THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1875.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 345, 15 October 1875, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1875.

A careful consideration of the very lengthy debate upon Sir George Grey's amendment tipon clause 15 of the Abolition Bill, has given us a little more light upon a very strange anomaly. Goldfield Members have been found opposing the abolition of the Gold Duty, while our own Member has thought it necessary to apologise for voting in favor ofjthe immediate abolition although speaking against it; He felt it necessary to apologise for voting for the abolition of the duty before having ah opportunity to consult his constituents. We confess ' that this startled us,- for Mr. Mervyn | had not thought it necessary his con- ! stituents should be consulted upon the j rather serious question of a complete change in the government of the country. Yet, on to serious a question as the remission to each solvent miner of at least £5 a-year he is in fear and trembling because unable to make sure he was representing his constituents. There mustwethought besome peculiar reason for so strange a position other than what has yet been adduced. Sir George Grey's proposal was that the Gold Duty Acts should be repealed one month after the passing of the Act, and thereupou the Export Duty now laid and levied on gold should wholly cease and determine. If the Bill had passed as it wouldhavedoneifit had been loyally supported by Otago members, the Gold Duty would have been struck off for ever, even though the new Parliament should repeal the Abolition Bill. The Gold Duty could nothave again been reimposedunless by special enactment. Mr. T. L. Shepherd, whose acts are so disastrous to the interests he struggles, according to his light, to serve, proposed as an amendment upon Sir George Grey's proposal that the reduction should not lake place until after the Abolition of the Provinces. This move of Dunstan's Member was altogether irrespective of his after attempt —unfortunately successful—to burke Sir George Grey's Bill, completely abolishing the Duty, by the introduction of a measure providing for gradual abolition. Mr. Keid stripped off the mask from this move when he said —" I do object 'to the amendment of the Honorable Member for Dunstan, because I think we have enough bribes in this Bill already. I object to the Member for Dunstan and other Members going to their constituents and saying ' unless you return Members who will support this Bill coming into force the duty on gold will continue.'" Sir George Grey's amendment was lost by 18, Mr. T. L. Shepherd's by 31. Tho Gold-fields'iiS Canterbury, Nelson, and Auckland are well defined limited districts. When the West Coast rush broke out the miners found themselves in a heavily timbered and unpeopled country. The climate and the country together proved so inhospitable, until large clearings were made, that a difficulty was experienced in supplying pack horses with food. Although this state of things has become very much modified of late years yet tho West Coast Goldfields are still merely isolated mining communities, without pastoral or agricultural interests, except for the small homestead farms broken up for mining supply. It followed, from the position of the Canterbury aud Nelson. Goldfields, that all money expended in opening communications was purely a charge marie upon Provincial revenues for the sole direct benefit of a mining population. In Nelson tho revenue coming in from ilie Goldfields was a perfect godsend. All the land in the Province had been sold, for tho most part to the runholders at ss. an acre. The ordinary Provincial revenue was barely sufficient for maintenance of departments, and public works were at a stand-still for want of money. The West Coast Goldfields, and the proceeds of taxation, which at once began to accrue, helped the Provincial 'I reasury. During the onset of a new rush the miner does not trouble himself about taxation. All he is then thinking of is quickly making a pile. Accordingly in Nelson the Province got into the habit of spending freely on the East Coast what the gods had sent, and the Goldfield was left to take care of itself. In Canterbury matters wore scarcely better, but a capital road was very -soon cut through to the Coast. When, then, a proposal ia made that the gold revenue shall no longer be misappropriated, but that it shall be returned for expenditure to a local Board on tho West Coast itself —accompanied, moreover, by a subsidy of £2 to £l—it is not so difficult to see how the glitter of the proposal lias concealer) the obvious fallacy upon which it is based, The has appeared so pleasant that more than

