THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1899.

Grey River Argus, Volume LVII, Issue 10299, 2 June 1899, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1899.

Mr Guinness in his address at Maori Creek, a precis of which appeared in yesterday's issue, dealt mainly with those subjects in which the gold miners take the keenest interest — vi 2, the question of the gold duty and the proI visions of the last Mining Act. There are gentlemen who, like Mr O'Regan, consider the Act the best and most perfect tbat has ever passed the Legislature; but Mr Guinness , does not figure in that category. Yet he ought to be one <f the most competent to speak on mining legislation. He has had many years' experience in the courts in pleading in cases under the various Mining Acts that have I c'en passed fiom time to time, as the law seemed to require amending. Practice is said to make perfect; but in our opinion the saying by no means holds good in mining legislation, which is made at every turn more irksome and, harassing to the miner. It is a marked peculiarity of our Government that in every measure that they pass they display an abno mally keen eye towards increasing the revenue ; and this is a conspicuous feature of the last mining legislation. The miner is met by fees and charges on every hand that were unknown before. This is a queer means of encouraging the mining industry. Government appears to set out with the belief that gold minino* is the most profitable ot all callings instead of being the very reverse. The f ramers of the Act would seem to have been imbued with the idea that a patty of miners have only to p- g out their claim and they are made men for life, and can well afford to pay surveyors, licenses, rent, court fee', or any other incidental expenses rendered necessary under the Act. And yet theie is no industry in the colony that is so de : serving of encouragement as gold mining, none that contributes more largely bo the maintenance and welfare of the state in proportion to the proceeds. The miner and the cultivator draw the riches out of the earth 'o the enrichment of all and the impoverishment of none. But if the mining act possesses many undesirable features, what shall . wesay of the regulations by which the Act may be made t> suit circumstances 1 These are made by means of that slipshod method known as Orders*

in-Council for remedying the defect of clumsy and hasty legislation. Ye* the representatives of the miners have no voice in the framing of these allpowerful regulations. Formerly a miner cou'd peg out a claim without much trouble and give it up with equal •facility. Bub he cannot do so any longer. If he takes up a claim of a few j acres it means about a week's work to peg off, trench; and label it pll round in order to comply with the regulations. But if he should fail in any particular it is in the power of any one sharper than him to ava 1 himself of all his work and by remedying what had been overlooked by the first pegger-off, make good his right to the claim. Then if he wishes to surrender his claim he finds that it can only be made in the I prescribed form. Under the old Act all that was necessary was a surrender signed by- the owner. Under the last year's Act he must go to the Warden's Court and procure filling up forms applying to surrender. A day has to be fixed for hearing not less than 16 days after, and the notice has to be posted on the claim not less than 10 days before the hearing, and the party has there to appear and give evidence. Surely it ought to be easy to devise some simpler and less expensive method of surrender than this. In the matter of applying for protection fora claim exceeding 30 acres, the Warden cannot grant it until the Minister for Mines has given his consent and notified such consent in writing on the instrument of license. The applicant must therefore apply at least a month before the date he wishes his protection to date from. At. every step the miner tries to take, he finds himself tied up in the meshes of red tape aud the demand for a fee before a mining form v/ill be issued to. him — and there are no fewer than eleven of them. All these fees have to be paid annual -y, the total cost being a trifle short of L 6 as compared with leas than L 2 under the former regulations. We hiave no hesitation in saying that the present Act will require amendment in several important particulars before it can be said of it that it will meet the wants and promote the interests of the gold miners, or can be deemed, worthy of a "Liberal and progressive Government."

Mr Guinness will not lose the rej spect of /the miners for his adherancy |to his views. repaying the vanished gold , duty, though he is willing to subordinate, his opinions ahd regulate his action in Parliament in accordance with the wishes of . hia , constituents, which is.: about, as much as any representatji^evcould well be expected to do. Onthis question he effaces himself and becomes a mere delegate. The main objection to the export duty by the miners is that it is a class tax, but so are many other taxes that could be mentioned ;' The land and Income Tax :are a class tax to those, who possess land and enjoy a cci tain income. But the necessities of the state justify their imposition, as do they with other taxes that fall on particular classes of the community.. When the miners voted for the abolition of the gold duty tjhey did so unde>* the conviction that the revenue out of which to pay for necessary county works would be found otherwise; but in that respect they were most grossly deceived. Do not, put your trust in the promises of politicians eager for votes. The sub statute ; for the gold du'y has proved miserab'y inadequate. Besides, onethird of the amount goes in the cost of collection, while a part of it cannot be collected at all. - The consequence is that ever since the abolition of the duty the county has had to go hat in hand to Government for assistance when more than the mere t ordinary expenditure is called for. The Government has p rforce to grant the demand, and then the rest of the colony cry out, " See how generous the Premier is to WestTa,nd at the expense of the rest of the colony!" The position of the county has been most unpleasant and invidious since the gold duty was abolished, and the councillors deserve great credit that they have so. staunchly faced the difficulties of the thankless position in which they, have been placed for the last few years. Had the gold duty been abolished in the North Island as it r :has been here we should nob have seen the gold- mi ning industry there reach the imposing dimensions it has" done. *