CORRESPONDENCE.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 287, 4 September 1874, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

(To the 'Editor of the "Mottn'T Ida. Chtioviole )

Sir, —As the head quarlers'of tin.- fixepuiivrl of tht l . Miners' Assuciation ofthisProvince is located at A'asuby, perliap* you will allow ino space in your valuable journal for a few remarks upon .the." one - - engrossing subject of.the day, viz., Provincial abolition, a subject in./every -way fraught with, the deepest interest to the miners of the Colony. First, I ask," What have the Goldfieldsr of Otago gained by having their revenue collected by the Provincial authorities, and administered by them ? lam aware 7 - that it is not supposed that the Provincesdo administer the Goldfields revenue; but I am in a position' to state that such is a, . fact, and I repeat my question. Is it not afact'that, whilst Road Boards are "sub-, i-idised at the rate of 355. to the £l, to.make roads through - purchased property- (in-.---- - purely agricultural' districts) the Goldfields are specially taxed by the. Government for the purpose of meeting these works, and the general expense of theirprofitable and orderly management ? and is--it-not also a fact that', 'not' only is a subsidy'withheld from such works, but themr>ney- which is raised is not .returned. 7—not one half?

Another question T have to ask is, s ßy what right can any Government—who donot exercise the right in virtue of conquest- take money from her Majesty's loyal subjects, while living under her flag,, without giving any return for it? \ls it-, any fair return to the inhabitants of "the Mount Ida, Cromwell, or other Goldfielda districts to knew that their money will bespent in making railways to private coalpits in the valley of the Molyueux, or' making mettled roads from Tokomairiro - to Tuapcka, and then telling the people-up-couuiry that the. read will reach them in time, although the word eternity would suit the case much better P Where - for the last- three months has been our Provincial - Government ? and what-do our Provincial Councillors think of their work ?, which amounted to telling Mr. D. Beid-that he was better able to perform the administration of Lands and Works, and also the general provincial supervision, .even when busy with the most important state considerations of the session of'the Colonial Parliament, than if aided-by-any assistance he might get from a properly constituted Secretary for Lands .or Works.

If the Provincial Council of Ofcago has no better sense of its duties than tonearly unanimously condemn G-. Turnbull as unfit to—"or, at least, unwilling to —perform administration creditably, and- then entrusts all to Mr. Seid; 'and he immediately turns round and gives the trust to the very mari= who, confessedly, cannot attend to it, assisted by an inexperienced colleague,; what justice can the Goldfielda expect from them in the way of works ? .And why should the miners rivet on the chain which galls them ? The mining industry is characterised as a devouring .fire, which passes-over the-land leaving nothing but a waste-behind it", by a lead-" . ing member of our Provincial Council in moving in that Council a resolution framed to abolish the industry of mining; altoge her in this Province. Such is th'ewisdom of our oldest" Provincial Councillors ; and shall thej r , or ought they tp be entrusted with the management* of themoney and liberties of the residents of tho Goldfh Ids dis ! ricts? "1 is evident the Provincial authorities only use the Goldfields - as a milk cow ; and, even supposing that the General Government are to do the same, would it not be better to have one milker than two ? Would it not be belter to dispense with one of the greatest evils of our Government—viz., its complication—as soon as possible, and let the peopl* know how much and for what purpose " they are taxed. - Would it not be well for each Goldfields district : lo\ declare for the County at once, and strengthen -the hands" of a blow for the ' rights of at once labor and its well won prize ? Hoping that Britons of the South v» ili not fear to speak their minds upon such an important subject,—l am, &c'., ' - • Bbiton of the South.