THE GOLD FIELDS BILL. [From the "Sydney Morning Herald," October 23.]

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 693, 4 December 1852, Page 4

THE GOLD FIELDS BILL. [From the "Sydney Morning Herald," October 23.]

Ai'TKii a period of nearly eighteen months from the lime when the gold fields were first disccnercd in Australia the Government have introduced a Bill iulo the Legislative Council, ■which has just been printed, " for regulating the management of the Gold Fields in New South Wales, and for raising a revenue therefrom, and for the preservation of order thereon." It has been in the mouth of every one in the colony that (he Government have not only neglected the interests of the public, by not legislating sooner on this subject, hut have trilled with the gold revenue by not giving power (o the gold commissioners to enforcj payment of the license fees. They have shown indifference to (heir (rust in neglecting the preparation of a Bill during the period between the last and present sessions of the L^i&lalive Council—a till which should have been introduced into the Lcsislalure when it commenced its sittings in June; but now, when the session is far advanced, when many members have left Sydney, with no intention of returning to resume their legislative duties, when the Council assembles after the adjournment, and when the Government will, in all probability, have a preponderance of power in the House, this Bill, which is to regulate the collection of this important branch of our Revenue, is al the eleventh hour brought under the notice of (he Lcgislatuic— a Dili not founded on any renoii of (he Gold Committee, but framed to meet difficulties which the Gold Committee are actually investigating, and (he report on which may be opposed to some of the main features of the Will. From the comparatively insignificant revenue which has hitherto been collected by the cosily staff of Gold Commissioners and their officers, it is clear that some legislative power is absolutely necessary to prevent the dishonest digger defrauding the revenue by escaping payment of the ordinary fee for license—never "were any instructions more aboi live than those which directed a Gold Commissioner to collect a double license fee from the digger who evaded the payment of the present license fee of thirty shillings a month, -without al the same time investing the Gold Commissioner with power to punish the digger who set the Government al defiance by refusing payment. The proposed Kill is not a clear attempt at legislation, and appears to have been hurriedly drawn. The very firs( section proposes that all rules and regulations of the Governor and Executive Council, already made and published in the Government Gazelle, or which shall hereafter be made, are to have the force of law until repealed, altered, or amended. There is no schedule of these rulesand regulations appended to (he Kill. Several rules and regulations have from lime to lime been issued, and lallcily the cream of them has been codified in a small pamphlet. How is a digger to be informed (except upon the recognised principle that every British subject is supposed to know the laws of his country) what rules and regulations are in operation and what repealed? The Government surely do not intend that every digger should be provided with a copy of (he Gazette; and yet under this Act he is bound by regulations contained therein, and which regulations are not specified or defined in the Bill. Simplicity in legislation Is necessary to ensure the well-working of an Act of Council, and nothing would be more easy than to append to the Act a copy of the regulations now in force, and which are to bind the digger at the time at which it will come into .operation. Licenses to dig are to be limited to the dis— ' Iricl for which they are issued ; and gold districts are to be proclaincd in the Government Gazelle. The first proposal is unobjectionable, the second will be attended with difficulty. Is Sofala to be proclaimed, merely asSofala? —if not, are its boundar'es to be defined? Unless the district be specifically pointed out, interminable confusion and wrangling will bring the diggers and commissioners into collision; and hitherto no gold district is defined by specified boundaries. But while the licenses to dig arc to be granted as formerly to private individuals His Excellency is to be empowered to g/anl to Biifish subjects only, leases or licenses for mining purposes of tracts of auriferous land ; and to ensure fairness and competition, rules may be made for leasing such land by simple application, by tender, or by auction/ and wilh the intention of throwing small allotments open to competition in a similar manner, the same practice is to be adopted, subject to certain conditions, under single personal licenses, a preference, however, always being given to a discoverer of auriferous land. SquaKages are not to be protected from being proclaimed as Gold Fields, and if gold be discovered on lands leased from the Crown, the Governor is to have the power of cancelling the lease, and abiding to the lessee compensation lor improvements- he has made upon his stations. This will prevefi! any question arising

