THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1876. Open Column.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 357, 7 January 1876, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1876. Open Column.

Sie, —Will jou permit me to ipy. at . tention to your leading article °f which contains passages so selves and so mischievous in the| en _ dency,—showing such a information and even writer, that it is difficult to concaw } low any journal could adopt and gifrathem prominence in so pretentious a the paper. The article in G f a somewhat, heterogeneous kind, commenting upon the'election spe^ e3 Q f the several members of the Mupgv deals with the Local ;Governmensjjjii 0 f last session in the following !^i oas terms" What voice could th€§f} ners " who contributed the taxation ha^i n fog " expenditure ? None whatever*!! The " money collected as special to- " gether with its £1 for £1 subsi|| ' co l_ " lected partially from the same, apfed t 0 " the residue of land revenue, wold be " spent on roads and bridges for ibf b en . " efit of the ultimate freeholdem Tn " other words the most industrio§ and '* poorest remunerated class of me||ould " be individually taxed in order Mbuild " up greater prosperity for those|ifo of " them—who take life easier tHa||they " do, and are more sir, in the passage just quoted, ajgfo b e ' found the following astounding imimp. tions: —Ist, That roads and bridges do not benefit the miner; but only thlfreeholder; 2nd, That the miner alwan w be a miner, or, at anyrate, that?® never be a freeholder: and, 3rd, Tat the prosperity of the freeholder—whicf must of course include small holders t$F '2OO acres and under—is to be regarded by the miner with distrust and hostility, ticause he (the miner) contributed to tHa§revenue, a portion- of which-- went tofmake roads and bridges ! Surely the intpigent mining community of Naseby wiMtterly repudiate such ideas, the 'Chronicle' on their behalft Soils and bridges influence very cost of production and the price of obt|nodities, and the miner, like other htiiiiin beings must be clad and fed. : H-e wii probably travel occasionally; - and.ii any case, the fruits of his laborj mustMtaken to market by roads and across ; and, if these are not in loss falls upon himself—although diiMy he .may not recognise it. Further, flat the miner, and others like the mineiyMould ultimately become freeholders is,(Bought to be, nearly the whole scope or em of so called " liberal" land laws.* Thenassion for freehold property, however stiull such Eroperty may be, is implanted decfin the uman breast, and approaches, -ia isome nationalities, toja'positive mania. 4'From the knowledgeof this has sprungjhewell known, though much-abused shibboleth'of "land for the people." How, theFininers form an integral portion of thef|jj»ple : The attractions of goldmining caiinot; last for ever, and we can judge for wnselves that individual miners occasionallyftire of tl>oir vocation long before tlj-ese'iftrac-"tionsceaseto exists In what (ErcctfoAr then, will the desires of the greapiilk of them tend ? Beyond all questioiilt will be in the direction of freeholds; aid that such should be the case has long been recognised by, and is almost a vitallnecessity of, tlie State. If I am correct in these remarks—and I would be glid to be shown in what respect I am not —ifseems to me that it ill becomes the ' Mount' Ida Chronicle,' professedly a mining journal, to encourage the idea that the .interests of miners and freeholders are necessarily conflicting; that the two classes must be eternally distinct; and that the prosperity of the one must necessarily be the injury of the other. Whether or not such fis the tendency of the passage quoted from your leader I leave to the public to judge. I now come to the very last sentericejpf your article, which is as follows "$Lt " the present time the policy of capital is " to grind down and pauperise labor/for " its own benefit." Now, I ask you, .or, in the name of all that is reasonable, wnat does that mean ? How is it possible for anything to. " pauperise " labor (for we will leave the "'grinding" process out of the question) except alone the inefficiency of the laborer ? We have it on the authority of every political economist of mo? dern times that, the two are virtually con: nected, and in fact mutually dependent upon one another. To, such,an extent, is this the. case thak.there would be as much reason in your statement were you tosay that itis the policy of the human hand to destroy the the foot, or the tees. I have already quoted you, sirs, so, with your permission*, I will now introduce a passage from Professor Paw-, cett, the political economist, in an article! on capital:—" The capital of a country is " that portion of its wealth which is ap"propriated to reproductive purposes. " But if wealth is sq appropriated, it must "*be employed in assisting those who pro- " duce wealth. But the producers of " wealth are the laborers, therefore capi- " tal remunerates the laborers; or, in " other words, the capital of a country is " the fund out of which the laborers " are paid their wages; the greater there- " fore the capital is the larger will be the " fund which is to be distributed among " the laborers."

