THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1874.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 265, 3 April 1874, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1874.

Last week we referred to Mr. Yogel's speech against the reduction of €~ae<gold duty, and promised to take up the subject more in detail. Mr. Yogel was singularly unhappy in his comparison between the gold-miners and the pastoral tenants, as rightful contributors of taxation. He said—" The value ,! of " the exports of wool last year was, he " believed, slightly over that of gold • " and if such a profit were " from wool as-was produced from " gold, it might very well be said that " wool-producers should pay the same " tax. But the profit of the wobl- " grower was~very uncertain, and' it " happened at times that his expen'di- " ture was greater than his returns. " On the" other hand, large tracts : of " country were thrown open to the " gold-miners to roam over at their "pleasure, and pick out where they " choose the place on which they would " work ; and yet they were only called " upon to pay-so much upon the " amount of gold they obtained-—hav- " ing no tax to pay if they found 1 no " gold. In some Provinces the wool- " producers were charged so much per " sheep for the land they occupied, and " in others for so much per acre, but in " no case was there a charge of ; so " much per lb of wool produced. The " lands, of the Crown were not given " to tliem without charge, as was done to the gold-miner, and he did not " think that any tax on the latter could " be more reasonable than a tax upon " the value of the gold found—u fixed " duty per " ounce upon the gold the « miner obtained," The two. facte that

the Goldfields were in existence—indeed, at their most brilliant period—at the time, the unfortunate covenants were made between the Government and the runholders for an extension of lease, and that the wool-producers (that is the correct word) agreed to the price of their rental, knowing—and, indeed, at.that time, exaggerating —the evil effects of gold-mining upon grazing countryj-at once overthrow the whole of this argument as to the right of escape froth taxation belonging "to the sheep-farmer. They knew then—as all purchasers of leasehold since then knew at the time of making their investments—that they were subject to any inconveniences arising from a Goldfield being opened up on their ground, and also to the necessities of the people requiring portions of their run for settlement under the Hundreds Act, and, subsequently, the less liberal Land Act of 1872. Notwithstanding these known risks, they ventured to agree to a rental of about 3d. an acre for a secured lease of an additional ten years, subject "to the land laws in force; or afterwards to be putin force, by the Assembly. Mr. J. L. Gillies said—" ! As a matter of" calculation, " their 'payments did not amount to " more than lfd. per acre." We wonder what party of miners, owning' an extended claim of ten acres which,\as at Wtelshman's Gully, would take them about ten years to work, were ever-so economical as to be able to get their ground at 3d. or lfd per acre. The ground is washed out, it is true, but, in" lieu thereof, some £250 has been taken out. The value of the land, agriculturally or pastorally speaking, is £l. If this is a true value, a country does a good stroke of business in obtaining £250 cash for what is only valued at £l, even although" the ground is destroyed. We used to think that the uncertainty of goldmining was proverbial. Mr. Yogel, comes: to our rescue, and shows us that the uncertainty of the w6ol-pr6ducer's profit was "the- real reason why he should not be taxed. " It happened, too, at times, thit his " expenditure 1 was 1 greater than his returns." It is," of "course, never so in gold-mining. A man may go to any reasonable- expense in opening, deep ground. He is sure.to do well. '.No risks; no uncertainty. Is the emitter in the district wha has opened out a who vet has escape"d~taxation because he has obtaiiied %o' gold ? ' Mr; Vo£el says so. He says such a inan " has no " tax to pay, because he has no gold." Has he not to put labor on, at great expense, to cut his races, and open up the ground for trial ? Has he not to eat and drink,' I 'paying taxation for everything he swallows for the imaginary benefit of other people P Has he not rislka from floods, .which, suddenly rising,' may carry away the accumulation' of years of toil ? • Yet the miner's profit, we are told by implication, is a certainty. But, then, what privileges he has i ''He may roam over large " tracts of ground at his pleasure; 'and " select where he will work." Does his roaining hurt anyone. What would Mr. Vogel have? Notice boards on rocks and telegraph poles (as substitutes for .fcrees) —" Trespassers will be prosecuted.!", "Man-traps set!" Hardly, we should think. Absurdity can scarcely go further than another desperate statement made in the same " ter was that it was : simply giving 2s. " for what was worth £8 17s. 6d., and it struck him that that was a very " good bargain." Such a statement is, indeed, inore than absurd, it is eminently misleading. It would not be "true ; if' the' gold had only to be picked" .off the surface of the ground, for a certain amount of action would be necessary to. gather it up. How, then, 'can it be'true when if has to be extracted at great cost, out of solid ground sometimes" sixty'feet in depth, all of which, has necessarily to be passed bodily over "iron plates in a narrow race. The reaL.price given for the gold is 2s. and the cost of extraction—a;very: different thing; It is weary work! Let us get on. He said—" He " was'quite ? sure : tli'at ho other taxation " would press' ! less heavily upon' the " Gpldfields than this." It would have been just to have sho»vh''cause why .Goldfield residents should be singled out for special taxation; for they pay, equally with all-other Colonists, their shatre'of the general taxation. In justice to Mr. gives two reasons. One, certainly, is rather strange ; it is ■this:—That the " Goldfield which paid " most" was most prosperous." - The other, scarcely less strange, was" the statement " that part of this duty was -"iused - to supplement the funds of " Provinces where new Goldfields were " discovered, in providing for the man- " agementofthose Goldfields." Taking Otago, we find that the extraordinary : expense for the Goldfields estimated for 1874,- was £7,361, as against £16,946 Bs. raised : as export duly. Our estimate of the duty we get from Mr. O'Neill's figures. He stated that a further reduction in revenue of 6d., in Otago, would lower the revenuetaking the production to be the same as in 1872 —£4,236 12s. That is, then, that the duty as more than double the special expenses which, it is alleged, are so extraordinary as to be its -justification. Some say, especially ? our agricultural friends, that' we 'should look at the immense works being constructed by Government £3oo,ooobeing expended in subsidising water races on the' Goldfields. The answer to that-is that the whole of this Expenditure will be in the' highest degree reproductive. The fact that companies are willing to throw their whole capital, as far as it will go;'into the works subsidies are asked for, proves ths. bona jtde nature of the investments, Take the Goldfields

