THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1874.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 298, 13 November 1874, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1874.

In referring to Groldfields taxation we endeavored to be careful to, calculate the proportion the amount of direct taxes specially levied bears to the earnings of each miner, derived from mining only. If, as is undoubtedly the, case, a number of those classed as miners do noj find goldinining for more than a few months, or, as in many"cases, for more than a few" weeks, in each ! year; the injustice of .the £5 per head special taxation is all the greater. If New Zealand is to fulfil her destiny as a great grain-producing country,.it is .evident that, .let machinery do what it will, it cannot supersede labor; on the contrary, it is well known, that the more efficient the machinery - the'greater will be the quantity of inferior lands that can be brought under cultivation, and the larger the number ■ of hands' required at certain special ! seasons of the year. At Home tbe, | difficulty is not felt so keenly on account of the minute sub-division of farms,' and the existence of the cottage and bothy systems, with their miserable accompaniments. It is, however, i felt, and, every year, large numbers go to Liverpool and from,. Ireland to supply the__5 r in the north,j£h~e~orca3ians, Shetlariders, and western Highlanders go south with the'same object.. If it were not for the supply of men poured down through 'thie Lindis and Maerewhenua Passes during- the last two summers from the G-uldfields a very great difficulty would have been found in securing the crops grown on the Waitaki watershed, and around Oamaru. If the Groldfields are —for suppositious, quasi-philosophic reasons; lately adduced by a contemporary—to be forb'dden ground to •the working non-capitalist miner, a floating, and, for the most part, semifidle population will need to be kept in • the "country by the temptation of extraordinary high wages for a few weeks at harvest time, or, which is much the same thing, wages will have to be' offered sufficiently" high .to attract laborers from. Australia -as was the case a few Years ago with regard to the sup-* ply of shearer*. In either case wagesf would need to be still further enhanced, not only on account of the actual scarcity of labor, but from the increased dearness of provisions caused by the advance in wages, oi-igiually caused by that scat city As the amount of grain consumed —in fie absence of a lar>je resident miuing population in the interior— "'ould boar so insignificant a proportion to the sunont exported (which, in competition with other grain exporting countries, would necessarily he kept at the .owest possible price) the consumers would have- to pay to.

rnake up che farmers' loss. Looking forward to the speedy opening; of the main lines of railway we speak of Kew - Zealand, as for many years to come, a grain exporting country, not to any extent a consumer of.its own produce. Our contemporary's philosophy is in this wise : Because with a gold duty of 2s. an oz. and a charge of another Is. per oz. in excess of Is. per oz. revenue collected to meet maintenance of Goldfields—in per;oz.—other pursuits that are-freely in" receipt of bonuses, and are exempt from all special taxation '- pay better "than goldmininw " it is'~better to leave goldmining alone. Gold'is only profitable to any country if the labor.expended in obtaining it cannot, be more advantageously employed. Argues,, too, on an assumption that the Gold Duty is justified as "a " tribute for the privilege of destroying - " large areas of land in the country," that it would .be a reversion to Protective principles? to sacrifice the Gold Duty. J f there were anything in this • argument of a quid pro quo for destroying a few. rocky gullies from 1500* to 2000 above sea" level, on the slopes " of mountain ranges,.surely £3' an acre for miners' rights —for on a low" average three men; would at least be re-- - quired to destroy, an. acre of ground in oneyear-raud £2s ; p.er acre,-.(rent for - lOacres at £2 10s. an acre for ten years}. ' levied- each' year, on. the .wholeeven if 9 acres .are destroyed- I —in reality £25 an acre for destructions-is almost a sufficient solace for the injured feelings of an industry-encouragin'f "Province, whose pre'ssnt leader values the fee simple of the.same, land, ,inde- - pendent of mining; value, (which of" course is nothing,if'it does not pay to . mine for gold) at ss.vper acre.,.. We have been led into an 3 erraticdigression by the. extraordinary arguments of the ' "Evening' Star,' the' more* astonishing as coming'- from . a'.paper that, outside the Goldfieldsj has- donemore for.the goldminers,than any other paper in the Province." ' . What we wished to. bring out was this :—ln proportion'to"the capability of the Goldfields to sustain" during the autumn and spring month's,' a solvent working population, "so in* proportion will tue agriculturists able to get. , labor in their time of need at the least - I possibleuwages, '■consequently- reducing' ! the price of corn,, and enabling gold to " : be profitably mined for, where before;,.' mining with! profit was impossible. Ort_lf---the other hand, if it is thought to pro- ~2. tect agricultural and .manufacturing ~; industries by undue taxation upon.gold. -' —forcing the Goldfield population to ; abandon mining -so that labor may be • cheapened —no greater mistake was. " ever made, nor was any step ever taken- - more fatally , certain-to increase the' price of labor and provisions by keep- ' ing a floating .'semi-employed population in the country, not "living ' well, - while having • to., pay heavily'for the " poorest,provisions%vhich torn will become habitually .'necessary' " to the rlew Zealand working.man. ' How unfair comparative arguments as to the value of labor are when applied wholesale to a large/industry " where judicious employment of-capitai ~" is required, and is" not withheld, to com- .? mand success ; while the non-capitalist miners, working without proper plant,, singly or in couples, very-often con- ; duce to the poor results-shown by .the Government returns, we have not space/'' to do more than point out. It is. emi-V nently satisfactory that the subject ii ; ' * awakening attention on all sides, .ao'd*. ~~ is being so temperately discussed. The mining interest has nothing to fear, from the fullest discussion." W.hat is

needed is. information of what" actually is. When ignorance' of that' gives way to knowledge,,a day of'remedy cannot be far awav.