THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1874.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 255, 23 January 1874, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1874.

It is very commonly thought that there are in existence certain indestructible righf-M,' ppi'taining more especially to property in hind, brought into exisri nee in bycon" ages by, we suppose, an infallible legislature, and only requiring accurate legal interpretation to cnlbn-e compliance, throughout all. ««(.•*, wherever the British h in pi re may ( xtend. Supposing, for a moment, that such infallible eights did exist, it would imply that the tribunal, or • oiiucil that established these rights did away with the necessity of all' future l<'»i»!ntiirPS—that the'progress of mence and education, with a ! l the manifold triumphs of civilisation, are fc:> have mi influence on the legislature of the day ; in' shorr, such a supposition .immmt.i to an riM-rrth-n that the wisdom of/this bygone era is to override the accumulative oxnorunco of all tcenerai icjis exis'ent xinr-e then. KmpMiry a .Ij'iuh' law anthor/ity, s-ivh:-11 Every Wuntry lias, ah me lime or " another, given nn-iyj or less counte- " nan re upon some favorite point to '' the dj-lu'sinn offundamental law.i? an 4 '■ unuHHiable "ifehtV; menninjy by these

'■' laws and'right?,.'incapable of altera- " tioii except 'by a violence or decay '-' equivalent to the suspension, if not " dissolution, of society. . . ;. ." This belief in the infallibility of oid enactments and rights was.the stumblingblock which proved fatal to the Stuart dynasty, who were led by sycophants' to try and enforce their'own belief iu the nullity of any measures passed' by Act of Parliament overriding or setting aside the ancient prerogatives of the Crown. "No fiction," says the same authority we have quoted from, " can be more gratuitously mis- " chicvous than the creed that there " can bo anything in the force of in"■vading arms iu 1066, or in the autho- " j'ity of national wisdom in 1688, or " in any length of prescription what- " soever, to disable successive genera- " tions from exercising their own dis- " cretion respecting the propriety of " their existing institutions ;" and speaking more positively, he says : " For, notwithstanding a few 'fanciful " conjectures at times incautiously- or. " intemperately hazarded, the .English " Constitution is not established on

" any strictly fundamental laws. . . • •" Of course there is a line which, if crossed by the imperious will of an excited people, becomes, not a change of laws, but a revolution. This line°is not within sight of legislation providing, for the public-futility, certain' privileges, though apparently at the expense of occupiers .of freehold estate. Although not agreeing in entirety with those who would have the State the real as well as nominal owner of all the lands—for we fail to see any force in tha main argument adduced, that the State does not share in the benefit arising from the value of the lands after their sale, for clearly the, land cannot be-removed, and. is as much value to the country, whether in private or public hands, as being produc T tive of national wealth in proportion to its market rise in value—we do value the other privileges which the Crown, as landlord, would confer on a population such as exists on the Goldfields, and on any industry or raanu-. factory not connected with'land rights. These advantages would, however, hebalanced by the fact that .all interfere ence with industries would still be. inthe hands of the politicians of the day —for of course the Crown (that is, the Executive of the day)'wouldhave what rights actually pertain to the freeholders of the present day. Supposing, however, that these difficulties are got over—difficulties leading to political corruption and jobbery—still we are in this position: that' the system would only appear adapted to the state of legislation of our own ,day. We can no more bind and chain the legislative enactments of posterity than we choose ourselves to be' bound by the acts of ancient times, when they are found unsuitable to our present requirements. Simple legislation for the public good is the sole requisite to, place goldmining on a stable/and -permanent basis ; -and if there is any real, sound-, ness in our electoral.privileges, .as re-, ■turning legislators to truly represent their constituents, there need be no other difficulty save'the apathy of the people themselves in all necessary legislation being provided, protecting the miner in his industry, the Government in its responsibilities, and' the freeholder from" any more interference,' with his rights than takes place yearly when a public requirement is established—he it a railway, a canal, a telegraph, or even, as wo showed last-week, a navigable river. -The real 'and only value -of river rights in England, so far'as those rights have been in dispute in. the law courts, has been of two kinds —value as waterpower for mills.' &c, and value for fishing purposes. ■ With regard to the mills,'.they have no real right to monopoly of water in a river, unless they obtain such rights in the first instance usually by usurpation, ■ and continue them for a.certain period simply through the toleration of the public —(hence, by-the-bye, the extreme injustice of giving, as in the Kakanui dispute,'millowners with-, in our opinion, no legal rights, a preference to those who had gone to expense in obtaining and working with licenses from the Crown, specially granted to use water in any rivers, &c). - The extreme value of the fishing rights in English rivers it is difficult for us to understand. This value is created, not only by the marketable nature of the salmon, but albo by the employment wealth find's in gratifying the luxurious' instincts of those who.Ctbrough idleness, or simply a search after relaxation, lease a portion or stretch of water for fishing purposes —the competition being carried to so great a pitch that every fish caught probably often costs the lessee from £lO to £2O. [he English Legislature in 186.1, recognising the national wealth of' these fisheries—perhaps, too, biassed in their favor by the Conservative tendencies of Knglish country gentlemen, who constitute a majority in the I-lou?c of I Commons—passed the Salmon Fisheries Act, making it an offence to poison rivers this provision beinij solely aimed at certain manufactories, ;.jil also, curiously enough, farmers who wore washers of 'sheep, and who used fomraonly to wash newly-shorn flocks in arsenical preparations. Mr. Froiide, writing of England in the sixteenth century, says that "land never was " private property ici that personal " H'nse of properly in which we speak " of a thin ; as our own, with which we "'may do as we please,- and in the ad- " ministration of estates, as. indeed,*in 'i i he administration of all property " whatsoever, duty to the tState wa- at " all times supposed to override private '' interest or inclination." We hope to show, in a future article, bow this principle, of the public iewe has ahyays been lipid to be sullk'ieuf, if proved, to shape le<ns-

