THE CROWN TERRACE SWINDLE.

Lake County Press, Issue 499, 28 April 1892, Page 8

THE CROWN TERRACE SWINDLE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —In your issue of April 14th I notice in your report of the Warden’s Court proceedings held at Arrow on April 13'h. that the unfortunate gold diggers, who got up the late agitation praying for the determination of the lease of Mr John W. Baker’s farm on the Crown Terrace, now pray to the Warden to release them from their duffer claims on that farm. And at tire same time Mr Thomas Muthkson applied to the Warden to grant him the farm under occapatijn license for dairying purpose*, which application was adjourned to May Hth. Now to m st people Mr Mathieson’s application explains the whole affair; but, Jas some of the raiep.ayers are entirely ignorant of it, I deem it my duty to state what I | know about it. About 11 years ago the land was granted to Mr Thomas Mathieson uuler agrioultuia leas *, hut hr, not having tiie requisite money to stare tunning, mortgaged the land to the late Mr John Birlow, the then agent of the Bank of New Z -aland, Arrow, who lent over £3OO on it. B ;t, requiring the money prior to his death he induct’d Mr Baker to lend him the above amount holding the farm alone as security for its repayment. . . . Mr Baker did not want the land but merely his money. Mr Mathieson has always resided on and farmed the land, which is very light, poor soil, on which the sun seldom shines ; consequently harvesting operations generally commence on it about the middle of winter, which renders it a very unprofitable farm. It is b-*st adapted for dairying purposes and would under judicious management support 1 cow and 3 goats. When tho'gold was discovered on it Mr Mathieson at once saw that it was his only chance of effectually getting rid of Mr Baker, by inducing the Government to determine the lease of the land. And the mining agitators at once commenced operations on the Government. But they saw that there was something crooked about the affair, and declined to entertain the application, referring the agitators to the Lake County Council, when I, possessing the requisite knowledge to enable me to distinguish between auriferous and non-iuriferona land, deemed it toy duty to examine the land in order, if possible, to prevent myself and fellow latcpayers from being swindled. I wrote a brief report to the Council descriptive of the extent and position of the payable ground, also the natural agency employed in depositing the gold which was confined to about six acres at the extreme north-west corner of the farm. I told the Council that by determining the lease they would perpetrate a gro*s act of injustice on the ratepayers of this County and also mi the dijge s, as all the payable gold on the farm ha(f been discovered. The agitators attended a meeting of the Council and presented their petition, when t ie members bccan e equally divided, half voting for determining the lease and half against. But Councillor O’Meara had previously succeeded in placing an in■e’ligint men in the chair who nave his casting vole ag du-t the motion and threw itont. Tiie agitators then went to the Arrow and held a meeting, at which they passed a vote of censure on their friends the councillors who voter! against determining the lease, and a vote of thanks to the councillors who hail voted for swindling the ratepayers, and agai i commenced operations on the Government; but the diggers, having had tin pleasure of sinking nothing but duffers all over the farm, will now have got their eyes opened, and, if there are any men among them, they will now hold another meeting and revet se their votes, otherwise they cannot expect any honest or intelliucut man to become a member of the Lake County Council. If they had unanimously resolved (o determine the lease of Mr Baker’s farm, and had placed additional tax on me to pay off the mortgage on it, I would immediately have instructed my creditors to present all their accounts to the treasurer of the Lake County Council, and woe unto that councill >r who dared to oppose the payment of my bills. But, as wo had an intelligent majority in the Council, 1 had hoped that we were freed from further liability in tho matter ; but on looking through the new mining bye-laws, I noticed that tho Government has the power to over-ride the decision of the County Council. And, as they have dons so by de terniining the lease of Mr Baker’s land, they have now the power under the new Act of compelling us Ito pay the compensation, ;r d, if they exercise that power, every right thinking man will agree with me in thinking that the sooner they are turned out of oflice the better for the countiy. Mr Matinc ion’s application places our worthy mag strate in and awkward position, . . . . and, fearing that ho will decline to grant it, I would suggest that a deputation consisting of • the pn ininent mining agitators be appoil.ted to iutei view' him before the 11th of May andfpresent the matter in its true light, explain that the farm having been proved cntinly useless for mining purposes, no good can result from letting it lie idle, an i advise him to grant it to Mr Mathieson immediately he has paid the compensation awarded by the Government to Mr Baker, and also all the expenses incurred by the County Council in holding special meetings on its account. He should also be compelled to pay *ll the digneis for the time and labor that they have expanded in sinking duffers over the farm ; and, if he lias no money, the Warden should compel the deputation to pay it for him allowing him 20 years to return it. Hoping that my suggestion will be acted on.—l am etc., Gkoroe White. Lake Hayes, April'lClh, 1802.