pa - • n i,' r11!! ■ n > e r 11 be r :> the i i.'vern - <•: r * r owe r

give an idea of the approximate value*of mining plant o.n the Goldfields, he woluld ytate'it as follows : Auckland £211,325 Marlborough 1,100 Nelson ... ... ' 87,500 Westland 105,189 Otago ~ 106,770 t Total ... ... ... £511,884 To that they should add the amount of money expended on the construction of water races, tail races, dams, reservoirs, and ground sluices. The length of water races was 5,£>32 miles, at a cost of £76u,899 ; 3,005 tail races, cost £309,967 ; 2,306 dams, cost £63,738 ; 443 res t voirs, cost £18,694; and 1,473 ground sluices cost £1 i,§ 6.6 total, £1,17v,864. Surely, when such a large amou.il of money had been expended by priva .enterprise, it was not too much to ask that some little assistance should be given to the miner, by reducing the gold duty. He might also state that the effect to the Treasury consequent on the- reduction as asked for now would be very small indeed. The loss to the revenue, based on the quantity of gold obtained in 1872, would, be'as follows: £ s. d. Auckland 2,454 6 0 Nelsofi ... 2,113 7 0 Marlborough "52 7 0 • Westland ... ... ... 2,337<12 0 Otago & Southland... 4,236 12 '0 Total ... £11,193 19 0, The Colonial Treasurer might oppose any reduction, but surely at a time when the Government had, by a change of the tariff, added £40,000 or £50,000 a year to the revenue, it was only fair to take a little off the burden on the Goldfields, and more especially -when they were told that New Zealand was so prosperous. They had heard, in the Governor's speech, that the Colony was never so prosperous as now; and the Colonial Treasurer, in opening the budget, told the House the same thing: surely, then, that was a time when any tax which was unjust and unfair should be' reduced. It was well kncfwnThat thwiugh the Goldfields New Zealand had risen to the important position which she now occupied ; that in 1869 her 'population was only 60,000, and that in 1870 it had risen to 250,000, mainly the discovery of gold. He trusted \he House would look at this matter in a , light, and remember that this was a 'special tax—a tax which ought not to be and which was unfair in any point from which they looked at it. It should therefore be taken off altogether ; but he was now only asking for a small reduction. He begged to move the motion standing in Kis name. Motion made, and question proposed—"That a reduction of 6d. per ounce be made in the gold duty."—(Sir O'Neill.)