THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, JULY 16, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2038, 16 July 1875, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, JULY 16, 1875.

It is devoutly to be wished that the public have'heard tlie last of litigation ia connection with tho Tairua claim for some time, and that the rightful owners will | be left in peaceable, undisturbed possession. By this means they will be able to settle down to work with a reasonable prospect of unearthing the riches of their mine, and recouping themselves for the money they have been out of pocket ■in defending their rights against the sneces 1 sive jumpers who have instituted proceedings against them with a view to show thatthey had a better right to the ground than the men who had devoted their time for years, and their means, to prospecting.,. There was little sympathy on the part of the public with tho first crowd of jumpers; and there was less with the second. Neither party had the slightest show in equity, but the first managed to make, oiit such a case in law that it won for them a compromise. They were able to name, their terms, and the terms were conceded; producing a golden return which was as unexpected by the jumpers as by the public. Thus encouraged it was scarcely surprising that others should be forthcoming to seize upon some pretext for a further atttempc to participate in the golden harvest;^ tut their defeat has been as signal us the success of their

(predecessors in the jumping business # was marked. The effect of all these Iproceedings on the progress of Tairua has been most perceptible. Work ■has been retarded in mines which ought now to hare been" in a forward state of advancement; and the share(market has experienced a depression from jtwhich it will take some time to recoTcr. ilt is not alone the persons directly interested in the Tairua Company who have ; cause to deprecate these vexatious proIceedings ; they—that is the original shareholder's—are "perhaps v able" W bear with a good deal of law, as they have ! something too good to lose ; an assured :iicTi' iclaira;^"Bttrth(g^hiole-commumty si*-' indirectly interested..: in i-.. thM; business ; and it is not surprising that strongl language has been -indulged in against the persons who have been-so prominently mixed., up in the, attempts to,--deprive Neves and others of their rights. If the complainants in these last cases had succeeded in their'proceedings, a great injustice would have been, perpetrated. Public confidence, in the security of tenure supposed to be afforded by the Goldniining Districts "Act would have been destroyed; and a course of litigation would have ensued, most disastrous in its effects upon the progress of what promises to be a very rich goldfield. The litigation would not have been confined to the Prospectors' claim. Even now there are not wanting indications of a disposition on tfie part of men of a certain stamp to embroil other claims in litigation on the most frivolous pretexts. This disposition ought to be condemned and discountenanced. It is, indeed, by all but a certain section who are supposed to benefit by the promotion of litigation and the cutting up of mining areas believed to be valuable. ,At one time on the goldfields of Australia and New Zealand the professional jumper was looked upon with something of the contempt and opprobrium which generally attaches to paid informers—the tools employed by the police to ferret out sly grog sellers and illicit whisky stills. Their aiders and abettors were little better thought'of.* Owing to the prevalence of this feeling*—significant of the honesty. r and sense of fairplay which characterises ? goldfields communities, especially miners—jumping as a profession .hassdeclined. -Infaetitjhas^conwKtp be looked upon, as an /occupation that could not be carried on long in one,district with success combined with ajdue regard to the safety of the persons engaged-^so obnoxious have jumpers made themselves. We are fearful, however, lest the bad example set shbulcl bY productive imitators, and so we would enter a protest against the principle which has lately asserted' itself/ lie£?the public set their faces against any proceedings whicksavor of "jumping" and f the field will progress; but once'let it go forth that' there exists anything like a gen.eralT feelings ofpathy with the. jumpers in this district, and public cdnfidencelwillbeundermined. The effects will recoil on ,the heads of those who encourage it, and it will be difficult to remove the impression if once established.

Although both cases which formed the subject of litigation in the Warden's Court for the two past days were decided without the cases themselves being finished—the Warden, in ;6ne case, non-suiting Kelly on objections raised by Mr Tyler while the v case" -* was still proceeding, and in the other, Baird electing through his Counsel, Mr Eees/to be non-suited —yet the result must be most satisfactory to those who, having obtained a license, are anxious to use,the Warden's 'language—to rest secure-in their - beds . undisturbed by all 'thoughts of the professional jumper. Although the Warden was not called upon actually to decide whether a license obtained could by any means be made ■ null and void, yet he practically decide'^ j when he nonsuited Kelly for jg£ft>4if" himself termed the principal objection raised by Mr Tyler, viz, that a person once being in possession, no matter whether, legally or illegally, his claim held good against anyone trying to eject him without the authority of the- Wai&ejk.j.,.on this point the first case really hinged, for it was with evident reluctance that Captain Fraser gare his decision, on '. the other point in which he decided in defendants' favour, namely, the question of champerty or maintenance; and it is quite possible that on auch ra point I alone ho would not *' 4£re. Xnonsuited the plaintiff. So that," as far j.as the public are concerned, ".the inforjmation thoy have acquired-is, this, that a JHcense .being once granted, to f a man, and 'he being in possession, no^bfife" can"enter afterwards and dispossess him without the i authority ofthrW.arden. *And as it is not likely that any Warden will give authority .to upset licenses he has himself granted, I those who hold them may rest in comfort tHat-they will not be deprived' of .wliafc ' they have acquired; and, further, what is 'also of great cpnsequence, ,that they will ■ not be made the subject of vexatious and expensive law-suits. They may also know : that it is not necessary to be in possession iof a miner's right when they take "up land, though it would certainly seem to be 1 the safer course to do so. And, thirdly, !that when two or more reople band them- J selves together, with nstxj other, object in j-view than that of oepriving, others of 1 ! what they already possess, tbey"are*g"uilty •of " illegally seizing .on-a .camp in order to divide the spoil," in. other words of :" champerty." Of course we are unable to say whether these cases "will betaken to other courts, or not. Mr Sees spoke of . the ' " Supreme Court," " Court of Appeal," and " Council " as all being able to lend a hand in order to hand over Ihe Tairua claim to Messrs Kelly and Baird, but, after what trans-

pired in Court, we think that the plaintiffs will be very unlikely to find more Danahers to invest £100 to allow them to prpsecute their aims still further, and hope that-we have heard tho last of the Tairua litigation.