through, no property has paid so well or so regularly as water supply on*the alluvial Goldfields. We cannot accept this expenditure, then, as an equivalent redisbursement for the tax, for it will recoup the country by a return of a high interest, and also by establishing a large population, all engaged in a pursuit that only needs to be freed from the shackles of special taxation to be second to no other in a return of fair average profit to those who follow it.

We have not exhausted all the bad arguments set forth in a half-hour's speech, but must return again to a, subject which, though rather a dry one; deserves much and earnest attention at the hands of all thoughtful peoplei Export duty on gold meahs a repressive tax on what must, for, years to come, be a leading industry in New Zealand.

As we have repeatedly 'advocated in our columns agricultural settlement on the Plain, and as there is a spring probability of land shortly being opened near Naseby on deferred,payments, it is worth while to briefly indicate the conditions under which land can be taken up on the terms as laid down in the Waste Lands Act ( Payments of rent are to be made half-yearly, in advance. No allotment, during the term of the lease, can be sub-let. Within three years from date of grant each allotment must be enchased by a substantial fence, according to the fencing laws of the' Province. Within three years one acre in teii must be cultivated. , . Within six months from date of grant of application occupation of the land by the appliciant must be commenced. , . By the end of the third year improvements—such as fencing,'breaking up, building, &c.—must have reached the value of £1 per acre. At the end of the third year the holder of an allotment on which the

above conditions liave been fulfilled, ( may demand, any time within thirty days, a Crown grant, upon payment of seventeen shillings and sixpence ; or he may obtain a lease for seven yearsj at an annual rental of two shillings and sixpence per acre, at the expiration of which time the Crown grant would issue.

The Crown grant could be obtained between the end of the third year and the end of the 10th, by paymeiit of the difference between the amount of rent and the fees actually paid, and the entire sum of JSI ss. per acre. The Waste Lands Board has power to at- "> tach other conditions as may be thought expedient. The conditions are drawn up, and will be inteipreted as liberally as possible, and are only framed to prevent dummyism and the obtaining of large blocks of land by capitalists and speculators for nothing else than grazing sheep upon uncultivated ground. Some special advantages ard offered to holders of leases under th 6 Goldfields Act of 1866, which it is not necessary to go into here.

The Banks will close on Good Friday and Easter Monday. Fresh tenders are called for the erection of a post and telegraph office at St. Bathans. Capt. Johnson, late of the ship Surat, was liberated on Monday last, his sentence of two months having expired. The Oamaru Jockey Club races will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 7th and Bth of April, instant.

Oapt. Hutchison's racehorse Mabel was exposed for salo at the Commercial Yards last week, and withdrawn at £IOO.

Mb. W. Pyle, St. Bathans, has been appointed Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, and Vaccination Officer for the district of Blackstone.

At the usual monthly meeting of the Hospital Committee the following tenders were accepted for supplies during the ensuing six months:—Mr. J. Brown, groceries; Mr. R. Francis, meat; Mr. R. Glenn, bread.

At the sale of mining property held at the Victoria Hall on Saturday evening last Messrs. Tnder and George sold the water race and rights attaching thereto belonging to Reed and party, the buyer being Mr. H. A. Stratford, and the price £285.

