NELSON GOLD FIELDS.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 313, 19 October 1860, Page 3

NELSON GOLD FIELDS.

Proclamation. —By his Excellency Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, &c, &c, &c Whereas by an Act of the General Assembly intituled "The Gold Fields' Act 1858," it is enacted that it shall be lawful for the Governor from time to time by Proclamation to constitute and appoint any portion of the colony to be a Gold Field under the provisions of the said Act, and the limits of such Gold Field from time to time to alter as occasion may require : And whereas by a Proclamation duly made and issued, dated the fourth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and fifty nine, I did, in pursuance of the said power and authority, establish and appoint all that territory therein described to be a Gold Meld under the provisions of the said Act, and by a further Proclamation duly made and issued, dated the 28th day of May, one thousand eight hundred and sixty, did alter the limits thereof so as to exclude from the said limits and and from the operation of the said Act the district known as the " Town of Collingwood": And whereas it is expedient further to alter the limits of the said Gold Field, in manner hereinafter set forth and declared, — Now, therefore, I, Thomas Gore Browne the Governor, as aforesaid, of the said Colony, do hereby in pursuance of the said recited power and authority, alter the limits of the said Gold Field, and do constitute and appoint all the territory hereinafter described to be a Gold Field under the provisions of the said Act, that is to say :—All that terrif-ory whereof the boundary commences at Rargihaeata Head at the mouth of the river Takaka, thence up the Western bank of that river to its junction with the Anatoki river, thence up the Eastern bank of that river to the Wf stem angle of Section number 136 of Square numbered 11 on the map of the province of Nelson, thence following the Wester a boundary of the surveyed lands in the district oP Takaka and of Upper Takaka respectively to the South-western angle of Section numbered 14 of Square numbered 8 on the said Map, thence along the Southern boundary of Sections numbered 14 and 3 of the said square numbered 8 on the said Map, to the Takaka river, thence up the said river to its junction with the Waituhi stream, thence up the said stream to its sonrce near Mount Campbell, thence along the watershed of Blind Bay and of the valley of the river Takaka to the the source of that river at Mount Arthur thence in a straight line to the source of the Karamea or Mackay river, thence down that river to its junction with the sea, thence along the sea coast to the North head of the Whakapohai or Heaphy river, thence along the Whakamarama range to the summit of Mount Burnett, thence by a line to the mouth of the Ruataniwha river, thence by the sea coast to the mouth of the Aorere river, thence following the seaward boundaries of the Sections numbered 237 and 23S of the Suburbs of Collingwood to the North-west angle of the Township of Collingwood, thence following the inland boundary of that Township and of the Native Reserve called „ Papakowhai'' to the sea, thence by the sea coast to the commencing point at the mouth of the Takaka river.— Government Gazette, September 19 1860.

Proposed Insolvent Law.—ln our issue of the 80th June last, we gave an abstract of the Bill it was proposed to introduce into the Assembly for the relief of Insolvent Debtors. On Monday last, at the monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, a letter from the Chamber addressed to the Colonial Secretary was read, in which they state that in their opinion, if the proposed law be passed in anything like its present shape, it will utterly fail to accomplish the object for which legislation on this object was desired, viz.:—The giving of power to cieditors to proceed against debtors, who may prove insolvent, with the view of realizing such assets as may be available. The law proposed when providing for the relief of debtors, leaves the power of bringing its provisions into operations entirely in the debtors' hands. The Chamber object to the division of jurisdiction provided in the Bill, and suggest that proceedings should, in the first instance, be always taken in the District Court. They object to the power given to creditors to take possession of goods consigned for sale, and suggest that care should be taken in the Bill to protect the interests of consignors, more particularly those who reside out of the Colony. In order to give completeness to the proposed measure it is suggested, first that power be given to creditors to bring the estate of debtors under the operation of the Act. Second, that the Judge when granting the final order should accompany it with a certificate of " first " " second " or " third" class, as in England. Such a provision, it is thought, would confer a kindness upon a debtor who had been only unfortunate, while it would fix a merited stigma on him whose conduct had laid him open to blame. Third, it is suggested that it would be desirable to define, by specific enactment, the rights of clerks, workmen, and servants to arrears of salary or wages due to them from employers who may become insolvent. It appears, they say, desirable to fix a limit within which such preferential claims should be admitted, which in their opinion should not exceed three months. They think it would be also desirable that provision should be made for the proof debts, and for the payment of the Official Assignee, for while it would be unjust to impose new duties upon any officer without additional remuneration," it is necessary to take care that the assets of insolvent estates, are not swallowed up in the costs of proceedings. The foregoing are the principal amendments and additions suggested by the Chamber in the proposed insolvent law now befone the Assembly*— WMngto® Advertiser.