as to the peunanent occupation of the squatter under his lease on lands where gold may l>e discovered. The benefit (o (he colony will he so great, and (he levins proposed are so cquilablc, lhal lillle fear will be enkMtained of a succession of &old fields being con&lanUy opened, their riches fully <te\ eloped, and their present occupants liberally co? pen sated. The present systoni of lieensin , is open (o so much abuse, and the number of licenses collected monthly bear so small a proportion to the diggers actually at woik, thai excepting those following pastoral or agricultural pmsuits. women and children under fourteen years of age, and lessees paying a royalty and their servants, every person residing in a proclaimed gold district will be compelled fo lake out a license. This provision will fortify the hands of the Commissioners ; no discretion is given ; all on the diggings are to pay licenses, and if proper activity he used few diggers will escape, and the delinquents will be submitted to penalties and prnishmcnls to which we shall presently allude. U would, however, have been desirable to define the term u residence," as, under the seel ion in question, visitors at the mines, if only for a day, without intending to dig, will be liable to pay a li fee for a month. An important proposal is made in the case of foreigners, viz., thai if naturalized, which they can be for a few shillings each, they will enjoy the same pi i\ ileges as British subjects, be chargeable with the same license fee ; but if they decline natuializalion, a higher fee is to bechareed to coch. The question therefore of amount of fee to be paid depends upon the will of the foreigner himself. Whilst the Government were desirous of preventing sen ants absconding from their masters, and required the production of a certificate of discharge previously to the Commiss'oner issuing a license, theinstrjction w«s rarely, if ever, acted upon. No doubt on some occasions when runaway servants went to the diggings they were pursued, and apprehension fol'owcd. Vail the Commissioners, we are informed, issued licenses too indiscriminately and rarely refused a license to the applicant, though he refused to gheany clue to the Commissioner of his me Je of life prc\iouf>ly to his arrival at the diggings. By the Bill, runaway servants and appi-cnlic s are to be disqualified from mining. The obnoxious and objectionable system which has jj.owu into practice of lra(Tic\ing in claims is to be legalized. Under the tacit permission of the Commissioner a class of claim jobbers sprung up at the divings whose business was to buy claims and (o sell them again at a profit. A digger who takes up a claim does so upon condition of paying a monthly licenre, and if he declines to renew his license for the following month, in just'ee to the Crown it ought to be handed over to the Commissioner lobe licensed lo a bora fit's digger requiring a claim. There would be no objection lo a transfer of claims, with the consent of the Commissioner, if the consideration paid by the transferee were limi'ed to the sum actually expended ii labour on the claim by the transferor. But beyond this any premium should and ought to belong lo the Government. A licence has lo he taken out by the claim jobber, who works the claim fora few hours three or four limes a month to prevent forfeiture. Eul this ou^ht not lo be deemed sufficient. If the claim purchased he not fairly worked, it should revert forthwith lo the Crown. The system is a pernicious one, and has opened the door lo fraudulent practices in peppering claims with gold for the purposes of sale, which claims probably never contained a particle of gold before the artificial process was applied. If the traffic in claims is lo be allowed, a transferor imposing upon a buyer by such unfair and fraudulent aclices should be subjected lo punishment ir cled by summary jurisdiction. Under Liis i 1.1 the sufferer can obtain no redress, lie must appeal to the common law. Kul the most important part of the Bill is lhal which confers upon Commissioners the power of punishing unlicensed diggers and those who employ labourers without taking out licenses for those so employed. This offence it is proposed lo punish by a fine for the first offence of not more than 5£., and for the second offence by a fine not exceeding 11)1. nor less than 51. ; and for the third and every subsequent offenca by a fine not exceeding 50/., nor less than 151. And a further provision is made that if the offender do not pay the fine immediately upon c jnvicfion, he is to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, or kept to labonr on the roads, at the discretion of the convicting Justices. And with the intention of further preventing evasion of payment of the license fee, the gold, gold ore, implements, tent, hut, or building, of an unlicensed miner are to be seized, and on conviction or flight, confiscated. The present license fee of one shilling a-day does not press severely as a tax, considering the advantages which the digger enjoys in protection lo person and property. We are on the eve of receiving a very large increase lo our population. Our number of diggers will be considerably augmented, and as a consequence our expenses of Government will be much larger than they have hitherto been. A gold revenue must be obtained, and this cannot be done effectually without the most stringent enactments to punish diggers who, by every artifice which human ingenuity can devise, evade the payment of so moderate a license fee as one shilling a day. The hands of the Commissioner are strengthed by the Bill ; it gives power lo him and bis assistants to apprehend unlicensed miners without warrant. A remedy for the prevention of fraud is therefore provided ; and if the Commissioners are only determined lo do their duly, there is no reason, with machinery properly organized, why any digger should escape payment of the license fee. The Bill gives the Commissioners ample powers, and if more be required they have only lo ask it when the Council resumes its sittings, and they will obtain it. The present Bill proposes to legalise the powers of the Commissioners, and give them authority which at present Ihey do not possess. The manner of appropriating the fines and penalties inflicted upon unlicensed diggers appears to have escaped the trainer of the Bill. As an inducement lo bring dishonest miners before the Justices, it would be as well lo permit the informer to share the fine with the Crown. Jf this provision be not introduced it will tend to bribery, and will impede the efficient working of the Act.