The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1870.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 115, 21 April 1870, Page 4

The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1870.

"Measures, not Mcr\." The Blue, Spur miners are gaining for themselves an unenviable notoriety for litigation. Scarcely a week passes but souip case of dispute is brought before the Warden's Court for adjustment. But the case decided by : Mr. Justice Grey on Monday last, and which occupied the attention of the Court four days, is the crowning "one of all. Six weeks have been lost to thirty or forty men, and many more are likely to be lost if the pregfent tedious process of settling disputes be :continued. Several, other cases, we ■are informed, of a similar description to the the one just adjudicated upon are pending, sd that the Spur miners will have their fill of law 'before many months. ' pas.s away. If such litigation be continued, the JBlue Spur claims will suffer a depreciation in value .which, will make 'them hardly' worth working. We thought the Mount Ida strike was bad enough," but we imagine Blue •Spur litigation ' eclipses it by far. The amount of loss in time, wages, and law, together with the bad "effects produced in the district in general, cannot be ' adequately calculated. The workings at the Spur, Are becoming daily more and more concentrated, aricf the various' parties are coming more closely into proximity with each other's boundaryline. The most careful working possible will not prevent the one from encroaching upon the other to some extent, and the question which arises is this : Is there no other means of settling disputes which may arise from' * these sometimes accidental and sometimes wilful .encroachments than the expensive process of a lawsuit ? We think there is ; and we would suggest'that either a Mining Board be formed for the special purpose of taking these disputes into consideration, or that they be submitted^ to arbitration. In either form. we believe the necessities of the case' would be'met, the decisions equally just, and the expenses reduced to a trifling sum compared with the present system. The probability of disputes arising is becoming daiiy more certain, and hence the advisability of adopting some easier and less expensive method of dealing with' them than has hitherto, obtained. It rests with the'claimhold'ers themselves to "say what course shall be adopted. The plan we propose, if practicable I—and1 — and we see no reason why it Should not be so — would be to the interest of every miner on the Spur, '■ — in fact, it seems to us the only possible means of escaping an expensive and fruitless litigation to which there is no end. Next week the Provincial Council of Otago will be opened with 'all the pomp and ceremony which is usual on these august." occasions. Members will take their places in their easy chairs/ and. "feel themselves infinitely more at home than at their own fireside. A& usual, they will no doubt do their best to prolong the sitting and swell the honorarium, and thus perform another act in the Provincial Farce, i

The Assembly will not be <~~i together till June, so they ma;- ■ matters quietly and enjoy blessings of their exalted sly Every session of the Council ■♦ upon us the conviction th deliberations of such bodies : little significance. Their decare valued but lightly by' the ( . ral Assembly, and' almost to ignored by the Legislative Coi Generally speaking, what is v\ in the Council is undone in •"■■? Assembly. The local exciter ■ which attended! the great fc dreds question,' and' which or" sioned a special sitting of the Co- ~ cil, and an expenditure of sc - ? £200,0, of public money, has subsic ,d, and the amended Bill which r* suited from the agitation is mi ' likely to be discarded by the A sembly than it is to be adopter The miserable majority in favour - . Mr Reid's amended amendments wi only tend to convince the Assembl" of the wisdom of their former d> - cision. That, decision, too, provv./ most emphatically that on a pro vincial question of some importance the Assembly are as capable ol forming a just estimate as a Provincial Council ; and it also points •to the fact that one central or general government, with the assistance of an extended municipal system throughout the. country, would be quite adequate to. the requirements of New Zealand. There is one subject which the,' Council invariably considers beneath its cognisance, although it is' without doubt the most important question of all others : we refer to the Maori Rebellion. Let the Council, if they would do some good' in their day, enter a strong protest against the ruinous waste of money going on in the prosecution of a barren, unprofitable, and. needless war. It their recommendations have cny influence whatever witH the General Government!, let them by all means convey to _ head-quarters the strong feeling of disapproval entertained by the people of Otago of the war policy of the Fox Administration. If,- the Council can do anything to put an end to the extravagant waste of money which is going on. in the North, which is no doubt encouraged by all who are sharing the spoil, they will perform the best service they have ever done to Otago and the colony at large. When this is accomplished, the members of the House ,of Representatives will have time to turn their attention to matters affecting the welfare of the country, but we fear not till then.