GOLD STEALING

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 857, 1 July 1910, Page 10

GOLD STEALING

« PREVENTIVE LEGISLATION SUGGESTED. EMPLOYEES' I'EDERATION TO ACT. Tho receipt of a pamphlet by Mr. AY. Pryor, .secretary of the iliuplovers' -Federation of New Zealand, flora the secretary of the West Australian Chai.:ber of Mines, containing an address delivered by the chairman at the last annual meeting, gave its recipient the information that there exists in Australia legislation to prevent gold-stealing in mines from the niijt.a, tjitiU'i/., nr slimes. '.1 his is a mutter which lias interested mine-owners considerably in New Zealand for some time past, ft is known thai. g»UI is regularly and systematically .stolen from some mines, but as it is not compulsory for any seller of gold to declare its source, or by wli;>l process it came into his possession, it has not been found an easy matter to check it. On the receipt of the pamphlet (which mentioned that tho Victorian Government had legislated on the matter), Mr. I'ryor at ence wrote to Mr. Hubert IS. AValpole, secretary of the Victorian Employers' Federation, asking for the fullest information on the subject. Mr. 'Yl'alpole forwarded Mr. l'ryor's letter on tn Mr. 11. ii. I'.owe, president of the Victorian Chamber of Mines, who, in reply to Mr. Walpole, utates:— "I may ,iay that the Victorian Gold Buyers Act, uf JlMr has done u very great deal to check the evil, and more so as the then Superintendent of Policc in Bendigo took a warm interest in the matter, anil initiated a large number of proceedings, whilst the P M. there, being a iirm and strong man, gave a sentence of gaol in all serious eases proved. Other magistrates, however, were absurdly lenient, and let offenders off with fines, in somo cases as low as ss. The Chamber of Mines iclt itself compelled on several occasions' to pass resolutions condemning these inadequate sentences ns being in no wise deterrent of the crime. The Act was admittedly an experimental one, and was weak in many respects. Tor instance, no minimum penalties or fines were imposed, only . maximum punishments, and these were nut heavy enough, and left too much to the discretion of the magistrates, most of whom proved tliemselveu ipiite unsympathetic, if not actually hostile to the spirit of the Act. Early last session our Government brought in an amending Bill, fixing minimum penalties, and increasing the maximum penalties, and making gaol compulsury on conviction of serious offences. The Labour members for the goldfields, whilst professing a desire lo stop gold stealing, fought this Bill with the utmost obstinacy, and eventually the Government dropped the BUI for tlie session. I understand it is the intention of our Government to reintroduce tho Bill next se.itiinn. Betore the passing of our present Uold Buyers Act it was cjuito a common thing when driving along the roads near a goidfield to see such notices as the following posted up:—'Gold bought: Strictest secrecy.' Happily, nothing ni' the sort can bo seen now."

il. lh inlevontijig In uofco that the Federation lias not been inactive in regard to gold-stealing in tile Dominion. This is proved by a reference to the last annual report oi the federation. KefeiTing at one stage to goid-stealing, aud measures to prevent it, the report says: "Mr. Free said that gold-stealing had been more or less rife throughout Now Zealand for years, although charges were not often sheeted home. He moved:

"That the criminal law of tho Dominion La amciided so that where a person is charged with stealing gold or silvw, the mills of proving that the gold or silver wna honestly obtained shall be upon the accused, and that a deputation wait upon the Minister for Alines to urge that effect bo given to this resolution.' l'lio motion was carried."

Later, in dealing with deputations to Ministers, the report says: "Messrs. C. li-hodes and S. L. P. Free, representing tho Federation, met the Hon. It. M'Kenzie, .Minister for Miues, with regard to special legislation dealing with gold-steal-ing. The Minister admitted the necessity of such legislation. It could not, however, bo dealt with in the Mining Act, as it was a penal offence, and would have to be provided for in the Police Offences Act. He had already consulted with the Minister for Justice with respect to the matter, and hoped shortly to bo ablo to report to them that arrangements had been made to submit to Parliament proposals which would effectually deal with the complaint."

Mr. Pryor states that* the Federation intends to move in the direction of having legislation on the subject passed this sessiou.