THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 1875.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 337, 20 August 1875, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 1875.

Tub more we see of the Government proposals, the less' we like them: ' Day by day it becomes clearer that measures of so grave an import should, not be hurried through Parliament while the constituencies are in ignorance of what really is to be :the form of Government, and what the local taxation arising under that form. At the present time the Bills are neither understood by the people upon whom they are, to be binding, nor by the members of the Government who are forcing them on. Strong advocates as we are and have been for simplification of Government'we. are yet Dot ..so rabid, in our anxiety, as to swallow without enquiry _any.crude scheme that may be submitted' by a Colonial Executive, in which, without- its absent leader, the country as- a -whole has not the slightest confidence.' The deception xnade use of. in hoodwinking .the miners, which has proved so soporific and-suc-cessfulin Grahamstown, Beefton,. and a few other Goldfield centres, should create a great suspicion of the proposals as a whole. : "What is more" childish or less like states mans aip than to herald a great gift, to miners of their own money, with, words savoring so much of the blarney stone, as were made-use of by the Colonial Treasurer..: If special taxation is ! not to be reduced because it is all to be given back why should there be the' expense incurred in collecting it. Cannot they miners jbe ? trusted to ..-inatei means of access to their workings' themselves if it has to -be : done with their own money ? The whole pretence is as clear as daylight. In one breath we are told that the country ia overgoverned, that the North cannot exist without Gold Bevenue, and in the other we. are asked to believe it is necessary for Government to step in, take our money, but only to spend it for us ourselves. There is no provision in the Local Government Bill exempting miners' property from rates levied by District Road Boards. They are thus to'contribute' directly to the Boad Board and. indirectly through their speciaLtaxation... We do not see that the. Boad Boards can handle the proceeds of Goldfields taxation as land: revenue.: In future miners are to pay in their taxation 'to the consolidated revenue, which is in turn to feed Boad Boards. This is a process , of looking for a pea under either thimble, more creditable to a -frequenter: of low-gam-bling saloons than to- a Colonial Treasurer.:-: - • Self-imposed Boad Boards the qualification of membership to. which is a high property 1 one—cannot fail to be conservative bodies composed of landowners, who are not likely to be severe upon themselves'vhen the yearly rate is struck. We can easily imagine fivp or six of these gcntl. nion, with their five or six voted apiece in their pockets, determining the poll at a small mining township. If it can be showii how a party of miners, working say at Clarkes, Hyde, Cambrian, or elsewhere, are to receive" ; an equivalent for 1 the special taxation that is to be levied from them, we will admit we are-in error to that extent. It would still remain as inexplicable.as ever why, if so, it should be levied at all. We are well aware this is rank' heresy on our part; all the Government organs tell us miners

