THE GOLDFIELDS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XXI, Issue 1106, 12 February 1891, Page 3

THE GOLDFIELDS.

THE 3TUTURE OF THE MINING DISTRICTS OF THE INTERIOR.

tr>Y JOHN Werxer.]

I Dedicated to all who have the welfare of . their children at heart,-and who would strive to attain it. Why hesitate? you are full-bearded men, With God implanted will and courage, if You dare but show it. Never yet was will But found some way or means to work it out, .Nor e'er did fortune frown on him who dared. - E. R. Taylor. {Concluded.) The pioneers of progress were men of a different stamp, and with different objects .iu view. Who gave to Otago her golden years? Who caused busy townships to spring up iu the interior? Why do we now see everywhere those undeniable land marks of progress, the schoolhouses, with their swarms of merry children ; orchards laden with fruit, and fields of ripening corn ? Has squatterdom conferred those benefits upon our community? I trow not! 'ihey do uot believe in those things because—it disturbs the sheep. That seems to be the Alpha and Omega of their arguments. The wheelmark over the plain inspires them with as great a horror and disgust as the sight of the savages' footprints conferred upon Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. If they had their way, the only sound heard upon the hill-sides would be the bleating of elieep, the only landmarks of progress would be the bush shanty, and the only incidents to vary the monotony of life in the interior [ would be occasional prosecutions under a (to the squatter) favorably constructed and administered Rabbit Act. Those men must be waving a magic wand, for inside of their circles are found men of, supposed to be, enlightened ideas, magistrates on the bench, lawyers and officialdom in general, who, as a rule, are al ways found to throw in their lob with wealth. But, strange to say, even among the settlers are found men of other-

wise good motives aud sound judgment, raising their influence against their own class, lor the reason that they never seriously considered the subject, and perhaps because in their private tiausactions wiLh the runholders they have been fairly dealt with. Those men should consider that- they owe a duty.-to others as well as to themselves. It is not desirable that we should depend upon the runhnlders for a way of getting a subsistence. The very money wherewith they pay you a miserable wage is taken from the land, the people's own property. There are several sorts of temptation held out to the unthiuking to part .with their birthright. The runholders will generously promise you and yours employment—rabliitting at a starvat on wage. You may run a steer or two on what constitutes your own land, and he will otherwise show his liberality—at election time in divers ways. At such time, if any obstreperous spirit among the people raises his voice against the system demanding a change, no expense is spared and no stone is left unturned to put down the unrulj'._ The magic circle is then full of figures moving to the tune of the wirepullers behind the scenes ; and undesirable influence carries the d;iy. Ido not deny that there are honourable men among the class, many that would perhaps have warmly advocated the cause of the people if their lot had fallen that way, but their interests lie in a different direction. It is necessary for them to have monopoly ; it is necessary for the wel fare of the community to break it down. These are simple facts, and I challenge their denial. Ido not wage war against persons, but I wage war against a pernicious system. Some people will say, " Who is this man that has the audacity to thus criticise a long-established order of thincs ? Why, he is only a working man, and what is the good of him carrying on a crusade against a wealthy class 1" I am only one of the workers, it is true ; but it is my earnest endeavour, and I shall at all times use whatever abilities Nature has gifted me with, to induce people to take -a correct view of our present course of procedure, and to sound a timely note of warning to present the evil effects likely to follow land monopoly in the inland districts. There is at

present a wise clause in the. Mining Act, by which persons can obtain small areas of lands ou the goldfields, so as not to interfere with the main industry—i.e.. mining. lam referring to the occupation license system. This is the only safe-guard against distress and poverty in the future. If this were always available, there would soon be many an oasis in the present wilderness. A healthier spirit would be instilled iu the community, because when a man knows that he has a means of making a living, uudue competition disappears, for when anxiety for the needs of life does uot trouble a man, then only can he atlord to be generous and helpful to his neighbour. Then, why is this benefit denied ? Only because the monopolist, the absentee landlord or his deputy, puts his veto upon it, and the administrators of our laws echo their sentiments. The pastoral lessee has no cause of coniplaint% He takes his lease subject to existing conditions, and if he is dissatisfied with those being alienated for settlement, he has his remedy —viz., to surrender, and re-apply at a lower rent. Has not the last general election showed us that, by standing united, the working man is a power in the land? We have prosperity within our grasp. Then, why hesitate ? The goal is before us, and let the wave of progress sweep a Way obstructions built up by selfishness and prejudice. If, in future, the administrators of our laws persist in pandering to the desires of the laud monopolist, chen let the public voice demand their removal, and the substitution of different men in their place 1 Let there be a strict investigation upon every refusal of land by the wardens, and if they are found to stand in the road of the necessary requirements of the people, give them short notice. If in writing these lines I have rubbed hard against the comers in certain places, still I make no apology; my object is not to make myself agreeable at the expense of my own Eelf-respcet; lam only setting the knife to cut out an ovil sore that will soon prove a cancer to our social equilibrium. He that fights the battle iu the van will always receive some stabbing sneers. I accept of this fact, feeling sufficiently rewarded by the knowledge tliat with some the seeds I have sown have fallen on good soil, and will grow into a tree that will bear its fruit iu its own good time.