ABOLITION BILL.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 343, 1 October 1875, Page 3

ABOLITION BILL.

DEBATE Ols CLAUSE 15. [Clause 15.—Notwithstanding anything to the contrary . contained in "The Public Revenues Act, 1867," or any other Act, the revenues arising within any provincial district under the provisions of " The Goldfields Act, 1566," of any Act for the time being in force relating to the mining for gold, in respect of miners' rights, business licenses, or otherwise in respect of the occupation for mining purposes of Crown lands, and the revenues arising within any provincial district under the provisions of " The Gold Duties Act, 1570," or " The Gold Duties Act, 1872," shall in no case be deemed to be revenue. arising from the occupation of the waste lands of the Crown, but all such revenues shall he applied in defraying the costs charges and expenses incident to the management and administration of the Goldfields within such provincial district. Such revenues shall also be charged "with the payment of all rents or other sums of money which may be payable by Her Majesty the Queen or by the Governor of the Colony to the Native owners of any land leased or otherwise occupied for goldmining purposes under "The Goldfields Act, 18G6," or any Act amending the same, or under any other Act for the time being in force relating to mining for gold. The Governor in Council may, until the end of the Session of the General Assembly next after the date of the abolition of the province of which any provincial district is composed, by Order in Council regulate such costs charges and expenses, and thereafter the same shall be regulated by Act of the General Assembly. ] An amendment in- the first moved by the Treasurer, to provide that funds accruing from the sales of land and agricultural leases in Goldfields districts are 'not- to be considered as Goldfields revenue, but to go. to the land fund, was agreed to. The last clause was struck out, and the following amendment, moved by Mr. O'Conor, and accepted by the Govern-ment,-was. inserted in lieu thereof- " Provided that, after making the deductions herein provided, the balance shall bo held, for the purposes of this Act, to be general rates, and.shall be paid to the public account, and a separate account thereof kept; and such balance shall be paid over to the governing body or bodies of the district from whic-h such revenue has been received, together with any proportionate endowment which may accrue from the land rate and from the consolidated revenue, to be computed in the manner provided in the 19th and 20th sections hereof;'' Mr. Bnidshaw then moved the following additions, to the clause as amended :

" The governing body to be elected solely by mTners~~wlio have held miners' rights or business licenses for not less than three months previous to the election." After discussion a division was called fof, resulting in a majority uf 22 against—ayes, 13 ; noes, 35. Sir G-eorge Grey moved, as a further addition to the amended clause, "Provided that one month after the passing of this. Act the Gold fields Act of 1870, and Amendment Act, 1872; shall be . deemed to be repealed, and thereupon the export duty on Gold shall absolutely C.?ase and determine, "The lion, member moved his amendment because he thought it unfair to impose export duty on a product which was obtained with great toil and difficulty. He thought an export duty on wool would be fair.

The Treasurer stated that the Government would oppose the amendment. Sir George Grey should withdraw his amendment, and the Government would give him an opportunity to bring in and discuss the JBill for repealing the "Goldfields Acts which imposed the export duty. Sir George Grey declined to withdraw. Mr Macandrew supported the amendment. Goldfields revenue was so small (only £12,000) that it was not worth any longer bothering about-. Mr. Stafford said lie was not sure he would not support the amendment, but he thought the carrying it would be no -advantage to the Goldfields, for by an addition to the clause just passed tlae governing bodies of Goldfields districts would receive £2 to every £1 raised bv Gold Duty. J Mr. Shepherd, of Otago, proposed, in place of "one month after the passing of this Act that the words should be " after the coming into operation of. this Act." . The Treasurer said the repeal of the Gold fDuty would be a serious injury to the Goldfields. It might help a few large companies, but the miner would gain nothing. His wages would not be ..one;penny higher. Were, he asked, would the- money come from for roads, bush tracks, bridges, &c., in the Goldfields ifthe two amendments were not withdrawn. He would give Sir George Grey an opportunity of bringing down a bill to-morrow repealing the duty on gold, when the question could be discussed on its merits. He considered the present time inopportune-for doing so. Sir George Grey, replying to the Treasurer's statement that the miner would not be benefited by the repeal of the Gold Duty, showed that at least each' miner would be relieved to the extent of 4d. a-clay, which meant a loaf of bread for each miner and miner's child. Would that be nothing ? He considered that now we could do with this taxation, we ought at once to do so The Treasurer- replied,"saying that now both the Houses - and the > country knew what value to put on any statement made by the honorable .member- (Sir George Grey). He utterly denied having said anything whatever of the kind attributed to him by Sir George Grey, viz., that each man repays 4d. a day as Gold Duty tax. What he said was that it would only benefit a few large companies, and that only to the extent of about lfd. a day per man; therefore the pathetic picture of a miner covered with sweat, coming from his labor to his starving children, and finding they had lost a loaf a day, was all nonsense. He repeated, in all sincerity, that it was solely with a view to the interests of Goldfields that he i proposed the measure, for he was sure that the House would never consent to subsidise Goldfields and not require them to pay their, quote towards the increasing expenditure required public works in the district... . . v Mr. Shepherd, said every gold-miner, he was sure, was in favor of repeal of the Gold Duty, while at the same time lie would not object to be taxed for roads, &c. A miner would rather pay £1 extra to the customs than pay this Geld Duty, the hon. gentleman hoped Sir George Grey would accept his amendment. Mr. Swanson said no good would ensue from postponing the abolition of -this duty till after next session. No gold would be exported till then, but it would remain in the strong-rooms of the banks. Mr. Mervyn would feel obliged to support Sir George Grey's amendment, notwithstanding that he thought probably miners' would themselves oppose the repeal of the duty after the statement made by the Treasurer. Mr. M'Glashan said he would vote against both amendments.. - . . . Mr. Eeid said he objected to Mr. Shepherd's amendment, because it was too much in the shape of a bribe to the members to go to their constituencies and say, " If you do not vote for one who approves the Abolition Bill, you will lose the repeal of the Gold Duty." Sir George Grey said he hoped the bill would never come into operation. He believed that, as sure as h'e stood there, it never would; but he wished at the same time to point out that the clause for the repeal of the Gold Duty would, if his amendmentwerebroughtinto operation, because a fact within one month of passing of the bill, and would notbe affectedshould the bill be subsequently repealed.. Mr George M'Lean thought it would almost serve Sir George Grey right if his amendment were carried. He, the Superintendent of a province whose Provincial Treasurer had told the council of its impecuniosity, now offered to give away £13,000. Of course, if this tax were done away, this House would have to provide the money by some additional taxation, which he was not prepared at -present to agree to. He was not, nor was the House, led a way by the stump oratory the honorable gentleman (Sir George Grey) was so fond of using, but which had now lost all its force, and appeared to be addressed not so much to the House as to the people outside. Sir Dillon Bell would- oppose the amendtnent. Sir George Grey denied his amendment was the result of party action. If it were not carried, ho would not support Mr. Shepherd, bat would immediately ask leave to introduce a bill to repeal the Gold Duty, and also a bill to give an almost freehold tenure to miners who were working quartz claims. The honourable gentleman concluded by reiterating that he was acting quite independently of any member in tho House, and was actuated solely by desire to remove a tax which he felt was obnoxious to the interest of the mining population. _ Sir George Grey's amendment, on a division, was negatived by a majority of 17 —Ayes, 22 ; noes, 39. Mr. Shepherd's amendment was negatived by a majority of 35—Ayes, 14< noes, 49. The clause _as previously amended was then passed;