are afc last recognised,—admitting what they never did before the continued existence of an injustice : The ' New Zealand Times ' is delightfully righteous :— ■' The allocation of Goldfields re- " venue to G-oldfields purposes is a just " and necessary measure. It always " appeared to us unfair that the' spe- " cial taxes levied off the. goldmining '• industry should go into, the Provin- " cial Treasuryfor annualappropriation "to provincial purposes. The. blame, " however, rests upon the General As- " sembly, which declared Goldfields " revenue to be part of-, the territorial, " revenue. The Abolition of Provinces : " Bill rectifies.this mistake; and hence- " forth, if the. Goldfields are starved, " the miners will know where to go " for redress of grievances. At the " same time, we are of opinion that " the Goldfields revenue should be " charged with interest and sinking " fund on loan expenditure for public " >vorks on Goldfields. This-isa ques- < " tion of detail, however ; but in the " case of Auckland, Nelson, and it may' " be Westland also, where there is little "or no land fund, it, would be some- " what unfair to charge this class of ex- " penditure against the laud fund ac- " count, if the Goldfields'are' to en- " joy their own revenues, they should '* likewise bear ; their own burdens. '' And we venture to say that the min- " population will cheerfully under- "■ take this responsibility." " ■ ■ The Premier and Native Minister obtain their idea of goldmines from a knowledge of the . Thames. Other members of tke Colonial Ministry, having no idea at all, cannot. be accused of obtaining one even from the Thames. Possibly some arbitrary distinctions canbe drawn' in a well,, cir-: cumscribed and compact Goldfield. In such. a case a sum equal to what is raised-by-taxation, may be given—to a public race, a shaft, or a big pump. Even so the individual miners would; be robbed to swell.the profits of a few sharpens, and directories of big---com-panies^; Sucli a: condition of defined locality does not, exist in - Otago or Westland, where mining communities are scattered in small numbers 15 and 20 miles apart all over the Provinces; We believe Ministers -are acting' so foolishly and so - unjustly more - from ignorance than from intention. So long as statements put forward in the Government papers are allowed- td go ' unprotested, there iss6taei' : justification for their, action. . We shall.. bo very much surprised if. the, mining districts dp not: wake up to the-necessity of? a careful i scrutiny of the- new system proposed; r apart~from' the. h'oneyed words with'which the suppositious return of the gold revenue has been accompanied. The unfortunate language it the Financial Statement may be cleared up. Even so, it must leave a. suspicion that intentional treachery was intended. ;

Oke. unripe fruit, a direct product of; the. unstates manlike proposals to force on the Abolition measures while the country is in'ignorance of their provisions,, is already"Apparent. A- fruit this that /up-country:districts, however they may be .niisled. /by; thougtftlfess writers who will not look bkyond the present eyil, will-bef • bitter and unpalatable. 'The Provincial Executive of Otago, recognising the possibility of a speedy demise, are concentrating all their Engineers around the Dunedin office to push forward works which they conceive will be least likely done by their successors.. All Provincial liabilities incurred before November have to be taken-over: by'the Colony, althoughrof course the districts benefited will be soundly rated for it afterwards. Ouly a certain amount of public work can be.got sufficiently forward, for let-, ting bV November. As a consequence of -this--all small works up .country voted last session by the Council, which are a direct due for revenue. : paid, are to be let go in order that new works—to be a. permanent- charge upon the land fund of the ; Provincial"' district—-': shall be entered ' into. In this issue will be found an advertisement calling for tenders, among other' works* for the Mosgiel and Outram line, estimated at £30,000. This line goes through a sinall'district where there is ; rio land fund at all. It seums most -unfair .to saddle such a chargeupori.thio land fund of the Provincial District. . Ifwe are to face an immediate future, , in which all branch line construction is to cease as wo are told by the Colonial Treasurer, a strictly private railway ought not to be constructed > out of public money. . : , - We are not careful to. hido* what an evil thing Provincialism is.-that is capable of such action. • We nover have been, nor do we wish to be; defenders of Provincial Governments.;/ With the knowledge of its evil tendencies, which the Colonial Ministry profess, the less precipitate should, have been the remedy. This one-sided action we now have to complain of in Otago,—this leaving out in the cold - the ; interior districts would 'not be attempted if. a decent time were given to enable the .Councils to' wind up their, own business. : . If tho Abolition Bill passes this ses : - sion, interior districts in- Otago ' will' certainly lose all 'thfc public works voted by the Proviricial Council during the. last session, except in so far as auy of these may be let during the next two months. The Colonial Government does not bind itself in any way to accept the. works recommended last session by the Provincial .Council. The. upshot of. the immediate passing of the Bills will-be an interregnum, during which small localities will be clamoring for what they cannot local Boards and county Shires will,be try- . mg;.the .measure of their powers. We had a slight foretaste of this when the very carefully prepared Licensing Act, 1874, came into force. Tbe confusion

then fortunately was confined to one particular. In the present case it will comprehend every conceivable process of government, local or other.

