RIVER-POLLUTION.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 286, 29 August 1874, Page 3

RIVER-POLLUTION.

We quote from « Hansard ' Mr. Shepherd's attempt to successfully introduce Goldfields Bill No. 2. / Mr. T. L. Shepherd moved the second reading of this Bill, which honorable members would admit was one of very great importance, if they studied the veryfew facts and figures he vas about to bring under .their notice, as to (he amount of capital invested in mining pursuits iu. this colony. 'From returns laid on the table ho gathe;ed that, there were 4,430 water races, 5,911 miles in length," which cost £854,465 to construct; 4,835 tail races, .which cost £201,309; 2.847 dams which cost £90,969 ; 471 reservoirs, which cost £13,276 ; making a total expenditure of £1,100,010 upon the water races, tail races, dams, reservoirs in use in various parts of the colony. Next he wished toinform the House of the value of Iho machinery employed in connection with mining pursuits, which was divided amongst 1.1 io provinces as follows : Auckland ...........' £247,000 Marlborough:.. ..;■: . t . .-., 3^)50 ■ kelson •-.,. .v... ... .;51y700 ' ~ ' Westland .... . .... ...; --59 548=' Otago • ...• ' : -...- £503,171 ;•-/ Tliis amount, added to. the £lj 160,000 expended on water races, &c., gave a total of £1,603,181, and he might inform the House' that, the profitable employment of three' fourths of this large amount, of capital '0 pended almost entirely upon the- ground' sluicing ; in fact, it depended upon tlio legality or right,of ,tho. miners'.to. timi the

debris and tail water-into the various, streams, of the colony. .Three fourths of the gold obtained in-the colony was obtained by this means; and especially was the means adopted in mining operations on the West Coast of the Middle Island and in the Province"'of Otago. , There -was no doubt that the miners had polluted the streams hitherto entirely upon sufferance ; but he contended that this state of things should'exist no longer, and in fact, the miners -were entitled to demand, as a right,that the restriction should be abolished This was not the first time he had asserted the claims of the miners in this matter, because upon the Mining Commission being appointed in Otago, in 1871; of which body lie was a member, he brought this subject under their notice, and from-the report ot the Commission he would read an extract referring to this question of fouling streams. In-their remarks the Commissioners said, —

"In fact, they considered that (he provisions of sections 3 to 23 inclusive, of the Victorian Mining Statute.of 1865, should be adopted, with certain additional provisiors rendered necessary by the different mode of mining pursued in Otago from that used in, Victoria, namely ' ground sluicing.' The additional • provisions referred to are—l. To give the miners a right to use, to a reasonable extent, unoccupied waste lands of the Crown for the discharge of the debris arisirg from s'uicing operations, and a provision for exonerating them from liability from necessarily fouling streams and rivers in following their mode of mining. YourOommissione"a do uot pretend to say that such a liability does or does not arise under the existing law, hut assuming that it does, it is evident that the colony, or some large part of it, might' be sudcienlv paralvzed by some individual setting the law in motion to stop one of its " leading indus tries."

