The licence, (for which thirty
shillings, or half an ounce of gold, is paid per month) is in the
following form:
VICTORIA GOLD LICENCE.
No. 1710, Sept. 3, 1852.
The Bearer, Henry Clements, having paid to me the Sum of One Pound, Ten
Shillings, on account of the Territorial Revenue, I hereby
Licence him to dig, search for, and remove Gold on and from any such
Crown Land within the Upper Lodden District, as I shall assign to him
for that purpose during the month of September, 1852, not within
half-a-mile of any Head station.
This Licence is not transferable, and to be produced whenever demanded
by me or any other person acting under the Authority of the Government,
and to be returned when another Licence is issued.
(SIGNED) B. BAXTER, Commissioner.
At the back of the Licence are the following rules:
REGULATIONS TO BE OBSERVED BY THE PERSONS DIGGING FOR GOLD, OR
OTHERWISE EMPLOYED AT THE GOLD FIELDS.
1. Every Licensed Person must always have his Licence with him, ready
to be produced whenever demanded by a Commissioner, or Person acting
under his instructions, otherwise he is liable to be proceeded against
as an Unlicensed person.
2. Every Person digging for Gold, or occupying Land, without a
Licence, is liable by Law to be fined, for the first offence, not
exceeding 5 pounds; for a second offence, not exceeding 15 pounds; and for
a subsequent offence, not exceeding 30 pounds.
3. Digging for Gold is not allowed within Ten feet of any Public Road,
nor are the Roads to be undermined.
4. Tents or buildings are not to be erected within Twenty feet of each
other, or within Twenty feet of any Creek.
5. It is enjoined that all Persons at the Gold Fields maintain and
assist in maintaining a due and proper observance of Sundays.
* * * * *
So great is the crowd around the Commissioner's tent at the beginning
of the month, that it is a matter of difficulty to procure it, and
consequently the inspectors rarely begin their rounds before the 10th,
when (as they generally vary the fine according to the date at which
the delinquency is discovered), a non-licensed digger would have the
pleasure of accompanying a crowd of similar offenders to the
Commissioners, sometimes four or five miles from his working-place, pay
a fine of about 3 pounds, and take out a licence. After the 20th of the
month, the fine inflicted is generally from 5 pounds to 10 pounds and a
licence, which is rather a dear price to pay for a few days' permission to
dig, as a licence, although granted on the 30th of one month, would be
unavailable for the next. The inspectors are generally strong-built,
rough-looking customers, they dress like the generality of the diggers,
and are only known by their carrying a gun in lieu of a pick or shovel.
Delinquents unable to pay the fine, have the pleasure of working it out
on the roads.
Now for my story - such as it is.
Mike and Robert were two as good mates as any at the Mount Alexander
diggings. They had had a good spell of hard work, and, as is usually
the way, returned to Melbourne for a holiday at Christmas-time; and
then it was that the bright eyes of Susan Hinton first sowed discord
between them. Mike was the successful wooer, and the old man gave his
consent; for Mike, with one exception, had contrived to make himself a
favourite with both father and daughter. The exception was this. Old
Hinton was a strict disciplinarian - one of what is called the
"good old school" - he hated radicals, revolutionists, and reformers,
or any opposition to Church or State. Mike, on the contrary, loved
nothing better than to hold forth against the powers that be; and it
was his greatest boast that Government had never pocketed a farthing
from him in the way of a licence. This, in the old man's eyes, was his
solitary fault, and when Mike declared his intention of taking another
trip to the "lottery fields" before taking a ticket in the even greater
lottery of marriage, he solemnly declared that no daughter of his
should ever marry a man who had been openly convicted of in any way
evading the licence fee.
This declaration from any other man, who had already promised his
daughter in marriage, would not have had much weight; but Mike knew the
stern, strict character of Hinton, and respected this determination
accordingly. The day of their departure arrived, and with a tearful
injunction to bear in mind her father's wishes, Susan bade her lover
farewell, and Robert and he proceeded on their journey. Full of his own
happiness, Mike had never suspected his comrade's love for
Susan, and little dreamt he of the hatred against himself to which it
had given birth - hatred the more to be dreaded since it was concealed
under a most friendly exterior.
For the first month Mike behaved to the very letter of the law, and
having for the sum of one pound ten shillings purchased his legal right to
dig for gold, felt himself a most exemplary character. Success again
crowned their efforts, and a speedy return to Melbourne was contemplated.
In the ardour of this exciting work another month commenced, and Mike at
first forgot and then neglected to renew his licence. "The inspector
rarely came his rounds before the 14th; the neighbourhood was
considered deserted - fairly 'worked out;' he'd never come round
there." Thus argued Mike, and his friend cordially agreed with him.
"Lose a day's work standing outside the Commissioner's tent broiling in
a crowd, when two days would finish the job?
