e to the Government. It was equally clear that, as the law had
been declared over and over again in the colony, unauthorized digging on
Crown land constituted a trespass, for which the digger was legally
responsible. But the Governor was wise enough to see that no threats of
prosecution would deter men bent on digging in unoccupied lands, even if
it were possible to preserve the lands of private owners from forcible
intrusion. The "squatting" question had demonstrated that, beyond a
certain point, the theory of Crown occupation of waste lands was liable
to break down.

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. He also strengthened the police force by every means in his
power, and then awaited developments.

He had not long to wait. Almost immediately after the issue of the
proclamation another gold-field was discovered on the Turon River, also
a feeder of the Macquarie, only a few miles from Lewes Pond; and shortly
afterward a third was opened up on the Abercrombie, a tributary of the
Murrumbidgee, which takes its rise in the Cordillera, south of Bathurst.
By the beginning of June, gold began to pour into Bathurst; but Mr.
Hardy, the chief commissioner, was able to report an almost idyllic
peace and plenty at the diggings.

In the middle of July an event occurred which at once produced a violent
attack of gold f