THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 1875.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 326, 4 June 1875, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 1875.

It is still doubtful what will be the final result of the renewed effort which' has been made this session to obtain a reduction of a part or the whole of the Gold Duty. Ihe opponents of the reduction are plying every effort to stare off any practical action until the next elections are tided by. It is quite understood that the Gold Duty is being handled not upon its merits but as possibly affecting the autumn elections. The members of the Colonial Government—who are not called upon to resign anything—are anxious to escape the imputation of responsibility the obstructionists have successfully thrown upon them since the disallowance of the Gold Duty Eebate Ordinance. At the same time the Provincial authorities,are anxious to prove that the Colonial Government cannot allow the Provinces to rebate the duty if they wish unless there is Colonial legislation beforehand. \ Practially, whatever may be the merits of the legal question raised by the Provincial Solicitor, if the General Government are: willing, to pass the Appropriation Bill- I —even, although it is technically defective—the reduction is accomplished. In Mr. Bastings' statement :on.Monday of Government proposals, which our telegrms-wiil tell us whether he has any chance to carry out or not, £SOOO is to be placed on the Estimates for the rebatement of one ha.f of the duty. It is to be hoped that, whatever Government is in power, this half modicum of justice will be acceded to. The Government might as well have granted the whole. The more generous course would have been the wisest, and considerable trouble and expense would have been avoided. The arguments that have been volunteered by the determined opponents of the Gold Duty reduction would be amusing if they were not so venomous. These arguments refute themselves. Driven to cling to every straw one opponent complained that the matter would be an annual question, and if rebated this year might not be rebated another year, i; As if a certain starvation for two years is to be continued when one year's meat is available. As a matter of fact a reduction once made could never be fe-imposed. II the Provincial Government chooses the -duty can be abolished , ■.

Owing to the changes in the Executive tLe , Education Ordinance;.:has* hung up for a time,-butit has not been withdrawn. If: the present Governs ment succeed in retaining office the Bill will not be persevered with. If Mr. Reid, as is inost probable, returns to office, the feeling of the House will be taken on the question of permissive rating. As Jo the principle we expressed our opinion very decidedly against it, when the proposal was first circulated among the school committees. Since then, with very isolated exceptions, the Press generally has taken the same stand. It is not at all likely that the Council are inclined to deal with the Bill, or the" principle underlying it, this session. The object the advocates for permissive rating have in view will be gained by the ventilation their ideas will have received. Mr. Bastings' plan of meeting the education maintenance difficulty is to hypothecate the reserves more and more year by year —relieving the annual revenue of the heavy charge necessary for school buildings. The motto of the party who hold this view is—" Let posterity look after itself; we have done enough for posterity." The question opened up by the disputants is a very wide one, and not to be disposed of in a few hasty sentences. Certainly the object the promoters of Educational Reserves had in view was to secure a permanent and ever increasing, annual provision for the increasing requirements for school maintenance. Such reserves afford the only practical mode capable of adoption in the direction of permanent State leaseholds. To borrow up to the utmost limits reserves will bear is practically to sell the land at a low value. Such a course seems vicious in the extreme. The onl other alternative is general raiug; but whether any scheme of ratiug can be devised which will be equitably to all classes, while

bringing in sufficient returns, remains to be proved. Hedged with an evil on either side, it will in the end come to this—that the lesser of the two will have to be chosen.

It will be aeen by an official advertisement in another column of this issue that application has been made to the Warden to declare the whole of the district under his charge to be open for occupation by miners in claims of one acre per man, under the provisions of Kegulation IV. ¥e understand that the memorial in this case was got up under the auspices of the Miners' Assi ciation, and that there are 109 signatures to it. Itis somethingremarkable that when first this regulation came in force, in Mr. "Warden Wood's time, that gentleman considered he was doing the best he could for the district by declaring it to be in force ; but so violent a protest' was at once made by the miners that he was induced to rescind his proclamation. Soon after Mr, "Warden Kobinson tookcharge of the District a second effort was made to get the large claim system made general, but no sooner was it kn., wn than a very strong opposition was organised, and the Warden refused to bring the Eegulation into force by any general proclamation, alleging as his reason that he did not wish to gi against the sense of, a majority of the ; miners; at the same time Mr. Bobinson expressed himself as strongly in favor of large claims.' Since that time! the system has been for miners 'who idesired to take up large claims to move, the Warden to declare isolated portions of ground to t»e under the Regulation, and if, after being advertised, there was no objection, the Warden next declared the ground open as a matter of course, and the applicants have then been able to peg off the ground and get the grant.of it. This plan, although somewhat clumsy, has answered tolerably well hitherto. Should the present memorial be unopposed at the hearing (which is fixed" for Monday, June 14th) and the Warden be still of the same mind as when the question was last mooted, we presume the acre claim system will become general throughout the Mount Ida District. If there are still any miners who believe the acre claim system to be injurious, they should lose no time in giving expression to their opinion.