one Goldfields Member, and not a few Goldfields papers, have been abasing' Sir George Grey, and holding up the Gold Duty as if it were a profitable' virtue. Many Members knew better. Mr. F:eader Wood put the case fairly when be said thai the proposal to subsidise at the rate of £2 to £1 was the best argument for the abolition of the duty! "If the funds .of the Colony," he said, ".are in so good a condition as to enable it to pay this subsidy, why not at once vote a certain- amount for Goldfields purposes out of the Consolidated [Revenue and Land Fund, and so relieve the miners, from this tax, which weighs so heavily upon them ?" In a previous article we referred to the I injustice of taxing the miner, even if j the proceeds could be. spent pro rata \ or otherwise for his benefit, while his ; partners in the benefit —the publicans, storekeepers, &e., went scot free.. On Goldfields, outside Otago, the far- 1 mers'and the pastoral tenants would not appreciably benefit at present in the local expenditure of the proceeds of mining taxation. In Otago these two classes are the wealthiest, and jointly the more numerous. It would be a monstrous injustice to stereotype (we thank Mr. Mervyn for the word) special taxation levied upon the poorest interest for the benefit of the two wealthier classes. -

In one other particular the Goldfields iu the Colony will not be equally treated. The extent of Goldfield districts varies. The concentration of mining upon the Coast and at the Thames has rendered the proclamation of large districts unnecessary. I„ is not so in Otago. Eliminating Southland district, and strips along the coast, Otago proper is nearly all included in a "Groldfield. In this differential fact is the secret of the quasi approval given to the retention of the Gold Duty by Northern Members; but. it hardly excuses Mr. Mervyh's apologia. It is a matter of regret to us that our contemporaries on the Otago Goldfields have deseuted in the war against special .taxation. "We do not like to accuse them of intentional treachery • ■ but their inaction at .so. critical a time'has laid'tlvem- open to the charge of pandering to the increasing class of agricultural settlers at the expense of th 6 miners. A select few of our Members have certainly-been ■ doing this. Mr. Bradshaw exposed it in the House, and said—" If once the agricultural lessees and others settled within Goldfields participate in the taxes derived from the goldnrners, the duty will-never bo repealed. The Gold Duty was levied compulsorily by Act of Parliament on the miners, and the money should not be spent in improving the property of settlers residing in Goldfields or their neighborhood." This is what the Abolition Bill as passed proposes, and, unless repealed, will, as Mr. Bradshaw states, for eyer permanate all the special revenue at present collected on Goldfields, noo excluding the heavy rental of £2 10s. per acre per annum paid on mining leases. °

W:e have frequently referred to the difficulties experienced by those desirous of getting land in this most conservative of districts. A very glaring case in point we can no longer refrain from ingAbout twelve years or more ago Samuel Harman settled at the Linburn. At that time there was a very large traffic on the old road,-and there were great inducements to..those who could put up any sort of a horel along the line of traffic. Harman put up a good house, took up fifty acres under.the agricultural lease regulations of the day, put up farm buildings, fenced aud broke v up his, land, and was quite prepared to Finally settle in the district. A few years having gone by the road was to a great extent deserted—the traffic to the interior either going by way of the Beaumont or Waikouaiti. Harman then found out that in order to make a living for his family he would require to depend on the land alone. ' Fifty acres was too little for his purpose. He already had it all iu a high state:, of cultivation. Accordingly he applied for a larger area, but found that the regulations had been altered, and that he could'not then obtain an extension, as when he first settled, without the runholders consent —it not being a proclaimed block. .The runholders, Messrs. Greig and Turnbull, would not consent, and have never ceased through their managers to endeavor to drive Harman off the run by the slow process of starvation. Of course it was quiie competent for the Provincial Government to proclaim a block on the run, giving compensation, and .other settlers were forthcoming at the Taieri liiver and the Serpentine who we're willing to take upland. Mavmnn accordingly has unceasingly made representations to the Provincial Government for the last five or six years, asking to be allowed to cultivate