THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY, MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 1881.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 24 January 1881, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY, MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 1881.

hna afc length recognised the^ecessity of doing something to enfdrce the law relating to the possession of miner's rights. It is a step that should have been taken long ago, for it ia notorious that tbere are hundreds of European and Chinese miners working on the gold-fields whose n&mea have never been recorded in the Warden's Office as the holders of rights. In the good old days, wheD alluvial digging general ally was well worth the pursuit men took out rights as a matter of course, to protect valuable claims, but the occupation bas of late years fallen off so greatly in productiveness that this safeguard is now in most cases dispensed with, and men are content to rest their title upon mere possession. In this way many hundreds of pounds of revenue are annually lost to the County, and as the latter body bas drawn largely of late upon tbe con* tribulions of town ratepayers in order to open up the goldfields for tbe special behoof of tbe diggers, it is. only right that tbe mining population should be made to share their due burden of the public taxation. It is estimated that there are at the present time from two to tbree hundred Chinamen gold-getting in the different parts of the Inangahua County, and it is beyond doubt that 70 per cent, of tbe number are carrying on their avocation without license. These men enjoy all the privileges of European diggers in regard to. roads, bridges, and the indirect advantages arising therefrom, and yet do not contribute a sixpence to the local expenditure. Some method of reaching them must therefore be adopted, and this can most readily be done by compelling them to take out rights. Tn this direction the Council has declared its intention of applying to the Warden of the dis* trict atter the 31st instant to appoint an Inspector, who will be clothed with authority to prosecute all persons found aMping for gold without a license^Tbe clause of the * Mines Act/ under, vrhieh the step is taken is very stringent, and we publish it for general information. It runs : — ''Any person not being the bolder of a miner's right, license or lease, duly empowering him in that behalf, who shall mine for goli or occupy or carry on any business upon any Crown lands, shall be liable to tbe penalties | following— that is to say ; For the i first offence, a sum not exceeding fire i poueds ; for the second or any subsequent offence, a sum not exceeding ten pounds nor less tba 1 five pounds, with imprisonment in some gaol, there to remain for any time not exceeding one calendar month for every five pounds, or fractional part of five pounds co to be paid. Provided always that in any case where a minerV right or business license may have been lost or destroyed, and the existeßce of such right or license can be proved, it shall be lawful to issue to tsucb person a duplicate of such miner's right or license in lieu of and comprising tbe like rights and privileges las such lost or destroyed right or licence, until the due ex-oiratioo of the same, and for which the fee of one shilling ahall be paid in the case of a business licence, and five shillings tbe cost of a business license, and a &\&* tutory declaration shall in all such cases be made as to identity and the tacts of the case."