South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Saturday 19 October 1850, page 3


ANTI-DRAY AND LAND-TAX LEAGUE.

A meeting of the League took place at the ''White Horse,'' on Thursday last, pursuant to adjournment. The Chairman, A. Anderson, Esq., said that in obe-dience to the resolution of the last meeting he had waited

on J. H. Fisher, Esq., and instructed him to defend the action instituted in the Local Court, Gawler Town, by the Commissioners of the hundred of Talunga, against Mr John Fisher, a member of the League, to enforce the payment of an assessment levied under the odious Road Act. The members had, doubtlessly, seen the result of that action in the newspapers. A nominal verdict was given for the plaintiffs, and the legal points were re-served for the decision of the Judges of the Supreme Court, and until that decision was received the League could proceed no further in the matter. The determi-nation of the members to abolish the impost had, if possible, grown more strong, pending "the law's delay,'' as the Commissioners would find out, should the de-cision of the Judges be such as to induce them to pro-ceed to extremities in collecting the assessment. As he was not aware of there being any business for trans-action, he would call on the Secretary to read the minutes of the last meeting that they might be con-firmed previously to his adjourning the meeting. The Secretary read the minutes of the last meeting, and they were then confirmed. Mr Norman, said he had to call the attention of the assembled delegates to a matter of some importance. The Secretary of the hundred of Willunga had received a letter from the Secretary of the League, calling for the payment of £20, such being the amount required from each hundred to meet the expenses incurred for the benefit of all. He (Mr Norman) had no idea when he joined the League that any such payment should be required to render a hundred eligible to participate in the advantages likely to result from the protection of the League. He had conversed also with a number of delegates and found that they concurred in opinion with him, that any attempt to impose any arbitrary condi-tion would savour strongly of the principle they were associated to oppose, and would work injuriously, inas-much as it might exclude the smaller and poorer hun-dreds from the benefit of membership. That would inevitably be the case if the League adopted a resolu-tion such as had been proposed at a recent meeting. (Hear, hear.) He was anxious to be rightly understood. He only deprecated a policy likely to weaken the League by disuniting the smaller hundreds from those larger and wealthier. He believed that, taking into account breadth of acres or extent of cultivation, ho represented one of the largest hundreds, and there could be no hesitation in its members paying £20 or £30, if satisfied of the correctness of the mode by which that proportion was determined, and the purpose for which it was required. (Hear, hear.) Yatala and other hun-dreds could in like manner without difficulty furnish the required quota; but there were others that could not, and that proved the impolicy, if not injustice, of the arrangement. Mr Watson said there was no resolution passed to

enforce such an arrangement. Mr Norman hoped he would not be unnecessarily in-terrupted. He had not said that there was a resolution passed to enforce the arrangement, but he did say that such a resolution had been proposed; and, although it was withdrawn as repugnant to the sense of the entire meeting, it might be brought forward again if its in-justice was not exposed. (Hear, hear.) The arrange-ment was made, and letters written in accordance with that arrangement. He said it was not a judicious ar-rangement — and that was to some extent admitted by the fact that, as yet, it was not enforced. He was for substituting a more equitable, and, he believed, a more efficient mode of raising the necessary funds. A levy on the members, not on the hundreds, would be a just and equal way of collecting all that was required. That plan had the advantage of experience in its favour ; it was always found to work well in England, in the various unions and associations that adopted it. He had to state also that there were two meetings held during that week in Willunga on the subject. On Monday evening a series of resolutions were passed at Mr Pethick's, and the same resolutions were approved of and adopted the following evening at a meeting held at Mr Clift's, Maclaren Vale. The delegates would perceive by the resolutions which he would read to them, that while the hundred of Willunga disapproved of the demand for the fixed amount of £20, a sum was voted towards the continued expenses of the League; and so satisfied was he that their resolution in that respect did not arise from disinclination to pay their fair proportion of the expenses of the League, that he would guarantee — nay, if they wished it. become per-sonally responsible for— £20 or even £50, should it appear that their fair proportion would amount to that sum. (Applause.) He begged to read the following resolutions to which he had referred :— "1st. That it is the opinion of this meeting that the proposition made at the last Central Delegate Meeting, to compel all the hundreds to pay into the general fund an equal amount of £26 each, is unjust in principle,