the wastelands. We suppose, in the course of his struggles he has visited Dunedin nearly a dozen times, at great expense and inconvenience. The results he always has obtained on these visits have been fair promises. During last sessicn of the Council Harman's case came before the Goldfields Committee, who reported to tlie Council that " the case of the settlers at Linburn and Upper Taieri Crossing (Harman and Tannahill) should be taken into special consideration, with a view to granting them such relief as the nature of the country in their neighborhood will admit." liai'man informs us that during last session he remained in town until in receipt of a personal assurance from Mr.' lieid and Mr. MacKellar that lie would bo allowed'an extension of area. Mr. Turnbull, being alarmed at the petition for an agricultuval block, while at the same time he affected to laugh at the notion of people settling on the land if proclaimed, agreed, by letter to the Secretary for Lands, that, if the block were not granted, to show his desire for fairplay, he would consent to allow those wishing land to take it whore they liked, without compensation. Accordingly Harman was told to renew his application, which he did immediately (he session closed. His applicati on, iu.stead of boing zifc once granted, was referred to Mr. Turnbull. Why or wherefore, we are ar. a loss to understand. r,.ho romilt oi fin* impartial reference was

of course failure, and Harman .'.finds him- I self, now in October, with no land, with the spring lost, and no bettor hope t'ua lie Lad ten years ago. Allowing that. Har'man has democratic notions, has unwisely at times not shown. proper deference to his would-be landlord,' and has: even been a constant nest-egg'- of discontent, yet the action, of the --rrinholfV] ' inanagijS: has been miserably petty. Mow could ijpk've hurt his firm if' he had aldeserving in an and his family to endeavor to earn an independent provision for themselves ? What loss could 200 acres have been among the Linburn hills out of 43,000 ? • The conduct of tbe Provincial authorities is inexplicable in this. It may be a small matter to them to play fast and loose with their word. It has not been a small matter to their victim. He however does not stand alone ; nor should he. Applications were made in August from the district guaranteeing that applicants would take up 1400 acres if opened. Mr. Turnbull need expect in future no quarter for his firm-from the people, or from "those who believe in the maxim—"Live and let live." If the run suffers in the future the runholders will have themselves alone to blame.

The Rev, A. Daseut has succeeded the Itev. U. M. Kennedy at Patea. t The survey of ths Eyeburn agricultural block will be commenced on Monday week nest. ....... Sib George Bowes and Sir J. Vogel will return to the Colonies by tbe San .Francisco steamer, leaving on December 8. We have-to acknowledge the receipt o* 'Hansard' and other papers from the Government printer. It is rumored that Mr. JI. Sinythies will woo the Mount Ida constituency at the ensuing general elections. We have to acknowledge the receipt from Mr. Sessions of the Votes and Proceedings of tne Provincial Council of the Province of Otago for the session of 1875. «. W V irc 111 receipt of the first numbers of ths ' Palmerston and Waikouaiti Times,' and the 'New Zealand Churchman.' Both papers are creditably got up, and promise to be successful. The Wheeler Troupe perform to-night (Friclay) and to-morrow evening. A good professional performance in Naseby has been the exception of late, and will no doubt be appreciated. The sum of £IB,BIO. telegraphed as bavin" been voted for the Mount Ida Water Works 0 , is not necessarily an index of money in hand. IS o doubt the greater portion of the formal appropriation has been already anticipated. „ Ti ™ Cyphrenes arrived at Auckland with the -English and American mails on the 9th. bhe left San Francisco on September 14 New Zealand time, and Honolulu on the 23rd.' There is a chance of the mail arriving at JNaseby on Saturday. ° Waikouaiti has wisely determined not to lose the advantages conferred by a local publication. _ The ' Herald' is accordingly transformed into a new paper, the first copy of which is to hand. The new paper promises to be better sustained than the old, though we shall miss_ the artistically printed ' Herald 5 sheet which has been for years the best printed paper in Otago. The Ohinemuri scandal has now been disclosed. There is no doubt that Mackay's clerks were at the bottom of the whole matver. Mr Brissenden and the other downy individual, who just gave tlie miners risrlrfcs upon the spur of the moment, will no doubt be dropped upon heavily. Sir George Grey deserves credit for liis exposure of swindle No. 1. We understand that the past season has been rather a favorable one for miners inlii«h localities—the weather having been so much broken. At the Serpentine there has been, and promises to be, a better supply of water than usual. The number of European miners continues about the same, and the Chinese are beginning to come in to . work for the summer according to their custom. The following tenders "have been accepted by the Provincial Government-.