LAW AND ORDER

The goldfields were prone to burglary and other crimes during the time of the gold rush. The reason for this was because there were a small amount of police at first, there were large amounts of gold and many bushrangers, ex-convicts and burglars rushed to the goldfields.

The government had to combat this problem. But nearly all the police had rushed to the goldfields to make their fortunes. The government beat this problem by raising the wages by half. The only fault in this solution was many inexperienced men and criminals joined the force. These men took bribes or anything to get them money; they also were completely ruthless and brutal. Diggers were chained to trees or anything if they could not pay fines.

The most controversial law on the goldfields was the miner’s license; this was where miners had to pay for the right to mine. Police always looked for people without licenses because they gained part of the fine. Diggers had to pay a huge fine if they got caught without a license. The license had to be carried everywhere so it was often ruined. To buy the license they had to go for miles to the post office and wait in line for hours.

Over all life was very hard for the miners.

LBJ (Hugh)