and must be oppressive in practice. ''2nd. That the expenses already incurred should be borne by the different hundreds in proportion to the number of members in each hundred by a general levy declared for that purpose. ''3rd. That Mr Norman be authorized to take the two preceding resolutions to the Central Delegate Meeting, and pay on account of the Willunga hundred the sum of £ 10 towards the general expenses. ''4th. That the Willunga delegate be requested by every means in his power to discountenance any measures proposed at the Central Meeting of Delegates, calculated in any way to weaken the present position of the League, particularly any attempt to dissolve it before the repeal of the old Road Act is accom-plished.'' The last resolution was received with prolonged applause. Mr Parker feared the reference to the Judges of re-served points would not settle the question so satisfac-torily as a trial in open court. In Van Diemen's Land the dray-tax was occasionally enforced and resisted, but the question of legality remained unsettled until it was tried before a Jury. He thought the money ex-pended in defending actions on merely technical grounds wasted, and the triumph unsatisfactory that was only due to the bungling administration of a bungling piece of legislation. (Hear, hear.) He should like to bring the principle of the Act to a legal test, and he would do so if the Commissioners proceeded against him. He would allow them to proceed until they had committed themselves so far that a resort to the Supreme Court would be unavoidable. (Applause.) Mr Watson dissented in some degree from the last speaker, and thought the moral force of the League was greatly enhanced by every triumph over those tools of tyranny the District Commissioners. (Hear, hear.) He also thought it prudent to take every legal advan-tage, while he believed the object of the last speaker would be completely attained by the reference of the reserved points to the Judges, who, on the Bench or in chambers, must be the exponents of the law. As to the question of payment from the different hundreds, he thought the sum asked would not be more than was required, and the large and admittedly wealthy hun-dreds should not hesitate about paying in the £20. If no other object was gained by so doing, it would render a call on the smaller hundreds less imperative, and

would encourage them to follow a good example. (Ap-plause.) . Dr Schomberg, who was most enthusiastically re-ceived, said he represented a very small hundred, having; in fact, only one large proprietor in it ; and as they had not been burthened with any District Com-missioners, they had for themselves nothing to appre-hend from the mismanagement and oppression of such minions of irresponsible power. (Applause.) Never-theless, to mark their sense of the important principle that there should be no taxation without representation, they had subscribed £13 10s. towards the funds of the League. (Applause.) Indeed, so earnest and wide-spread was the feeling on that subject in his hundred, that a poor man (a countryman of his own), the occu-pant of but three acres of land, had cheerfully paid 2s. 6d. as his mite towards the people's treasury. (Cheers.) Mr Fletcher referred to the declaration by the Chair-man at a former meeting, that if a hundred was not

able to pay £5 to the funds, it would not be excluded from the protection of the League. (Hear, hear.) That declaration was responded to approvingly by the meeting when it was made, and he (Mr Fletcher) was certain it was the feeling of the League still. (Ap-plause.) He did not understand why a hundred should hesitate to pay £20, while admitting its ability and proffering a willingness to pay its fair proportion of the expenses. Prompt payment on the part of the wealthy hundreds was the best way of showing their regard for the smaller and poorer subdivisions of the colony. (Hear, hear, and applause.) j Mr Darby (the Secretary) felt satisfied the levy pro-posed by Mr Norman would work more equitably, satis-factorily, and efficiently than any other method. Indeed, he was of opinion that to require any fixed amount from the hundreds, irrespective of their extent, population, or means, would be a worse tyranny than any contemplated by the concoctors of the Road Act. (Hear, hear.) He begged to call attention to a letter which he held in his hand. Here the Secretary read a letter from Barossa stating that a meeting was called for the following Saturday (this day), and that the money collected there would be forwarded to town im-mediately after that meeting. (Applause.) The Chairman said the proposer of the resolution with reference to the call of £20 from each hundred had at the moment no idea of the difference of their extent and the disparity in their population and pro-perty. It was since, however, fully ascertained that such difference did exist, and as the League proposed to benefit the whole community, it could not and would not insist on any hundred paving more than its fair proportion, due regard being had to its population and property. (Applause.) Mr Norman had no other object in view in bringing that matter before the delegates than to establish the principle that a hundred was not to be excluded from connection with the League if it failed or was unable to pay the sum of £20. For Willunga he would say again that £20 or £50 would be forthcoming when-ever it was wanted. (Applause.) On the motion of Mr Manfull, seconded by Mr Watson, the Willunga resolutions were ordered to be inserted on the minutes, and the accompanying remit-tance received by the Treasurer. Mr Norman thought the resolution respecting the £20 from each hundred should be rescinded. To have a rule that was not intended to be enforced was nearly as bad as passing Acts that could not be carried out. Mr Watson and Mr Fletcher both thought the reso-lution should stand. To some hundreds it applied, to others it did not, but there was no necessity for rescinding it. A conversation followed; it resulted in the resolution being allowed to stand. Mr Thomas Colton begged to contradict an assertion which appeared in the form of a letter in the Adelaide Times, denying that Mr Norman was a properly ap-

pointed delegate for Willunga. Several delegates declared the writer of the letter was a person unworthy of notice. Mr Dawe regretted that means were not adopted to collect subscriptions ; he was satisfied a large amount could be received if proper machinery for its collection were set in motion. There could be no doubt the League would, if true to itself, demolish the land-tax as it caused the abandonment of the dray-tax. Mr Watson moved that the meeting do adjourn until the Secretary convened the delegates to consider Mr Fisher's report of the Judges on the points of law referred to them from the Gawler Town Local Court. Mr Fletcher seconded, the motion was carried nem. con., and the Chairman dissolved the meeting.