latioii," "even '.when xuuli legislation trenches ■ upon" these old mythicallypresumed infallible rights surrounding -the fortunate'ppssessors of landed property. - The more attention we give to this point' the more we are convinced that there can be'no. difficulty in establishing by law 'a right of river diversion and pollution for gold mining ■ while not inlringiog anymoral law brVpresumption of equity—while such legislation would very much increase the wealth ''and stability of the Colony. .' ' - "'

Do the inhabitants' of Mount Ida expect golden apples to drop into their mouths unsolicited ?. 'Do they suppose that' the district is so influential that its members can obtain from the Provincial they choose to ask for, if unsupported by public opinion—by popular -advocacy? If such opinions are held, the sooner they are banished the better.- . "We have pointed out that it is idle for the Groldfields' to prevent the agricultural land on the large plains being taken up and sold. "We.have shown that under certain legislative contingencies such setwould be most beneficial—that agriculture, combined with pastoral is "the necessary handmaid" to gold mining," "to ; establish a fluctuating population permanently as residents, on the soil. i'AII agree with these opinions, yet our'w.ords alone will not .obtain such a state-of things .as is shown to be necessary: We can only cry and point the way; "We have done this-repeatedly. It remains for ,the people themselves to act, to express an opinion, to.acquaint the Government with what they do require—what,, indeed, are their actual necessities. There is not the slightest doubt-that a block of land on deferred payments can be obtained -anywhere in the .district—to be open for application at end of this year or beginning .of next —if its necessity is pointed out. The programme to be laid before the Pro-, vinciai Council will very soon be prepared, and our requirements should be laid plainly before the Superintendent. - Public opinion must, to a certain extent, be led. The office of leader in Naseby used to fall upon the' Committee of-the Trade'Association,'whoseefforts for the general good have their standing memorials visible to : all. Upon the creation of-the Municipality' this useful body'ceased to act in a public capacity, and now we naturally look to the Town Council to take the lead in all public movements. We would', suggest to his Worship the' Mayor the advisability of convening a public meeting," to be held at; Naseby,, to'specially take intoconsideration.the desirability, of at. once. memorialising; the Superintendent for-the'proclama-tion of a Hundred, in a central posi-. tioh on the Maniotdto Plain; containing a block on deferred payments ; and also the proclamation of a block on deferred payments in such a spot as may'be'found most suitable on or near the road "to the Kyeburn Hotel, be-, tween the crossing of that river-.and Naseby. Such- proclamations, .'approved of by the 'Provincial Council, would be largely^taken advantage of,; and would add very materially to the, stability of the district townships. Theduty of leading in this movement, so. far as obtaining the public expression,; clearly rests upon the Mayor. 'lf- the residents will not follow his lead,' he,, by giving them an - opportunity, clears himself from the blame that would otherwise attach to the office he holds, if, failure resulted ' solely' fronv the -want ofsuch public expression. , A num-, ber being at this moment temporarily out of the district is no -reason <why a -well-attended meeting should not take place, for those who are most settled, —who have property at stake—are here, and it is they who should have the chief voice. as to what is desired. At such a meeting a Committee couldbe appointed to draw up the necessary memorials ; another to select., from personal inspection, the ground most suitable for public 'purposes; and it would be well that a permanent Committee/of three'at least, should be appointed to watch and further such movement as the meeting, publicly convened, might determine upon.