ADJOURNED MEETING.

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

ADJOURNED MEETING.

The adjourned meeting took place, as agreed upon, at the Commercial Hotel on Saturday evening last, the Acting-Major occupying the chair. The Chairman explained that at the _ former meeting the business had been proceeded with as far as moving and seconding the first res.lution, which he . read. He then called upon Mr. Love, the mover, who made a few remarks, after, which the resolution was carried unanimously. - ' Mr. .Smith, in moving the second resolution, said he wished to say a few „ words regarding . the gold. duty. It was a' class tax burdensome and unjust ..to. the miners, to whom the country - was indebted for having advanced from j what it was . to the position it now ' occupies. Had it not been for the . miners, we should not now boast of our - thriving townships, our municipalities, \ and the advanced state of the province generally ; and yet they are oppressed .with a grievous burden of taxation; but he trusted the time had now when the miners would rise to ja.inari and demand, if not the total . abolition, a considerable reduction of 'the grossly unjust taxation with which they .were .-afflicted. Our local member, ,M_r. Bastings,* in .moving in the Pro-■vinciaUCquncjL-f.Qr a reduction in the '.gold' duty, was .met with the reply that \if, £he. .miners wished 'any reduction -.tihpy. would petition G-oyernment to ..ttat.*, effect,. but as they (the miners) rha<L:taken no action in the ■ tnatfcer it , ircas evident that the cry was one in j. w>icE^ ihey felt no interest. and took no _parfr.^lt v .wa,s..,nQw for them to prove that they were indeed deeply interested in the matter, "and to> demand that justice should be done a section of the community which, to use a. nautical

phrase, was the best bower anchorof the colony. He would move "That the gold expert duty is a tax upon the grbfcs produce, without regard to what may have been the cost of production. So that a miner may expend a large amount of capital oh mining and contribute a large amount of capital to th.c revenue and yet be a loser by his investments, and that in many cases the the abolition of the export duty would enable investors to make a profit, whereas at present they lose." Mr. H. Bastings, M.P.C., in seconding the resolution, said he had had no intention of taking any part in the present proceedings, but being invited to make a few remarks/he had complied. He was pleased to see that at length the miners had awakened from the lethargy into which they hud so long remained, and saw the necessity for energetic action. He could endorse the remarks of the last speaker, that the endeavours made to obtain a reduction of the duty on gold bad been looked upon as mere cant and claptrap, it being argued that the miners themselves were totally indifferent on the subject. Even with all the agitation which was now taking place he saw no hope of an absolute abolition of the duty ; it might be reduced a trifle. Instead of any tax being abolished, he feared fresh ones would be inflicted. He had come back from the Council far from pleased with the present system of Government, and he believed the only panacea that remained to the people on the goldfields was to get up au agitation and petition for the Stafford Counties Bill. If this course was not adopted he feared they would never get justice done them — that they would, in fact, in a short time get nothing at all. Mr. W. H. Reynolds and others had said it would have been better for the country had the goldfields never existed — that it was better off in every respect before they were discovered. This, he need scarcely say, was anything but true — was in fact a fabrication. All the revenues except that derivable from the goldfields were fast decreasing ; and at the present time this country was producing more gold than any oih-r country iv the woild. This agitation would show that the miners were fully aware of the injustice under which they had so long laboured, and had seriously and earnestly taken the matter in hand. He was gldd to see that they did not intend any longer to sit down and tamely bear the heavy burdens imposed upon them without making an effort to shake i tliem off, not that he anticipated any great reduction immediately, but the result might be that in a few years their exertions would be rewarded by the abolition of the obnoxious tax, the gold duty. Mr. Bastings concluded by expressing a hope that the miners would take the county system into their earnest consideration, as the only means by which they could obtain a fair share of the revenue of which they were the source — a desideratum of which at present he saw little hope. The resolution was carried unanimously. Mr. W. D. Morrison moved the third resolution, as follows : — " That the gold miners contribute to the general revenue in a greater proportion than other inhabitants of the colony, and are entitled to have justice administered and police protection defrayed out of that revenue. The only exceptional expenditure is the gold escort service." It required no argument to prove the truth of the first part of the resolution, and it was just as true that the miners were the pioneers of settlement. He had nothing particularly to say against the squatters, but he might venture to remark that in the Provincial Council the wind was in the sails of the wrong party. It was said by that party that the squatters were the pioneers of settlement ; but he would ask what would -Tuapeka, for instance, have been now if it were still occupied by a miserable and isolated few ? It was for the miners to open up the way- to settlement and prove a source of wealth to the country. Again, in addition to paying direct taxation, the miners use and consume a larger amount of goods upon which duty is placed than any other portion of the /community; and out of the revenue thus derived, they are cleirly entitled to have the administration of justice, &c, defrayed. In Tokomairiro and other places outside the goldfields, which do not contribute so largely to the general revenue, they have a Resident Magistrate and police, while we have only a Gold Receiver extra. As to the .escort, the banks derive ' the most benefit from that service, which was the only special expenditure on the goldfields — an item for which the duty on gold was supposed to have been imposed. He had often felt annoyed that this agitation had been put off so long ; if it had taken place years ago we should doubtless now be feeling the benefit of it. The Legislature had granted bonuses to other industries, while at the same time they had heavily taxed the only one which had been the making of the country — they were, in fact, hunting the miners from our shores. Aftei- further referring to the ' suicidal system adopted by the Government,- and to the action of certain M.P.C.'s in opposing the reduction of the gold duty, Mr. Morrison concluded by saying that he trusted the miners would rally to the front, and ■advocate their rights, otherwise they lmist grin and bear it. . Mr. Cale briefly seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously. . ' -•• Mr Mouat said-he had been entrusted witHamption which suggested a method for adjusting the grievance of which they complained. The resolution was as

