PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JULY 13, 1883.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1270, 13 July 1883, Page 2

PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JULY 13, 1883.

Thb- Government having been credited with the intention of placing a sum of money on the public works Estimates ; f^ i ffi*» 1 — '*"*' ~~rrf the main Wesfcport, tnat line of traffic will, it is to be presumed, in the ordinary course of things, very shortly pass out of the control, or, at all events, out of the charge of the County Councils of Inangahua, Grey and Westport. The sum which it is proposed to allocate to this work is, we are told, £10,000. "Whether this amount will be sufficient to keep the main roads in efficient repair is a question we have no present moans of knowing, but it is to be taken that the sum stated has been arrived ut with a due knowledge of the work to !•• performed, and even should it prove insufficient, the Government having J"V/ practically relieved the Councils ni the burden, will have to supplement the grant. The removal of this burtU'.n. from the County Councils has now paved the way for the removal of that obnoxious exaction, the gold duty. Hitherto it has been a stock argument against the abolition of the impost that M ithout it the main roads could not be kopt in repair. This " argument " has now been entirely cut away, and there ia not a shadow of reason why the gold duty should not be remitted at ; <mcc. At Kumara the mining population have already opened fire on the subject, and a petition to the House of liopresentatives has been adopted, praying for the immediate abolition of t!io tax. We notice also, that Mr A. It. Guineas, member for Paroa Biding i:i the Grey County Council, has convened a meeting of ratepayers for. the purpose of co-operating with the movement, begun in Kumara. Considering tf.at.ihe abolition of the gold duty has t»l ways been a leading hustings cry at t-very contest in the Inangahua, and tiiat the lately elected representative in Parliament is pledged to that course, it is to be expected that the miners of .the Inangahua and Grey Valley will be equally alive to their interests. The way for the removal of dnty^ is now clear, so far as concerns the influence of the local bodies, and this being so, there should be no delay in the action to be taken. We subjoin the form of petition adopted at the miners' meeting at Kumara, but it" would be for those interesting themselves in the matter here to decide whether their object would be best served by taking independent action, or by co-operating with other districts and make the movement a general one throughout the West Coast. The latter would appear to us the most preferable. The following is the form of petition referred to : — 11 To the Honorable the Speaker and Mkmbekß of ti.3 House of Representatives of New Zealand in Parliament assembled — "The petition of the goldminers of Kumara and surrounding districts humbly fc : iowetb — "1. That there is a tax in New Zealand upon gold in its natural state as it cometh out of the ground of two shillings per ounce.

"2. That we regard the tar; as an unjust oue, for many reasons; and we respectfully submit the following as some of them : — (a ) Before the miner can put a pick or shovel in the ground to extract gold, he has to pay one pound sterling (£1) for a miner's right, this being a special tax, which has to be paid annually, whether he obtain gold or not. (6.) If he find gold and have a claim, the extent of grouod which he occupies — say for a few years — is but a minimum — 100 feet square — as compared with the quantify of land he might purchase, bether situated for agricultural purposes, with the same outlay. (c.) In most casos the ground occupied for gold-mining is not suited for agricultural or pastoral purposes. This particularly refers to the ground occupied for mining on the West Coast, the surface being absolutely worthlesa, and could not, under any circumstances, be turned to such profitable account otherwise. (d.) Besides the annual fee for miner's rights, there are nnmer»>us other charges and fees ; we pay for registration of claims, for head-races for tail-races, for dam construction and maintenance, heavy charges to Government for water and use of - . sludge-channel, the nature of the also rendering *"" heavy machinery necessary, and which is only brought on to our claims at considerable cost; all these charges and expenses being paid in addition to a heavy general taxation, including even a tax upon our huts. (p.) Besides the first outlay, the working of a ground-sluicing claim entails a large expenditure of capital, and from 12 to 20 months' labor before any returns whatever are obtained. "3. We respectfully submit that these charges and expenses amount to and absorb fully cent, per cent of the entire product of each claim ; therefore we think it harsh and unjust that a special tax of 1 two shillings (2s) per ounce should be imposed on the gold at a first cost "4. There is a large area of auriferous ground in this district besides that now being worked which would pay and support a considerable population, if the . gold-tax were removed There would also be fewer drawbacks to capitalists who are disposed to employ labor to extract the gold ; and which would extend and develop the industry of gold-mining ( generally. "Your petitioners therefore pray that your honorable House will relieve the miners of this special, direct, and unjust tax. " And your petitioners will ever pray."