West Coast Times. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1831.

West Coast Times, Issue 3891, 27 September 1881, Page 2

West Coast Times. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1831.

TfaE miners of the Colony may be very I thankful that Mr Seddon's Gold Duty I Abolition Bill, did not become law. I For some reason or other, copies of that bill, or of Mr Seddon's bill to amend the Counties Act, were pai-ticu- ; larly Scarce in this part of the country, and could not be peruved, so that people would know what Mr Seddon's pro. posals really vrere. We are now able to say, however, that in a most crafty, and we will add underhand manner, while proposing to relieve tbe miner of ihe Gold Duty Tax, on the otkerhand intended that he should be taxed, to a much greater extent, whether he was successful or •th.erwise in his mining operations. In clause six of Mr Seddon's Gold Duty Abolition Bill, the simplicity of the framer becomes obvious. Clause six merely says, that "Subsection 2 of section 37 of the Rating Act of 1876 is hereby repealed." Very few would trouble themselves to inquire what really was Meant by this innocent clause, and would probably I think it was a mere technical one rendered necessafy to give due efa«dt to the abolition of the gold duty. Wd were curioiis to investigate the matter, and we found tbat the intention was to repeal the clause of the Eating Act that exempted mining property fronj the payment of rates. In other words Mr Seddons intention was to tax mining property. Clause 37 of the Rating Act, exempting certain discriptions of the property from the payment of rates, runs as follows :— 37. "All land, together with the buildings and improvements thereon shall be rateable property, under. this aot, except as folIdwi:— (1) Lands, the property of Her Majesty. (2) Lands, including buildings and improvemeßtjtherebh held under lease, licensed, or ether authority from the Crown for gold mining purposes, other than bo for ea the surface may be used or occupied for other than such purpose." So that Mr Seddon's hill did not propose to tax mining machinery merely, rb has been stated. It proposed to tax all aorta and diecriptions of mining property, viz.: — Goldmiaing leases, special claims, water-racei, tailraces, tunnels} dams, reservoirs, quartz claim*, extended claims, double-area claims, and all ordinary claims, and all machinery, machine sites, appliances, buildings, and all other improvements erected or held in connection with these several mining rights and privileges. This is the proposition that enamates from a goldfields representative, and with Mr Stddoas proposals for further taxation to the extent of a double rate by the County, another rate by a road board where one exists, and a tax on evtry c»Ft, waggon, coaoh and vehicle, we are afraid that the poor miner and settler would find himself out of ths frying pan into the fire.

The Supremo Court wat occupied all day with the trial of David Charles M'Gahey on aa indictment charging him with murder of one John Bell. The prisoner, a tall, eldeily, respectable-looking man, geemed very little troubled with his position. The case will likely be concluded to-day. Yesterday seven witness were examined. Messrs Wade and Spence will auction this day, at 1.30 p.m., furniture, &c, particulars of which can be seen in advertisement, belonging to Dr James, on the premises Hamilton itreet. A meeting of the Hospital Committee took place last evening. Present — Messrs Peake (President), M'Goldrick, H. Levy, A. W. Bock, Meyer, Linstrom, Seller, Hilldrup, Upjohn, Benjamin, and Heinz. The minutes of lait meeting were read and confirmed. The outward and inward correspondence was read and dealt with; Mr Bock proposed and Mr Benjamin seconded that a vote of thanks be accorded to Mr R. C. Reid, M.H.R., for his attention and services rendered to the Committee and institution whilst ia Wellington, Carritd. The list of indoor and out*