—Contract 1059, construction of portion of road, block VII., Portobello District, on the road-from Anderson's Bay to the Heads : Mr. Michael Dillon, £622 18s. For the Arrow, Clyde, and Naseby Gaols the tenders of Messrs. Kislingbury and Powell have been accepted; the amounts respectively being £520, £526 and £540. • The 'Thames Star'' in'an article writes:— Meantime v/e wish the 'Cross' and other Auckland journals to note'that the ' Advertiser does not represent the feeling of the Thames on the Gold Duty question ; for no public expression of opinion ha 3 been obtained since Sir George Grey's proposals were made, and when last the Thames pronounced upon the principle it was decidedly ia favor of repealing the duty. Hamilton bridge, the largest public work ever undertaken in this district, is now about ready for final inspection. We have not yet heard of any intention on the part of Naseby or Hamilton to celebrate the ojjeuing. Can no lady be found to break a bottle of champagne handed to her by a well-wisher to the connected district, if it was only, na the saying goes, to show there was no ill feeling ? We purpose to give an accurate description of the bridge in our next issue. Our latest information is to the effect that the work has stood inspection well, and that the approaches will be immediately let. A NTjMBi-m of residents in Naseby have formed themselves into a band, swvn to eat no flesh but that of goats, and drink no wines uneteepod in blood of young kids, until the township is freed from the goat nuisance. The cemetery mauagers, exasperated at the loss of their trees, arc calling for tenders for the destruction of goats at per head. Altogether it promises to be l.'.vely times among the goat tribe. i Mr. Mervyn ; has courteously forwarded ns a copy of the Abolition Bill as it has passed. It has swollen considerably in dimensions 'while passing through Committee., Elsewhere the clauses dealing with gold and land revenue are published. We have been also much indebted to several members for the receipt of early copies of important papers, which have enabled us to keep our readers correctly informed as to the progress of business in Parliament during the session. The 'Guardian' states that:—"A meeting of the Committee in connection with the banquet to Mr. Macandrew was held last night in the Provincial Hotel. Among other matters, a letter was lvad from Mr. Macandrew, intimating that Sir George Grey, Mr. lTitzlierbert, and Mr. Eolleston had accepted the invitation to be present on the occasion. A telegram from Sir J. L. C. Richardson was also read, in which this warm sympathy was expressed with the movement, and also his intention of being present." Hamilton appears to l)j by no means exhausted as a Goldficld. Two miners Daniel Tremewan and Henry lioach have been obtaining goad returns from the old Surface Hill. They put in a drive where the ground had been abandoned for some years and in eighteen weeks netted £'lso a man. They are now obtaining the results of si;c more weeks work, and expect £159 a-piece. Another party, Mcwton and Taylor have commenced 2 weeks aijo in the satne neighbor-

hoocl, and are reported to bo getting 1 dwt to■ Ine dish. Of course the area of known good is limited, but there: is lots of discovery. In a hasty rush, such" J iannlujii, a quantity of good ground ■ must obvioasly have been neglected. AjUEtriiNG of the if as eh y Cemetery Manavas held on the 12th'inst. Present—,,Me?srs. Inder, (Chciir), Brown, .Busch,,an& "Kawlatt. Letter read from Mr. J. G. Brem■aier, tendering his resignation, which was Mr. Brookes being nominated • m his place. A copy of the Dunedin Cemetery charges was received from Mr. Massey. It was resolved—That (Messrs. Busch and; Rowlatt revise the" Cemetery rules.: ' The i report showed a credit balance o± 6d. Accqunts were passed "for. payment—Wilson and de Lautour, 10s • J Brown, charging for transit and packing of' trees-, £1 IGs. 6d ; Meinert and Ladd, 'for planting trees, £2. An instruction was given to the Secretary to notify publicly the destruction of goats found in the enclosure by public tender at per head. There has been a stoppage' of workamong the miners discharging down Roach's Gully atiSaseby. The protection wall above the ±>eacL