THE DISTRICT WARDEN'S ANNUAL REPORT.

Westport Times, Volume VI, Issue 967, 3 May 1872, Page 2

THE DISTRICT WARDEN'S ANNUAL REPORT.

The following is a copy of the report submitted to the Nelson Provincial by Dr Giles, a "Warden of the amalgamated districts of Westport and Charleston. Westport, April 23, 1872. To the Provincial Secretary, Nelson. Sib, —I have the honor to furnish for the information of the Government and Provincial Council my usual yearly report for that portion of the South-west Goldfields under my charge as Warden. IJTANOxVnUA. The principal feature in my last yearly report was the rapid development and growth of the important quartz-reefing district of the Inangahua. I took charge of that district°in October 1870, and the provisions mado for its working were detailed in my last yearly report, in which I also pointed out the strong probability that the district would very soon outgrow those provisions, or any others that might be mado by a Warden residing at Westport. The rapidity with which this actually took place was not greater than was expected by those who, like myself, had watched from the commencement tho growth of that remarkable district. Accordingly it was found necessary early in the prosent year that thero should be a resident Warden at Ecefton; and after tho Court held thero by me in tho month

of January I Lauded ovpr the charge i of the district to Mr Broad, and have; not visited it since. GOLDMINIKQ LEASES. At the time of uiy resigning the charge of the Inaugahua district, a : largo number of applications for gold, mining leases were waiting for hearing, and an agitation against the granting! of such leases was set on foot at Reef, ton. It is not my present business to dhcusi a question the further pro. I gress of which is better known to the Government than to myself. But in order to show the principles upon which I have always acted with regard to applications for leases at the In. ] angahua or elsewhere, I may be allowed to quote my own remarks on the subject in my last yearly report •—j " Tho p#wer to grant leases of ground for goldmining purposes, conferred by the Goldfields Act, has proved very beneficial in the case of poor ground, and of ground requiring iarge works of any kind involving a heavy expense. I think it probable] that it will prove equally beneficial in ! the case of quartz-workings. The! security of tenure conferred by a lease is the condition which capitalists j desire to induce them to invest money I in quartz-miuing, and I think that] some of the existing quartz claims may with advantage be converted into leases, subject to proper conditions according to the special circumstances of each case. This appears to mo a very dif. ferent thing from the indiscriminate granting of leases at the beginning of a new rush, to the exclusion of the working miners who may be desirous of taking up the ground inordinary claims according to the rules. Under i such circumstances I have always thought that leases are to be as distinctly discouraged, as they are afterwards to be readily granted when ij appears that their only effect will be i to facilitate the working of the ground! without prejudice to the miners, whose! general right to take up ground under the rules, is, I think, except under very peculiar circumstances, always to be regarded as superior to the claims! of any one else to a privilege the> granting of which is entirely a matter: of di>cretion with the Government." j Upon this view of the subject I based such recommendations, or re-! fusals, as I had occasion to make' whilst I had the charge of the Inanga-i hua district, and I do not think that' any difficulty is likely to arise in the; application of these principles in practice. But I am quite sure that the: experience and judgment of my sue-! cessor will be well able to deal sua cessfully with all questions that may: arise in relation to the well working of the important district of which he has taken charge.

WESTPORT, CHARLESTON", BRIGHTON. From the time of my giving up thei charge of the Inangahua I have, at thai request of the Provincial Government, undertaken the duties of the district of Charleston and Brighton, vacated by Mr Broad. My present district is therefore rather an extensive one, reaching from the Razorback on the south to an indefinite distance along the coast north of Westport. So far as ordinary work, however, is concerned, the limits may be said to be Brighton on the one hand, and the terraces to the north of Westport on the other. I have found that the business of Brighton is so much diminished that a monthly Court is now all that is required. The business of Charleston is capable of being disposed of hy means of a weekly Court, which, together with miscellaneous business requiring my attention, demands my presence in Charleston two or three days in each week. By this means the work of the whole district tan be efficiently performed, provided that its present quantity is not increased, and that travelling is not frequently hindered by the weather. "With reference to the latter point no important bindrance has yet taken place, but the I experiment can scarcely be said tin have been fully tried until the wintef j season has elapsed. But there is no | doubt that any material increase in the j amount of business would render it impossible for the work to be satisfactorily done by one Warden, whose time is already constantly occupied in attending to the two principal places of Westport and Charleston. DECLINE OF COAST DIGGINGS. The opening of the Inangahua leafs has not been without a marked effect upon the old digcings on the coast, where the mining population has experienced a considerable reduction. I shall append to this report some statistics which, although to a great extent conjectural, may yet assist in giving some notion of the present condition of the district. The falling off in the population has been very marked at the northern terraces, and at Addison's Flat. Charleston also has experienced its share of the decline, and at all those places I have no doubt that ground has been abandoned which is capable of paying fair wages, and which will be readily taken up again hereafter by meu who are not able to realize all their expectations at the reefs. Beyond the fact that the mining population has diminished owing to the attractions of the reefS) there can bo little to report in connexion with this district. PECULIARITIES AT CHARLESTON. At Charleston it is truo there may be matters which I have not yet had time or opportunity to observe. One of the principal peculiarities of that district appears to me to be the extreme complexity of tho rights held by the minors to water and other privileges, owing to tho crowding »l