follows :—": — " That the system of entrusting to various bodies the expenditure of money, which they are not responsible for raising, is subversive of political, honesty, a great waste of public money, and a heavy drain upon the revenue ; and that, therefore, the expenditure in subsidising Road Boards and Municipalities, beyond, in the case of the last, a limited assist- 1 ance during the early years of their existence, is unsound in policy, productive of jobbery, gross corruption, and waste of public money in works beneficial only to private individuals ; and it is suggested. that a cessation of such subsidies would enable the Government to dispense with a taxation which weighs heavily upon and retards the development of one of the leading indusirles of the colony." Mr. Bastings ! had made some remarks regarding the action of the Provincial Council, which !he (Mr. Mouat) fully endorsed. We [ had not received justice from the Council, in proof of which assertion !he would read a few items of the Estimates passed at the recent sitting. (Mr. Mouat here read several items showing the miserable pittance which had been doled out for important works on the goldfields, hospital subsidy, &c, and the large sum voted as subsidy for Road Boards.) The ppeaker | continued by saying that the Road Boards which had been recently formed consisted of fathers, sons, uncles, &c, members of one family, who were only interested in forming roads to their own farms, and for this purpose £48,000 had been put down on the Estimates, while those who raised the greater part of the revenue were put off with a paltry sum averaging about £1 a mile. When we saw such corruption and jobbery it was time to seek an adjustment, and the only chance of doing this was by bringing public opinion to bear upon it. It would easily be seen how money was wasted — how the revenue was drained away from ns ; and it was time to put a stop to it. Referring to those who had voted for subsidising Poad Boards, the speaker said those were the very men who went in against granting money for our roads, and who deprived our hospitals and Municipalities of their subsidy. Mr, Smith seconded. Carried unanimously. Mr. Simmons, in moving the next reaolution, said after what the other speakers had advanced, there was little left for him to say. He moved — v That the revenue from miners' rights, licenses, rents, and charges, other than the export duty, is, in the opinion of this meeting, quite sufficient to meet all the special charges on account of the goldfields." Mr Goldsmith seconded. Carried unanimously. Mr. Matthew Hay moved the next resolution — " That a petition to the General Assembly be prepared, asking for the abolition or gradual extinction of the gold export duty, and that .steps be taken to obtain signatures to the same, in order ( to its presentation at the next session of the General Assembly." In getting up a petition to the General Assembly, he considered the miners would be taking a step in the right direction. If the other goldfields districts followed in the same direction, the Government would deign to listen to the unanimous appeal of the miners for an extinction of a most depressing lax, and he had no doubt the result would be a gradual reduction of the duty on gold until its absolute abolition. It had been said that the diggers were doing great harm to the country— tearing it up, destroying grazing lands, and preventing cattle from occupying them, but it should be remembered i that had it not been for the diggers these people wonld never have possessed the cattle they do, and the revenue would have been £19,000 or £20,000 per annum less than it is at present. The Government had done away with many obnoxious and unnecessary appendages, and surely they could dispense with" the export duty on gold.

Mr. M'Kiraxnie, who seconded the resolution, aaid that although lie had attended the meeting with no intention of taking any part in the proceedings, yet, as he considered he was consulting his own interests in advocating the rights of the miners, he felt justified in making a few remarks. It must be evident to all that if the duty of half-a-crown an ounce upon gold was abolished, so much more money would be spent in the district. He had often been taunted with interfering with mining matters, but he argued that as he .was supported by miners, it was his duty to accord to them in return all the assistance iv his power in forwarding their interests. All the business people on the goldfields were similarly affected — all live off the miners, therefore they ought to take as deep an interest in these matters as himself. He was sorry to find that some tradespeople entirely ignored those men upon whom they were dependant for an existence ; but, at the same time, they never refuse their money. He trusted that none would be found unwilling to volunteer their best services until the petition was amply filled, and everything satisfactorily concluded. Mr. Simmons moved as an amendment — " That the words 'gradual extinction ' be struck out of Mr. Hay's resolution," but after some little discussion, he withdrew his amendment. The resolution was then unanimously carried. Several .miners present volunteered their services to canvass for signatures to the petition in their respective localities. The Chairman said that volunteers were always better than pressed men, and it was evident they would get through the matter in excellent style — even better than had been anticipated. A vote of thanks to the chair concluded the proceedings.