Penalising Gold-miners

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 262, 1 August 1933, Page 11

Penalising Gold-miners

Sir. —The news that, the Government intend imposing a royalty of 5 per cent, on all license-holders in the Cromwell district, which may be interpreted that the same penalty will be extended to all holders of mining privileges within the Dominion, will sound the death knell of many projected and existent companies, fossickers, and small mining ventures. The 12/6 per ounce export duty on gold hns already hit both the small man and the large, with particular reference to the former, many of whom have thrown in the towel in favour of relief work. Before this duty was imposed a man could take his ounce of gold into any bank and receive £3/18/6 for it. and a voucher for the bonus, which represented the margin between the bank price and the current: rate, arrived a month or two later. It will thus be seen that, even then, he did not receive the full cash value of his toil, but had to give the bank credit for nearly half of his gold value, often for more than three months. When the 12/6 export duty was imposed, his position was much worse, as instead of receiving £3/18/6. he was handed this amount less 12/6. which the bank deducts on behalf of the Government. A working miner with his store account to be paid, being unable to cash his gold as he gets it, and finding his earnings heavily penalised with an almost certain prospect of further Government interference, loses heart, and gives up. He knows how hard it is to net an ounce of gold, and that never an ounce of gold but what costs its equivalent in labour, apart from the fact that he, as a pioneer, is doing more (han his quota in bringing the gold to the light of day. lie is now faced with the prospect of yet another 6/- penalty on his ounce of gold. The Government would, appear, to have a positive flair for doing the wrong thing. Rather than damper an in-

dustry such as gold mining one would think that every encouragement would be given to both companies and fossickers to increase (heir production of a metal the Government has done nothing to create and very little to foster.—l am. etc., MINING ENGINEER. Auckland, July 27.