Js otwithstanding the immense efforts made by the Government to circiilate their measures, .we either T3-?i . lition or the "Local" Government Bill, neither were we favored with a telegraphic precis of either. Our fate was similar- with regard-to-the-Financial Statement and the Statement made by the Minister for Public Works. The-neglect was ot no consequence,- as we took care to obtain the Bills from other sources; -- At the same time it merely is cool effrontery to state —as Ministers-do—that the country is aware of what is, proposed'. : ;

We draw attention to the Prospectus of the Deep Lead Company, published in this issue. A meeting-of the St. Bathans Mining Association will-be held on Saturday the 21st inst., at the schoolroom at B'p.m. ■ : ; .A paett of Chinamen have, we.learn, leased the of Hope water race for a term. The price has not transpired. , . r The following additional -Court days have been, fixed Maerewhenua;.September 2n£L ! s' St. Bathans, 7th. ; 1 We have to acknowledge' the receipt 'from the author, of a capital manifest'oj'by a Provincialist, styled '* Politics'}' a ; \Contribdti6h to the Question of the'Dayi" ! ■ y A. cowoeet in aid ,o£the district' Hospital i lB fixed for IViday the 27th. .The. programme is strikingly novel in its features and should prove eminently attractive. The dates are irsed by advertisement, for the sittings of the September quarterly licensing courts. • Tkb anniversary celfebratioh of the Waseby Branch of the HA.C.B.S. is fixed for Friday, the 20th inst.,' : at' the ToWri Hall, Efaseby. ..Tendbbs are called fpr on the Railway, Palmerstoii. to; Waynes, and from Mosgiel to ; .Outram ; ; also,, .for : main bridges over the Taieri and Clutha rivers ;; The-menced-'operations at the pit opened by them on .the Kyeburn Peninsula. " The'surface coal of which a sample was brought into the town ■was.of a good burning"quality. -It is thought when the pit -is thoroughly "opened into a better. description of coal will: be obtained. ; • It has been suggested ~tbat the Kyeburn Post Office might be kept by the schoolmaster. Wo believe-that such an arrangement would be more satisfactory to the residents in these days of Q-ood Templarism. ■ T,he mailmnp would .be haved deal-of trouble. We are sorry to learn some of our subscribers at Maerewhenua have missed'-occasional papers duly forwarded. It would be a great benefit,to. us if, when : a paper-does not arrive, we were ,to be informed, as then ; an inquiry would be possible. We. should not think of stopping any paper; .without being ordered] or without writing first by the post.' i ' J: ; The'sludge channel have been, hang" ing-fire the : last few wCefe® thrbiigh noifault I the contractors. They have waited' and ; waited Hill'; given'the .levels the channel is to I take. We understand'there .has been a good | deal of difficulty in keeping' their men. who naturally have been Very discontented.', The engineers are all held .to Provincial works so : tightly at-present that ' tHere% no. blame on their shoulders. V T'jie enterfcainmentiS given' in -the \Naseby "Presbyterian Church, in, iaid •' of the Sabbath School Library Eund, passed off very siiccess- ;.* -fpUy-" jlh.ere, was :i a large attendance particularly of ladies :andi children,vwho all' appeared iijto.highly appreciate r the efforts -made to please i them. The recitations by the boys Marshall and Ferguson, and. : thesolo by - little-May i SteWart", ; .w«e • particiilarly pleasing. Eight pounds were collected for the library. , ; : >'-Ws : "have'to arinounce the. death of.-Mr, formerly, of Ewebwrn Station;/-"Mr. Maitlandjisited the J?ijis lately where he contracted disease wbich'resulted -in his deAth at Melbourne. It was his intention to have proceededrHome, with his family when lie was taken so i]l ,as . to, be unable, 'to ; leave. 'TMr. Maiuand purchased the Eweburn; run from. Messrs. Stewart;and Maclean, ■ who .had preriously purcliaged' from Messrs. : Hepburn and, M'Master.,. . He.rhaa; left ■ many: warm friends in'this'distnct'. i ■'