PUBLIC MEETING.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 179, 13 July 1871, Page 6

PUBLIC MEETING.

.-.- On Wednesday the Sthinst., ameet- • ing of miners wa,s held in the Lawrence Athenaeum for the purpose .of eon- .' sidering the question of the reduction - and ultimate abolition of the duty on gold. Owing to the very inclement state of the weather there was not so

good an attendance as there would bave been under more favourable circumstances.. The Acting-Mayor, Mr. Mears, occupied the chair, and after briefly explaining the object for which the meeting had been convened, and having read the petition to the House of Re•presentatives which had been drawn up by the committee, be called upon Mr. J. G. Love to move the first resolution. Mr. Love said that clause 8 of the petition would clearly explain the resolution he. was about to move The clause he referred to was as follows : — "The only special expenditure on account of the goldfields at present existing in Otago is the escort of gold ; the mining population being entitled to the administration of justice, police protection, and other functions of Government in common with and out of the taxes they contribute jointly with other classes of, the community, and are not entitled to pay for them specially." He would therefore move, without any further preface, ''That the gold duty and other special taxations of governing having been imposed to meet special expenditure, and that any special expenditure on goldfields having in a great measure ceased, the special taxation ought to be reduced in the same proportion." Mr. Herd had great pleasure in seconding the resolution. He had no doubt every miner in the province would be pleased at the action taken by the miners of this district, for each one had borne the burden long enough, and it was high time it was shifted off their shoulders. He saw no reason to doubt that the petition would be extensively signed, and he trusted the total abolition of the gold duty -would be the result of the agitation. He had paid this and other obnoxious taxes for about sixteen years. Mrst of all in Victoria he had paid 30s. a month for a license, which was afterwards repealed ; gold duty was then imposed, which was lighter on the miner, but at the same time realised as much revenue as the license taxation ; and lastly the miners' right had come into use. -Every miner in the district was taxed to the amount of £9 or £10 per year, "between water and other expenses, and it was time the burden was reduced. The Government had voted large sums -for' immigration, manufacturies, and other industries, while the mining in>terest, which was the mainstay of the "country, was being heavily taxed. If they would grant a bonus to mining .instead of imposing an iniquitous . burden they, would only be doing what was just. However, the miners were at length awake to a sense of their ■ position,' and were taking a step in the right direction. At tnia stage Mr. Matthew Hay moved an adjournment of the meeting until Saturday evening, a-", owing to the inclemency of the weather it could not be expected that so large a number of miners could attend as he would wish, and it was desirable to have a crowded meeting if possible. The Chairman, Messrs. Mouat, W. D. Morrison, and others having expressed their- concurrence with the motion, it was carried, and the meeting was accordingly adjourned until Saturday to the Commercial Hotel.