Again,in an article upon theincometax, occurs the following passage: —"All "schemes which are aimed against large " capitals probably obtain popular sup- " port, because they seem to favor the ig- " norant prejudice which is so frequently " expressed against what is called the ty"!ranny of capital. There was atime when " the laborers of this country (England) " beli'ved that the owner of a large " tal possessed a peculiar power to oppress " them ; but superior education, and the " extension of co-operative institutions, " are already beginning to make the la- " borers understand the true functions of " capital." In conclusion, I have only to remark that this letter is written in no spirit of hostility to the ' Mount Ida Chronicle.' But newspapers, like individuals, before they attempt to impart knowledge must first acquire it, and the task of acquisition is the one which, as it seems to me, is now most incumbent upon the * Mount Ida Chronicle.' And there is plenty of useful work to do, —sufficient certainly in this district, to prevent the ' Mount Ida Chronicle' from straining its efforts to the igDoble purpose of fostering and perpetuating ignorant and vulgar prejudices. —I am, &c, Mackay J. S. Mackenzie. Kyeburn, January 4, 1876.

We are compelled to hold over onr leading article, correspondence from Hyde,.and other notices of local interest. The San Francisco mail closes at Naseby on Monday the 10th inst. January 13th is fixed for the annual meeting of subscribers to the Mount Ida District Hospital. , Thb constituencies in,Otago, so-far, have returned 11 members pledged to oppose Centralism/ and one Centralist—-Mr.G. M'Lean. Throughout the Colony the a late date, of the elections were^:—Opposition ■ —l9, Ministers, 17. We have followed the 'N. Z. rimes,' a paper fairer than most in its classification; - 11 .* 1 f Thb annual "statutory school meetings throughout the district will be held on Monday, the lQth of January, at seven in the various schoolhouses. J Mb, H. C. Hebtslbt will .addressthe electors at the Town Hall, day evening, Bth inst. Mr.'Hertslettmay be depended upon to make a vigorous speech in favor of Provincialism,' and against Centralism in every shape and form. -; &"

Thb Sowburn sections are for fast. In months the blbqfc prp* mises to be all taken up. If the prwilaination had been three months' earlier, this season would-have beeh~iitilisecL . A3if_ it .is, applicants' will have to pay six months' rent for small advantage, The Lynch Family (Bellringers) gave a capital- performance at this Town Hall on the evening of New Year's Day., Although the amateur concert was going on at the same time, in the Masonic Hall, the attendance was very good, and all present were delighted with the- excellentperformarice giventf A most enjoyable concert took place at the Union Hotel, Hamilton, oh Monday evening last, in aid of the funds of the Hamilton and Sowburn schools. JS early all the. talent of both townships took part in the entertainment, and, under the able presidency of Mi - . T. Foster, a very pleasant evening was spent. The entertiinment was a thorough success, both financially and socially! Afterthe conclusion of the performance dancing commenced, and was kept up till daylight next morn™S' : • r:l 2/'^ Another miner has' fallen on Surface. HOI. James Graham Nelson, working withf Alexander Smith, on Wednesday -morning,: in a tail race 20 feet deep, was engaged breaking the heavier lumps coming away from the 50 feet face. . Smith, who was wbrkmgfwith his back to Nelson, heard a fall, and," looking round, saw about 30 tons of. stuff down, but no sign of his companion. Climbing over the "fall, he went away for help'returning with two others, W. Aschoff and Gv P. Frank, they immediately set to work to getaway the earth. After considerable difficulty, in .about fifteen minutes, they succeeded in getting out the unfortunate man, who was then quite dead. He most probably .was instantaneously killed from the shock. Yesterday an on view 'of the body, was held at Mr. Cogan's Hotel, beforei the Actmg Coronerllr. L/ ! W. Busch. There were hd facts elicited attaching blame to any one.' The ground was known to" be dangerous and-usually every care was. taken. The jury returned a verdict of'accidental death. . -In the afternoon an immense procession—in which the brothers and sisters of th« Ark of Safety Lodge, 1.0.G.T: took a prominent ' the ; remain's "to ,' the Naseby Cemetery, where the bvirial serriee was conducted by the Eev. J. M'Cosh Smith. The local bands; of one ot which the deceased was a memberj headed the procession, playing the Dead march in Saul. Nelson makes it is saicLthe ninth victim to Surface HilL ; . THs is getting gold at the price of -The New Year bade~fair). tc piear ~ santry for all in our mstnet: JPleniy, of water for the miners and sunshiny for the gardens and crops—men, women, and. children could afford to put dull care away, and enjoy .themselves heartily. In JSTasehy and nua, however, it was not to be ', all ieajoypf ment. The Old Year,;took with it youngest and strongest, the promise..©! young life was on the eve of happy fulfiiment afewdays" before waVin the gation listening to the solemnrenienibrance uttered at St. George's Churoh that stage p£ human Kfe was but" a freah commemoration of dedication to the Mightiest! 1 A A few days later and we saw her borne grave, and those who followed could noWfail to remember with consolation that ~they were, in the Bishop's words, making a double presentation to t"he Creator. On New Yesar's morning a veritable mother, among.us of old times, Was suddenly taken away. first week of the New Year has hot gone and another of burstrong ones-has fallen in "a moment, i;he 9th or lOfch victim to Surface Hill: If we ring the TSew Year in it must be with the help of many-aching hearts, and certainly with the increasing hope that its commencement will be but the darkening prelude to'a more joyful and prosperous afterpiece than we have had as yet to chronicle for the last few years in Naseby.