DANIEL AUGUSTERSN, brought in last week from Blackstone Hill suffering from concussion of the spine received by a fall of earth in his claim is no worse, if he cannot exactly be said to have made any great improvement.

At a meeting of the St. Bathans Progress Committee, held on Monday evening, it was agreed to ask the Government to alter the l site fixed upon for. the erection of the post and telegraph offices to a more central position, and to recommend a site adjoining the police camp and the Court House, as more suited for the purpose. An argument arrests our attention which, in dealing with the land question some short time ago, wo lot slip our memory. It is this : If the pastoral tenant, who reaps all his profits at a'low rale of ten ire—id an acre—from the Crown, is entitled to the privilege of; a section of 640 acres of land under the "Otago Waste .Lands Act, 1872," why should not the intending bona fide settler be also entitled to take up, without competition, as the squatter does, 640 acres of land? In other words, why should a favored class be pampered at the expense, of the commonwealth, and why should not other members of the commonwealth have similar privileges, at least to the selection of 640 acreß of ground for settlement' and residence ?—'Wakatip Mail.' A Special meeting of the Naseby Fire Brigade was held on Monday evening last at the Council Chambers. The attendance of members of the Brigade was good. The Mayor (Mr. Busch) was voted to the Chair, who explained that the meeting had been convened at the request of the Council, on account' of their having received the resignation of Captain Inder, who had been so long connected with the brigade, and who was also a zealous member. Mr. Stephens said that he had been requested by the Council to form a new Fire Brigade, but he found it difficult to do so unless all the old members joined again. He would propose—" That the brigade, as at present formed, should resign as a body, and that a new brigade be elected." This was seconded by Mr. G. Chapman, and carried. A vote of thanks was heartily given for the services rendered to the brigade from first to last by its late Captain, Mr. W. Inder. The Chairman then, on behalf of thp Corporation, tendered the brigade his thanks for their services since it ww brought under the control of

the Municipal Council. The following gen- 1 tlemen were then enrolled members of the new brigade, viz.:—Messrs. B. Hall, A Costelloe, James Smith, Michael Brookes, Gk Stephens, W. T. Kirby, W. J. Millar, Q-. Chapman, Q-. Collett, J. Morrison, D. Langmaak, A. GK JB. Mitchell (Secretary). The following officers were then appointed, viz.:—Messrs. Oreo. Stephens,' Captain; W. J. Millar, Lieutenant ; John Morrison, Sergeant; E. Hall, Foreman. The meeting then adjourned until the 6th inst.

A special meeting of the Naseby School Committee was held in the schoolhouse on the 31st March. Present—Hev. Mr. Williams (chair), Messrs. George, Inder, "Wilson, Hore, D. Stewart, Field, and Bremner (hon. sec.). On the minutes of the previous meeting being read, the Chairman said he did. not vote on the motion to accept the resignation of the master, as he was not aware he had a deliberative as well as a casting vote. —Mr. E. T. George proposed that the difference between the master and the Committee be referred to the Education Board, in; pursuance of a motion lately carried to that effect: The motion lapsed through not been seconded.—The minutes, as read, were then passed, Mr. W. Inder protesting.—A! letter was then read from the schoolmaster, asking to be allowed to withdraw his resignation, seeing that steps were being taken to enquire into his complaints, which, when he offered to resign, he feared would not he the case.—The master then" stated that the; amount for fees in hand was about £25. That the arrears were about £35 to April 20th.—On the motion of Mr. Inder it was resolved to send circulars to call in arrears.' —lt was proposed by Mr. Wilson, and' carried—"That, in consequence of the number of scholars at present attending the Naseby District School, the Secretary he authorised to write to the Education Board, asking that an extra teacher be appointed, and also that the Government subsidy towards the head master's salary be the same as allowed to Grammar Schools the attendance being about 95."—On the motion of Mr. George it was agreed that application be made to the Education Board for £IOO, for the purpose of fencing the School reserve.—lt was then re| solved that the Chairman, Messrs. Inderj Wilson, Bremner, and Menzies meet at half past four on Wednesday in Mr. E. T. George's rooms to consider Mr. Menzies' complaint, and settle the same, the tee taking half the liabilities, and the schoolmaster the other.—A vote of thanks to the chair concluded the proceedings.—At. the special meeting appointed—Present: "Rev. E. Williams (in the chair), Messrs. W. Inder, Wilson, Bremner, and Menzies—a careful enquiry was made into the receipts and disbursements. The difference between the receipts from all sources and the disburse!ments was found to be £4 14s. Bs.—the half to be borne by the teachers, and the ,re r mainder to be paid to them in the proportions of two-thirds ■end one-third. A debt was left to the School Committee of £ll 15s; up to December, 1873. Since then this has been reduced to £8 17s. Cd.