door admissions for the fortnight was read and received. The report of the House Committee was read ciause by clause, and adopted. Two tenders were opened for painting gates, &C.—J. Holmes, £10 sa; E. B*. Sammons, £9, the latt&r being accepted. The following tenders for supplies for six months, were dealt with • — Bread — G. White, 7d, 4lb loaf; W. Eowcliffe, 6jd do; W. Smith, 6£d do. After ballotting for the two lowest prices, the casting vote of the Chairman decided in favor of W. Smith. Milk— J. L. Smith, 3d per quart; F. Foster* (accepted), 2|d do- Coal— J. Maunders, 29s per ton; J. Churches, 28s 6d; W. Thompson, (accepted), 283. Sweeping chimneys— W. Spencer, 60s for six month's, (accepted); W. Pamment,493 6d. Interments— Sinclair and Jack (accepted), 47s 6d. Meat— R. Campbell (accepted), beef joints, 3d per ib, gravey do. ' l£dper lb, mutton (sides), 2d per lb, hindn quarter mutton, 3d per lb, pork, 4£d per lbi lamb, 3s to 63 per quarter, chops, Bteaks and sausages, 4d per lb; L. Skene; beef joiiits* 3ja per lb, mufctoa (sides), 3Jd per 18, iarilb, 3s per quarter, gravey b'Sef, Sjd per ib, pork, 3£d per lb, chops, steaks, j»hd sausag&i 3Jd. Ironmongery— -W« G. Johnston & Co (ac« cep'ted). Crockeryware— Referred to tb'e Finance Cotrimittee to deal with" Groceries and wines and spirits, J. Cliiirciies (accepted j. The meeting then adjourned till thte afternoon at three o'clock to consider tenders for drugs And drapery. The Public Works and Ferries Committees of the County Council will meet to-morrow (Wednesday), at 12 noon to deal with tenders for the Lake Mapourika road, and ferries, &c. Messrs M'Kenzie and Sutherland of Kumara,are the successful tenderers for tbe erection of the bridge over the left-hand branch of the Waitaha river, and signed the contract yesterday at the County Council Chambers. The tenders sent ia were, as follows:— Accepted: M'Kenzie and Sutherland, £137 13s Id- Declined: C Tool, £194 2s4J; S. Mitchell, £105; J.Johnson, £220 14s 8d; J. Nightingale, £217 Is 4d; J. ReynolJa, £179. Mr Mitchell's tender was accepted, in the first instance, but was declined by the tenderers. In the 'Australasian' of the 10th instant there is good news for prize ploughmen, as the Hon. W. T< Clarke aunounces his intention of offering a prize of fifty guineas to the best ploughman iv a champion match, open to all the colonies. It ia further stated that if the amount of competition warrants it the sum will be made 100 guineas. The same gentleman, who has ever proved an intelli-. gent and liberal patron of agriculture, has determined to offer a similar prize for a certain quantity of butter made on the factory system. Mr Locke T ravers has written a letter relating to the Governor's departure, expressing grave doubts us to the validity of the laws passed during his absence. Mr Traver l says :—": — " The power of appointing a deputy for any purpose is not inherent in the office of Governor, as may be seen by consulting opinion of Sir Hugh Cairns in connection with the Gold Coast Charter as set forth in Forsyth's 'Cases and Opinions on CoDstitu tional Law,' and I cannot but think that in ' the absence of express autuority, given in that behalf " by statute, the Governor has no power to delegate his duties and f unstions as a constituent part of the General Assembly of New Zealand." With regard to a supply of lymph for vaccinatiou purposes the New Zealand Times understands that the pure calf lymph Bent for to Belgium by the Government has arrived, but does not promise much. The experiments made with it have so far proved failures, and it therefore seems to have lost its vitality on the voyage out. This, however, is of very little consequence, aa there is every probability of abundance of pure lymph being obtained in the colony. Experiments made upon a calf by Dr Neill, of the Mount View Lunatic Asylum, have proved eminently successful, several persons of this city have been effectively vaccinated with lymph from the animal. We also hear that lymph is being freely obtained from the herds of Canterbury. No excuse can now be urged against vaccination, save by those who profess to doubt its efficacy. The opponents of the arm-to-arm system are met with the provision of pure lymph, and therefore we hope that systematic periodical vaccination will soon become the custom if not the law of the land. The subject is, however, one that must be legislated for next session. How doG3 the increased population of Great Britain subsist? Says a Home paper s — Mr Chamberlain reminded the guests at the Trinity House on Wednesday that even in a decade of yeara the population of thb United Kingdom (of Great Britain only, by the way, not of Ireland) had increased by nearly three and a half millions — more than the total population of our prosperous Australasian colonies, and that increase was coincident with the fact that during the same period we have been able to send half a million to the colonies to found communities all over the world, and at the same time we have sent out something like a million of inhabitants to add to the prosperity to the United States. Well, what have thess three and a half millions of new comers been doing to get a living ? There has been no industrial expansion in any bransh, manufacturing or agricultural. On the contrary, aa we knew, there has been a marked depression . Nearly every trade in the country professes to have been doing badly, and there has never been bo small an increase to the amount of capital applied to domestic production. How, then, has this large new percentage of population found employment ? We wonder how the President of the Board of Trade would answer this economic riddle. A member of the House of Commons, Sir Thomas Chambers, writing to the London Times on the subject on the persistent obstruction which has been offered to the passing of the Deceased Wife's Sister's Bill, states that a memorial signed by 253 mem-, bers of Parliament, representing one half of the electoral body, had been presented to the ' Prime Minister, and gave rise to correspondence whioh he asks the Times to publish. In a letter to Mr Gladstone he states that the measure has been 40 years before Parliament and has been sustained by GO majorities, and yet the Lords will not pass it. He dwells upon the fact that the colonies

bare passed the Act and obtained tbe sanction of the Queen in Conncil, and goes on to say:— "Nor is this all or even the worst. It is well known that the marrage with a deceased wife's sister contracted in the colonies, under their local laws, will not be held valid in this country and I hear that angry feeling is rising very high in Australia and elsewhere at what the colonists regard as a most perious blow to their domestic in~ terests and affections."