This report was made in the month of June, 1871, and since that time the law 'had actually been put in motion. In the Pro vince of Otago there was a very small but rich goldfield named goldfiekl For some years back the miners at Maere whenua, had had only one outlet for their tailings, the mining debris referred to in the report. land abutting on the Btream had been sold by "the Crown for £1 an acre, and it appeared that the ruriholder who purchased the land.had asserted his right to have the water delivered to him in a pure state, and had commenced an action to prevent the miners fouling the stream. He merely mentioned this case for" the purpose of addin" that nearly all the miners in Otago were in the same position as those at Maerewhenua, for the rivsrs Molyneux, Taieri, and Clutha, which had goldfields along their banks, all flowed districts. Those rivers had been fouled by the miners for years and lie had no doubt -i.Sshis mind tha.t they had done so illegally, " They had sufference simply, on account of the incomplete state of the law ; and he, for one, pro- • tested against the mining interest being allowed to remain in such a dangerous position that any person who purchased a few hundred acres of land from the Crown could prevent mining being carried on. In what position would New Zealand stand if the mining were stopped ? In what position would the colony be but for its gold produce ? How would its credit stand ? He. had no hesitation in saying. that its financial position would be in a most alarming condition. They mnst remember' that, up to the present time, the goldfield had ■ exported a greater amount of wealth than all the other industries piit together. The gold exported from the colony amounted to £29,000,000 in valiie-rinore than the value of all the wool, timber and other products. exported from the colony since it wasf ounded. Those who had from time to time tinkered the goldfields laws,. ..had. entirely failed to give- the miners a right they ought to. possess namely the right to foul the streams andrivers. .The. reason they had not that right was 'this, that "the conimmon 'law rights of •the freeholder were sufficient, in the absence of special legislation, to prevent the fouling of water flowing ovev their land; but was it right that such a state of things should' continue? Was it right that the miners should be compelled to act illegaly, as they undoubtedly were doing at present ? No one would say that they ought to be'stoppe'd; and if they were not to be stopped, the House ought to legalize what they were doing. It would he far more easy to confer that right .upon them now, while the land was largely in the hands of the Crown, than it would be ■after it had passed inco the hands of "private, parties. Clause 2 of the Bill gave this right, by providing'that'the' Governor might, by proclamation, declare what rivers and streams -might be used for tail water-and depositing mining debris, and also empowered him to .set aside land opoh which to deposit tailings. That provision ought to receive the hearty support of the Superintendents and the provincial party in the"-House," because the power under the Act'would be delegated tothem with the other delegated powers, and they would take care to grant this right only where it was absolutely, necessary in the public interest to do'sa The Bill also legalised what had been in ' practice for years, namelyV the deposit of .tailings on Crown, lands, and it provided that reserves should be .set aside for that -special purpose. He wasaware of,many goldfields where there was very little fall, where the miners relied upon the Crown lands as a receptacle fortheir tailings; but the miners were in this position: that if at any time the Waste Lands Board sold. the land .for farming, or other purposes, a complete. stop would be put to mining in those districts. The Bill, also provided that permanent mining reserves could be made by the Governor. Those were the main features of the Bill, and-Jie trusted no opposition would be offered to thesecond reading" of a measure which to give facilities for the. prosecution of one of the leading industries of J;he colony. Mr. Vogel said he could not see how .the House could possibly agree, to the second clause of the Bill, which dealt with a very important matter, arid one which, moreover, was now under the consideration of the Law Court. Although he had no official .papers ori the subject, he had been informed that legal proceedings had been taken with the object of determining the question whether or not the miners had the right to put their debris in the rivers, or whether the pastoral license holders had the right to object to their doing so. That question was a very large one, and could.not be dealti with satisfactorily in the - manner proposed by the second clause of the Bill. He was not prepared to say how far the third clause was , already provided for by past legislation, but i he would not object, to it, neither would he ■ oppose the second'reading of the Bill if the honorable ■ member .would agree to -abandon .the second clause. - • '•:■.:■ '< =- \- ' Mr.- T. 1.-, Shepherd-said the'Bremier-.had advanced no :goocl reason why the Bill should not bo read a- second, tiir.e. ■ The honorable member had not .-denied the accuracy, of his statement as totho position in which the rni- ! ners'throughout the Colony were placed. He had not even attempted to controvert that statement, or explain to the House why mat ters should be.allowed to remain in their present position, Diimely, that a few squatters in the Provinceof Oiago should have the power to thwart an industry which was doing so much, for.. ,tho Colony. There was eveiy chance that during the next t"n years t lie Colony "would export £20,000,000 worth of gold: again : and was that to be stopped in order that the squatters might have the right to wash :t few sheep in the streai..s ? He could not consent.! o such a position ori behalf of the mining interest. This was the question which hiulifqi'many years past prevented'a Goldfields Consolidation Bib being pns'sed, and he ,had withdrawn it from the Goidininiiig Bill' which he had brought down, in.order to place it before the House in a simple and clear.nian-

ner. Po convinced .was. he of the justice of the right he claimed, that he should press the Bill to a division, even if he stood alone; This battle had not. been fought before, and the sooner it was fought'out the better. If the House determined that the Bill should not be passed this session, it would be brought forward during the next session,-and would be made a strong cry during the forthcomingfgeneral election. The Goldfields could never consent to matters remaining in their present position, and ho now raised his voice in their behalf. The Goldfields constituencies never would vote for any man who would not insist that this important question should be put on a fair and honorable footing. - The honorable gentleman at the head of the Government said that this question could not be dealt with in a satisfactory manner because a lawsuit pending. He would like to know why that House should pause because a Supreme Court writ had been is-ued. They were told last week that it was of great importance to conserve the forests, but to his mind it was of far" greater importance to conserve and advance the mining interest. The goldfiekls had yielded a product of £29,000,000 during the past ten years, and were the. forests, of which they had heard so much recently; likely to produce anything like that amount in the next twenty years ? They were told what they knew well,—that it was not legal for the mmeis to foul streams and rivers. ■ The Government; did. not state that the AttomevGeneral had been consulted, and that the miners could turn sludge into the streams and rivers; but had the Attorney-General said it was legal, the Bill would not have been pressed. The Premier could not say that it was legal, and therefore his (Mr Miepherd s) assertions and statements were uncontroverted and uncontradicted He would pr.ss the Bill, and he hoped honorable members would support him. He could not consent to withdraw the second clause, and it would be his endeavor to get that provision passed as long as he remained a representative of the mining interest. Bill read a second time.

Donald M'Lean, Native Minister' o Xew Zealand, has been appointed K C M.G., and Colonel Ward, Deputy Master of Melbourne Mint, Companion of the Order.

Piudent.—A Kansas pastor has wisely declined an addition of 100 dols. to his salary, on the ground that the hardest part of his labors heretofore has been the collection of his salary, and it would kill him to undertake to collect 1.00 dols. more.

. A player at whist may hold.above 635 thcuszad millions of - Various hands; so that continually, atfffy"deals pei-evening for 313 days or 15,650 hands perannurnT he might be above forty millions of-years before he would have the same hand again.

Scarcely a.week passes without the record of some wonderful surgical operation. Sally Brown was recently taken in hand, had a broken knee and a dislocated rib taken out and new ones put in, and she is now, as good as ever. It may not injure the story much to'say that Sally is a canal boat. '