So the government advisers suggested a compromise. Falling back on a
still older feudal doctrine, they asserted the indefeasible right of the
Crown to all gold found either on private or public lands, but
recommended that licenses to dig should be granted on easy terms, which
would have the double effect of providing a revenue and of preserving an
acknowledgment of the Crown's title.
Acting on this advice, Governor Fitzroy, on May 22, 1851, issued a
proclamation forbidding all persons to dig for gold on any lands without
license, but expressing the willingness of the Government to grant
licenses at a fee of thirty shillings a month to diggers on Crown lands.
For the present, the Governor refused to allow digging on private lands
without the owner's consent. The proclamation also announced that no
license would be given to any laborer or servant unless he could produce
a certificate of discharge from his last service. At the same time the
Governor established the practice of appointing special commissioners
for the gold-fields, charged with the administration of the licensing
system and the general maintenance of order in their respective
districts.
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