WARDEN'S COURT.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 7 November 1881, Page 2

WARDEN'S COURT.

«. Friday, Novembeb 4th, 1881. (Before Mr Warden Revell.) .Applications. The Eureka Company's application for j tunnel, which stood adjoarned from the previous day was calied on, when Mr j Jones again appeared for applicants. Mr j Ljnch, for the objectors, (the Welcome and Fiery Cross Companies} said that the npplirafion had been made under a section of the regulations to the Goldfield Act, 1866. He quoted ihe interpretation clauses, and maintained that Hip word 'claim ' there appearing had a limited interpretation. He also advanced thnt 1 the power Rwen to the Warden uuder

section 45 only provided for permission to construct a tunnel on an alluvial claim held by another party, and could not be applied to a gold mining lease, moreover, the Governor bad no power to make a regulation granting this conces* sion. The interpretation ehuse contained definitions of ordinary claims, quartz claims, and claims, and the Act itself only provided for permission to enter upon ordinary claims tor the purpose of constructing a tunnel, and could not extend to ground beid as quartz claims, as no proviso bad been made to include such claims within the concession clause. Mr Jones, on raising, said that he would first deal with tbe arguments of objectors, as to tbe power of Governor under section 30 to make renditions for entering upon land held by another party, and pointed out tbe provisos con* tamed in tbe agreement of the lease itself, where tbe lessee has covenanted to take the Jease subject to reservations made therein, so as to provide for access to such lease for tbe purposes of facilitating mining operations generally. Tbe very wording of tbe document called ' lease ' distinctly showed that the Governor had full power and would exercise it when required. Passing on to the agreement and the word claim, he said that the defiaiton of the word person in the interpretation clause should not be lost sight of. as there it distinctly was set down when tbe two interpreta tions were read together, the word 1 claim ' means every risjht to ground legally held by any person, tbe possessor of a miner's riuht or lease. He referred to rule 45, for pointing out the power of Warden to grant permission to construct a tunnel through the ground of any claim. * After an eihaustive argument, tbe Warden ruled that ho could not grant a certificate to pass through the lease It eld by the Fiery Cross Company, as that le«se was held under tbe GolcSelds Act, 1866. With respect to the objection of the Welcome Comrany, Mr Lynch advocated that as the ground held by that company under the 1877 Act, where tbe omission of the word lease in the per* missive sectioos debarred any person from entering upon such lease, for the purpose of construction tunnel. He read tbe conditions upon which the lease was granted, whicb distinctly set forth that only head an I tail«races could be constructed by a stranger on such loa«»e, and that tunnels were excluded by reason of no specific mention being made thereof. To these objections, Mr Jones replied by stating, that a special claim which the Welcome Company held, could not be held to come under the leasing regulation .as... no. .execution by. the lessee was required to complete the title, it merely a grant of a larger area than contemplated by the leasing regulations, and as such would hare to come under the denomination of ' extended claim,' and subject to conditions which are defined in section 93, and which provide for the granting of tbe concession now sought. The Warden ruled in favor of Mr Jones on this point. With reference to regulations defining the conditions under which extended claims were granted, Mr Jones maintained that under the Mines Act, 1877, these would come under tbe definition of claim, as no other interpretation was given, and held that voder rule 28, the Warden had lull power to grant the present application. Application was then granted, as tbe Warden held that a special claim, did not come under the leasing regulations in this respect.