Tuapeka Times. AND GOLOFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1890. "MEASURES, NOT MEN." THE MINING CONFERENCE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1671, 5 March 1890, Page 2

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLOFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1890. "MEASURES, NOT MEN." THE MINING CONFERENCE.

The annual meeting of the delegates representing the Mining Associations from the various centres of Otago has been held in Dunedin this year. The deliberations of the meeting have been characterised by a good deal of practical good sense, and exhibit, on the part of the delegates, a thorough understanding of all the matters under discussion. The first and, on the whole, the most important matter discussed by the Conference was the abolition of the gold duty. This is an imposition of a very unjust and impolitic character, and one that the miners will always be justified in refusing to submit complacently to. It is in the literal sense of tha word a tax upon industry — and upon an industry, too, that requires at the present moment all the legitimate protection and encouragement that can be reasonably extended to it. The gold duty, which was first imposed for the purpose of meeting the administrative expenses incurred on the goldfields in the early days, has now become the property of the county councils, and forms, in many instances, an important portion of their revenue, and certainly does not seem at the present moment as if it were likely to become anything less than a permanent impost. It has, session after session, withstood every assault directed against it in Parliament, though it is extremely doubtful whether these attacks have been always as honestly led as they should have been. The chief, in fact the only, difficulty to be encountered in urging the repeal of this obnoxious duty is that of providing a substitute. This the Mining Conference has just attempted, propounding a scheme by which it is thought the county councils could be reimbursed for the deprivation of the revenue arising from the gold duty. It is suggested that all land held for mining purposes should be subject to the imposition of rates by the county council or other local governing body, the ratable value to be determined on a scale which is defined. It is further proposed that the rents from occupation licenses on the goldfields should be made county revenue, and that the Government should hand over part of the rents from pastoral leases to the counties. These proposals, we believe, have already been submitted to some members of the Cabinet, though without eliciting anything that could be construed into approval. The assistance of the goldfields members is, however, invoked ; and when the scheme has been thoroughly expounded and discussed in Parliament, it may, perhaps, be regarded in a more favourable light.

The practice of taking large areas of auriferous land, or, what is still more common in the new and more recent development of the mining industry, auriferous beaches and river beds, also came under the notice of the Conference, and received all the attention that its importance demanded. After some discussion, it was recommended that Government should be asked to render the forfeiture clauses of the Mining Act more stringent, and " for that purpose the onus of seeing the law carried out in this respect should rest with the Inspector of Mines or his deputy." There are, of course, at present certain specific conditions demanded from those licensed holdings or special claims; but before action is taken it is necessary that a third party, being the possessor of a miner's right, should take action, depositing at the same time a sum of £15 before the case can be taken into the Warden's Court. A provision of this kind, as any one can see, instead of discouraging, actually affords protection to shepherding, and permits the law in this respect to be broken in the most barefaced manner. There are, of course, instances where it is necessary, as in tha projected formation of a company, to give a liberal allowance of time to the holders of such areas ; but power should certainly be given to some person having a professional acquaintance with mining matters, such, as the Inspector of Mines, to discriminate between mere jobbing speculators, and those contemplating in a bonafide manner the investment of capital and the legitimate working of the ground. In any case six or at the outside twelve months should be ample time for all legitimate purposes, and beyond that period land should not be permitted to be locked up by the speculator.