Level race having given way, the Company refused to repair it, alleging that the parties wno benefit by the work going on : should hear the brunt of maintenance and: The other party allege that the charge of maintenance "was imposed under the old regulations by condition upon the Company before the right in the gully was i granted to them. Be this as it" may, work , has been stopped among ten men for nearly a week, and the ten could certainly have repaiied the breach in the wall in an hour. The loss of stopjjage means £5 a day at least Of course the war—as are all wars—is one of principle. Pnnciple, as a battle gaire, is the most virulent red petard ever hoisted. "We wish our B.oaeh Gully friends well clear of it —anything is better. : 1 Me. Wood on Friday last, brought up a report from the Public Accounts Committee, which stated that a grave charge had been made against certain members of the Legislature by Mr. Bridges, (late manager of the Bank of New Zealand at Wellington), -but. beyond a certain point he refused to answer further questions. The report asked.that the House should inquire into the matter. Major Atkinson said the Government considered the matter of such great public importance that they had determined to ask the House 1 m order that the inquiry might be continued. was quite impossible the Government could allow the matter to rest where it was ■ He therefore moved, " That John Bridges director of the National Bank of New Zealand, be ordered to .attend the House on vr on^a^j o'clock." Agreed to. = Mr. Bridges is now a director in and acting general manager for the National Bank vv lien rogues fall out, honest men come by their rights. When Mr. Bridges attended at the bar he made a general retraction, but the matter is not yet ended satisfactorily. The evidence adduced in the case of Ah Tan and Ah Tie, the two Chinamen undergoing a sentence of one month each for vagrancy, to the effect that their "well-known idle habits had induced the officer in charge of the police hereto have an eye kept upon their movements, the result of such surveillance being that from the 26th; July to SUth September (the day of their arrest), their time had been for the most part spent in their huts, either sleeping or smoking, and that they generally returned home after midnight. The evidence of Constable Murdoch was supported by that of William Duncan and William Ireland. Accused had been watched for some months, during which time it was felt sure that the work done by them could not have produced sufficient to have kept them honestly., . If, as suggested by the Sub-In-spector of Police, there was reason to these menu of having been concerned in the s late tail race robberies, it would seem questionable whether- it would not have been wiser and more discreet to have watched their night movements a little longer, rather than to have resorted to an arrest on the comparatively insignificant charge of Any chance which might have existed of capturing them, or those for whom they played bogy, in flagranti delicto must now be quite at an end, as they will be in future on their guard—the fact of their movements being watched having been made sufficiently patent by their incarceration.

Tn Committee oii the Abolition Bill, Sir John fiichardson spoke.in reply to Dr. Pollen. He gave a history of the past administration of the Colony, and spoke in highterms of the conduct of Sir G. Grey 'while acting as Governor, and since. He was quite content to leave it to the verdict of posterity, which he felt confident would be that as Sir G. Grey had commenced,. so did he continue to the end. With regard to expressions of opinion favorable to the Abolition Bill, of which so much liad been'said, he must affirm that he bad heard nothing of such unanimous approval of abolition. He had heard no such utterance from a single individual, simply because the people could not see what was to be substituted for the institutions which it was proposed to abolish- He should, on a future occasion, move for the introduction of a clause, or part of a clause, to this effect: "That there shall be two Provinces created, which shall be called the Provinces of Mu'nster and Ulster, and which shall be separated by Cook's Straits." Nature, he thought, had appointed that such a system of government should exist in this Colony, by its insular description. He felt sure when that was fairly put before the Colony during the election which was shortly to come on, there would be but one response. If they were to do away with the local form of Government which they had learned to love, though estranged from it for the moment, the voice of the people would unanimously be in favor of insular separation and a federal form of government.