the claims in and about the numerous creeks and water-courses. Another difficulty is the mode of discharging tailings, which, owing to the extensive nature of the ground-sluicing operations carried on, are of very great quantity, and which have already silted up the harbor to a great extent, and in another place have covered the main road and threaten still further injury. l am not Prepared at present, however, to make any suggestions for the removal of these difficulties. BEACn WOKKTNGS. The only feature of mining progress that I am able to specify upon the Coast is the taking up of large numbers of claims upOn the sea beach. It has long been known that the black sand on the sea beach would pay pretty good wages if water was at hand to wa sh it, but it was thought, I suppose, that it was not rich enough to pay for bringing in water from a distance. Further experience, however, appears to have produced the belief that the sand is worth the labor and expense of bringing water to it, and a large number of claims have been taken up on the beach between Westport and Charleston. Several races are also in course of construction for the purpose of bringing water to the beach. It is supposed that these claims will pay from 20s to 30s a day. In every instance double areas of ground have been given on the beach.

LEGAL doubts. In relation to these claims some doubts have heen expressed how far tie beach below high water mark tomes within the jurisdiction of "Wardens of goldfields, and how far mining claims can legally be held there at all. Without going minutely into this question of law, I may observe that according to Blackstone, " between the high water mark and the low water mark, where the sea ebbs and flows, the common law and the Admiralty have divisum imperiara, an alternate Jurisdiction ; one upon the water "when it is full sea, the other upon the land when it is an ebb." It would seem to follow from this that the sea beach at low water comes under the denomination of Crown Lands and forms a part of the goldfields. I have nothing more to add as to the general condition of this district, which, so far as relates to what is not strictly mining, is now well known to the Superintendent and the Government from thor own personal observation. It is satisfactory also to know that the Premier of the colony has thought the "West Coast Goldfields worthy of a visit and a minute and careful inspection, which has enabled : him adequately to appreciate the importance of the district. BOADS. I shall conclude this part of my remarks by observing that the work of the amalgamated district of Westport, Charleston, and Brighton would be very much facilitated by the completion of the unfinished road from "Westport to Charleston via Addison's Elat ; also that the workings near Brighton would be much assisted, the chances of new ground being opened much increased, and the journey to Grey mouth much facilitated by opening the coast track from Brighton to the Eazorback. SIG AND CATTLE NUISANCE. I beg to urge upon the attention of the Government the expediency of passing some short Ordinance during the sitting of the Provincial Council for the suppression of the nuisance, now become almost intolerable, caused byjhe number of pigs, goats, horses, > tc.; : always wandering about the towns of Westport and Charleston. A brief addition to the Constabulary Ordinance, empowering the police to impound and take summary proceedings, might answer the purpose. Some prolision should also be made against the practice of driving infuriated oxen through the streets, from which serious accidents have happened more than once.

LICENSING- ACT. It has been sometimes thought expedient that the Wardens of Goldfields should, in their yearly reports, noticethe Goldfields Licensing Act, and make suggestions for its improvement This may be useful where the suggestions relate to details in the working of the Act. I have, however, none to make, not because I believe the Act to be perfect, for I agree with the common opinion which regards it as very inefficient, but because I do not believe that it will ever be made efficient by alterations of detail. Suggestions in plenty are constantly being made from different quarters, which the legislature can of course consider, but there are few of these in which I can join, because they mostly involve a view of the subject in which I by no feans acquiesce. But the great objection which appears to me to lie against the Licensing Act is that whilst it fails to suppress drinking and unmorality, it produces a directly demoralising effect by containing enactments and prohibitions which constitute new offences, and which are not enforced once for a hundred times that they are notoriously violated. And thus the uneducated masses come to think that all laws maybe treated with contempt provided detection and punishment 'do not follow. As a Magistrate, I am bound to say that the Licensing Act is simply a means of revenue, obtained for the most part at the cost of impairing in the public Omd the sense of respect for law. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, Joseph Giles, B.M. and Warden.

Prom the tables of statistics appended to tho report, we extract the following:—Approximate number of miners in District 1100. WESTPOBT. Miners rights issued for twelve months ending 31st March, 1872, 566 ; business license, (value £986), 286 \ Summonses, 42 ; applications, 521; mining leases applied for, 31; agricultural, 5. Eesident Magistrate's Court,—criminal cases heard, 172; ditto, civil. 322. Revenue—From all sources received at the Warden's offiee, Westport, £4376 148 4d ; ditto, preceding twelve months. £5596 16s. Id; amount of revenue (exclusive of the above) transmitted from Eeefton and Inangahua to the receiver at Westport for the twelve months ending 31st March, 1872, £3636 16s Od. CHAKLESTON AND BItIGHTON. Miners rights issued for the twelve months ending 31st March, 1872, 792 ; business license, 291; summonses, 75 ; applications, 920. Resident Magistrate's Court — criminal cases, Charleston, 84; ditto Brigthon, 21; civil cases Charleston, 245 ; ditto Brighton, 35. Revenue—Prom all sources £5286 12s 9d; revenue for the preceeding year, £5406 2s 6d. GOLD EXPORT. The total quantity of gold exported for the six months ending 31st March, amounted to 539350z5. 6dwts 7grs; representing a total value of 218,867 19s lid; and the duty thereon amounted to £674118s lOd.